Zeus fell in love with Io and seduced her under a thick blanket of cloud to keep Hera from learning of it. But Hera was no fool; she flew down from Olympus, dispersed the cloud, and found Zeus standing by a white heifer, who of course was Io.
His first and favorite lover was Metis, a Titan goddess and mother of Athena.
Zeus was well known for his amorousness—a source of perpetual discord with his wife, Hera—and he had many love affairs with both mortal and immortal women.
NIOBE A princess of Argolis (southern Greece). She was the very first mortal woman loved by Zeus, and bore him two sons: Argos and Pelasgos (though according to others Pelasgos was a son of Poseidon or Earth-Born).
Thus, Zeus had sexual relations with a total of at least 57 others, a number of exceeds the number of Achaean deaths in the Iliad. It is certainly an outstanding achievement by the best and most righteous of the gods.
Ganymede (or Ganymedes) was a young man from Troy. His beauty was unparalleled, and for that reason, Zeus abducted and brought him to Olympus to serve as his cupbearer and lover. Ganymede's myth is an important step in queer history, but there is also a dark side to the story.
Zeus finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera.
A while later, he rapes her, she agrees to marry him and they create a family on Mount Olympus, the Deities' new home. Unfortunately, Zeus constantly cheats on Hera and he has done it over a hundred times, but in the end Hera always forgives him.
Aphrodite later and of her own volition had an affair with Zeus, but his jealous wife Hera laid her hands upon the belly of the goddess and cursed their offspring with malformity. Their child was the ugly god Priapos.
Zeus was known in his time as much more than the father of the gods. He was also a womanizer, and as such, he fathered many, many offspring! He would transform into various animals to fulfill his desires; therefore, his 'children' are quite interesting.
Since he was considered the God of Justice, he can be viewed as an anti-villain in a sense his actions, while cruel, were designed to enforce order rather than create chaos.) He ate his pregnant wife Metis alive out of fear that their child would overthrow him.
Zeus's wife, Hera, a goddess jealous of usurpers, discovered his affair with Semele when she later became pregnant.
At the same time, there is a wide range of relationships between the gods and the humans without marriage, the so-called lust-type of love. These are the couples of the goddess Aphrodite and her young lover Adonis and relationships between Zeus and mortal women Alkmene, Semele, and Leda.
Before his marriage to Hera, Zeus consorted with a number of the female Titanes (and his sister Demeter). These liaisons are ordered by Hesiod as follows: (1) Metis; (2) Themis; (3) Eurynome; (4) Demeter; (5) Mnemosyne; (6) Leto.
Perhaps partly because of the strange circumstances of her birth, Athena is often cited as Zeus's favourite child. He also greatly admired her strength of character and fighting spirit.
Zeus's notable spouse, Hera, holds a significant role as the goddess of women, marriage, family, and childbirth. Intriguingly, Hera is not only Zeus's wife but also his sister. Their union began with Zeus employing a clever ploy—he transformed into an injured bird to elicit Hera's compassion and affection.
Instead Hera beautifies herself in preparation for seducing Zeus and obtains the help of Aphrodite. In the climax of the episode Zeus and Hera make love hidden within a golden cloud on the summit of Mount Ida.
Goddess Aphrodite Married Hephaestus
Aphrodite was the goddess of love, pleasure, and beauty. This meant that she enjoyed flirtatious occasions with a number of others. However, her father Zeus decided that she should marry and end her dallying with men. Zeus forced Aphrodite to marry Hephaestus.
Mythological tales vividly relate Aphrodite's involvement in matters of the heart, and these have contributed greatly to our conception of the goddess as primarily concerned with love and sex. Few were immune to her seductive charms, and Zeus punished her for the many improper unions that she caused.
Zeus fell in love with her and, to protect her from the wrath of Hera, changed her into a white heifer. Hera persuaded Zeus to give her the heifer and sent Argus Panoptes (“the All-Seeing”) to watch her. Zeus thereupon sent the god Hermes, who lulled Argus to sleep and killed him.
Accordingly, the Greek god Zeus's affairs were with willing participants – regardless of his trickery and disguise to seduce them. The male-dominated art world interpreted Zeus's promiscuity as part of fulfilling his duty to populate the newly formed world. They never allowed it to detract from his dignity.
According to a Homeric Hymn, there are three goddesses whom Aphrodite “can't persuade or decieve”, i.e. who don't feel sexual desire and are perpetually virgins. They are Athena, Artemis and Hestia. So, we are sure that Zeus did never have affairs with any of those three.
He had countless affairs with goddesses, nymphs and mortals alike. This turned Hera into a jealous, vengeful wife who spent all her time on Mount Olympus spying on her husband and plotting revenge against his lovers.
Did Zeus ever cheat on Hera? A while later, he rapes her, she agrees to marry him and they create a family on Mount Olympus, the Deities' new home. Unfortunately, Zeus constantly cheats on Hera and he has done it over a hundred times, but in the end Hera always forgives him.
In Plato's Symposium, Aristophanes tells the story of how Zeus – fearing that the powerful and physically perfect humans would rise against him – split human beings in half, creating the distinct male and female counterparts.