ZAGREUS A divine son of Zeus and his own daughter Persephone.
Zagreus, in Orphic myth, a divine child who was the son of Zeus (as a snake) and his daughter Persephone. Zeus intended to make Zagreus his heir and bestow on him unlimited power, but Hera out of jealousy urged the Titans to attack the child while she beguiled him with toys.
Zeus and Hera play important roles in Greek mythology. Zeus is the Greek god of the skies, and Hera is the Greek goddess of marriage and birth. Hera is also known as Queen of the Gods because of her matriarchal role in Greek mythology. Together, Zeus and Hera had three children: Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus.
In one of the most bizarre twists of Greek mythology, Zeus's daughter Athena burst out of her father's head as an adult, fully clothed in armour and ready for battle. Perhaps partly because of the strange circumstances of her birth, Athena is often cited as Zeus's favourite child.
It all starts with Zeus. Zeus has four siblings which include Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Hestia. Zeus also had six children which include Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Ares, and Aphrodite. Together we will explore and learn about Greek Mythology, Zeus and his family through this beautiful gallery.
Athena: Goddess of War (And the Most Famous Daughter of Zeus) Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom and war, is arguably Zeus's most famous daughter. She was born in extraordinary circumstances. Zeus swallowed his pregnant wife Metis, after being told that her child would try to overthrow him.
Apollo: Zeus' Best-Known Son
He is often described and portrayed in art and literature as the ideal male beauty, with a strong, muscular and athletic build. Funnily enough, he turned out quite like his father, featuring dominantly in many Greek myths, and enjoying a string of love affairs that usually ended badly.
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.
Zeus finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera.
Zeus'favourite son is Heracles, & his favourite daughter is Athena. One thing that these 2 have in common is, neither one of them are Hera's children. Although, she did give him children, he favoured the children he had with other women, both mortal & immortal. That too, would have added to her envy.
Zeus even managed to impregnate mortal women when he was a swan or a bull. Hercules was the illegitimate child of Zeus and a mortal woman, as were Perseus, Helen of Troy and Minos (among other very, very famous offspring of Zeus). Yep, the Greek God family tree is very, very tangled.
Zeus as Parent
Two of his children were born in a manner he might have learned from his father or grandfather; that is, like his father Cronus, Zeus swallowed not only the child but the mother Metis while she was pregnant. When the fetus had fully formed, Zeus gave birth to their daughter Athena.
But Rhea, his wife, saved the infant Zeus by substituting a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and hiding Zeus in a cave on Crete. There he was nursed by the nymph (or female goat) Amalthaea and guarded by the Curetes (young warriors), who clashed their weapons to disguise the baby's cries.
One version of Persephone's story told by the Roman poet Ovid might suggest she had grown some feelings of affection for Hades in spite of everything. In Ovid's famous text Metamorphosis, Hades has an affair with a young Nymph named Minthe.
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. Suidas s.v. Priapos (trans.
Zeus gave his consent for Hades to marry his daughter, but because he believed that Demeter would not approve of the match, he told Hades to abduct Persephone and take her to his realm in the Underworld. With the aid of Gaia (Mother Earth, who is also known as Ge), Hades did just that.
She turned him down, as Zeus had already proposed to her and by accepting his proposal she would be Queen of the Gods. Despite this, the two still held a candle for each other. Due to Zeus' constant infidelity during their marriage, Hera began a long-term, on and off affair with Hades.
Zeus: The serial womanizer of Greek mythology
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.
As time went on, Persephone fell in love with Hades and they built an empire which they ruled together as equals.
Seven wives
According to Hesiod, Zeus takes Metis, one of the Oceanid daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, as his first wife.
Unfortunately, Zeus constantly cheats on Hera and he has done it over a hundred times, but in the end Hera always forgives him. But that does not make her angry and mad. This anger then goes to his sons and daughters as she takes her anger out on the children he has with the other mortals and deities.
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.
In some versions of Greek mythology, Zeus ate his wife Metis because it was known that their second child would be more powerful than him. After Metis's demise, their first child Athena was born when Hephaestus cleaved Zeus's head open and the goddess of war emerged, fully grown and armed.
Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, also offered his son's roasted flesh to Zeus. It was atrocious behavior to serve human flesh to him, as Zeus had a dislike for humans in general.