When it came time to give birth to her sixth child, Rhea hid herself, then she left the child to be raised by nymphs. To concel her act she wrapped a stone in swaddling cloths and passed it off as the baby to Cronus, who swallowed it. This child was Zeus. He grew into a handsome youth on Crete.
According to Greek mythology, Zeus was born on Crete. Two caves high in the Cretan mountains contest the honour of being known as the birthplace of the greatest god of ancient Greece: the Dikteon Cave in south-central Crete and the Ideon Cave on the highest mountain in Crete, Mount Ida or Psiloritis.
Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe, and Hephaestus.
Hermes realized what needed to be done and directed Hephaestus to take a wedge and split open Zeus's skull. Out of the skull sprang Athena, full grown and in a full set of armour.
Zeus was born of Titans Cronus and Rhea. Cronus was notorious for being a very jealous and greedy deity. Fearing that one of his children would take the throne away from him, Cronus devoured every child Rhea gave birth to.
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.
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.
Athena receives the baby Erichthonius from the hands of Gaia. Erichthonios grew in the womb of Gaia and, when he was born, Gaia passed him over to Athena to care for him.
Accounts Vary, But Some Estimate Zeus Might Have Had Around 92 Different Children. As with many Greek characters, different stories over the centuries give varying accounts on Zeus's life.
He was very afraid that one of his children would kill him just as he had murdered his own father. He was so worried he started to eat his own children after they were born, much to his wife Rhea's horror!
Kratos fought Zeus furiously and managed to deliver several powerful blows, as he stated he would kill Zeus for his actions. Enraged at his defiance, Zeus unleashed his full might on the vengeful warrior in the form of a deadly electrical storm. Kratos stabs Zeus with the Blade of Olympus.
Impregnation by Zeus
Nonnus classifies Zeus's affair with Semele as one in a set of twelve, the other eleven women on whom he begot children being Io, Europa, Plouto, Danaë, Aigina, Antiope, Leda, Dia, Alcmene, Laodameia, the mother of Sarpedon, and Olympias.
But representations of Zeus as a powerful young man also exist. Symbols or Attributes: Thunderbolt. Animal: Eagle. Strengths: Highly powerful, strong, charming, persuasive. Weaknesses: Gets in trouble over love, can be moody.
Semi-immortality: As a God, Zeus is incapable of dying due to old age. He is a lot older than most gods, being older than the Big Bang itself (making him over 13.8 billion years old).
Why is Zeus married to his sister? To hide her shame, Hera agreed to marry him. It was a violent marriage at best. Though Zeus had pursued his sister and sought to possess her by marriage, he never gave up his lusty ways.
Relevant Pages. Zeus is a god or character in old philosopher's myth. He débuts with his appearance in around 700 B.C. and usually ends at around the 9th Century. Zeus is the main greek God in Greek Mythology, the one with most mentions and appearances in his time.
Zeus is depicted with both fe- male and male aspects as he gives birth to the goddess Athena. Zeus is blessed by female embodiments of birth even as he completes birth in his own male way. This reflects patriarchal ideas in Greek society about the superiority of men and the male body.
Hebe was the youngest daughter to Zeus and his wife Hera. Her name came from the Greek word for 'youth', and it was thought she had the power to temporarily restore youth in a chosen few.
Another famous son of Zeus is the great hero Hercules, who we might all know as the iconic totem of masculinity and power. He was born a demigod, as his mother was the mortal woman Alcmene. Even from infancy Hercules showed great promise, strangling two snakes sent to his cradle by Zeus's jealous wife Hera.
Athena (Minerva), the goddess of war and wisdom, had a strange birth. Her father Zeus (Jupiter) had swallowed his pregnant consort Metis (“wisdom”), because he was afraid she would bear a son who would overthrow him.
Since Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was mortal, Perseus was able to slay her while looking at the reflection from the mirrored shield he received from Athena. During that time, Medusa was pregnant by Poseidon.
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 finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera. After courting her unsuccessfully he changed himself into a disheveled cuckoo. When Hera took pity on the bird and held it to her breast, Zeus resumed his true form and ravished her.
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 the history of homosexuality.
Hera. The most famous of Zeus' wives, Hera was also the sister of the father of the gods, and the goddess of women, marriage, family, and childbirth.