Claim: Zeus is the child of Rhea.

Zeus -LSB- ˈzju : s -RSB- -LRB- Ζεύς , Zeús , -LSB- zdeǔ̯s -RSB- Modern Δίας , Días -LSB- ˈði.as -RSB- -RRB- is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion , who ruled as king of the gods of Mount Olympus . His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter . His mythologies and powers are similar , though not identical , to those of the Indo-European deities such as Indra , Jupiter , Perun , Thor , and Odin .   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 , Hebe , and Hephaestus . At the oracle of Dodona , his consort was said to be Dione , by whom the Iliad states that he fathered Aphrodite . Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades . These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring , including Athena , Apollo , Artemis , Hermes , Persephone , Dionysus , Perseus , Heracles , Helen of Troy , Minos , and the Muses .   He was respected as an allfather who was chief of the gods and assigned the others to their roles : `` Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father , and all the gods rise in his presence . '' He was equated with many foreign weather gods , permitting Pausanias to observe `` That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men '' . Zeus ' symbols are the thunderbolt , eagle , bull , and oak . In addition to his Indo-European inheritance , the classical `` cloud-gatherer '' -LRB- Greek : Νεφεληγερέτα , Nephelēgereta -RRB- also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the ancient Near East , such as the scepter . Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses : standing , striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand , or seated in majesty .