Zeus

Zeus is the Greek god of the sky, thunder, lightning, kingship, honour and justice. Throughout the series, Zeus is mentioned to be the most powerful god. He is the king of Olympus, the youngest son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea, and the husband of the goddess Hera. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter.
== History ==
=== Circumstances of Zeus' Birth ===
Zeus was the youngest child of Kronos, the Titan King of Mount Othrys, and his sister-wife Rhea. All of Zeus's elder siblings had been earlier devoured by Kronos, who was terrified that one of his children (who were gods, a more powerful race of immortals than the Titans) would ultimately overpower him as predicted by his father Ouranos/Uranus before Kronos cut him into pieces. Hence, determined to retain his place as king, Kronos consecutively swallowed Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon as soon as they were born in the fear of being overthrown. As a result, Kronos became known as "King Cannibal." Rhea pleaded with Kronos to spare their children, but with no success, since even Kronos' great love for Rhea was not enough to overpower his selfish and evil nature. A distraught Rhea soon heard the voice of Gaea, advising her to give birth to her final child (who would save his other siblings) on the island of Crete. Claiming that Koios, her clairvoyant brother had advised her to do so, Rhea successfully departed for Crete without any question from Kronos.
=== Rescuing his Siblings ===
On Crete, in a cave at the base of Mount Ida, Rhea gave birth to her sixth and final child. His name would be Zeus. Rhea gave her new-born son to the nine nymphs that attended his birth (including Hagno), and returned to Mount Orthys. She used a huge smooth boulder (which was probably a gift from Gaea) the same size and shape as a new-born (given to her by Gaea) to deceive Kronos, by wrapping it up in swaddling clothes, and pretending that it was her final child. Kronos swallowed it without even looking (which gave him an intense stomach-ache), and was successfully deceived. Throughout his childhood, Zeus was raised by Rhea (who visited him often), the nine nymphs, the loud Kouretes, and the goat Amaltheia. Rhea would often tell Zeus about his brothers and sisters, all of whom he was destined to rescue from his father's stomach.
When Zeus grew to adulthood, he successfully transformed into a Titanic version of himself, and (with help from his mother) infiltrated Mount Othrys by convincing Kronos to hire him as his royal cup bearer. With the help of his great singing and dancing skills (as well as his knowledge of many outrageously hilarious "satyr jokes"), Zeus was able to constantly entertain all of the Titans at Mount Othrys, even Kronos himself. Shortly thereafter, Zeus encouraged all of the male Titans to participate in drinking contests. As the Titan King of Mount Othrys, Kronos would always win, since he could not let his siblings or nephews overcome him in anything. Finally, the Titan King began trusting Zeus completely, which is exactly what the latter was waiting for.
One evening, when Kronos was dining together with his Titanic brothers and nephews, Zeus prepared a special set of drinks for them all. The god prepared nectar mixed with sleeping potion for Kronos' guests to knock them out, while he prepared an extremely powerful emetic (made from nectar mixed with mustard) for Kronos himself which would make him vomit everything that he had once eaten out. As before, Zeus entertained them all with his excellent singing, wild Kouretes' dance moves, and outrageously hilarious satyr jokes. Near the end of the Titanic banquet, Zeus encouraged all of the Titans to have yet another drinking contest, and handed out the prepared goblets. As before, Kronos won the contest, but Zeus' emetic was so powerful, that it forced him to instantly disgorge all of the contents of his stomach, in reverse order of swallowing: first the boulder, then Poseidon, followed by Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. All of them had been growing undigested in Kronos' stomach, being immortal gods. The other titans were also knocked out and unable to retaliate.
Zeus quickly introduced himself to his elder siblings, and they all promptly escaped Mount Othrys, before their Titanic father, uncles and cousins came to their senses. In Zeus' cave, at the base of Mount Ida, all six of them happily reunited with their mother, Rhea, who tearfully embraced all of her rescued children. Shortly thereafter, the gods accepted Zeus as their leader, and reached a unanimous consensus on declaring war against their father. However, since the Titans were well-armed, and the gods still had no weapons, Zeus decided to release his Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheire uncles from Tartarus first so that they could craft weapons for them.
=== Rescuing the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires ===
Zeus' eldest brother, Hades, was very skilled in navigating under the earth, and was able to lead them all into Tartarus (through a network of Underworld tunnels). There, imprisoned in the maximum-security zone, surrounded by huge bronze walls, and a lava moat, guarded fierce demons, were the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires. Their guardian, Kampê, was the most ferocious and fearsome monster in all of Tartarus, and even Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades initially shuddered with horror when they saw the infernal monster for the first time. However, the gods overcame their fear, and were able to sneak in. Zeus managed to talk to the Cyclopes Brontes, and convinced him to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings behind Kampê's back. The three Elder Cyclopes forged three incredibly powerful weapons: the Master Bolt (for Zeus), the Trident (for Poseidon), and the Helm of Darkness (for Hades). With these weapons, Zeus killed Kampê, and Poseidon shattered the chains of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, releasing them. Afterwards, Hades safely guided his siblings and uncles back out of Tartarus. In return, for their release, all six of Zeus' uncles agreed to fight on his side in the upcoming war with the Titans.
=== First Titan War ===
Shortly after their return from Tartarus, Zeus and his siblings officially declared war on Kronos and the other Titans, which resulted in the terrifying 11-year-long Titan War. The Titans initially had the upper hand, because they were much more experienced warriors. However, as the years of the war passed, the gods quickly became skilled warriors as well, and with the help of their new extremely powerful weapons (such as Zeus' Master Bolt, Poseidon's trident and Hades' Helm of Darkness, as well as the aid of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires (whose immense strength became extremely useful as the war progressed), the gods finally prevailed.
While preparing for the final battle of the war, Zeus and his siblings ascended to Mount Olympus (the tallest mountain in Greece after Mount Othrys). During the final battle, Zeus used his Master Bolt to shear off the top of Mount Othrys, and hurl Kronos from his Black Throne, defeating the Titan King. Shortly thereafter, the gods invaded the ruins of Mount Orthys, and finally overwhelmed the remaining Titans Atlas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios, and Koios.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Elder Cyclopes chained up all of the defeated Titans, while the Hekatonkheires forced them to kneel before Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus took his father's scythe and sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces. While the remaining titan lords hung their heads down in shame, Atlas laughed and mocked Zeus saying the sky would fall if the titans of the north, south, east and west were to be cast down to Tartarus. However, Zeus had already thought of that and punished Atlas by making him hold up the weight of the sky while the other titans involved in the war were banished down to Tartarus. Afterwards, Zeus offered the Hekatonkheires to return to Tartarus, this time as the jailers of the Titans, to which they readily agreed.
=== Becoming the King of the Olympian Gods ===
The gods chose Mount Olympus as their official residence, and the Elder Cyclopes built magnificent palaces there for them all. As a result, the gods started to call themselves the Olympians. Shortly thereafter, Zeus had a private meeting with his brothers, Poseidon and Hades, and the three brothers agreed to divide the world between themselves. Although it was Hades' birthright (as Kronos' eldest son) to be named his father's successor, he agreed to divide the Titan King's former domain with his brothers. Hades received the Underworld, Poseidon seized the seas (despite Oceanus still being there though he accepted this without conflict), and Zeus claimed the heavens as his domain. Shortly after this division, the three sons of Kronos came to be known as "The Big Three." However, Zeus' authority was recognized as superior to that of his brothers (probably due to him freeing his brothers and sisters), and so he became the king of the Olympian gods.
=== Marriage to Metis ===
Zeus took his childhood sweetheart Metis as his wife after the Titanomachy. Metis had served the King of Olympus as his adviser and mentor for much of his life. When his wife was pregnant, Zeus learned from her that she would give birth to two children; first a daughter and then a son who would one day overthrow him. Like his father and grandfather before him, Zeus tried to forestall this fate and, as Metis was about to give birth to their daughter, he tricked her into transforming into a fly and promptly swallowed her. Trapped inside Zeus, Metis gave birth to their daughter, Athena. Centuries later, after he had married Hera, Zeus suffered an unbearable headache and to relieve him of it, Hephaestus split Zeus' head open, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom and warfare, sprang forth.
=== Marriage to Themis ===
Shortly after swallowing Metis, Zeus took Themis, the Titaness of Divine Law and Justice, as his second wife. Themis gave birth to two pairs of triplets: the Horae (goddesses of the seasons), and the Fates (the three white-robed personifications of destiny). The Fates were already born as old women, which horrified both of their parents. After becoming the father of the Fates, Zeus, fearing the prospect of having even more intimidating children with Themis, advocated to end their marriage, to which the Titaness agreed, and peacefully stepped aside.
=== Hestia's Reluctance to Marriage ===
Meanwhile, Hestia decided to never marry due to numerous reasons: the first being that she could still remember her father swallowing her when she was a newborn, and how her mother had suffered under a husband who was a baby-swallowing cannibal. The second reason was Zeus himself swallowing Metis. Last but not least, when she saw the children of Zeus and Themis (particularly the Fates, who were feared by all), Hestia did not want to risk having children who were either disabled, or different, or strange.
Hence, when Poseidon and Apollo tried to court Hestia for marriage after Zeus had given them both permission to do so, she refused them both as courteously as she could, and declared her wish to never marry and be a virgin goddess eternally. She even offered to care for the hearth for all time, and do whatever she could to help out her family so long as her wish of eternal virginity and chastity was granted. Though somewhat confused by Hestia's explanations and subsequent requests, Zeus still approved of them, and henceforth his oldest sister became the official Goddess of the Hearth.
=== Relationship with Demeter ===
Shortly after ending his marriage with the Titaness Themis, Zeus courted his lovely sister Demeter. After transforming into a serpent, he successfully impregnated her. Zeus's and Demeter's affair resulted in a very beautiful daughter named Persephone. Though their relationship eventually ended, Demeter was still overjoyed as she loved Persephone dearly and would spend all her spare time with her. Persephone grew up without want, always staying close to her mother, and later became the goddess of springtime and flowers, and her mother even shared some of her power over the earth with her. Demeter cherished Persephone as the most important thing in her life, and spent all of her time with her.
=== Marriage to Hera ===
Soon after her return from Oceanus and Tethys (whom she stayed with to learn to control her quick temper) Hera caught the attention of Zeus himself. Since she was extremely intelligent and the most beautiful goddess in creation (before Aphrodite's birth), it was only natural that he would be attracted to her, but while Hera had strong feelings for him as well, she refused to be another conquest for the King of the Gods. However, Zeus was just as stubborn and would not be dissuaded. He applied his excellent singing, dancing, and joking skills to entertain and woo Hera, but she would not initially give in. Zeus made a bet with Hera that if she would ever confess her love for him, she would become his bride.
A few days later, Zeus proceeded to generate a tremendous thunderstorm around Olympus, and cunningly disguised himself as an injured cuckoo. The cuckoo flew into Hera's chambers, just as she was shutting her windows, and proceeded to fall on the marble floor. The sympathetic goddess took what she thought was an injured, defenceless creature in her arms, dried its feathers, and revived it with some divine nectar. On the next morning, the cuckoo did not seem inclined to leave, and affectionately rubbed its beak against Hera's finger. Hera admitted having grown quite fond of the bird herself, and gently cuddled it in her arms. At that very instant, the cuckoo transformed into mighty Zeus himself, still in Hera's embrace.
Although she was embarrassed and outraged by her brother's deception, Hera was still very impressed at Zeus' cleverness and resourcefulness. She finally agreed to become his consort on the condition that he married her, and remained loyal to her which was a promise Zeus broke by then siring many demigod children with mortals and nature spirits, which made Hera furious, causing her to usually curse the child. Their wedding (which was described as the most magnificent and grandiose wedding in history) was held in a spectacular celebration on Olympus, and was attended by many gods and neutral Titans. Zeus and Hera arrived on a huge golden chariot, steered by Eos (who illuminated the bride and bridegroom with brilliant rosy light), and the ceremony was lead by the three Fates themselves. Through her marriage to Zeus, Hera became the Queen of Mount Olympus and the Olympian gods. Zeus and Hera received great gifts from all of their wedding guests, but Hera's favourite was a magnificent apple tree (with golden apples) that she received from Gaea. Hera had the tree taken far off to the west, and planted in a beautiful orchard. Hera employed the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas, to guard the tree, but as the nymphs would occasionally pluck an apple from the tree themselves, she put a fierce one hundred headed dragon named Ladon there as well. This orchard was later named the Garden of the Hesperides.
The newlyweds enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon, and were both very happy with each other for 300 years, and had five divine children together: Ares (the god of war), Hebe (the goddess of youth), Eileithyia (the goddess of childbirth), Hephaestus (the god of fire and blacksmiths) and Enyo (the goddess of war). However, Zeus eventually became restless, and it was not long before he began the first of his many affairs. Hera was infuriated and frustrated to no end by his infidelity, and devoted most of her time to keeping Zeus in sight, as well as making the lives of his mistresses and illegitimate children miserable. Her hatred is most evident in the story of Hercules, whom she tried to kill repetitively.
=== Olympian Riot ===
Hera, enraged at her husband's infidelity, decided to start the first Olympian riot against Zeus. Hera managed to gain the support of Poseidon, as well as Apollo, and Athena. That evening, Apollo, Poseidon, and Athena hid themselves in the hall adjacent to Zeus' royal chambers, awaiting Hera's signal. As soon as Zeus had fallen asleep, all four of them quickly tightly bound the King of Olympus with unbreakable and tightening golden chains that Athena had created. Even chained up and completely immobilized, an infuriated Zeus still looked very intimidating. Finally, attempted to reason with his brother, and demanded that Zeus be a better ruler. Zeus refused, which prompted Hera to advocate leaving him chained up in his chambers until he agrees. Shortly thereafter, the four Olympians departed for the Throne Room for the first (and last) democratic meeting of the Olympian Council, which proved to be a very cumbersome task. Fortunately, the violently trashing and bellowing King of Olympus was found by the Nereid Thetis. After convincing Zeus to be merciful towards the rioting Olympians, Thetis managed to find the Hekatonkheire Briares by the sea shore. He was more than happy to save Zeus, recalling that he owed his own freedom from Tartarus and Kampê to him. Briares quickly unchained Zeus, after which the latter seized his Master Bolt, and barged into the Throne Room, violently ending the meeting. Zeus remained true to his word, and was merciful towards the rioters, but he still punished them all accordingly.
Poseidon and Apollo were temporarily stripped of their divinity and godly powers and subsequently forced to serve Laomedon, the mortal King of Troy. Laomedon ordered Apollo to shepherd his herds, and Poseidon to build huge new walls around the city of Troy with his bare hands. The famous Walls of Troy came to be extremely durable, and would later keep the Greek forces at bay for 10 long years in the Trojan War. A number of years later, after accomplishing his mission, Poseidon returned to Olympus, where Zeus finally ended Poseidon's exile, restoring his divinity and powers. However, due to Poseidon's riot, Zeus would gain a strong and lasting distrust for his brother which several thousand years later would cause him to suspect Poseidon stealing his Master Bolt. Zeus would also become very distrustful of Apollo as well.
Hera, however, received the most severe punishment of all: Zeus chained her right above the terrifying Void of Chaos. Every day, Zeus would visit her, and threaten to severe the chains with his Master Bolt, and watch her tumble into the Void. Hephaestus could hear the wails of his mother all the way from Olympus, which infuriated him, as he could not bear to hear her suffering such a harsh punishment. As a result, he finally set her free. Hera tearfully embraced him, and promised to never to call Hephaestus ugly ever again. Zeus, however, was infuriated. Hence, he violently stormed into Hephaestus' chambers, easily overpowered him, and flung Hephaestus all the way from Mount Olympus to Lemnos (which broke every bone in his body). In time, however, Hephaestus' wounds were healed, and he returned to Olympus. Zeus was somewhat ashamed of his past angry fit with his son, and (in a rare act) apologized and welcomed his son back with open arms.
== Appearance ==
Zeus is very tall, imposing, and very muscular, with shoulder-length black hair and a grey-and-black neatly trimmed beard. He has brilliant electrically-blue eyes with a serious and proud, but very handsome face. However, when Zeus is infuriated, his face becomes "as dark as a thundercloud." In addition, when he is saddened, Zeus' gaze seemed "as far away as the ozone layer" to Jason. Zeus' normal attire is a dark blue pinstriped suit. According to Percy, the air around Zeus smells like ozone, though Jason describes him smelling of "rain and clean wind" instead. In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus wears white robes with threads of gold, and is described as looking very intimidating even when he is completely immobilized and chained up. In his divine form, Zeus is described as being surrounded by a "massive column of twisting lightning and fire." While helping the Heroes of Olympus fight the Giants in The Blood of Olympus, Zeus rode into battle on a huge golden chariot, with the four wind gods (in equine form) pulling it, and Nike as his charioteer. While not wielding the Master Bolt, Zeus has it clipped to his belt. He sometimes wields the Aegis, which appears as either a bronze shield, with the fearsome visage of Medusa upon it, or a glowing mantle, that glitters "as if woven through with filaments of Imperial Gold."
== Personality ==
Zeus, as the most powerful god and the king of the gods, is very proud, commanding and has an extremely high amount of self-respect, almost to the point of sanctimoniousness, condescension and narcissism. He demands respect and precedence from mortals, demigods, and the other gods. One of the many examples of this is in The Lightning Thief when he was slightly irritated because Percy acknowledged Poseidon before himself. He also shamelessly interrupted Poseidon praising Percy in The Last Olympian when Poseidon inferred that Percy's bravery may have exceeded Hercules.
Despite being the god of honour and justice, with demanding high standards from others, Zeus himself does not always provide the best moral example. In fact, at times, he could be extremely paranoid, selfish, and hypocritical. The most evident example of his hypocrisy could be demonstrated through the oath taken by the Big Three to have no more demigod children: despite the fact that Hades had not broken the oath (since Bianca and Nico were born before the oath was taken), Zeus still attempted to murder his brother's children. Later on, he himself broke the oath by fathering Thalia and Jason, which forced both of them to endure the consequences of his broken oath. Even after Percy returned the Master Bolt to him and proved his innocence in the theft, he claimed Poseidon's fathering of Percy to be a severe crime.
If Zeus imagines that he is being plotted against or insulted, he can be very unforgiving. Zeus often allows his negative traits to override his better judgment. Zeus decisions are not always based on justice, but rather his personal whims and what he sees as best for himself, rather than the greater good. In some ways Zeus is lustful for power; it is evident in his title as king of the gods and his fear of his own brothers betraying or dethroning him.
Zeus has a tendency to hold grudges. Having a very strong and lasting distrust of Poseidon as he believes the latter had once attempted to overthrow the former from his throne. Zeus instantly blames Poseidon for anything that the latter could be guilty of in the barest despite having no evidence and all facts pointing to the contrary. For example, Zeus immediately blamed Poseidon for stealing his weapon without even understanding the entire situation. Later, he blames Apollo for hastening the second Gigantomachy, and continues to distrust him for participating in the attempted overthrow & for once killing several of the Elder Cyclopes to avenge the death of his son.
Zeus absolutely hates being humiliated and tries assigning blame to others to avoid making himself look at all bad. He blames Apollo and Hera for the second Gigantomachy, the conflicts between the Greek and Roman demigods, since Apollo assigned a new oracle who spoke the Prophecy of Seven and Hera took it upon herself to interpret it. However, in assigning blame, Zeus also ignores the facts that Apollo has little direct control or understanding of the prophecies made by the oracle, the Prophecy of the Seven was already foretold centuries before by the Sibylline Books and that the giants were already attempting to rise by World War II. If Hera had not acted, it would have been too late to do anything.
Zeus is noted to often be quite unreasonable especially if he has been proven wrong or made a fool of. He gets angry, tries to assign blame elsewhere, and takes any attempts of reasoning with him as challenges to his authority (or more likely judgment). The only thing one can do is wait for him to calm down and try to reason with him later.
Zeus's several flaws often get in the way of him being a good king. His refusal to change his decision when he is wrong, tendency to put himself before the other gods, or even admit a problem actually exists has put both Olympus and the world in danger numerous times. Hence, it has been noted that it is actually Hera who holds Olympus together and without her the gods would quickly implode.
Despite being the ruler of the universe, Zeus is also prone to making huge tactical blunders, which throws Olympus safety into jeopardy. He didn't bother to maintain a standing army to defend Olympus, throwing the responsibility on Percy, Annabeth and Chiron. Despite repeated warnings, he gathered all the gods to fight Typhon, when the real threat was Kronos. Zeus didn't bother to take immediate action against the rising Titans, much to Percy's dismay. In spite of his extreme recklessness in facing Typhon, he dedicated all of his energies into defeating the monster, to such an extent that he wouldn't let Athena leave the clash because she was his greatest strategist, showing a fair deal of tactical skill. That said, subsequently he didn't bother to stop the Giants immediately either. Instead he made it worse by cutting off communication with the demigods.
Zeus apparently has a flair for dramatic exits and is a quite a show-off, a trait Poseidon pointed out to Percy, saying that Zeus would have done well as the god of theatre.
Despite his several flaws, Zeus does have a somewhat respectable side. He does love his children, but cannot show as much love as the other gods do, as he is the leader and must set an example. Rhea also confirmed in The Hidden Oracle that Zeus (her youngest son) was a father who firmly believed in expressing paternal love or concern in a strict way to make his children behave responsibly. It also cannot seem that he is merely choosing favourites. Despite this, he often does play favourites, especially with his daughters: he insisted that Percy's birth is a crime in itself, though he himself did no better than Poseidon by fathering Thalia. He also favours Artemis over Apollo, despite the fact that they both disobey him at times, and Artemis has confirmed that Zeus has never been able to stay angry at her for long, since she has the ability to charm him into forgiving her. His intense favour of Athena is evident as well, especially given how she was not punished despite aiding in Hera's attempt to overthrow him. He also has been seen to be capable of being impressed and showing affection for his children, as when Thalia was on the brink of death due to Hades' monsters, which were sent to kill specifically her as Hades wanted revenge against Zeus for Maria’s death, Zeus took pity on his daughter, likely since her situation was partially caused by Zeus, and rather than letting her die and go to the Underworld and face Hades' wrath, he turned her into a tree so she could live and later voted to spare Thalia and openly said she had done well.
However, Zeus is still quick to turn on his children if he feels they have somehow insulted him or challenged his authority. An example of this could be seen again in The Hidden Oracle, where Apollo revealed that Zeus had a habit of threatening his children with his lightning bolts, and he also confirmed that his father was not the type of person who could overlook or dismiss what he deems to be great insults.
Although Zeus could be short-tempered and vengeful, he is also capable of sympathizing with those who had suffered the same injustices that he and the other gods suffered in their lives. A clear example of this can be found in The Titan's Curse, where he was the most willing to kill the Ophiotaurus due to the risk that it posed to the gods. However, after Percy pointed out that what the gods wished to do was the same thing that Kronos had tried to do with them in the past, Zeus was the first god to acknowledge the injustice and reconsider his decision.
Last but not least, as revealed in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus does have a witty and charming side to his usually strict, prim, and serious persona, but he very rarely demonstrated it. Thanks to his knowledge of many outrageously hilarious satyr jokes, he also had a sense of humour.
== Abilities ==
On multiple occasions, Zeus is stated to be the most powerful god. In The Tower of Nero, Apollo states that Zeus is the most powerful and feared god. Finally, throughout Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, its stated that Zeus is the strongest god with the most destructive capabilities. As one of the Big Three, Zeus has the ultimate powers a god can possess, and is rivalled only by his brothers, Poseidon and Hades, although Zeus considers himself to be stronger than his brothers. He possesses the standard physical and magical superiority inherent in all gods, though to a much greater degree due to his status as one of the oldest Olympians as well as one of the Big Three. Even Gaea refers to Zeus as "the first among the gods."
* Massive Strength: Zeus has incredible physical prowess, and in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he is mentioned being able to lift and hurl entire mountains at his enemies. Most notably, Zeus was able to crush and imprison Typhon himself (the only known being with strength superior to his own) by hurling Mount Etna on top of him. Also, when Hephaestus angered him, Zeus easily overpowered him, and flung his son all the way from Mount Olympus to Lemnos. This is especially impressive because Hephaestus is one of the physically strongest Olympians in creation, exponentially exceeding the likes of Ares. In The Blood of Olympus, Zeus was able to fling the Argo II all the way from Athens to Camp Half-Blood, halfway across the world at supersonic speeds.
* Battle Prowess: Zeus is an extremely skilled, formidable and experienced warrior. He thus easily overpowered his son, Hephaestus, defeated the infamously terrifying Kampê, battled his Titan father Kronos, and even held his own against the more powerful Typhon. That particular battle was incredibly difficult and long, and both Dionysus and Hephaestus - enormously powerful Olympians - were forcibly, violently removed from the fight with critically brutal injuries, which contributes to Zeus's mastery of combat techniques and strategy. Despite this, he recognized that there were those more strategically skilled and knowledgeable than him, as he considered Athena to be his finest strategist in the battle against Typhon.
* Atmokinesis: As the God of the Sky, Zeus has absolute control over the weather and can create any weather condition.
** Hydrokinesis (limited): Zeus brought about a global flood by causing tremendous torrents of water to pour down from the heavens all over the world for nine days and nights. As a result, the entire world was flooded (except for the highest mountains), and most of the human race was destroyed. Deucalion and Pyrrha were among the few that survived this great calamity.
** Hyetokinesis: As the God of Weather, he has absolute control and divine authority over rain, as well he can choose whether it's going to rain, or even decide when it should stop.
** Hailstorms: Zeus can create any weather condition and can summon powerful hailstorms that annihilate his opponents. When Zeus fought Typhon, he summoned a hailstorm to tear apart Typhons large body.
** Tornadoes: Zeus can create any weather condition, and that includes powerful tornadoes.
** Hurricanes: Zeus can create any weather condition, and that includes powerful hurricanes and cyclones.
** Thunderstorms: Zeus is notorious for summoning the most powerful thunderstorms. Whenever Zeus is unpleased, a fierce thunderstorm appears instantly that shakes the very ground which was shown in The Blood of Olympus.
** Electrokinesis: As the God of Thunder and Lightning, Zeus has absolute control over both static and celestial electricity, which grants him the abilities of:
*** Lightning Generation: Zeus can generate tremendous bolts of lightning from his fingertips.
*** Static Electric Shocks: Zeus can send great amounts of static shock through the bodies of others on contact.
*** Electrical Immunity: Zeus is completely immune to any amount of electricity.
*** Master Bolt: Zeus's most powerful weapon, the Master Bolt, is stupendously powerful (generating many tremendous white-hot lightning bolts simultaneously), easily making a hydrogen bomb look like a firecracker in comparison. When Zeus hurls it at Typhon, the blast "lights up the world", nearly knocks the colossal monster off-balance, and Percy can feel the shock-wave many miles away. In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus used his Master Bolt to swiftly raze the entire city of Salmonia to oblivion after Salmoneus pretended to be Zeus. Finally, Zeus's masterbolt is stated to be the most powerful weapon in the world.
** Aerokinesis: As the God of the Sky, Zeus has absolute control over air. He has the same aerokinetic powers as his son, Jason, only to an infinitely more advanced level, enabling him to perform feats such as:
*** Wind Generation: Zeus can generate tremendously powerful hurricanes and tornadoes at will. A notable example was when he generated a massive thunderstorm around Mount Olympus while attempting to win favour with Hera.
*** Air Ropes: As the Lord of the Sky, Zeus had divine authority over all 4 Wind Gods, whom he bound and harnessed to his war chariot with tightly wound ropes of wind that he generated.
*** Inhalation: Zeus sucked Metis into his stomach through his mouth with a mini-tornado.
*** Flight: Zeus could manipulate the air currents around him to hover and fly at great speeds.
*** Nephelokinesis: Zeus made an indistinguishable living replica of Hera out of a cloud, which King Ixion later seduced, giving birth to the first centaurs.
*** Air Waves: According to Hephaestus, Zeus' domain also includes the air waves, as he was able to dete Hephaestus' pirate radio in The Lost Hero.
* Immortality Granting: Zeus has been shown to grant Immortality as he offered Percy in The Last Olympian and called it "the greatest gift of the Gods". He possibly would have granted Immortality to his worthy sons like Hercules, Dionysus etc.
* Immortality Removal: This is by far Zeus's most feared ability. Unlike the other gods, Zeus can strip another god of their immortality and godly powers. He can remove the powers of other gods, even powerful gods like Poseidon and Apollo and reduce them to practically mortals. As seen in The Trials of Appolo where Apollo's godly status was stripped, and he had to prove himself worthy of it to gain it back.
* Supernatural Sight: As the God of the Sky, Zeus has incredibly keen vision, as seen in Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, when he manages to see Danaë, who was trapped inside of an underground bronze cell. He was later able to mentally zoom in and clearly perceive Phaethon driving Helios' Sun Chariot.
* Height Manipulation: Zeus can tremendously increase his height, shown in The Blood of Olympus, when he grows 100 feet tall before hurling the Argo II all the way from Athens to Camp Half-Blood. In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus grows even taller, until he is half as tall as the Storm Giant Typhon.
* Chlorokinesis (limited): In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, to help Hades kidnap Persephone, Zeus caused the earth to grow several magnificent fields of flowers, each one more colourful and fragrant than the one before it. The roses he caused to grow did not even have thorns, and their beauty and fragrance was such that it made Persephone giddy and lured her further away from her chaperones. This shows that, despite his status as a sky god, Zeus has a level of control over the earth and its natural elements.
* Knowledge of Plants: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus had an extensive knowledge of the properties of herbs and plants, which he learned from the nymphs who raised him. As a result, he was able to brew an extremely powerful emetic, a single goblet of which caused Kronos to regurgitate all five of his swallowed children (as well as the boulder that Rhea used to impersonate him with).
* Madness Curing: In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus cured Dionysus of the madness beset upon him by Hera.
* Justice Control: As the God of Justice and Honour, Zeus maintains control over the other deities by preventing their feuds from escalating to epic proportions, and ensuring the overall order of the world by handing down and enforcing justice. A good example in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods is when Zeus assembles the first ever Olympian trial for the murder of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius by Ares, with Zeus himself as the Chief Justice. As a result, Ares was justly acquitted.
* Shapeshifting: Zeus had always had a talent for shapeshifting, even transforming himself into a Titanic version to deceive his father and the other Titans. Later on, he frequently transformed himself into other shapes to seduce those whom he fell in love with. As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus has transformed himself several animals to woo different women (and sometimes men). Those include a bull (for Europa), an eagle (for Ganymede), a swan (for Leda), a cuckoo (for Hera), an ant (for Eurymedousa), a serpent (for Demeter), Artemis (for Kallisto), Amphitryon (for Alcmene) and even a dazzling shower of gold (for Danaë in Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes).
* Transfiguration: Zeus transforms thousands of ants into an army of hardened and fearless human warriors (who would later become known as the Myrmidones) at the request of his son Aeacus. He would later transform his girlfriend Io into a cow, Lycaon into the first werewolf, and his daughter Thalia into a pine tree.
* Teleportation: Zeus can disappear in "a blinding flash of lightning."
* Control of Animals: Zeus can summon and control animals that are sacred to him, shown when he sends a huge golden eagle to punish Prometheus and later another one to assist Psyche.
* Entertainment Skills: During his time as a servant on Mount Othrys, Zeus was revealed to be an excellent entertainer, being able to sing, dance, and joke, all skills that he acquired from the Kouretes that helped raise him. Zeus's singing was said to be "as clear as the streams on Mount Ida", and his satyr jokes were outrageously hilarious. His entertainer skills enabled him to win favour with all of the Titans at Mount Othrys, even Kronos himself, such that they grew to harbour no suspicions of his true intentions at all. Zeus also later applied these skills again to woo his beautiful sister, Hera.
* Lie Detector: Zeus is able to sense when people lie or tell the truth.
== Attributes ==
* Master Bolt (symbol)
* Aegis robe-shield (symbol, which he and Athena use interchangeably)
* Eagle (animal)
* Sceptre
== Attendants ==
Zeus has several loyal attendants, such as the four Wind Gods (Boreas, Notus, Zephyrus, and Eurus, all of whom pulled his war chariot), Nike (the Goddess of Victory, who serves as Zeus' charioteer), Hermes (his son and messenger), and Ganymede (his cup-bearer and lover).
== Family ==
== Etymology ==
The name Zenus comes from the proto - Indo - European root / word Deus, meaning god. D evolved into Z in Greek, but was specifically used for Zeus's name. Both gods and mortals referred to Zeus as Pater Zeus (Father Zeus) or Zeus Pater (Zeus Father).His name, according to Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, meant life.
== Trivia ==
* Zeus can mean "day" in Ancient Greek. However, it could also mean "shining" or "life".
* Zeus is the only Elder Olympian who was not born on Mount Othrys, since he was born in a cave at the base of Mount Ida on Crete.
* Interestingly, Zeus is the only Olympian who has ever turned into a "Titanic" version of himself for disguise.
* Zeus is an excellent singer and dancer. He also knows many outrageously hilarious "Satyr jokes".
* Zeus trying to prevent the First Great Prophecy from happening actually caused the Great Prophecy to eventually happen:
** When he tried to kill Nico and Bianca di Angelo so they wouldn't become the demigods of the prophecy, he only managed to kill their mother.
** When the Oracle of Delphi told Hades this would happen, he became so angry that he cursed the Oracle so that her soul would never leave her body.
** May Castellan decades later tried to become the new Oracle, but failed and was driven insane.
** Her son, Luke Castellan, hates his father for never helping him, especially during one of his mom's fits of madness.
** This hatred eventually extends to all the gods, leading to the events depicted in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
* In The Lost Hero, Clovis states that Zeus likes tailored suits, reality television, and a 'Chinese food place on East Twenty-eighth Street'.
* The Olympic Games, originally founded in 776 BC, were a set of religious festivals in Ancient Greece held ever four years in honour of Zeus.
* Jupiter, the largest planet of the Solar system, is named after Zeus' Roman counterpart.
* Zeus is the only Olympian that wields a weapon that cannot be used by mortals.
* Zeus's Egyptian counterpart (in terms of supreme authority) is Ra, though in terms of attributes, Zeus has much more in common with Amun.
* Zeus's Norse counterpart (in terms of supreme authority) is Odin, though in terms of attributes, Zeus has much more in common with Thor. In actual historical religion, he might have been analogous with Tyr, since both are derived from the same Proto-Indo-European god, Dyḗus Ph2tḗr.
* Zeus's Hindu counterpart is Indra.
* Helios, Greek god of the sun, was sometimes referred to as "the eye of Zeus".
* It seems likely that Zeus/Jupiter is the one that limits a God's time with their mortal lovers, with Jupiter showing a particular distaste for Roman Gods associating with mortals for more than an extended period of time.
== Gallery ==
Category:Characters
Category:Greek Gods
Category:Olympians
Category:Big Three
Category:Kings
Category:Children of Kronos
Category:Children of Rhea
Category:Immortals