Zeus

The King of the Olympians (Art by Heinrich Füger)

**Zeus**, also known as **Jupiter**, the **God of Lightning** and the **King of all Greco-Roman Gods**, is the Olympian God son of Cronus and Rhea, husband of Hera and father of Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, and many other gods and demigods. He is the national god of the Greek pantheon and the king of the Dodekatheon.

## Overview

He is respected as a typical God-father of all who was the head of the gods and assigned others their roles. He was equated with many foreign weather gods, such as El the Canaanite God of the Desert. It is believed that Zeus will be destroyed and dethroned in the future (probably in the Greek Apocalypse, the End of Works and Days).

Zeus' reputation for violence often caused men to tremble in fear for he could easily punish them with one of his thunderbolts. Of course, he would give them a fair warning before the final, destructive bolt, and punishment was usually carried out only with the consent of the other gods.

## Appearance

Zeus possesses blue eyes and white hair that goes all the way down to his shoulders. He also has a white beard and is usually seen wearing a white tunic. Zeus was most often portrayed with a long, white beard, and his symbol was the eagle atop a scepter which he carried as he sat upon his majestic throne.

## Personality

Zeus is very well known for his many affairs, which greatly enraged Hela. Zeus has slept with countless women, with his most well known children from his affairs being Hermes, Artemis, Apollo, Heracles, and Perseus.

Despite Zeus' near-never ending lust for "magnificent women", as his fellow gods describe it, and infidelity towards Hera (his sister/wife), he was still the upholder of the universal order. Zeus brought justice upon humans in an attempt to make them better, make them more enlightened and educated. He would most often punish oathbreakers, liars, and violators of sacred hospitality.

He is a strict adherent and follower to the universal code of rule of the Council of Godheads and the celestial laws decreed by God, the supreme being of the Multiverse. Anyone who taints or disobeys the law, according to him, must receive a rightful punishment. He is also possesses a strong and moral sense of justice, and can be seen as a benevolent god of Olympus, taking pity/mercy towards the innocents and people who ask for his forgiveness.

His benevolence is such, that he empowers his champions and demigod children who cry out for his help and mercy, and bestows them with tremendous power, by further punishing the wicked and evil doers. He also hates prideful arrogance and hypocriticism, knowing how much damage it can do to a person (despite admitting that he is one of its victims), and so he will cast severe punishments towards the guilty/sinners and justice towards the innocents. He also assisted the Greeks during the Greco-Persian War, by storming the persian navy, using thunder storms, rainfalls, and tidal waves, much to the Greeks' joy.

He is strict and can be sometimes cruel in his rulership, yet he is benevolent and fair to his subjects, children, servants, and worshippers. His job and status as chief deity makes him sometimes a cruel and arrogant king, specially when he is obsessive to claim things that he wants to, as he always puts himself in a higher position in the other gods. But when it comes to important matters, he is honorable and just; for example he almost always honors his subjects' decisions. He can also be (at times) very carefree, easygoing, and laid back in his job and status as a chief deity like Odin and his brother, Poseidon.

He can be also remorseful for his past wrongdoings and infidelity, especially towards Hera, due to her duty as the patron goddess of birth, the absence of personal time they don't have together due to working overtime and the women that he had affairs and sired sons with (this spot in his behavior possibly stems from his previous marriage and he's deeply saddened due to imprisoning his wife in his stomach). He loves his family above all, including his many demigod children as he sees, observes, and guides them from the heavens. He holds his mother, Rhea, in high regard, and has always been appreciating her a lot, despite the fact that she is among the Titans (along with Prometheus, Helios, Leto, Metis, Leda, Themis, and some others) that he spared during the Titanomachy.

## Powers and Abilities

As the king of the Dodekatheon gods and the god of the sky, Zeus possesses the power needed to rightfully claim these titles. He has been regarded numerous times as the most powerful of all the Dodekatheon gods, with very few other deities in the Greek pantheon surpassing him; these particular deities being the Primordials, and his two elder brothers Poseidon and Hades, who are the only Dodekatheon gods able to rival him in power. Compared to Hades and Poseidon, however, Zeus is a "shade" more powerful than the two. His power is noted by Dʰéǵʰōm during her warning to Cronus that he would be strong enough to usurp his father, which he successfully did, and that he along with his siblings would be a new breed of divinity that outclass their own parents.

As the god of the sky, Zeus has total control over the weather and storms, being able to conjure powerful lightning at a whim and able to throw said lightning with extreme precision. His control over storms is also notably prominent whenever he loses his temper, showing that his emotions, like the other gods, are tied to his powers. This is demonstrated when he instinctively summons thunder and lightning when angered and storm clouds when he is sufficiently frustrated. Zeus' power in terms of lightning is so immense that a single lightning bolt tossed by him was said to have evaporated the oceans, and another to have created tremors so strong the land was upheaved drastically. Moreover, his handling of his own power was made evident when he wielded the Master Bolt, arguably his most powerful weapon and symbol of office, and used it to defeat the Titans and other Eldritch beasts. The Master Bolt itself was more than capable of even making the mighty Cthulhu stagger from the sheer force of its blows.

Naturally, being a god, Zeus has a vast arsenal of abilities, making him one of the strongest gods. One of his more prominent abilities is shapeshifting, as he would use it constantly to seduce and lay with many mortal women or goddesses. He could teleport from one place to another in a flash, to the point where he even could appear in Hades' realm without the need of any transportation. He was also capable of transmuting or metamorphing objects or people, as in many Greek myths Zeus would turn certain individuals into animals, objects, or even celestial bodies like stars. He could also breathe life into inanimate objects or create life in other things such as clouds. Zeus' power warrants him to be one of the leading heads of the Council of Godheads, and he is often compared to the likes of his fellow chief gods Odin, Ra, and Indra.

In the End he ate the Orphic Egg, becoming one with the Universe itself.

* **Lightning Manipulation**: Zeus is the god of lightning, therefore he can shoot lightning bolts from his hands or create energy constructs.

### Equipment

* **The Aegis**: Forged by Hephaestus as a gift to his father, this is the legendary golden shield of Zeus, adorned with the carving of a Gorgon’s head. When shaken, it is able to summon gusts of wind.
* **The Harpe**: The Harpe is a legendary scythe that was used by Zeus’ father, Cronus, to castrate his grandfather, Dyēus. During the Titanomachy, Zeus defeated Cronus and acquired the scythe, which he later used in his fight against Typhoeus.
* **The Master Bolt**: By far Zeus’ most powerful and terrifying weapon, the Master Bolt is a weapon forged by the Cyclopes after they were released from the earth and given to Zeus to aid him against the Titans in the Titanomachy. It is a two foot long cylinder made of Celestial Bronze capable of summoning lightning powerful enough to evaporate entire oceans and even stagger Typhoeus.

## History

Zeus was born to Cronus and Rhea. He is the youngest of six siblings with his older brothers and sisters being Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Cronus, out of fear that his children will overthrow him, swallowed all of them, except Zeus, who was saved by his mother Rhea.

When he reached manhood, Zeus freed his siblings from Cronus’s stomach. In one version, Metis tricked Cronus into drinking something that forced him to throw up Zeus’s siblings. In another version, Zeus cut Cronus's stomach open and freed his brothers and sisters one by one. After freeing his siblings, he released the Gigantes, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus, killing their jailer, Kampe, in the process.

As a sign of thanks and a way for Zeus to defeat the Titans, the Cyclopes forged the Master Bolt and gave it to him. They also crafted the Helm of Darkness and a trident for Hades and Poseidon respectively. With the help of his siblings, the Gigantes, Hecatonchires, and Cyclopes, Zeus overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in a terrible ten-year war called the Titanomachy. When the war drew to an end, Zeus punished his enemies. Atlas was forced to hold up the sky while the rest of the Titans that fought against the gods were casted into Tartarus.

After the Titanomachy, Zeus divided Earth’s territories with his brothers Poseidon and Hades by drawing lots: Zeus got the sky, Poseidon got the sea, and Hades got the Underworld. The land was to be shared by all of them along with their sisters. While all seemed well at first, Dʰéǵʰōm created the monsters Typhoeus and Echidna to overthrow Zeus as she was angry at how he treated the Titans. While Zeus defeated Typhoeus by trapping him under Mount Etna, he allowed Echidna and her children (most of whom would later be killed by the Greek heroes), to live.

When the Greco-Roman era ended, Zeus and the rest of the gods retreated to their palaces on Mount Olympus and observed humanity on their thrones.

## Myths and Legends

The name "Zeus" comes from the Proto-Indo-European term "Dyēus", while his Roman name, Jupiter, has a Latin origin; Jupiter comes from Iup (light in Latin and have his origin in the Proto-Indo-European word Dyēus) and Piter (father in Latin and have his origin in the Proto-Indo-European word ph₂tḗr).

## Trivia

* His name "Zeus" means "to shine" or "sky, heaven, or god".
	+ According to Plato, his name means "cause of life always to all things".
* In Christian tradition, he is associated with Saint Barnabas.
* Zeus is said to be the biggest fan of the Proto-Indo-European Dyēus.
* Theologians have equated Zeus with Amun, Hadad, Thor, Perun, Indra, Perkūnas, Tinia, Zojz, and Sabaoth.