Zeus was the youngest child of Cronus and Rhea. As well
as the god of the sky, Zeus was also the god of social
customs-the protector of kings and of strangers. The Roman Jupiter was, even
more, the embodiment of the state and its irresistible military power.
He was married to Hera, though he is famous for his amorous adventures
that resulted in many offspring. Cronus sired children by his wife Rhea, but,
like his father before him, he was a tyrant, swallowing the children as soon as
they were born. When Zeus, Rhea's last child, was born, she instead gave Cronus
a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he unwittingly swallowed. Rhea
secretly took the infant Zeus to Crete, where he was raised in a cave.
Followers called Curetes beat their shields outside the cave to hide the
infant's crying.
When Zeus grew up, he overthrew Cronus and forced him to vomit up the
children he had swallowed. There followed the Titanomachy, or battle against
the Titans, in which, thanks to the thunderbolt manufactured by the Cyclopes,
Zeus and the Olympians were victorious. Despite his supremacy Zeus was not
omnipotent. He was challenged by other gods and was subject to Fate.
by Barry
Powell, 30 Second Mythology
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