Zeus  

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Image:Danae.jpg
Danae (1907-08) by Gustav Klimt depicting Zeus, the master of metamorphosis, as a golden shower.
Image:Jupiter and Thetis.jpg
Jupiter and Thetis (1811) by Ingres, Thetis is depicted in the painting by Ingres as pleading at the knees of Zeus: "She sank to the ground beside him, put her left arm round his knees, raised her right hand to touch his chin, and so made her petition to the Royal Son of Cronos" (Iliad, I).

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Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull and the oak. Zeus is frequently envisaged by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty.

The son of Cronus and Rhea, he was the youngest of his siblings. He was married to Hera in most traditions, although at the oracle of Dodona his consort was Dione: according to the Iliad, he is the father of Aphrodite by Dione. Accordingly, he is known for his erotic escapades, including one pederastic relationship with Ganymede. His trysts resulted in many famous offspring, including Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Persephone (by Demeter), Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen, Minos, and the Muses (by Mnemosyne); by Hera he is usually said to have sired Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus.

His Roman counterpart was Jupiter, and his Etruscan counterpart was Tinia.

He is known for his shapeshifting abilities, especially when he wanted to seduce. He transforms himself into a cloud (he hid himself in a cloud with Io), a golden shower with Danae, a swan with Leda, a bull with Europa, depending on whether he needed to be charming and beautiful or powerful and frightening in his conquest.

The film Clash of the Titans (1981) has a dialogue on Zeus's promiscuousness:

[discussing Zeus' womanizing]
Thetis: So many women, and all these transformations and disguises he invents in order to seduce them. Sometimes a shower of gold, sometimes a bull or a swan. Why, once he even tried to ravish me disguised as a cuttlefish.
Hera: Did he succeed?
Thetis: Certainly not.
Athena: What did you do?
Thetis: Beat him at his own game. I simply turned myself into a shark.
[they laugh]

Contents

Consorts and children

By divine mothers

Mother
<center>Children
Aix

Aegipan<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 155</ref>

Ananke*
  1. Moirae (Fates)*
    1. Atropos
    2. Clotho
    3. Lachesis
Demeter
  1. Persephone
  2. Zagreus
Dione
  1. Aphrodite
Thalassa Aphrodite
Gaia
  1. Orion
  2. Manes father of Atys
Hera
  1. Ares
  2. Eileithyia
  3. Eris
  4. Hebe
Eos
  1. Ersa
  2. Carae
Eris
  1. Limos (aka Limus)
Leto
  1. Apollo
  2. Artemis
Maia
  1. Hermes
Metis
  1. Athena
Mnemosyne
  1. Muses (Original three)
    1. Aoide
    2. Melete
    3. Mneme
  2. Muses (Later nine)
    1. Calliope
    2. Clio
    3. Erato
    4. Euterpe
    5. Melpomene
    6. Polyhymnia
    7. Terpsichore
    8. Thalia
    9. Urania
Persephone
  1. Zagreus
  2. Melinoe
Selene
  1. Ersa
  2. Nemean Lion
  3. Pandia
Themis
  1. Astraea
  2. Nemesis
  3. Horae
    1. First Generation
      1. Auxo
      2. Carpo
      3. Thallo
    2. Second Generation
      1. Dike
      2. Eirene
      3. Eunomia
    3. Third generation
      1. Pherusa
      2. Euporie
      3. Orthosie
  4. Moirae (Fates)*
    1. Atropos
    2. Clotho
    3. Lachesis

Template:ColBreak

Mortal/nymph/other mother

<center>Mother <center>Children
Aegina Aeacus
Alcmene Heracles (Hercules)
Antiope
  1. Amphion
  2. Zethus
Callisto Arcas
Carme Britomartis
Danaë Perseus
Elara
  1. Tityas
Electra
  1. Dardanus
  2. Iasion
Europa
  1. Minos
  2. Rhadamanthys
  3. Sarpedon
Eurynome Charites(Graces)
  1. Aglaea
  2. Euphrosyne
  3. Thalia
Himalia
  1. Kronios
  2. Spartaios
  3. Kytos
Iodame Thebe
Io
  1. Epaphus
  2. Keroessa
Lamia
Laodamia Sarpedon
Leda
  1. Polydeuces (Pollux)
  2. Castor
  3. Helen of Sparta (of Troy)
Maera Locrus
Niobe
  1. Argus
  2. Pelasgus
Olympias Alexander III of Macedon
Othreis Meliteus
Plouto Tantalus
Podarge
  1. Balius
  2. Xanthus
Pyrrha Hellen
Semele Dionysus
Taygete Lacedaemon
Thalia Palici
Unknown mother Litae
Unknown mother Tyche
Unknown mother Ate

Template:EndMultiCol

*The Greeks variously claimed that the Fates were the daughters of Zeus and the Titaness Themis or of primordial beings like Nyx, Chaos or Anake.

† He is described as being "Earth-born" and was gestated buried beneath the ground; this is Gaia's domain, though she had no direct involvement in his birth or development. Other versions of his parentage include a version of the former excluding Poseidon and one with solely Poseidon and Euryale as his parents.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Zeus" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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