When we hear about Zeus we generally think of him as the unchallenged, all-powerful king of the Greek gods who lived on the perfect world of the gods, Mt. Olympus. But was he always that way? Where did he come from? Where did Olympus come from? Was Zeus simply born into rulership or did he fight for his power? There is only one way to find out for sure, go back to the beginning.
According to the Greeks, in the beginning there was nothing, only a dark and chaotic void known as Chaos. Although chaos was not a being, it held great power, enough power to create life. Somewhere along the way Chaos created the first titans; first it created Eros (love) then Gaia. Although it is not quite clear how the titans and their powers worked, it seems like each titan was a different part of nature or life, thus each one had the ability to manipulate or create whatever part of nature they were, while at the same time they themselves were a separate entity from the nature that we live in.. Gaia was the earth. After Chaos created her, she made the earth we know, and it seems like she was believed to live in (or at one with) it and keep it functioning the way it should. After creating Gaia, Chaos created Tartaros, or hell. He was placed far beneath the earth, where the souls of the evil (or simply the souls of those who had upset someone much stronger than them) were tortured for eternity. Chaos then created Erebos (darkness) and Nyx (night), who reproduced and created Aither (Brightness) and Hemera (Day).
After Gaia's creation, although she had no sexual relations, she gave birth to a son, the titan Oranos (the sky), then to another Ourea (the mountains), and finally Pontus (the sea). Gaia took Oranos as her mate and together they created the first twelve titans, the three Kyklopes (Cyclopes) and the three Hecatonchires, monsters with 100 hands and fifty heads. The titans were called Oceanos, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetos, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Kronos. The Kyklopes were named Brontes, Steropes, and Arges, and the Hecatonchires were named Kottos, Briareos, and Gyges.
By the time Gaia had had her children, Oranos had declared himself king of the cosmos (the sky, the earth, and Tartaros, for the Greeks believed that's all there was. They believed that if you dropped a rock from heaven in seven days it would reach earth, and in another seven days it would reach Tartaros). Oranos was disgusted with his children, the Hecatonchires and feared the strength of the Kyklopes, so he locked them away somewhere inside Gaia, although some say he locked them in Tartaros.
After Oranos imprisoned the Kyklopes and the Hecatonchires in her, Gaia was furious. She secretly had a large sickle crafted, out of the mythical metal adamantine. Once she had the sickle, Gaia summoned her sons together and presented them with it. She instructed them to attack Oranos and castrate him, destroying his pride and making him unfit to rule.
Although his siblings were unwilling to do this, Kronos happily took the sickle and led his brothers against their father. Waiting until the moment was right, Kronos instructed four of his brothers, Hyperion, Krios, Koios and Iapetos to each hold up one corner of the sky. Once his brothers were in position, Kronos viciously attacked his father from behind. Being surprise attacked Oranos had no chance, and Kronos succeeded in castrating him. It was believed that when Kronos castrated his father, some of Oranos blood splattered onto the ground, wherever the blood landed the very first giants sprung up. After this Kronos took father's severed testicles and cast them into the sea. A swirl of foam surrounded them and Aphrodite was created.
As Gaia had said, Oranos' pride was broken, and his son, Kronos, took control of the cosmos. After this happened Gaia married Pontus and had many children, the sea deities, like the sea nymphs and hybrid monsters. From the existing titans all things were created: sorrow, doom, the sun, the moon, dawn, dusk, strength, victory, zeal, etc. Basically the Greeks believed that everything in nature and every aspect of life was a deity. Most of the mythological monsters were also created at this time, like the sphinx, the Nemean lion, the gorgon, etc.
Kronos married Rhea (his sister), and after she was pregnant, Oranos and Gaia prophesied that one of Kronos' children would steal his throne just as he had done from his father. So in order to avoid this he ate his own children as they were born, Hestia,
Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon,(in order of first born to last), swallowing them whole, in an attempt to counteract his mother's prophesy.
Just as Gaia had been infuriated when Oranos trapped her children in her, Rhea was also furious. When Rhea was once again pregnant, she sought her mothers help and was sent by Gaia to Crete where she gave birth to her son, Zeus, in a cave. Here, Zeus was looked after by nymphs and fed on the milk of a goat belonging to his nurse, Amalthea, also a nymph. The nymphs then gathered a group of their youth to make noise around the newborn god so Kronos could not hear his son's cries. Rhea quickly picked up a nearby rock, about the size of a newborn baby, and wrapped it in a blanket, covering it so it could not be seen. Rhea then delivered the "baby" to Kronos who, as usual, swallowed it whole, and thinking his danger for the time being to be over, he returned to his normal affairs.
Meanwhile, on Crete, Zeus was growing stronger. As he grew he became good friends with his nurse's goat, who was said to have nursed him. When he was coming to the time of his return to his mother (apparently the nymphs had told him all about his father, and had said he should go back and free his brothers and sisters from their father's stomach) the goat died. As a token of his affection, and so he would remember her forever, he skinned her and used her hide to make the famous war shield which he later gave to
Athena. Shortly after the death of his goat companion Zeus returned to his mother, who suggested he disguise himself in order to get close to his father.
Zeus decided he would do as his mother told him. He searched out the beautiful goddess Metis, who gave him a potion, an emetic. Zeus, dressed in servant clothes, filled Kronos' cup and added the emetic. Zeus delivered this cup to Kronos, and unsuspecting that this servant was his own son, Kronos drank it.
Kronos first regurgitated the rock, which Rhea had given him instead of Zeus, and realizing who Zeus was he tried to kill him, but seconds later he regurgitated all four Zeus's siblings. Because they were all immortal they were unharmed. And with his newly found siblings, Zeus waged war on Kronos. This was the turning point of Greek mythology; this is when the rule of the universe switched from the titans to the gods. Zeus's war (known as the War of the Titans) lasted for ten years during which time the gods and the titans fought bitterly. Back and forth between attacks and retreats they went, until finally after ten years of battle, Gaia (who was evidently not involved in the battles) told Zeus the only way to defeat the titans was to ally himself with his uncles, the Kyklopes and the Hecatonchires. Zeus, taking his grandmother's advice, immediately headed to Tartaros, where his uncles had been imprisoned for years. Zeus killed Campe, the dragon jail keeper, and taking her key, Zeus released the Kyklopes and Hecatonchires. He gave all six of them some nectar and ambrosia to restore their energy
and revived their spirits. All Zeus had to do to convince the Hecatonchires to fight with him was remind them who just released them and who had banished them, and they gladly joined forces with Zeus. And as for the Kyklopes they were so happy to be freed from Tartaros that they not only joined Zeus and his siblings, they even gave Zeus and his brothers special weapons.
For Zeus they forged thunder and lighting, creating the thunderbolt, Zeus's weapon of choice. For Hades they created the helmet of darkness, which had the ability to make its wearer invisible. And lastly, for Poseidon, the Kyklopes forged a magical trident, which, although it had no special ability, later became Poseidon's emblem. These three weapons would prove to be indispensable in the War of the Titans.
After the release of their uncles, the gods held another meeting and drew up a new battle plan. During the last few battles, after going nowhere, the titans had said that Kronos was no longer fit to lead the war effort, and instead elected the titan, Atlas, to lead them. Seeing the Olympians (the gods), approaching, Atlas called the titans out and led them into the battle.
While the main group of Olympians advanced to meet the titans, being instructed by Zeus, the Hecatonchires hid in wait on top of a nearby mountain. The mountain was split in the middle, making a narrow passageway through to the other side, so the
Hecatonchires laid an ambush here, poised and ready to strike with a boulder in each hand. Zeus snuck behind the titans, and with his new thunderbolts, started to attack them furiously. The Olympians spread out so that the only way for the titans to run was towards the mountain and the Hecatonchires. Once the titans reached the mountain, the Hecatonchires burst out into full attack, flinging giant boulders down on the titans, 300 at a time. The Kyklopes planted themselves at the far end of the path, making it impossible for the titans to escape. Being bombarded by thousands of rocks and hundreds of burning thunderbolts, the titans collapsed and admitted defeat. While the battle raged, Hades and Poseidon had snuck into Kronos' stronghold, where he sulked over being kicked out of leadership of the army. With his Helmet of Darkness, Hades stole all of Kronos' weapons, leaving him defenseless. As soon as the other titans had surrendered, Zeus hurried to meet Poseidon and Hades. Poseidon attacked his father with his trident, and although it did no damage, because like all the titans Kronos was immortal, it distracted him long enough for Zeus to sneak behind him and blast him in the back of the head with a barrage of thunderbolts. Being defenseless, exhausted, and out numbered, Kronos grudgingly surrendered, giving the rulership of the cosmos to the Olympian gods. After drawing lots, Poseidon was given rule of the sea, Hades rule of the underworld, and Zeus rule of the sky. Zeus then proclaimed himself ruler of the cosmos.
In order to avoid another war, Zeus bound all the titans in chains and sent them into the deepest parts of Tartaros, sealing it off with gates of marble and bronze. Just to be
sure none of the titans would ever escape again, the Hecatonchires stood watch over the doors day and night, letting a few heads sleep while the others watched, thus making it impossible for any one to escape. But not all the titans had participated in the wars; Gaia and her six daughters had refused to join, as had Oceanus and Helius, and some of the titans like Prometheus and Epimetheus went as far as to join sides with Zeus. In order to assure that his kingdom would last, Zeus rewarded those who fought for him greatly and those who had refrained from battle at all were allowed to keep their current position.
Of all the titans who participated in the war, only one escaped the pits of Tartaros. Atlas, in punishment for leading the Titans to battle, was sentenced to holding up the world on his shoulders for the rest of eternity.
Although at first Zeus seemed like a fair and just god, he was easily angered and quick to forget who had helped him. Prometheus had created humans shortly after the War of the Titans, but the humans angered Zeus so he took their fire and left them to freeze through the winter. When Prometheus crossed Zeus and brought fire back to the humans, Zeus sentenced him to be chained to a mountain by unbreakable chains, and commanded a giant eagle to come and eat Prometheus's liver everyday, while every night the liver grew back. When the other gods objected to Zeus's treatment of Prometheus, Zeus decided to make it possible for Prometheus to escape. Of course the terms that needed to be met were unrealistic. First, an immortal would have to give his/her life for
Prometheus, and second, the chains needed to be broken by a mortal. Zeus was sure no one would meet those requirements, and so had really done nothing at all for Prometheus.
Luckily for Prometheus, the centaur Chiron (who after his death became the ferry man over the river Styx in the underworld) later gave his life for him, and the mortal demigod Heracles (Hercules) broke the chains and killed the eagle, but others were not as lucky.
Sisyphus, the first king of Ephyra (Corinth), was a trickster. When he was sent to Tartaros he tricked the jailer into putting the chains on so he could see how they fit, and of course he left the poor jailer there, chained in Tartaros. After that, he tricked the queen of the underworld into letting him go back to earth where he bragged he was even cleverer than Zeus. This enraged Zeus and so he sentenced Sisyphus to roll a giant rock up a hill in Tartaros and place it on the top. As soon as it reached the top, Sisyphus would have his freedom. But just before the boulder reached the top it would always slip out of Sisyphus's hold and roll back down to the bottom. Because Sisyphus thought he was cleverer than Zeus this was eternal torment, because he always believed he could some how outwit Zeus and make it to the top.
There were many others who Zeus tortured because they had angered him. Although he raped many girls, even some married, when the mortal Ixion chased Hera (Zeus's
wife) Zeus was furious. He tied Ixion to a wheel that floated in the sky for the rest of his life. The wheel was constantly turned by the winds and beaten by the rain.
Anyone who angered Zeus, be it god or mortal, suffered for their actions. The Greeks used to say "only Zeus is truly free". This was how the Greeks saw their gods. They lived in awe and fear of these deities, and although they themselves had created these gods, they would spend enormous amounts of money on offerings to appease them, or bring luck, etc.
Over the years the myths about these gods changed and grew as the political power changed from Greece to Rome. But the things I have shared here were generally believed to be the way the world and the gods came to be.
