WHAT IS ZEUS THE GOD OF IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY Ancient Greek religion was polytheistic, with a complex pantheon of gods and goddesses with different responsibilities and spheres of influence. But Zeus sat at the very top of the divine hierarchy and was known to the Greeks as the king or father of the gods. The lightning bolt wielder was a god of the sky and elemental forces, but as king of the gods, Zeus also had overall command of fate. Zeus played a central role in many of the surviving stories from Greek mythology.

BIRTH OF ZEUS AND CONQUEST OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS
His story begins with his father, Cronos, king of the Titans. The Titans were ancient deities who ruled the world before the Olympian gods rose to power. Cronos, who had castrated his own father, Uranus, believed that he would suffer the same fate at the hands of his own children. So, he decided to stop his children from reaching their full potential by swallowing them when they were born.
But Cronos’ wife, Rhea, had other ideas for her sixth child, Zeus. She contrived to trick her husband by presenting him with a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of the newborn Zeus. None the wiser, Cronos swallowed the wrapped stone. Meanwhile, baby Zeus was carried away and raised in secret on the island of Crete.

Once Zeus was an adult, his grandmother Gaia tricked Cronos into regurgitating all of his children. Zeus and his siblings formed a powerful group and went to war against the Titans, eventually defeating them after a 10-year war.

After a further power struggle against the Giants, Zeus became king of the gods and established his home on Mount Olympus. As supreme ruler, he assigned all the gods their responsibilities and spheres of influence. For example, he made his brother Poseidon ruler of the sea, and his other brother Hades the ruler of the underworld.

But Zeus’ story did not end here. He went on to assert his influence among mortals and immortals alike. Many of his mythological stories involve tales of deception and infidelity to the detriment of his wife Hera, who was his last wife of several.
His other most famous wife was the Titan goddess Metis. He got her pregnant but then received the prophecy that a son he had by Metis would be more powerful than he. Therefore, Zeus tricked the pregnant Metis into turning herself into a fly, and then he swallowed her. But Metis gave birth inside Zeus’ head, where she also fashioned arms and armor for her new child. She made so much noise inside his head that Zeys eventually asked Hephaestus to break it open. Out jumped his daughter Athena, already grown and in full armor.

A common theme of Zeus’ deceit in myth was for Zeus to change his form for the purpose of seduction or rape of both women and men. In one such story, Zeus decided to transform into a white bull in order to abduct the Phoenician princess Europa. Europa sees the bull walking along the beach and is so enamored with it that she jumps onto its back. Immediately, the bull turns and runs into the sea, taking the princess off to the island of Crete. Here the bull reveals himself as Zeus and then proceeds to rape Europa, who later bears him three sons.

A similar tale involves Leda, the beautiful queen of Sparta. One night, Zeus disguised himself in the form of a swan to seduce Leda. Among their subsequent offspring was Helen, believed to be the most beautiful woman in the world and the instigator of the Trojan War. In reality, Paris and Helen were pawns in Zeus’ scheme, who decided to start the Trojan War to diminish the human population through a cataclysmic battle. He and his fellow gods then constantly interfered in the war for their own purposes.

These stories of rape and abduction are abhorrent by today’s standards, but to the ancient Greeks, these tales simply emphasized the power and virility of the god Zeus. Due to his number of unions, it is impossible to count just how many children Zeus had, but at least 50 are named in the surviving sources.
What Is Zeus the God Of? Symbols and Spheres of Influence

In ancient Greek religion, symbols helped to establish the divine identities of the gods. These symbols were then reinforced by physical images, such as statuary, as well as literary representations, such as poetry and plays.
The symbols of Zeus, known as Jupiter among the Romans, include the thunderbolt, the eagle, and the oak tree, all images associated with power and strength. Due to its divine connotations, lightning was seen by the Greeks as a significant meteorological event, and places struck by a lightning bolt were believed to be holy.

In literature, the god Zeus often has one of several epithets — short, descriptive labels linked to thunder, lightning bolts, and clouds. The epic poet Homer describes him as the “gatherer of clouds,” evoking the ancient image of Zeus as a god of the sky. Herodotus tells us that the most sacred place to worship Zeus was the mountaintop, the point closest to the sky (Histories, 1.131).

“My child, deep-thundering Zeus holds the ends of
all in his hands, and disposes of everything by his will…
we humans live from day to day and little know
what he holds in store.”
Semonides of Amorgos, Lyrics, 2.1

Zeus was believed to be at the heart of all human affairs, and, as the above quote highlights, his main spheres of influence were justice and fate. But Zeus was also perceived as a protector, particularly of those on the fringes of society, such as foreigners, guests, strangers, and beggars.
The epic poetry of Homer emphasizes the influence that this divine protection had on social customs in ancient Greece. In the Odyssey, Princess Nausicaa of Phaeacia discovers the shipwrecked and injured Odysseus. She warns those around her that “we must look after him, since all strangers and beggars come under the protection of Zeus” (Odyssey, 6.207). As Zeus Xenios, he protected the hospitality required between hosts and guests, which played an essential role in Greek society.
Source: https://www.thecollector.com/zeus/
1 1

Zeus na o ni se ku se oo 😂😂
1 1

Cronos castrated his father ke? How he take do am? 😂😂😂
1 1

🍿🍿🥤
1

Nice
2 1

👍👍👍👍
2 1

❤️❤️
2 2

Actually interesting
2 2

But how are still not existing now?
2 2