A Characterization of Zeus, The Powerful Leader of The Olympian Gods

Zeus was the leader of the Olympian Gods and was widely known for his bad habit of having affairs with women while he was married with Hera. He was born to Rhea and Cronus, who was a titan. He swallowed his children, but Zeus managed to be saved by his mother. Zeus is considered to be the god of the sky and Earth, so he is given the authority and control over the weather. He is often seen utilizing a thunderbolt as his weapon. He throws lightings at folks who dare to defy him or make him angry; in addition, every change in the greek people’s climate was immediately thrown at zeus, the greeks believed all of the changes were caused by Zeus’ will. Zeus is also believed to have a shield called the Aegis; which he uses to command destruction through natural disasters such as strong thunder, lightning, flash, etc. However, he is seen as a god who often, as well, rejuvenates the Earth by making life-giving rain fall upon the Earth to renew the disasters done by his actions. Basically, he undoes the doings of his bad do’s. Atop of that, Cronus also swallows his children after seeing them as a possible threat for him. Although Zeus was a womanizer, Zeus was very well respected. He rescued his siblings from being killed and overthrew his father, Cronus as well as defeated the giants in battle.

Zeus was known as the god of lightning, the sky, thunder, law, order, and justice in ancient Greek religion; he was the ruler at Mount Olympus. He was born the youngest son of Rhea and Cronus; moreover, Cronus was the king of the Titans. Upon being so accustomed with war, he was under the impression that it was an adequate thing to do to swallow all his sons once he realized they could’ve replaced him in the throne. Fortunately, Cronus’ wife, Rhea was able to save the youngest child, Zeus from his father. The way she was able to do this was by hiding a large stone in cloth, so it resembles Zeus being wrapped in cloth. Cronus then swallowed what he believed to be Zeus and moved on. Rhea managed to hide Zeus inside of a cave on Crete, while being there, he was being nursed by a female goat named Amalthaea. While he was being kept watch outside by a few Curetes, which were young warriors. The baby Zeus cried lots, so the young warriors banged their weapons against each other’s weapons, so it covers up the noise coming from Zeus. Zeus then became a man and was enabled to take away the throne from his father Cronus because of the help he received from his brothers Hades and Poseidon. Zeus then shared the throne with both of his brothers over the world.

Along his way as a ruler, Zeus successfully defended against various revolutions against his leadership; in other words, groups of other gods that didn’t want him as a ruler revolting against him. Whereas, the other gods where by his side at the Olympus, following all his commands. Because of his high ranking amongst the gods, Zeus was believed to “omnisciently observe the affairs of men, seeing everything, governing all, and rewarding good conduct and punishing evil”. Zeus was also very widely known as a lustful god; he himself had many affairs as well, in comparison to the men’s affairs he watched. A big factor as to why he had many affairs was that he had numerous strong disagreements with his wife, Hera. Zeus sexually harassed and assaulted many other goddesses by transforming his physical self into different animal forms to deceive them into becoming vulnerable for him to prey on.

Another thing Zeus is extensively known for is the win he took against the Giants in a battle called Gigantomachy. This battle consisted of greek Olympian gods going up against the giants. The giants were some peculiar looking creatures consisting of serpentine and human body parts. The way Zeus is given the most credit for defeating these creatures in the battle is thanks to him successfully beating Typhoeus in an encounter; This alone, by default gave the Olympian gods the win to take home since that creature was their leader. The myth about this war paints a picture on people’s minds about Zeus being a great warrior since he defeated those prestigious giants, so he set standards as to how a warrior should perform in a war too.

In conclusion, Zeus went through some tough times as a child, considering he could have been swallowed by his own father. He ravished numerous other goddesses once he grew older and worked his way up to become the leader of the gods at the Olympus. With each of the women he sexually assaulted, he took different physical forms such as: a swan, cuckoo, bull, etc. And just as the saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility”, Zeus was gifted with over 90 children from all his affairs with different goddesses and mortals. He also defeated great warriors in war along with other gods.When any type of art form was made of Zeus, he was represented as a very big and built man with a beard, and usually seen as very prestigious and well-respected man; in addition, he often also appears as a worthy leader with power poses.

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