Zeus disguised himself as Hades and slept with her, and as a result gave Persephone children. Zeus also didn't want children with Persephone. When Melinoe, daughter of Persephone and Zeus and goddess of ghosts, was born, Zeus tried to hide her, even kill her, but did not succeed.
Alcmene: Deceived by Zeus
Alcmene, the beautiful human daughter of the king of Mycenae, was trapped into sleeping with Zeus masquerading as her husband (betrothed in some sources), who was away at the time.
Aphrodite later and of her own volition had an affair with Zeus, but his jealous wife Hera laid her hands upon the belly of the goddess and cursed their offspring with malformity. Their child was the ugly god Priapos.
Thus, Zeus had sexual relations with a total of at least 57 others, a number of exceeds the number of Achaean deaths in the Iliad. It is certainly an outstanding achievement by the best and most righteous of the gods.
Zeus finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera. After courting her unsuccessfully he changed himself into a disheveled cuckoo. When Hera took pity on the bird and held it to her breast, Zeus resumed his true form and ravished her.
Suffice it to say that Zeus was constantly involved in extramarital affairs. Throughout the various and sometimes contradictory myths composed by Greek authors, there are at least 20 divine figures with whom he consorted, and about twice as many mortals.
A while later, he rapes her, she agrees to marry him and they create a family on Mount Olympus, the Deities' new home. Unfortunately, Zeus constantly cheats on Hera and he has done it over a hundred times, but in the end Hera always forgives him.
Ganymede, a beautiful Trojan young man, was aducted by Zeus to serve as his personal cupbearer and lover on mount Olympus among the other gods.
According to a Homeric Hymn, there are three goddesses whom Aphrodite “can't persuade or decieve”, i.e. who don't feel sexual desire and are perpetually virgins. They are Athena, Artemis and Hestia. So, we are sure that Zeus did never have affairs with any of those three.
And the handmaidens, too, sometimes. Zeus even managed to impregnate mortal women when he was a swan or a bull. Hercules was the illegitimate child of Zeus and a mortal woman, as were Perseus, Helen of Troy and Minos (among other very, very famous offspring of Zeus).
In one Orphic myth, Zeus was filled with desire for his mother and pursued her, only for Rhea to refuse him and change into a serpent to flee. Zeus also turned himself into a serpent and raped her. The child born from that union was their daughter Persephone, and afterwards Rhea became Demeter.
Sometime during her marriage, presumably in retaliation, Hera started an on and off affair with Hades that ended around the "80s." It is unknown if Zeus was ever aware of the affair.
Instead Hera beautifies herself in preparation for seducing Zeus and obtains the help of Aphrodite. In the climax of the episode Zeus and Hera make love hidden within a golden cloud on the summit of Mount Ida.
Known as the most beautiful woman in Greece and the primary cause of the Trojan War, Helen was the daughter of Zeus, either by Leda or by Nemesis, and the sister of the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeuces. She was also the sister of Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon.
Zeus cheats on Hera because he's a reflection of the morals of the ancient Greeks. Unlike the Abrahamic god, Zeus was made in the image of man, not the other way around. Ancient Greek men viewed marriage as a necessity and a duty, not a partnership. Women existed to bear children, preferably male children.
Helen was the immortal daughter of the god Zeus (Jupiter) and the mortal Leda, Queen of Sparta. Zeus, lusting after Leda, ravished her in the form of a swan. She later gave birth to Helen and her brother Polydeuces (Pollux), fathered by Zeus, and Castor and Clytemnestra, fathered by her husband Tyndareus.
Zeus was known in his time as much more than the father of the gods. He was also a womanizer, and as such, he fathered many, many offspring! He would transform into various animals to fulfill his desires; therefore, his 'children' are quite interesting.
Zeus's notable spouse, Hera, holds a significant role as the goddess of women, marriage, family, and childbirth. Intriguingly, Hera is not only Zeus's wife but also his sister. Their union began with Zeus employing a clever ploy—he transformed into an injured bird to elicit Hera's compassion and affection.
There is a famous passage in the Iliad where Zeus refers to Ares as the god that he hates the most. The exact lines are the following (Il. 5.890–891): To me you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympus.
Zeus and Metis
His first and favorite lover was Metis, a Titan goddess and mother of Athena.
Zeus has four siblings which include Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Hestia. Zeus also had six children which include Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Ares, and Aphrodite. Together we will explore and learn about Greek Mythology, Zeus and his family through this beautiful gallery. This is a statue of the God, Zeus.
Zeus slept around because he thought it was fun. Zeus wanted to have as much offspring as possible.
Queen of Mount Olympus
Hera was courted by her brother Zeus who was the leader of the gods on Mount Olympus. At first she was not interested, but Zeus tricked her into marrying him by disguising himself as a wounded cuckoo bird.
Io. Zeus fell in love with Io and seduced her. To try to keep Hera from noticing he covered the world with a thick blanket of clouds. This backfired, arousing Hera's suspicions.
When Demeter protested Persephone's abduction, Zeus, the king of the gods, kindly asked Hades to leave the girl. Worth noting here is that Zeus was also said to have raped Persephone in the form of a snake which perplexes things even more.