In one Orphic myth, Zeus was filled with desire for his mother and pursued her, only for
Before his marriage to Hera, Zeus consorted with a number of the female Titanes (and his sister Demeter). These liaisons are ordered by Hesiod as follows: (1) Metis; (2) Themis; (3) Eurynome; (4) Demeter; (5) Mnemosyne; (6) Leto.
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.
Zeus disguised himself as Hades and slept with her, and as a result gave Persephone children.
Zeus had an eye for ladies from all walks of life, and his affairs with mortals often resulted in mortal children. Some estimates have come up with around 51 children of Zeus who were not divine in nature. Even though they were mere mortals, many of them went on to make history in other ways.
Zeus finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera.
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.
King Lycaon of Arcadia is a legendary king from Greek mythology. He was turned into a wolf because he (or his sons, depending on the version one is reading) tried to feed Zeus human flesh in an offering.
Another famous son of Zeus is the great hero Hercules, who we might all know as the iconic totem of masculinity and power. He was born a demigod, as his mother was the mortal woman Alcmene.
Amalthaea, in Greek (originally Cretan) mythology, the foster mother of Zeus, king of the gods. She is sometimes represented as the goat that suckled the infant god in a cave in Crete, sometimes as a nymph who fed him the milk of a goat.
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.
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.
Despite Zeus' wandering eye, Hera remained fiercely loyal to him. While she may have had numerous opportunities to cheat on Zeus, she spent most of her time punishing the objects of his desires.
Zeus fell in love with her and, to protect her from the wrath of Hera, changed her into a white heifer. Hera persuaded Zeus to give her the heifer and sent Argus Panoptes (“the All-Seeing”) to watch her. Zeus thereupon sent the god Hermes, who lulled Argus to sleep and killed him.
Zeus' final wife was his sister, Hera. Knowing her sympathy for animals, he transformed himself into a distressed little cuckoo, which Hera took in her arms to warm it. At that moment, Zeus turned back into himself and slept with her. Ashamed, Hera agreed to marry him.
Zeus's wife, Hera, a goddess jealous of usurpers, discovered his affair with Semele when she later became pregnant.
Seven wives
According to Hesiod, Zeus takes Metis, one of the Oceanid daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, as his first wife.
Accordingly, the Greek god Zeus's affairs were with willing participants – regardless of his trickery and disguise to seduce them. The male-dominated art world interpreted Zeus's promiscuity as part of fulfilling his duty to populate the newly formed world. They never allowed it to detract from his dignity.
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 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.
In most myths, Athena is the eldest child of Zeus. Athena's mother, Metis, was a powerful Titaness whom Zeus either seduced or raped, depending on the version of the story. He swallowed her in order to keep her from producing any children who might grow to become his rivals.
Two of his children were born in a manner he might have learned from his father or grandfather; that is, like his father Cronus, Zeus swallowed not only the child but the mother Metis while she was pregnant. When the fetus had fully formed, Zeus gave birth to their daughter Athena.
Since he was considered the God of Justice, he can be viewed as an anti-villain in a sense his actions, while cruel, were designed to enforce order rather than create chaos.) He ate his pregnant wife Metis alive out of fear that their child would overthrow him.
PERSEPHONE & HADES
This might be one of the most commonly told myths, but no matter how familiar it becomes, it still remains fundamentally terrifying. The gist is simple - a girl finds herself dragged into the underworld by the God of Death, just because he thought she was pretty.
To punish man, Zeus had Hephaestus create a mortal of stunning beauty. The gods gave the mortal many gifts of wealth. He then had Hermes give the mortal a deceptive heart and a lying tongue.