| This stub is making Kirby hungry with its lack of substance. This article or section is a stub. You can help the Heroes Wiki by expanding it! What are you waiting for? GO! |
| “ | Very well! In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request, as long as it is within our power. | „ |
| ~ Zeus to Percy Jackson. |
Zeus is the king of Olympus, and the god of lightning, justice, and the sky. He's the son of Kronos, and the brother of Hades and Poseidon. He is also the father of Jason Grace and Thalia Grace.
In the first film adaption, he is portrayed by Sean Bean, who also portrayed Boromir and Eddard "Ned" Stark.
Biography
Birth
Zeus is the youngest son of the titans King Kronos and Rhea, and is the youngest sibling to Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter, and Chiron. His siblings were devoured by Kronos, who was scared that they would overthrow him as predicted by Ouranos years prior. Rhea, distraught that she couldn't plead with Kronos so spare their children, and gave Zeus to Gaea and the nine nymphs who advised her to bring the child to the island of Crete. Rhea gave Kronos a smooth boulder to deceive Kronos, as he had though he had eaten his final child.
Zeus was raised by Rhea, the nymphs, the loud Kouretes, and the goat Amaltheia through his youth. Rhea would tell Zeus about his brothers and sisters, whom he was destined to save from their father's stomach. As an adult, Zeus successfully transformed into a titanic version of himself, and infiltrated Mount Othrys with the help of his mother. He was able to convince Kronos to hire him as a cup bearer, and succeeded in entertaining the titans with his singing and dancing skills.
Zeus then encouraged all the male Titans to participate in a drinking contest, and later prepared a special drink mixed with nectar and a sleeping potion to knock out the titans. For Kronos, Zeus prepared him a powerful emetic mixed with nectar and mustard, which would make him vomit everything he had eaten before. Kronos participated in another drinking contest, and vomited all of the contents in his stomach, but it was in reverse order: the boulder, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Despite being swallowed whole, they had grown inside Kronos' stomach, being immortal Gods, and the other Titans were unable to retaliate due to drinking the sleeping potion.
Zeus introduced himself to his siblings, and they all escaped Mount Othrys before the titans could come back into their senses. At the base of Mount Ida, they reunited with Rhea, and decided to let Zeus be their leader to fight against the Titans. However, since the Titans were well armed, Zeus decided to release the Elder Cyclops and Hekatonkheire from Tartarus to craft them weapons.
First Titan War
Hades succeeded in leading his siblings into Tartarus, but the Olympians were stunned with fear of the cyclops and Hekatonkheires' guardian, Kampê. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades were able to overcome their fear, and snuck through to speak to the cyclops, convincing Brontes to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings. The cyclops' created the Master Bolt, the Trident, and the Helm of Darkness, and Zeus killed Kampê with his weapon, and Poseidon destroyed the chains of the cyclops and Hekatonkheires. Afterward, Hades safely guided his siblings, the cyclops, and the Hekatonkheires out of Tartarus, and they agreed to aid the Gods against the Titans.
Zeus and his siblings declared war on Kronos and the Titans, which resulted in eleven years of fighting, with the Gods eventually becoming experienced warriors and mastered their weaponry. Preparing for the final battle of the war, Zeus and his siblings ascended to Mount Olympus, and the former used his Master Bolt to destroy Mount Othrys, hurling Kronos from his throne. The Gods invaded what was left of Mount Orthys, and defeated the titans Atlas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios, and Koios.
The Titans were chained, and Zeus sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces with his scythe, and casted him into Tartarus alongside his followers (except for Atlas, who was forced to hold the sky for eternity). Zeus then offered the Hekatonkheires to become the jailer of the Titans in Tartarus, which they agreed to.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Elder Cyclopes chained up all of the defeated Titans, while the Hekatonkheires forced them to kneel before Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus took his father's scythe and sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces, before casting him into Tartarus, along with the rest of his followers (except for Atlas, who was forced to hold the sky). Afterwards, Zeus offered the Hekatonkheires to return to Tartarus, this time as the jailers of the Titans, to which they readily agreed.
Becoming King
The Gods chose Mount Olympus as their residence, and started to call themselves Olympians as the cyclops' built palaces for them there. Zeus had a private meeting with Poseidon and Hades, and the three agreed to divide the world between themselves. Despite being the eldest son by birthright, Hade was given the Underworld, as Poseidon claimed the seas with acceptance from Ouranos, and Zeus claimed the heavens as his domain. After the division, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades became known as "The Big Three", but Zeus' authority was recognized as superior due to him saving his siblings.
Marriages
Zeus married his childhood sweetheart, Metis after the war, and served him as his adviser and mentor for his life. Upon Metis' pregnancy, Zeus learned from her that she would give birth to a daughter, and then a son that would overthrow him. Zeus tried to stop this fate like his father before him, and swallowed Metis whole, but she still gave birth to their daughter, Athena, who came from Zeus' body when Hephaestus split Zeus' head open when he had an unbearable headache.
Zeus later married the Titaness Themis after swallowing Metis, and she gave birth two pairs of triplets: the Horae and the Fates, but the latter were born as old women. After becoming the father of the fates, Zeus feared the prospect of having even more intimidating children, and the Olympian and Titaness agreed to end their marriage peacefully.
Hestia decided to never marry due to numerous reasons, the first being that she could remember being swallowed by her father, seeing her mother suffer from Kronos, Zeus doing the same to Metis, and didn't want disabled, different, or strange children like his with Themis. Zeus decided not to, after hearing Hestia state that she wished to never marry and be a virgin goddess, and offered to take care for the hearth of all time. Zeus then decided to court his sister Demeter, and transformed into a serpent, and successfully seduced her, resulting in the birth of Persephone.
Zeus then became attracted to his sister Hera, who refused to marry him until they made a bet where if she confessed her love for him, they would marry. Zeus succeeded in tricking Hera by causing a thunderstorm, and transformed himself into a injured cuckoo, which Hera took care of and became fond of. Despite being outraged upon Zeus winning the bet, Hera was impressed by Zeus' intellect and resourcefulness, and agreed to marry him if he remained loyal to her, an oath he broke many times over.
The Lightning Thief
In the book Zeus thinks Percy Jackson stole his ultimate weapon, the master bolt. He gives Percy a deadline to get the bolt, otherwise the battle of the big three will take place. By the end of the book, Percy gives Zeus the lightning bolt after battling Ares, leaving his throne.
The Last Olympian
Zeus led the war on Typhon, meanwhile the demigods fought Kronos who was controlled by Luke Castellan. Even after using the master bolt on him, Typhon kept fighting, but luckily after help from his brother who abandoned his own home, they defeated Typhon.
Gallery
Trivia
- In Ancient Greek, Zeus' name means "Day".
- Despite initiating the pact of the Big Three, he has broken it twice.
- Zeus is the only son of Kronos who wasn't born on Mount Orthys, being born in a cave at the base of Mount Ida.