What is Zeus known for?
Zeus is the chief god of the Greeks, lord of the sky, weather and thunder. In Hesiod's Theogony his father Cronus swallows his children to keep power; Zeus escapes, frees his brothers and sisters, and wins a ten-year war against the Titans, who are locked away in Tartarus.
From Mount Olympus he rules gods and people, upholding oaths, guests and justice. The Cyclopes forge his thunderbolt. Many Greek heroes, among them Heracles and Perseus, are called his sons.
On this site he appears in Hesiod's ages of man, the war with the Titans and Tartarus, and the bronze giant Talos, a gift said to come from Zeus.
He runs through the Greek files: the ages of man, Tartarus, Talos and Mount Olympus.
Mentioned on these pages
- FileAtlantis
- FileHephaestus' golden maidens
- FileHesiod's five races of men
- FileTalos
- FileTartarus
- PersonHesiod
- PersonHomer
- PersonMinos
- PlaceCrete
- PlaceMount Olympus
Linked people and places
Sources
- Hesiod's TheogonyA Greek poem by Hesiod, a farmer and poet from central Greece, written about 700 BC. It tells how the world and the gods came to be, including the war in which Zeus and the Olympian gods threw the older Titans down into Tartarus.Hesiod, Theogony, trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914) Online copyPrimary text
- WikipediaA free online encyclopedia written and edited by volunteers. It is a good starting point and usually lists its own sources, but anyone can change it, so we treat it as a guide to better sources, not the final word.Wikipedia, 'Zeus'Reference
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