Zeus

The tale of Zeus

Zeus was born in hiding. His father Cronus, king of the Titans, had been warned that one of his children would overthrow him, so he swallowed each of them the moment they were born. When Zeus came, his mother Rhea wrapped a stone in baby's clothes and gave that to Cronus instead. The real child was carried to a cave on the island of Crete, fed on the milk of the goat Amalthea, while young warriors clashed their spears on their shields so his crying would never be heard.

When he was grown, Zeus came back. He gave his father a drink that made him throw up everything he had swallowed: first the stone, then Zeus's brothers and sisters, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, all grown and all angry.

The war of the Titans

Then came the Titanomachy, ten years of war between the young gods on Mount Olympus and the Titans on Mount Othrys. Zeus freed the Cyclopes from the underworld, and in thanks they forged his weapon: the thunderbolt. He also freed the Hundred-Handed giants, who threw boulders three hundred at a time. Together they crushed the Titans and locked them in Tartarus, the pit beneath the underworld.

The three brothers drew lots for the world. Hades took the dead, Poseidon took the sea, and Zeus took the sky and the right to rule them all. One last challenger came: Typhon, a storm monster with a hundred serpent heads, so terrible that the other gods fled. Zeus stood alone, burned every head with his thunderbolts and buried Typhon under Mount Etna, which still smokes today.

King of Olympus

Zeus is the god of the sky, of thunder, of law, of hospitality and of oaths. His bird is the eagle and his tree is the oak. He is wise and just when he wants to be, and proud, jealous and unfaithful most of the rest of the time, and half the heroes of Greece are his children, Heracles and Perseus among them.

Zeus in Battle of Myths

Zeus is the god of the Greek pantheon, a cost 5 hero with two aspects. As the Storm-Father (mage and hunter) he hurls Thunderbolts at random enemies, each one dealing magic damage and stunning. As the Tyrant of Olympus (guardian and mystic) he issues Tyrant's Decree, shielding himself and giving every ally more attack damage and ability power.

With every Greek hero he shares Glory: whenever an enemy falls, the Greeks grow stronger and heal.

Did you know?

• The ancient Olympic Games were held in his honour at Olympia, home to his giant gold-and-ivory statue by Phidias, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
• The Romans knew him as Jupiter, which is also the name of the largest planet.