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Zeus the king of the gods (Click to select text)
ZEUS, THE KING OF THE GODS Zeus is one of the most ancient gods of the world. His name can be found in other Indo-European nations, except the Greek. Some of those nations are the Indians, the Ombrius and the Latinos. So he must be worshiped at least from 3000 BC. He was brought in Greece around 2000 BC, from the settlers who came from northern then Greece countries. His name must come from the root word div- that means sky. The expression Zefs patir (father Zeus), that Greeks used to refer to him, accords exactly to the name Diespiter (Jupiter) that Romans used for him, Jupater for the Ombrius and Dyaous Pitar of the ancient Indians. He was the ruler of all Greek Gods, and father to most of them. He was god protector of the kings, that is why he was also called Zefs Megistos (Zeus the greatest) and Zeus Aristos (Zeus the Best). When democracy became popular in Greece those attribute names changed to others like Zefs Eleftherios (Zeus the liberal). He was also worshiped by the attribute names Milihios (mild) and Xenios (of hospitality). The first because he was thought as a god that his rage could be milled and the second because he was protector of the travelers and those who didn't offer a place to stay to strangers were punished by him. Zeus was also the god of thunders and storms, and generally of the weather and everything that had to do with the sky. The father of Zeus was Kronos (Saturn) and his mother was Rhea. Kronos was afraid that one day a child of his would take away his domination, so he was eating his children right after they were born. As Rhea's despair was getting deeper with the loss of every child, she paid a visit to her mother Gaia and asked her what she could do to save the one she was caring those days. So Gaia told her to hide the child from Kronos and instead of it, to give him a stone raped with the child's cloths. And Rhea did so. So Kronos ate the stone instead of his son. Then Rhea gave the child to Gaia and she transferred it safe to the island of Crete. There the nymphs Idy and Adrastia who were feeding the baby with the milk of the goat Amalthea. Kourites (also called Korivantes) were safely guarding Zeus and when he was crying they were making noise by hitting their shields with their swords so Kronos wouldn't hear the cry of the baby. Zeus had many affairs with women, and his first wife Hera didn't live for a very long time. The first marriage of Zeus was with Mytida, daughter of Oceanus and Tithy, goddess of thinking. Not long after the weeding Zeus learned that his wife would give birth to two children. The first would be a doughtier and the second a son. That son that was to be born seemed like a threat to Zeus dominion. So to avoid a future similar to his father's, he ate his wife Mitida, like Kronos was eating his children. When the time for Athena to be born came, Zeus ordered Prometheus (an other version of that myth say Hifestos) to open his head with an axle or a hammer, so his daughter would be born. And that is how Athena became the goddess of wisdom. She took the deep thinking of her mother and the cleverness of her father, since she was born from his head. The second wife of Zeus was his sister Ira. They had an affair long before they got married, but they were keeping it a secret because they were afraid of their parents. The most common myth about them is that Zeus transformed into a cuckoo bird and sat on her knees.She felt pity on the bird and took it to her embrace. At that moment Zeus appeared with his real form to Ira and after promised her that he would married her. That weeding Ira would regret many times in the future, as Zeus was the most unfaithful husband among all gods and humans... Zeus had around 38 immortal children. Only 5 of them were from his legal wives. Athena from his marriage with Mitida and from Ira he had Aris, the god of war, Hifestos the blacksmith god, Ivi the goddess of youth and Eilithyia a goddess that was helping women to give birth. From Diony he had Aphrodite, goddess of love and sexuality. From his sister Dimiter, the goddess of agriculture, he had Persephony, who became goddess of the under world. From Maia he had Hermes,the god of trade and protector of messengers. From Semely he had Dionysus, god of wine and theater. From Seline (moon) he got Ersy. From Asteria he had Ekati, the goddess of charity. From Lito (Litus) he had the twins Appolon and Artemis. The first was the god of music and fortune telling and the second was the goddess of hunting and protector of wild life. From Themis, the goddess of justice he god six daughters. The three Mires (goddess that were making the destiny of people), the Klotho, who was making the string of life, the Lahesis, who was giving the god and the bad things to people, and Atropos who was cutting the string of life. The other tree daughters he got from her were the three Ores, Eunomia, whose responsibility was to equally divine goods to mortals, Diki who was goddess of trials and Erine, goddess of peace. He also had the 9 Muses from Mnimosini and the two Korivantes from one of the Muses Kalliopy. He had a son Epafos from Io and from Electra he had the daughter Armonia (harmony). One of the most important of the minor gods, Panas, who was half goat half man and was a follower of Dionysus was Zeus son with Aix or Thrimvris. Overall, Zeus was a very powerful god and I think he deserved to have the right to call himself the "king of the gods"
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