Zeus the Greek God is the result of generations of distrust. Kronos is made king of universe after castrating his father Ouranos. He becomes power-hungry because he is so proud of his new position. He is so enamored with his power that when his mother Gaia warns him that his son will be the one to overthrow, he begins consuming all his children. Rhea and Gaia are disturbed by their husband’s depraved actions. They hide Zeus, who is then fed a stone to Kronos in Zeus’ place. Zeus’ rise begins right here. Together with Gaia, he releases the Olympians from Kronos’s imprisonment.
The sons of Gaia (mighty earth) who had been hidden by their father, he set free. Thunder, lightning and the smoke bolt were their thanks. He is lord to mortals as well as immortals. 18)
Zeus’s plan to bring down his father involves winning over the enemies of his father by presenting him as a savior. They also align their goals in order to watch Kronos’s fall. Zeus’ strategy can be observed when he asks Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes to join him after freeing them. Zeus does not demand allegiance from them, but he aligns both of their goals by bringing together the two.
Kronos’ downfall allows him to persuade the Titans and Olympians to join his cause. Zeus and Olympians fight for ten years and defeat Kronos. The Titans are imprisoned in Tartarus by Hecatoncheires. Zeus is not only a powerful ruler, but also a person of honor, privilege and prestige. Zeus’ ability to retain his power is due in large part to this. Zeus’s reign ends when he battles Typhoeus to defeat him and throws him in Tartarus.
Zeus may be a wise strategist but he’s not immune to the threats that surround him. As king of the Gods, he does not allow himself to become slack-jawed. He remains vigilant, and is always on the lookout for threats that might threaten his position or bring an end to his reign. Prophecy says that when Zeus takes his first spouse Metis, his son will also dethrone him. Zeus clearly wants to protect himself from being dethroned, but. Zeus is cleverer than Kronos and instead of trying to eat the children he has, Zeus eats Metis.
This is closely related to Zeus’ distrust for women. Zeus has met many women throughout his life who have been disloyal or sneaky towards their husbands. Gaia cheated Ouranos and gave Kronos a sickle. Rhea, Gaia and Zeus all betrayed Kronos by feeding him a stone instead of Zeus. She begged Earth and Heaven to help her devise a secret plan for Zeus’s birth so she could pay Kronos back for the fury of her father and all of the children Kronos had eaten. At this point in history, women would help their children to overthrow the husbands they were married to. For example, Gaia or Rhea. When Athena comes from Zeus’s head however, this pattern does not apply. Athena’s father is Zeus. She is a young virgin without a husband. Athena’s birth marks a change in culture from one that is brutish and uncivilized to one that is civilized and skilled.
For Zeus to be able to show his disdain for women, it is important that you understand the culture in which he lived. It was not unusual for women to be treated as inferiors. Zeus, who was extremely promiscuous in his sexuality, slept with whoever he chose, did not consider this to be a fault. The social norm was for women to stay faithful to husbands.
Zeus’ behavior is nothing to be surprised about, because he doesn’t have anyone to answer to. Zeus has a strong alpha masculine persona and acts accordingly. Zeus’s wrath is all-powerful. This is what happens to Prometheus, who tried to trick Zeus by making a poor sacrifice. Zeus punishes Prometheus by making him eat his liver forever, even though he fought in the Olympian war with them. Hesiod wrote that sons are the products of their fathers. Prometheus follows in the footsteps of his father, the Titan Iapetos.
Zeus, in this respect of punishing harshly those who defile themselves, is similar to the Hebrew gods from the Old Testament. Yahweh smote people who disobeyed the simplest of commands. In Genesis 19 of The Bible, Yahweh rains fire and burning sulfur down on Sodom and Gomorrah to punish them for their impure ways. Lot’s wife was made into a pillar if salt after she turned back to see him when he warned them to avoid looking back. Yahweh has punished disobedient people in this way, but he has also smitten millions and millions of people for not following his laws.
