Previously… Cronus devoured all his children soon after they were born, this made his wife Rhea resentful of her husband and went to Gaia and the deposed overlord Ouranos to seek their counsel. With the newly hatched plan, Rhea managed to trick her husband and save her sixth son Zeus and left him at Crete under the care of Amalthea and the Meliae.
The Upbringing Of Zeus
Zeus grew up to be a charming individual, by human standards it can be labelled as the transition from infant to teen, teen to adult, he was nourished by the milk of Amalthea, it is said that her milk is what made Zeus possess all the striking features we see in the sculptures. His mother Rhea would visit from time to time, telling him how evil his father is and how everyone is living in misery under his reign, she would often get angry at his aloof attitude where he just hunts wolves, climbs trees all day, and would just seduce nymphs as entertainment (Casanovas, that’s what kids these days call these types). To discipline him she called Metis, a close friend of hers to teach him the ways of patience and other crafts, but Zeus was enamoured with her beauty and was madly in love (Is it wrong for gods to hit on their teachers? Can’t apply human morals to that), their relationship was quite a complicated one as they both were in love with each other and she didn’t want to betray the trust of her friend, by today’s terms it’s the kind of relationship which can be dubbed as “it's complicated”. His love for her only grew when she deliberately didn’t make their relationship physical, even though she didn’t say it out explicitly, she too reciprocated his love. Zeus on his seventeenth birthday was gifted a concoction by Metis, his mother told him about the plan and they swore an oath, mother to a son that they will succeed.
The Agony Of Cronus
Cronus was in tremendous pain, the last child he swallowed had given him a terrible stomachache, sleep and dreams were strangers to him, and to top it off, his wife had kept him away from the conjugal bed, they had not made love for ages when he heard his wife humming while coming from the mountain top, he was elated, but she was surprised her husband being awake at this hour, this fog of insomnia had gotten to him, he desired her warm body, her warm lips to alleviate his predicament, even if it is for a moment. Rhea ignored all his pleas to bed her, she introduced Zeus to him as a cupbearer, Zeus performed the action of presenting him a goblet of wine, the tyrant titan snatched it from his hand and drank it in one gulp and told how much he loved her. She was furious and went “what do you know of love, you swallowed all but one of my children”, Cronus who was not in his best state, still answered “all but one…. I swallowed all the children”, he was getting nauseous, the vomited the rock which he had swallowed and he vomited all the children he had swallowed, in reverse order of who he swallowed, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades and Hestia, the wine in the goblet was no wine, it was the solution which Metis had concocted. Cronus fell asleep after this fiasco, Zeus made use of this opportunity to grab the sickle and end his father once and for all, but he could not lift the sickle, implying the earth still protected him. They all rejoiced, Rhea was elated to see all her sons and daughters, truly a sight for a mother who lived in grief, the rescued children took their turns to embrace and thank Zeus for rescuing them, they all swore allegiance to him, to overthrow the old order of gods and usher in a new era for themselves.
The Great War- Titanomachy
Zeus knew this incident won’t be swept under the carpet, this would result in a war more devastating than any other war which had come before, on prima facie, Zeus and his siblings would have been annihilated by the powerful titans and the overlord, but with the counsel of Metis, he gathered forces, forged alliances. This war would be dubbed the Titanomachy. All the titans sided with Cronus, except for Prometheus and Epimetheus, Atlas commandeered the Titan forces, and Zeus used his leadership to personally lead his forces. What followed was the most devastating war ever known in any history, mountains spat fire, and seismic disturbances destroyed the lands, new islands were formed, and the geography changed what we see on the maps today. Zeus demonstrated his prowess as a god here, leading them to victory. The commander of the titan forces, Atlas was sentenced to hold the skies for eternity as punishment, this is why the book of maps is called an Atlas, Cronus was chopped up and Imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus.
Epilogue
Zeus and his siblings came to be the new reigning gods, they called themselves the Olympian gods, shortened to Olympians, and they made their home on mount Olympus. As spoils of war, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon divided the world among themselves and drew lots, Zeus became the undisputed king of Olympus, Poseidon became the ruler of the seas and Hades became the god of the netherworld. Peace followed. Zeus would go on to father many children who would become great heroes in their own right, Zeus is also credited with creating man, but that is a story for another day.
