The Powerful King
Zeus was the king of the gods. He was raised by nymphs and was nursed by the fairy goat Amaltheia. From Amaltheia's horns ran ambrosia and nectur, the basic foods of the gods. Zeus grew quickly and soon joined the other gods on Mt. Olympus. Zeus's parents were Cronus and Rhea. When Rhea gave birth to a child, Cronus would swallow the child, so he would never be overthrown by his own kid. Rhea could no longer see her beloved children being consumed be her husband, so when she gave birth to Zeus, she asked Mother Earth for help to save baby Zeus. Mother Earth told her to wrap a stone in baby clothes and give it to Cronus to swallow. Cronus, fooled by Rhea's trick, ingested the stone and baby Zeus was saved. Rhea sent him to live with the nymphs in a cave, where he was safe from danger. Zeus chose Metis as his first wife. She was sly and cunning, and Zeus needed her good advice to overthrow his father. Metis fooled Cronus into giving him a special herb to make him vomit up all of the other children he had swallowed, and even the stone. Cronus believed that the herb would make him unconquerable, but as soon as he ate the herb, out came all of his children. These children were also gods and the siblings of Zeus. The gods were Hades and Poseidon, and the goddesses were Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. Cronus knew he could not stand up to his powerful children, so he fled in terror. This began the creation of Mt. Olympus. Zeus' children were Hermes, Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, Persephone, Athena, and Artemis. They accompanied him on Mt. Olympus too. |
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