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Zeus

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Zeus (Zευς) or Dias (Διας) was the leader of the Gods and God of the sky and thunder in Greek Mythology, equivalent to the Roman God Jupiter and associated with various other deities, such as the Egyptian Ammon.

Last son of Cronus (Saturn for Romans) who had the habit of swallowing his own children right after their birth, he ended this tyranny with the help of his mother Rhea and rescued his siblings.

It is said that his mother, after she gave birth to him, gave her husband a stone camouflaged as a baby to swallow. Then she hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete where he was raised by a goat (others say a nymph) named Amalthea. Koryvandes, a company of soldiers (or smaller gods) danced, shouted and clapped their hands to make noise so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry.

When he grew up, Zeus revolted against his father's tyranny. He won this war Battle of Titans, and set his brothers and sisters free. He shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Plouton (or Hades) after drawing lots: Zeus got the land, Poseidon the sea and Plouton the world of the shadows (the dead).

He is brother and husband of Hera (identified with Juno). Their son is Hephaistos (Vulcan). He is famous for his many extramarital affairs with various goddesses - notably Demeter, Latona, Dione, Maia, etc -- and mortal women -- notably Semele, Io, Europa, Leda, etc.

As a result, he is the father of many demi-gods and heroes such as Heracles (Hercules). The Greeks considered that he was probably still producing mortal offspring. He was the brother of Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera and Demeter.

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