Now Cronus was aware that Zeus was born, and he demanded that the infant be handed over to him. Rhea and Gaia had devised a clever strategy. She found a huge stone and wrapped it in swaddling clothes and they present this to the Cronus and told him that this was the infant. Cronus swallowed the stone and was satisfied that Zeus was no longer a threat. In reality, he grew up in Crete, according to a popular version of the myth by the 7th century BC poet Hesiod. There is no agreement in the sources as to who raised the young God. In some sources, it was a nymph, and in others, it was his grandmother Gaia. Zeus grew up to be a mighty god in Crete. Zeus was desperate to overthrow his father, and he was guided by his grandmother Gaia. Cronus did not know that his youngest son with Rhea was still alive. In some myths, Zeus became the cupbearer of his father. His mother gave him a powerful potion, and Zeus was able to give it to his father, secretly. Well, the potion acted as an enema, and Cronus threw up his five children whom he had swallowed. Immediately they rallied to the cause of their younger brother.įrom this time on, there was a war for control of the world. On one side was Cronus and his brother and sisters, and they were known as the Titans. Zeus and his brothers and sister were known as the Olympians and opposed the Titans. The Olympians were at a disadvantage because the Titans outnumbered them. However, Zeus was ever-resourceful and had the secret support of his mother and grandmother. Then he freed some of the monsters and the Cyclopes that had been imprisoned by Cronus many years before. The Cyclopes were grateful and, in return, forged thunderbolts for Zeus. They also made a trident for Poseidon and a helmet for Hades. The future King of Olympus also released the Hecatonchires. Soon, the Olympians were ready to take on the Titans, and this resulted in a war between the gods known as the Titanomachy. The best sources that we have for this myth are Hesiod, sadly several epics that were composed of the events were lost. Zeus began the war with his father, who was portrayed as increasingly old and feeble. The future ruler of Olympus was able to persuade two of the Titans, Prometheus, and his mother to join him and his sisters and brothers. He ordered the Hecatonchires, who had a hundred hands each to bombard the Titans with stones. Zeus then used his mighty bolts to strike the Titans. The Titans fought back fiercely under the leadership of Atlas. The war lasted for some ten years, and the Olympians emerged triumphantly. Zeus and his family took control of the cosmos. Zeus then imprisoned all the Titans and Cronus in Tartarus.

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