Zeus

"Very well! In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request, as long as it is within our power."

- Zeus

Zeus (Δίας in Greek, Ζευς in Ancient Greek) is the god of the sky, rain, thunder, wind, lightning, storms, justice, hospitality, oaths, heaven, earth and King of the gods. He is the youngest son of Kronos and Rhea. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter. He only has two known children in the series: Thalia and Jason Grace. He is the Ruler of Olympus and the King of gods. He was portrayed by Sean Bean in The Lightning Thief (film).

History
It should be noted that his early life was much like Kronos, who like him was the youngest and most powerful of his siblings and he was asked to defeat his father by his TItan mother, Rhea. Kronos sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, but swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaia that he was destined to be overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father— a prophecy that Zeus was to hear and fulfill. But when he was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia/Gaea to devise a plan to save him, so that Kronos would get his retribution for his acts against Ouranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Kronos a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed.

Rhea hid Zeus on Mount Ida in Crete. He was raised by Melissa, who nursed him with goat's milk and honey.

After reaching manhood, Zeus plotted with his grandmother, Gaia/Gaea, to trick Kronos into disgorging first the stone, then his siblings in reverse order of swallowing. Metis the Titaness gave Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine to force him to disgorge the babies. Zeus then released the brothers of Kronos and his Titan brethren, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclops, from their dungeon in Tartarus, killing their guard, Kampê.

As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia/Gaea. Together, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Hecatonchires, Metis, Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus and the Cyclopes overthrew Kronos and the other Titans, in the First Titan War called the Titanomachy. The defeated Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus, and Kronos was cut up with his own scythe. Atlas, one of the titans that fought against Zeus (also Prometheus and Epimetheus's brother), was punished by having to hold up the sky on his back for all eternity.

After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades, by drawing lots: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters and earthquakes, and Hades received the world of the dead (the Underworld).

The ancient Earth, Gaia, could not be claimed; she was left to all three, each according to their capabilities, which explains why Poseidon was the "earth-shaker" (the god of earthquakes) and Hades claimed the humans that died.

Gaia/Gaea resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans, because they were her elder children. It should be noted that it was because of this type of action from both Kronos and Uranus (Ouranos)that Kronos overthrew his father and why Zeus and his siblings followed suit in dethroning Kronos. Soon after taking the throne as king of the gods, Gaia brought forth two to stand against the Olympians, the monsters Typhon and Echidna. He vanquished Typhon and trapped him under Mount Edna, later Mt. St. Helens when Western Civilization moved to America, but left Echidna and her children alive to be a challenge future heroes.

Zeus and Metis
Matis was Zeus's first wife and the Titaness of wisdom and deep thought, but her name originally connoted 'magical cunning' and was as easily equated with the trickster powers of Prometheus as with the 'royal metis' of Zeus.

Metis was both a threat to Zeus and an indispensable aid. She advised him with her wise council during the war between the Titans and the gods, and was invaluable as an adviser. She was the one who mixed the mustard and salt water to cause Kronos to vomit up Zeus's siblings.

Zeus and Metis married and consummated the marriage (some sources say after Zeus raped her), but Zeus received a prophecy that Metis would eventually bear a son who would overthrow Zeus. To prevent this Zeus tricked her into turning into a fly and devoured her just as Kronos had done to his children.

Metis was already pregnent. Months later Zeus felt a fierece pounding in his head and called for aid Either Prometheus or in other myths Hephaestus came in and split his head open with a hammer or ax. Athena sprang from Zeus's head fully armed and grown.

Zeus and Hera
Zeus was brother of Hera, and then became her consort. Gaia, their grandmother, gave Hera The Garden of the Hesperides as a wedding gift. Not trusting the Hesperides, Hera also put Ladon (a hundred headed dragon and one of the offspring of Echidna) to guard the apples of her orchard.

With Hera, Zeus sired Ares, Hebe, Eris and Hephaestus.

The conquests of Zeus among nymphs or other Titanesses are famous. Stories of Zeus credits him with unions with Leto, Demeter, Dione, and Maia. Among mortals were Semele, Lo, Europa, Leda, Alcheme and Ganymede.

Many stories render Hera as jealous of his amorous conquests and a consistent enemy of Zeus' lovers and their children by him. For a time, a nymph named Echo had the job of distracting Hera from his affairs by incessantly talking; however, when Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to repeat the words of others.

Despite his own infidelity, Zeus was very jealous of Hera and punished everyone that tried to seduce her. When King Ixion, whom Zeus had absolved of the sin of murdering his father in-law and took to Olympus, fell in love with her and tried to convince her to come to him, Zeus sent him the goddess of clouds, Nephele, shaped to look like Hera. Then he chained him to a fiery wheel, forever revolving through Hades' domain.

Modern Times
Over the centuries the Olympians moved west to the countries that held the seats of great power and influence. But after World War II where his sons and Poseidon's sons battled the sons of Hades, the three took an oath on the River Styx not to have any more children. Decades later, he couldn't resist a beautiful 1980s television starlet and sired his newest child, Thalia.

Because he broke his oath, Hades was outraged and set monsters loose on the twelve year-old Thalia. Grover became her satyr protector and tried to escort her to Camp Half-Blood, along with a seven year-old Annabeth and fourteen year-old Luke. She made her last stand on Half-Blood Hill, and as she died, Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree to preserve her life so Hades couldn't take her soul. This was most likely a way to keep Thalia's spirit safe from his elder brother who was still hurt and angered over the death of the mortal, Maria di Angelo who he had killed in an attempt to kill Hades' own children to prevent the Prophecy from coming true.

Five years later, his master lightning bolt was stolen and he immediately blamed Poseidon. Soon after, Poseidon claimed Percy as his son, and Zeus believed he'd found the way Poseidon had stolen his bolt. Outraged, he threatened Poseidon with war unless the bolt was returned. Percy and his friends, Annabeth and Grover, traveled across America to retrieve the bolt which they discovered that Luke had stolen the master bolt from Zeus's throne. They successfully retrieved it and returned it to Zeus. Due to hurt pride over being embarrassed Zeus threatened Percy should he ever fly again, but agreed to spare him to keep peace with Poseidon. He refused to discuss the threat posed by Kronos.

Sometime later, the Olympians voted on whether to let Percy live, as there was a prophecy that said a child of the "Big Three" would one day decide the fate of the Olympians. Despite the fact that he wasn't happy about Percy's existence, Zeus voted in favor of letting Percy live though his might have been due to the actions of his daughter Thalia was tied in with it as well.

He seems to have warmed up to Thalia and the other heroes as they prepare for battle against his father, Kronos and his old triumphs in The Titan's Curse.

During The Last Olympian, when Typhon was attacking, he refuses to let any of the gods go back to Olympus to help the demigods fight against Kronos so that the demigods could get the advantage over Kronos who was in the possession of Luke's body.

In The Lost Hero, in a combination of stupidity, anger at Percy for refusing the offer to become a god, and fear of the rising giants, Zeus closed off Olympus and recalled all the gods back making Hephaestus tell his son, Leo, that Hermes, the messenger for the gods, is sitting on his throne bored. He also forbid contact with demigods and mortals, believing this was awakening the giants. However, Aphrodite, Hera, Artemis and Hephaestus went against this. It was also revealed he had a Roman son, and brother to Thalia, Jason.

Aphrodite and Hephaestus believe Zeus is merely acting out of wounded pride and stubbornness. Hera admits to having great difficulty at trying to guess Zeus's motivations for anything, but thinks his actions are boardering on paranoia even for him. Including Artemis, the four gods have to work behind his back to avoid gettting caught. Despite this, Zeus indirectly aids the demigods several times on their quest.

Personality
Zeus is seen as stubborn, proud, temperamental, and at times paranoid, especially involving attempts to overthrow him. He expects everyone to obey him without question and show him respect first and foremost. He is "very unforgiving", and refuses to admit when he is wrong. He seems to regard himself as above the rules considering his frequent infidelities and doing little to protect his mistresses or children from Hera or others he has angered. Zeus also killed Asclepius and Maria di Angelo without a shred of remorse. He has a soft spot for certain favorites of his like his daughter Thalia. He also apparently has a flare for dramatic exits, which Poseidon pointed out to Percy saying he should have been the god of theater. It seems he has always been very focused on his superiority, since even the forms he visited his famous mistresses from the past reflect an elevated status: he coupled with Europe under the disguise of a bull (the animal that in mythological tradition embodies masculinity more than any other), with Danae he was a golden rain (gold is a royal metal); to Semele he appeared in his supernova form, with thunder and lightnings. He was definitely guarding his superiority very jealously. His personality in the book matches his personality in the movie perfectly.

Despite his negative flaws Zeus is often viewed as source of order and justice. He maintains control over the other gods preventing their feuds from getting out of hand. He also ensures the overall order of the world. He enforces justice, but a very different form both modern and mortal ideas of it, and if often wrong.

In his roman counterpart, Jupiter, he is said by Thalia as "more fatherly". He is much sterner and harsher as a Roman God.

Appearance
Zeus is a god with black long hair around his shoulders, a beard mixed with marbled gray and black like a storm cloud, rainy gray eyes, and a handsome, proud, and grim face. [Strangely, while he has gray eyes, his demigod offspring (in the books) have electric blue eyes]. He wears normally a dark blue pinstriped suit, and gives off the aura of ozone. He is usually found in his elaborate throne in Mt. Olympus.



Jupiter
Zeus can change his appearance and turn into his Roman counterpart, Jupiter. As Jupiter, he becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. Thalia mentions Jupiter showed up when she was seven and he seemed more stern, a little older, and more fatherly. He also sired a Roman demigod with Thalia's mother Ms. Grace, Jason. He might have more children at the Roman Camp Half-Blood in San Francisco. The Greeks invisioned Zeus as a proud and powerful being, the Romans however, invisioned Jupiter as a more formal and serious version of Zeus.

Powers
Zeus is one of the Big Three, the three oldest and most powerful gods in Olympus, the strongest beings ever to exist. He is surpassed only by Typhon and of the Olympian gods only his brothers Poseidon and Hades rival him. He has the natural abilities of a god, on a level far higher than most others. As the personification of the sky, Zeus can summon and control any form of weather he wishes on a worldwide level. He can summon, create and control electricity, lightning and thunder. His power compared to Poseidon and Hades is a subject of much debate.

Symbol of Power
Zeus wields the "master bolt" which is believed to be the most powerful weapon created. It has been stated to be the weapon that cast Kronos from his throne and the mold for every other thunderbolt Zeus wields. Chiron stated it is far more powerful than any nuclear device known to man. When the target is hit, it will normally vaporize the target, the only known exeption is Typhon.

Attributes
Zeus' attributes are the Eagle, the Thunderbolt and the Scepter, he is mostly seen sitting on his golden throne with his Scepter and his Eagle. Or he is standing, carrying his thunderbolt with his Eagle.

Film
In the film The Lightning Thief, Zeus is played by Sean Bean. Unlike what happens in the books, he doesn't find out Percy is not the lighting thief until after Percy returns it.