Zeus

After freeing his siblings from their father (the Titan, Cronus), Zeus and two of his brothers, Hades and Poseidon, drew lots to see who would rule over the earth. They split the world up three ways: Zeus became ruler of the earth, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld. These three may have held sway over the mortal world, but Zeus was ruler even among the Gods themselves.

For all his great wisdom and power, Zeus (like most of the Greek Gods) had his own limitations and weaknesses. Zeus had a soft spot for the ladies, which repeatedly caused trouble between him and his wife Hera. The majority of myths surrounding Zeus involve his numerous lovers, affairs and illegitimate children. Several other Gods and Goddesses, as well as mortal heroes were born from Zeus' affairs.

In appearance, Zeus was most often depicted as an older man, bearded and seated on a throne. Though he ruled over most aspects of mortal life, he was most strongly associated with the sky and the weather (particularly thunder and lightning). Thunderbolts were Zeus' weapon of choice when it came to punishing the mortals.

One of the main temples to Zeus in ancient Greece was the sanctuary at Dodona (near Epirus, in northwestern Greece). Here, the priests made predictions by listening to the words of Zeus as they heard them in the rustling of the leaves of a sacred oak tree.

In the Roman pantheon, Zeus is known as Jupiter.

Zeus' Children
Ares
Athena
Apollo
Aphrodite
Artemis
Hermes
Hephaestus
Eris, Persephone, Hebe, The Muses, Dionysus, Epaphus, King Minos, Rhadamanthus, Perseus, Heracles, and more....