Fact 2: The names of his parents were Cronus and Rhea
Fact 3: He was one of the 12 Olympian gods who resided on the summit of Mount Olympus
Fact 4: He is believed to have been born in a cave on Mount Ida on the island of Crete
Fact 5: Cronus, his father, believed that he would be betrayed and replaced by his own children. He therefore kept eating his children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus and tricked her husband by substituting the baby with a swaddled rock. Cronus ate the rock believing he had disposed of another threat to his rule.
Fact 6: Zeus vanquished his father and released his siblings, who were still living in the stomach of Cronus
Fact 7: His older brothers were Poseidon and Hades who ruled the sea and the underworld
Fact 8: He was revered as protector of the weak and punisher of the wicked but his punishments could be severe. Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals. As a terrible punishment he condemned Prometheus to having his liver eaten by a giant eagle
Fact 9: When he abducted Europa, his brother, Poseidon, calmed the waves of the sea to help Zeus, trying to escape.
Fact 10: He was on the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War. In the 'Deception of Zeus' his wife, Hera, deceived and distracted him, enabling the Greeks to obtain the upper hand during the Trojan War.
Fact 11: He had the power to transform his shape, and often did so in order to complete a seduction
Fact 12: He was famous for seducing Leda in the guise of a swan. He seduced Europa in the guise of a bull and Antiope in the guise of a satyr.
Fact 13: His mother Rhea incited the Gigantes (a race of giants) to rebel against the Olympian gods who were victorious in the Battle of the Giants, called the Gigantomachy
Fact 14: His long list of lovers included Antiope, Callisto, Danae, Europa, Electra, Taygete, Niobe, Io, Semele, Themis, Leda, Leto, Maria, Mnemosyne, Demeter and Alcmene
Fact 15: Aided by the Cyclopes, Hephaestus (Vulcan) manufactured the weapons of Zeus, the dreadful thunderbolts, whose frightful power none could withstand
Fact 16: One of the horns of the goat Amalthea, broken off by Zeus, and supposed to possess the power of filling itself with whatsoever its owner desired.
Fact 17: The aegis, a protective buckler shield was also an attribute of the god.
