Zeus is a figure from Greek mythology, recognized as the king of the gods and the god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and fate. His Roman equivalent is Jupiter.
Zeus is the child of the Titan Cronus and Titaness Rhea. Cronus, having overthrown his father Uranus, was told that one of his children would overthrow him in turn. To prevent this, he swallowed each of his children as they were born, but Rhea managed to hide Zeus and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead.
Zeus was raised in secret, and when he was grown, he returned to confront Cronus, making him regurgitate his swallowed siblings. With his brothers and sisters—Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon—Zeus led a rebellion against the Titans, banishing them to the depths of Tartarus.
After the Titans were overthrown, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon cast lots to divide the world amongst themselves. Zeus won the sky, Poseidon won the sea, and Hades received the Underworld. Zeus often used his powers of shape-shifting and illusion to interfere in the affairs of mortals, and he had many romantic liaisons resulting in a plethora of godly and heroic offspring.
Zeus’s symbol is the thunderbolt, but he is also associated with the eagle, the bull, and the royal scepter. He was widely worshipped in ancient Greece, and his cult influenced many aspects of Greek culture.