Altar to Zeus

After the Titan Kronos was overthrown by his children, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, the three usurpers drew lots to divide up the spoils of the universe. Poseidon was given mastery of the seas; Hades received the underworld; Zeus gained control of the sky and the air. The earth, Gaia, was to be shared between them. In addition, Zeus was made King of the Gods on Mount Olympus. Much mortal effort was put into honouring Zeus, and he had more than 150 epithets to describe his powers and responsibilities. He was the Thunderer, for example, who controlled storms and lightning, so it was a foolish man indeed who got on the wrong side of Zeus, for he risked destruction. On the other hand, many were desperate to claim a connection to him. Despite his marriage to Hera Zeus fathered many children with other goddesses and mortals, the most famous being Herakles, known as Hercules by the Romans. During the classical period it was quite the fashion for Hellenic ruling houses to claim partial-divinity by descent from one of Zeus’ many bastards or, preferably, Herakles himself.