Written by: Calli DeManiro
Issue: #001

Hello all and welcome to Out of the Ruins, We Go! 's debut post. This blog is all about ancient Greek minor and major gods/goddesses, heroes, myths, and more! I'll be sharing some facts about their backgrounds, and then other fun facts about them!

Now, it only seems fitting that the first post would feature one of the most well-known gods, right? In that case, I introduce you to the one, the only, the all-mighty... Zeus! Now, without further ado, lets get to know him a bit, yes?

We're going to go back very far in the past, when Zeus wasn't even born yet. He had six siblings: Hades, Hestia, Poseidon, Demeter, and Hera. The Titans Kronos and Rhea were his parents.

Before any of his children had been born, Kronos had recieved a phrophecy. It stated that one day, one of his children would overthrow him. And he obviously didn't want that to happen. Now... what action did he take on that?

Sincerely,

Well, my friends, I'll tell you this: It was not pretty nor was it caring or loving. What Kronos did to prevent a godling from overthrowing him was... he swallowed them, Yup, you heard that right. He swallowed his kids whole. Gulp!

And this most likely had Rhea traumatized. After all, she never got to see her kids grow up! When Zeus was born, Rhea didn't want the same fate for him as the others got. Instead, she wrapped a rock in a blanket and presented to Kronos. Without even looking at it, he swallowed it whole. Just like that. I wonder how the godlings reacted to that...

Rhea, having a plan, sent Zeus to a private island to live with nymphs until he was old enough to help Rhea take revenge.

Now lets skip forwards a couple of years to when Zeus was fully grown. Rhea sent him back to his birthplace as a servant. One day when he was serving Kronos a wine goblet, Rhea and Zeus had planned to posion his drink. And when Kronos eventually drank it, he felt sick, like he had to throw up. So, he did. And outcame Hera, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, and Posiedon!

The kids also wanted revenge. So came a war. It was called the Titanomachy. It lasted for ten years, and the godlings won! Zeus took Kronos' spot as King of Olympus, the gods/goddesses current home.

Want to read more about Zeus? Possibly learn more information about him that wasn't included in here? Go check out the lovely book about him that our amazing pumpkins wrote!: https://worldofolympians.com/libr
ary/c5e6cfdb-bbb1-4367-a235-8b182c8b8a1a

Now, let's get onto to more interesting parts.

Did you know that Zeus married his sister, Hera? I know - gross. But, times were different back then. But Zeus and Hera became king and queen of the gods, and are still ruling them currently.

With being the king, you would think that Zeus would be the eldest. After all, that's normally who gets the crown. But no, Zeus is the youngest! If the ruling was by age, Hestia, his sister, would be the queen.

Zeus had three godling children with Hera: Ares (god of war), Eileithyia (goddess of fertility), and Hebe (goddess of youth). But Zeus also a cheater. As he would be called nowadays, a player. He hooked up with more than several female mortals and had demi-gods; half mortal-half god children. Some of you might be Zeus demi-gods reading this right now!

This fact is semi-obvious as most of you readers know it already, but Zeus is the god of the sky. Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus (the Big Three) rolled a die to determine what land was their territory. Zeus rolled highest, choosing land. Poseidon rolled second-highest, choosing the sea. And Hades rolled lowest, being left with the Underworld.

And that is all I have for you guys today. I hope to see