Zeus, also known as the thunderer, is one of the best known characters in Greek mythology. His Roman name graces one of the largest planets in the galaxy. As a god, he embraces the idea that man is made in the image of the gods more than any other character in mythology. Despite his extreme power, he has a number of all-too-human failings. He is prone to anger, he makes mistakes and he is particularly noted for his extra marital affairs.
Although the religious opinion has shifted away from worship of Gods, the myths remain. They tell us about people and tell us about our world. Zeus will appear throughout the myths in various rules. Sometimes he is responsible for the birth of another character who the myth will be about. When it comes to the Trojan War, he is remarkably neutral, although Virgil’s Aeneid suggests that Zeus allowed Jupiter to fall because Aeneas’s ancestors would go on to found the city of Rome.
As king of the gods, he is known for his primary weapon, the lightning bolt. The bolts are made by another one of his sons, Hephaestus. The Roman name for Hephaestus, Vulcan, lends his name to an important metalworking process.
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