The Siblings of Zeus

The Six Children of Cronus and Rhea

Zeus had five siblings, all swallowed by Cronus at birth. Hestia, the firstborn, was goddess of the hearth. She voluntarily gave up her Olympian seat to Dionysus and chose eternal virginity. Demeter controlled agriculture — her grief over Persephone's abduction created the seasons. Hera became Zeus's wife and queen of the gods.

Poseidon received the seas when the brothers divided the cosmos by lots. Hades received the underworld. Together, these six overthrew the Titans and established the Olympian order. Their relationships — Zeus and Hera's contentious marriage, Demeter and Hades's conflict over Persephone — generated many of mythology's most important stories.