Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to take a look at the
five times Zeus came closest to dying, which is to say, as the notion of death pertains to gods,
at the five times Zeus came closest to being permanently incapacitated
in some way, whether through banishment, imprisonment, or dismemberment - basically,
five of the times Zeus came closest to either losing or never winning his crown.
Starting us off is the insurgency in which Hera,
Athena, and Poseidon banded together to overthrow Zeus.
They staged a coup, managing to overcome Zeus and chain him up - whether through surprise,
guile, or combined strength, is not specified. Thetis, Achilles’ mother,
saw what was happening, so she went and fetched Briareus, one of the Hecatonchires,
the hundred-handers, the mere sight of whom subdued the gods attempting to supplant Zeus,
causing them to immediately abandon their efforts without even the hint of a fight. Had Thetis not
brought reinforcements, Zeus may have been deposed then and there, replaced by an oligarchy of gods.
Next we have Zeus’ birth.
Cronus, the leader of the Titans and the lord of the Cosmos, learned of a prophecy, foretelling his
downfall at the hands of one of his children. In an effort to forestall such an eventuality,
Cronus swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born - his reasoning being that
none of them could usurp him while they were imprisoned inside of him. Rhea, Cronus’ wife,
became more distraught with each child she lost, until she reached her breaking point.
She couldn’t bear to see her youngest child, Zeus, swallowed, so she swaddled a stone in baby’s
wrappings and proffered it to Cronus in Zeus’ stead. Cronus, oblivious, not even suspecting
that a ruse might be afoot, swallowed the stone without a moment’s hesitation. Zeus was then
raised in secret and, once he was in the bloom of manhood, made a triumphant return, but had his
mother not made the switch, he very well might have spent an eternity in his father’s stomach.
Following this is Zeus’ battle against Typhon.
Typhon was the most powerful monster in all of Greek mythology, more powerful,
even, than almost all of the gods; Zeus was the only god who could withstand Typhon’s wrath,
and only because of his lighting bolts, which were crafted for him by the Cyclopes. In one account,
Zeus makes short work of Typhon. Their fight is brought to an end when Zeus casts Typhon down
into the depths of Tartarus. The other version, though, was not such a one-sided affair. In this
second version, when Typhon laid siege to Mount Olympus, the gods were so fear-stricken that
they fled to Egypt, where they hid by disguising themselves as animals. Eventually, Zeus stopped
being such a coward and regained his composure, reverting back to his human form so as to rain
down a bombardment of thunderbolts. But it’s not long before the situation turns ill for him.
The battle became a close quarters fight, and initially, Zeus was using his adamantine
sickle to devastating effect; but after enduring many blows, Typhon wrapped Zeus up in his coils
and wrestled the sickle away from him, using it to cut out the sinews from Zeus’ hands and feet.
Typhon then hauled Zeus back to his cave and hid the sinews in a bear skin. Hermes recovers
the sinews and rescues Zeus, and later, after Zeus has some time to recover his strength, he
rides forth in his chariot and descends on Typhon for a second bout. This time victory is achieved,
punctuated by the hurling of Mount Etna, which crushed Typhon and entombed him in the earth.
Were it not for Hermes, though, who knows how long Zeus would have remained a prisoner in Typhon’s
cave, maybe forever. Maybe all of the cosmos would have been brought under Typhon’s barbarous rule.
Next is the never-born son who would have dethroned Zeus.
Although Zeus was married to Hera, he sired children with many other goddesses. One of these
was Metis, one of the Oceanids, which was a group of 3,000 sea nymphs who were the daughters of the
Titan Oceanus. Zeus’ advances weren’t welcomed by Metis, who shapeshifted into many forms to escape
him; her efforts, though, were to no avail, and unfortunately, being coerced into copulation was
just the beginning of her woes. Gaia prophesied that Metis would bear exceptionally powerful
children, first a daughter, wise and strong, then a son, bold and mighty, who would become the new
ruler of heaven. Zeus swallowed Metis, imprisoning her inside of him to prevent the birth of any son
more powerful than he. Athena was later born out the side of Zeus’ head when Hephaestus split his
skull with an axe, but the son was never born; had he been, though, Zeus would have been relegated
to rank of has-been, either castrated or imprisoned like the bygone rulers of old.
Filling up the last spot is the Titanomachy,
which was the cataclysmic 10 year war fought between the gods and the titans.
The outcome of the war, which was that all of the titans who fought against the gods were cast
into Tartarus - with the exception of Atlas, of course - perhaps belies what actually transpired.
Though the outcome was absolute defeat for one side, the titans, and absolute victory for the
other, the gods, the war was not a foregone conclusion, and until the end, could have gone
either way. As Apollodorus describes it, after 10 years of fighting, neither side was any closer to
defeating the other, but then Gaia prophesied that the gods would claim victory if they freed the
brothers of the Titans imprisoned in Tartarus and enlisted their aid. (The three cyclopes and the
three Hecatonchires were all imprisoned by Uranus and subsequently kept imprisoned by Cronus.)
With the weapons forged for them by the Cyclopes - lighting bolts for Zeus,
the cap of darkness for Hades, and a trident for Poseidon - the war was quickly brought to and end,
but without additional support who knows how interminable the war would have become or if the
gods even would have won. Without Cyclopes-forged weapons, maybe Cronus would have stayed king.
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoy the content please LIKE the video
and SUBSCRIBE to the channel. As always, leave your video suggestions down below.