He was a strong, brave, stupid, noisy, violent, conceited god, and always on the watch lest his family should try to get rid of him having once himself got rid of his wicked, idle, cannibalistic father Cronus, King of the Titans and Titanesses. Zeus used it for magical rainmaking in times of drought. A purple ram’s fleece covered the cold seat. A bright blue covering above showed that the whole sky belonged to Zeus alone and on the right arm of his throne perched a ruby-eyed golden eagle clutching jagged strips of pure tin, which meant that Zeus could kill whatever enemies he pleased by throwing a thunderbolt of forked lightning at them. Seven steps led up to it, each of them enamelled with one of the seven colours of the rainbow. King Zeus had an enormous throne of polished black Egyptian marble, decorated in gold. But for the most part they were too busy with their own quarrels and lawsuits to take much notice of mortal affairs. In the Council Hall the Olympians met at times to discuss mortal affairs-such as which army on earth should be allowed to win a war, and whether they ought to punish some king or queen who had been behaving proudly or disgustingly. These included a bear, a lion, a peacock, an eagle, tigers, stags, a cow, a crane, snakes, a wild boar, white bulls, a wild cat, mice, swans, herons, an owl, a tortoise, and a tank full of fish. Beyond the kitchen and servants’ quarters stood cottages for smaller gods, sheds for chariots, stables for horses, kennels for hounds, and a sort of zoo where the Olympians kept their sacred animals. In between came a square court, open to the sky, with covered cloisters and private rooms on each side, belonging to the other five Olympian gods and the other five Olympian goddesses. The northern end of the Palace, looking across the valley of Tempe towards the wild hills of Macedonia, consisted of the kitchen, banqueting hall, armoury, workshops, and servants’ quarters. The Olympians’ masons, gigantic one-eyed Cyclopes, had built them on much the same plan as royal palaces on earth.Īt the southern end, just behind the Council Hall, and looking towards the famous Greek cities of Athens, Thebes, Sparta, Corinth, Argos, and Mycenae, were the private apartments of King Zeus, the Father-god, and Queen Hera, the Mother-goddess.

Great walls, too steep for climbing, protected the Palace.

All the Olympians lived together in an enormous palace, set well above the usual level of clouds at the top of Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. Though thinking little of the smaller, old-fashioned gods over whom they ruled, they thought even less of mortals. The twelve most important gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, called the Olympians, belonged to the same large, quarrelsome family.

The Greek Myths by Robert Graves