Zeus was the most powerful god for the Ancient Greek polytheists.
Zeus generally got his way[]
Zeus was the king of the gods and the others had to obey him. Zeus was god of the sky and inclined to throw thunderbolts around. When Zeus got tired of thunderbolts he had very many amorous adventures with human women, he visited one lover as a swan for example and another as a shower of gold. Despite the power of Zeus The Fates and Destiny were beyond his control. [1]
Being swallowed alive[]
Zeus was special because he escaped being swallowed alive by his father Chronus. Chronus swallowed the older brothers and sisters of Zeus (including Poseidon) but later vomited them all up alive. Yes that’s right, the five brothers and sisters of Zeus survived inside their father’s belly for years and years and years. That must have been a truly stomach churning experience. Incidentally the Cretans believed Zeus died and was resurrected every year. Did the Christian concept of the Resurrection develop from that idea? [2]
And to think that the Ancient Greeks and Romans believed all that for over a millennium. Isn’t it remarkable what people can get to believe if it’s part of a recognised religion?
The story of Zeus and Jonah[]
There’s the Old Testament story of Jonah and the whale which has poor little Jonah alive inside a whale or great fish for three days. [3] That’s not quite so extreme as the story of the older brothers and sisters of Zeus because it’s only one person and the ordeal only lasted three days.
Still it’s impossible. Jonah would have suffocated within minutes, if he survived that the stomach juices would have killed him and after three days he would have been seriously weakened through thirst. [4]
Christians who can clearly see the story of Zeus is impossible mythology may if, they are Bible literalists still believe the story of Jonah.