Zeus
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Zeus (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
Zeus was, in Greek mythology, the leader of the gods. He was a fatherly figure, and the actual father of a number of his fellow deities including Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Castor and Pollux, Dionysius, Hebe, Heracles, Minos, Hermes, Persephone, (PROSE: Deadly Reunion) and Ares. (PROSE: The Lost Ones) His powers were associated with lightning. (TV: The Time Monster, COMIC: The Life Bringer!)
As with the rest of the Greek pantheons, multiple accounts showed that Zeus was a real being with whom the Doctor had dealings, but disagreed as to the details, with him variously construed as an Immortal (PROSE: Deadly Reunion) or an Olympian. (COMIC: The Life Bringer!)
Biography
Background
According to one account, Zeus and the other Greek deities were native to Greek Space, a dimension composed of metaphor. (PROSE: Wandering Stars) According to another account, Zeus and his pantheon were Olympians, native to a planet called Olympus; they influenced the Earth, but did not reside there. (COMIC: The Life Bringer!) According to another, they were Immortals, a powerful race who lived on Earth but were themselves unsure of their origins. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion)
Rise to power
Zeus rose to power by performing some unknown act against Kronos, which "made time run wild and free". This was the beginning of Zeus's reign as the king of the gods. (PROSE: Wandering Stars)
Punishment of Prometheus
After his fellow Olympian Prometheus stole life spores and spread them across the galaxy to create life, Zeus became angry and banished him to an unknown planet, to be chained to a mountain for the rest of his existence. Zeus believed that the life spores should only be used once they had been perfected, so that the universe would be populated with flawless creatures.
Centuries later, the Fourth Doctor and K9 found Prometheus and freed him. Prometheus brought them to the planet Olympus; Zeus sent Aphrodite to bring them to the palace. Prometheus attempted to reason with Zeus, defending mortal men for their art, philosophy, and capacity to love, but Zeus declared that they had "poisoned the universe" by hating, stealing, killing and warring. He sent Prometheus to the confinement rooms, and the Doctor and K9 to Asclepius's laboratory to be studied.
After the Doctor, K9, and Prometheus escaped, Zeus showed his wrath by appearing in a gigantic form in the clouds. He attacked them with lightning, but they reached the TARDIS and escaped. (COMIC: The Life Bringer!)
Arrival in Greece
Zeus and several members of his race set out from their own world in a spaceship to hunt the criminal Medusa. They captured her successfully, but during the voyage home, she telepathically dominated the ship's Scryclops crew, causing them to attack and wound Zeus and the others. The ship crash-landed in ancient Greece, where Zeus and the others had to await rescue from their own people. (COMIC: Gaze of the Medusa)
Fraternising with mortals
By one account, Zeus and his Immortal pantheon lived alongside humanity, and could freely travel between Earth and "transdimensional locations" such as Olympus and the Underworld. The Immortals disagreed among themselves about their race's origins; some believed that they were aliens, while others thought they were mutant cousins of humanity. While Zeus and his family were worshipped as gods, other Immortals were persecuted as witches. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion)
When Iris Wildthyme and Panda visited Greek Space, the goddess Eos told them that, these days, "poor Zeus" had to disguise himself as animals to get any excitement out of interacting with humans. Iris speculated that this was also partly to put people at ease, as a "friendly bull" would seem less intimidating than the father of the gods. Later, Zeus appeared in the form of a polecat and jump-started the Celestial Omnibus with a bolt of divine lightning. (PROSE: Wandering Stars)
Retirement
Sometime before the 20th century, Zeus permanently retreated from Earth to the alternative dimension of Olympus, passing his power to control the seasons and weather to Persephone. Eventually, Demeter tried to contact him to stop Hades from taking over the world. Though it was not immediate, Zeus finally returned and banished Hades to the Underworld forever. Demeter and her family decided to leave with Zeus when he went back to the alternative dimension. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion)
Legacy
The First Doctor was mistaken for Zeus by the Greeks during the Trojan War in circa 1200 BC as well by the Trojan servant Katarina, who became one of his companions. (TV: The Myth Makers)
Hippias called a lightning bolt "a sphere of fire hurled by the hand of Zeus." (TV: The Time Monster)
Bigon once swore by Zeus. (TV: Four to Doomsday)
Both Axatil and his captain frequently swore by Zeus. (PROSE: The Lost Ones)
A belief engine once fell to Earth in ancient Greece in Socrates's day. The faith of the locals created a psychic construct version of Zeus, but he vanished when Socrates logically proved to him that he did not really exist. (COMIC: The Chains of Olympus)
A statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Like the other six Wonders, it was stolen by Pholonius Ginn, who intended on selling it to the highest bidder on G-Bay. It was later returned by Trongus Squum, at the Tenth Doctor's request. (COMIC: Minus Seven Wonders)
