Titanomachy
Kronos appointed the four brothers that helped him with the murder to the corners of the universe: Hyperion in the east, Iapitus in the west, Krios in the south, and Coeus in the north. There they held the sky while Kronos controlled the Universe.
Every day, Kronos would think about Uranus’s dying words. He stressed about it so much that when his wife (and sister) Rhea told him she was pregnant, he went ballistic. He didn't know what to do. When the baby was born, Kronos finally thought of an idea.
“Lord Kronos,” Rhea was saying. “It’s a girl. I'll name her… Hestia.”
Kronos grabbed the baby from her arms and swallowed the newborn whole. Rhea sobbed uncontrollably behind Kronos’s back but-- just like her mother Gaea-- was powerless to stop her husband. Kronos apologized immediately, claiming that the baby slipped from his hands, creating this unfortunate event.
Soon Rhea found out she was pregnant again. It was another girl, whom Rhea named Demeter. This baby girl met the same fate as Hestia, going straight into Kronos’s open mouth. Once again, Rhea did not and could not do anything.
The couple had three more children, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, who all went down the throat of Kronos. Fearing what Kronos would do to her, Rhea kept silent and obeyed his wishes.
When Rhea found out she was pregnant with their sixth child, she knew she must do something. She took a rock and wrapped it in the blankets that were meant for their newborn. Handing the wrapped bundle to Kronos, she began her act, crying as Kronos dropped the rock down his throat without a second look.
The sixth child’s name was Zeus. Rhea took Zeus to the island of Crete, far away from the sight of the other Titans. Rhea had nymphs care for and raise baby Zeus. Daemons known as Curetes created loud noises to block out Zeus's cries. Amaltheia, a magical goat, fed Zeus honey and milk from her broken horn. As Zeus grew up, he developed godly strength and abilities. When Rhea saw him after many years, she knew he was ready to take on his father.
“Zeus, go to the Titan Palace,” Rhea instructed. “Pose as a cupbearer and entertainer for Kronos. Gain his trust so that one day you can give him this.”
The earth rumbled and a small herb poked through the soil.
“This herb,” she continued, “will make Kronos ill. He will regurgitate all his food and, hopefully, your siblings along with it.”
Zeus arrived at the palace, a gleaming obsidian rock carved into the top of Mount Othrys. Inside, the halls were empty with no trace of life. The walls seemed to close in around him as if everything in the palace was looking at him. Sounds echoed from the throne room, so Zeus headed in that direction.
There was a gathering of Titans who were drinking, telling jokes, and having a good time. They were massive-- at least 20 feet tall. Not wanting to stand out as being a measly ten feet, Zeus concentrated. He grew until he matched the other Titans in size. He had learned to change his shape on Crete. He had struggled to do it at first but realized that the key was in the breathing.
“Greetings, Lord Kronos,” Zeus called out. “I am here to be your cupbearer.”
Kronos, still drunk, looked sleepily at Zeus and agreed to let him work in the palace.
Zeus took the role of serving drinks to the Titans. He started out first with the lesser Titans and slowly worked his way up to serving Lord Kronos. Kronos drank a lot. Zeus answered his call for more drinks nearly 50 times a day. At the end of the day, Kronos would pass out until the morning and then drink some more.
For months, Zeus waited impatiently for the perfect opportunity. Finally, one evening, Kronos was alone in the throne room when he requested another glass. Zeus slipped the herb out of his pocket and into Kronos’s cup. Drowsy after a whole day of drinking, Kronos didn't notice the smell in his cup and downed it in one gulp. He quickly began to feel lightheaded. The room around him spun faster and faster. Suddenly he collapsed, clutching his stomach.
Zeus stood over Kronos triumphantly. As Kronos retched, out came the five undigested gods from his gaping throat. With no Titans within shouting distance to help, Kronos lay there shocked as the now fully-grown gods stood before him. The siblings fled the palace, with Zeus leading the way, ready to take them to Crete and show them their new abilities.
Zeus and his siblings spent the next few weeks training for the inevitable fight between them and the Titans. They knew they were far weaker than the Titans and would be outnumbered. Zeus recalled the stories Rhea had told him about their father’s despicable actions. He also could not stop thinking about Rhea’s siblings, the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires, still trapped in Tartarus. Zeus knew they must hold grudges against Kronos for not freeing them. He told the others the plan.
They traveled into Tartarus in search of the inmost, darkest, most evil part of the pit. There, hissing geysers sprayed molten rock and lava into the air, creating the only light source in the pit. Zeus led the siblings deeper inside, while they mumbled behind him still not fully understanding the plan.
They traveled deeper and deeper until they came across a wall, where a huge beast blocked their path into the fortification. It had large dragon legs and a waist writhing with gnawing and chomping wild animals. The beast's head was a nest of snakes engulfed in monstrous wings.
“Kampe,” Zeus said in a small voice.
Kampe turned, trying to locate the source of the sound.
“Who's there?” Kampe bellowed, spewing fire in their direction.
They froze, understanding that they had not yet been spotted. They hugged the wall trying not to be seen.
Circling the wall, they came to a gate that reached higher into the sky than they could see. Inside were six huge figures, three on each side of the opening. On the left were what looked like three blobs of hands and heads. On the right stood some giant sturdily-built men. As they turned around, they exposed the one single glowing eye at the center of their heads.
“We have to free them if we are to overthrow the Titans,” Zeus said quietly to his siblings.
They crept up to the Cyclopes from the right, still out of sight of Kampe.
“Hey,” Zeus whispered. “We are here to free you.”
The Cyclopes looked at him right in the eyes.
“That's what the other one said,” they replied. “Then he used us to supply his Titan army with swords and armor.”
“Kronos,” Zeus said under his breath. “Well, we are trying to get rid of him. We don't like him either. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”
The Cyclopes thought about it and forced a smile. “We would love to help you… Who did you say you are?”
“I am Zeus,” Zeus replied. “Let's start with some weapons for us.”
Kampe came around the corner. She cracked her fiery whip onto the ground.
“She is always watching us,” Cyclopes said. “She destroys anything we make. We are forced to keep working or else face the wrath of her whip.”
The siblings gathered in a circle and thought about this problem.
Then Hestia spoke in a small voice. “If the Cyclopes each make part of the weapon and assemble it at the last minute, you could toss it to us before Kampe notices it's complete.”
The Cyclopes began hammering in the forges. Kampe looked in their direction but saw no harm being done, so she turned around and headed toward the Hundred-Handed Ones to monitor them.
The center Cyclopes finished hammering and took a deep breath. With the slightest flick of his wrist, he grabbed pieces from both sides of him, combined them, and tossed the finished product over to Zeus. The glowing cylinder, pointed on both ends, flickered with electricity. Gazing at the cylinder in his hands, Zeus pointed it at a nearby rock. Lightning shot out of the side, engulfing the rock in a fiery explosion.
Kampe whirled around, spewing fire in their direction. They scurried away, their hair scorched. Zeus peeked around the corner and pointed the rod at Kampe. With a huge explosion, Kampe was gone. All that remained was a smoldering pile of ashes. They all gawked at Zeus in amazement, awestruck and slightly frightened of his new power.
Poseidon stepped up and said, “Give me something better.” Sibling rivalry was already starting.
After a few minutes, the Cyclopes handed Poseidon a new weapon, a trident. Its three points gleamed in the low lights emanating from the fiery glow of Tartarus. Holding it in his hand, Poseidon felt the power of the ocean coursing through him. Instinctively, he struck it against the ground. The ground rumbled and cracked. A massive 20-foot-wide chasm formed under their feet.
“I can live with this!” Poseidon cried with a grin.
“How about me?” Hades mumbled under his breath.
They all stepped back, forgetting he was even there as he blended in so well with the shadows.
The Cyclopes stared at him, thinking, and started walking toward the forges. “We have just the thing for you.”
After just minutes banging around in the forge, the Cyclopes returned carrying a small metal dome in their hands.
“That’s it?” Hades roared. “These two get a lightning bolt and a trident, but I get a measly little helmet?”
“Well, put it on,” the Cyclopes said impatiently.
Still pouting, Hades did as he was told and immediately vanished.
“Where’d you go?” Poseidon called out, his head darting around.
“Haha, very funny,” Hades growled.
“Wh… What are you doing?” Zeus stammered, stepping away from the spot where Hades last appeared.
Zeus started to sweat uncontrollably, panic growing in his eyes.
Hades reappeared, his helmet in his hands. “Wow,” he muttered under his breath.
Before he could say another word, the screeches of 1,000 monsters echoed from over the hills. The monsters were running toward them, determined to devour these invaders whole. Zeus and his siblings stepped back and then broke into a jog, eventually running full speed back toward the corridors.
“Come on!” Zeus cried to the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones. “You’ve got to help us beat the Titans!”
The two sets of triplets looked at each other and hurried after Zeus out of Tartarus and into the mortal world.
The decade proved weary for both sides until the gods decided that the war needed to end one way or the other. The stronghold of the Titans was on Mount Othrys. Their dark palace was the center of the command and heavily guarded. The gods knew that as long as the palace remained standing, the war would never cease.
The gods devised a plan to drive the Titans out of Mount Othrys by attacking from the neighboring Mount Olympus. They would attack with lightning, earthquakes, and mass panic, along with boulders thrown by the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones. If the plan worked, Hades and his helm would paralyze the Titans with fear and trap their enemies in a crumbling palace.
They attacked at the break of dawn, hoping that the Titans would be caught just as they were waking up. Kronos was shaken out of his sleep by a bang of lightning and the rumbling of the earth. Before he could even get out of bed to call the troops ready, he stopped and stared at the wall, fear gripping his mind. At that moment, a boulder smashed through the wall into Kronos’s room, crushing the Titan underneath. The palace began to crumble under the onslaught of lightning and boulders.
The gods watched the mountain smolder as they carried out endless assault. After many hours, they finally ceased. A figure emerged from the smoke, limping. Kronos staggered out of the wreckage, glaring at the siblings, before the mountain finally imploded, taking the former Lord of the Universe with it.
From the top of Mount Olympus, the gods surveyed the wreckage of the formerly tallest mountain in Greece. Mount Olympus, now the tallest mountain in Greece, would become the home of the gods, who would take on their new name, the Olympians.