If you are interested in Greek mythology, then you may have had about Kronos and Rhea who are Zeus and Hade’s parents. Hades and Zeus are brothers with a third brother called Poisedon. Hades is Kronos’ eldest son and Zeus is the youngest of the family.
The two brothers, Hades and Zeus, fought and defeated their father’s generation of Gods called the Titans. After defeating the Titans, they assumed rulership over the cosmos. Zeus claimed rulership of the sky, Hades received the underworld, while Poisedon ruled the solid earth and the sea.
After freeing their father’s wrath, they each ruled a part of the earth. If this sounds interesting and you would like to find out more, then let us delve even deeper into the relationship between Hades and Zeus below.
Table of Contents
Arrogance
When Zeus became the ruler of the sky and the earth, he also became the supreme ruler. This made him arrogant and impulsive by thinking that other Olympians were his subjects. His siblings Hera, Athena, Hades, and Poseidon resented him the most.
At one point, they locked him in his throne and stole his thunderbolts. When they got into an argument regarding who becomes the next ruler, Thetis (A Titaness) called upon a creature called Briarus to free Zeus and give him back his thunderbolt.
As a payback, Zeus punished the Olympian Gods including Hermes and Poisedon, by sending them on Earth and turning them into mortal servants.
On Earth, they were made to serve mortal kings as a punishment. Because he was believed to be the supreme God that controlled lightening with his strength, power, and victory, he became arrogant towards his siblings including Hades.
Rivalry
Zeus and Hades had a rather friendly rivalry over who rules which kingdom. However, neither Hades nor Poisedon could challenge Zeus as he was considered the supreme God. This brought about some sour grapes amongst the brothers.
Zeus winning the draw to become supreme God meant that the other two brothers had somehow failed because they were not as strong as he was.
Another thing that often easily sparks rivalry is when things don’t follow a chronological order. For instance, Zeus was younger than Hades but he turned out to be the most powerful of the three brothers.
As a matter of fact, he was the last born and went on to win the draw to rule the most powerful kingdom. It is believed that the elder children should be more powerful than the young ones so that they can still command their respect.
Friendly
Kronos was supposed to eat all of his sons so that his father’s prophecy that they would overthrow him wouldn’t come true.
Luckily, Rhea managed to hide Zeus from his father’s Wrath. Zeus came for his two brothers and helped them escape to Earth.
It is on the Earth that Zeus proved to be more powerful and became the supreme ruler. If he had not been friendly, he would have left his two brothers to be eaten by his father.
The act of helping them to flee was clearly out of love for his brothers.
Last Word
Zeus and Hades are both the sons of Kronos. Hades was the eldest and Zeus the youngest.
After escaping from being eaten by his father, they fled to planet Earth. Here, they drew lots and Zeus won the rulership of the planet. This sparked sibling rivalry and jealousy.
As Zeus could control lightning, power, victory, and strength, he became arrogant and impulsive towards his siblings which led to the breakdown of their relationship.