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Zeus is the god of the sky and the king of the gods. He is also one of the Big Three (along with Poseidon and Hades). He is a prideful, arrogant figure who is deeply impressed with his own power. Zeus became the king of Olympus when he defeated his own father, Kronos, by feeding him a mixture of mustard and wine, which made Kronos expel his other children. Zeus and his brothers and sisters were then able to overthrow Kronos and seat themselves on Mount Olympus. Zeus is significant within the narrative of The Lightning Thief for a few key reasons. To begin with, the stealing of his master bolt is the catalyst that sets the plot in motion. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover embark on their quest to retrieve the master bolt to prevent a war between the gods. Further, Zeus is important because he is one of Percy’s divine adversaries. Percy is a Forbidden Child (a child of one of the Big Three), so he is walking proof that Poseidon fathered a demigod despite the Big Three’s pact to stop producing children with mortal women. As a result, Zeus resents Percy simply for being alive and is tempted to kill Percy out of spite—and to ensure that he does not cause any more trouble. Finally, Zeus’s unwillingness to discuss the threat that Kronos poses enrages Percy and sets up the conflict for books to come as the king of the gods repeatedly ignores Percy’s warnings.
