Jupiter

Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and gave it to Saturn on Mount Thaumasius in Arcadia. Saturn swallowed it, believing that he had swallowed his infant son, Jupiter. Rhea secretly carried Jupiter to Crete and hid him in a cave on Mount Ida. A goat named Amalthea fed him honey, while the Kouretes shouted and clashed their hands to cover his cries. In another telling, the nymph Adamanthea hid him by hanging him from a tree between earth, sea, and sky. In a further telling, Jupiter changed himself into a serpent and changed his nurses into bears when Saturn pursued him.

Jupiter grew to manhood among the shepherds of Ida. He then sought out Metis, the Titaness who lived beside the Ocean stream. She prepared a potion and told him to mix it with Saturn’s honeyed drink. Jupiter returned to his mother and became Saturn’s cup-bearer. Saturn drank deeply and vomited up the stone. He then brought up Jupiter’s five swallowed siblings, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia. They emerged unharmed and asked Jupiter to lead them in war against Saturn and the Titans.

Jupiter gathered the young gods and marched with the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handers. The Cyclopes worked on magical weapons, though the weapons remained unfinished when Saturn attacked. Jupiter told his brothers and sisters that they had to fight before they were ready, because the Titans had trapped them in a valley and would charge down the slopes of Olympus and the surrounding hills. He whistled three notes and ordered the attack.

War followed between Jupiter, the young gods, and their allies on one side, and Saturn and the Titans on the other. Jupiter’s united forces overcame Saturn’s army. Saturn gave up his power, and Jupiter seized cosmic rule.

Jupiter descended to earth in the shape of a man and entered the Arcadian country as twilight darkened the land. He passed the wild places of Menalus, Cyllene, and Lycaeus before reaching the harsh house of King Lycaon. Jupiter gave a sign that a god had arrived. The people prayed to him, but Lycaon mocked their devotion and resolved to test his visitor.

Lycaon planned to kill Jupiter during the night, believing that he could murder him while he slept. He went further than this and prepared a meal made with human flesh. He served it to Jupiter with the flesh of sheep and goats. Jupiter recognised the crime and rejected the banquet. He overturned the table, and the place later carried the name Trapezus. The house of Lycaon was destroyed, and the king faced the punishment that his act had earned.

Jupiter changed Lycaon into a ravening wolf. His new form showed what he had been within. His skin became hoary grey, his eyes remained fierce and glaring, and his cruel heart appeared in his shape. Jupiter then looked upon the wider wickedness of humankind and decided that such offences deserved punishment, as Lycaon’s house had been punished.