Haaaaa…

  The internet is a very scary place.

  I started the day like a responsible writer, determined to research Greek mythology and understand Zeus beyond his god-tier libido. I ended the day reading poorly written porn about a severely dysfunctional Greek family. And, to be honest... it wasn’t even that inaccurate.

  No. Stop it, self. You are going down a very slippery slope. A slope lined with drama, incest, and questionable fanfic tags.

  That’s enough of the dark side of the internet for now. Shudder.

  Anyway, I did manage to learn a few things from Wikipedia before I was emotionally scarred by the mythological kink corner of the web.

  Exhibit A: Zeus's genealogy.

  Not gonna lie — kind of fascinating. Also kind of horrifying. The history of patricide in GM (Greek Mythology — I’m not typing that out every time) reads like a Game of Thrones spin-off that got canceled for being too much.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Apparently, someone named Hesiod was the first to name-drop Zeus in a poem way back in the 7th or 8th century BCE. Props to him for kicking off this whole divine soap opera.

  But the real star of today’s research? The family tree.

  And let me just say: that tree is not a tree. It's a twisted vine of generational trauma and boundary issues. Alabama has got nothing on the Olympians.

  Sometimes, I wonder if GM is real. Because if it’s not, then whoever invented it had some deeply buried issues and far too much free time.

  Anyway. Back to Zeus.

  Here's a crash course in what I’ve learned about the guy so far:

  God of lightning.

  Brother to Poseidon, Hades, Hera, and some other immortal drama magnets. (There are always others. It never ends.)

  Known for being the “supreme god,” “ruler of Olympus,” and “god of order, thunder, law, and sky.”

  (More like the Godfather, considering the number of kids and the number of women calling him Daddy — if you catch my drift.)

  But really, Zeus is remembered for three things:

  1. His affairs.

  2. His trickery. (Even Hermes is like, “Dude, chill.”)

  3. His absolute Olympic-level ego.

  Despite all that, I stumbled onto something interesting.

  I listened to a musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans (highly recommend — it’s epic), and I really liked his portrayal of Zeus. Confident, manipulative, commanding — but also calculated and clever. And that’s when it hit me:

  Beneath the fuck boi exterior, Zeus is sharp. Ruthless. Strategic. Always ten steps ahead — even if eight of those steps lead to someone's bedroom.

  So maybe — just maybe — there's something to work with here. If I’m going to write Zeus as a romance lead, I won’t be able to pretend he's a cinnamon roll. He’s not. But maybe I can work with his intelligence. His cunning. That alpha confidence that can either be toxic or magnetic, depending on how you flip the coin.

  We’ll see.

  Next step: figure out who the hell would actually fall in love with him — and survive.