After the end of Kronos’s reign by Zeus’s hand, peace was brought upon both Mt Olympus and Earth as a whole. And with peace came change.
The beginning of the Olympians.
After Kronos’s rule, Zeus had decided that instead of him ruling alone he’d have his siblings alongside him, thus forming the Olympians1.
In the beginning the six siblings(Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus) formed the Olympians. And with the addition of the second generation gods, the Olympian Council, as it was dubbed, grew from six to twelve.
So in the end the council was made up of Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, Zeus, Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes and Dionysus2.
Hestia, the goddess of Home, Hearth and Family, was not part of the final Olympian council and it is believed that due to a decree that there cannot be more than 12 Olympians and wishing to avoid any disputes between the gods, she gave her throne to Dionysus.
And the second god missing from the Olympian Council is Hades. Despite being an Elder god and part of the Big Three3, Hades was not given a place as an Olympian God. This is due to the fact that Hades is already the ruler of his own realm, the Underworld.
In the end the Olympian Council is made up of the twelve major gods and they had many tasks4.
But the Olympains Gods had one job that trumped all others. Rule over the humans that reside on Earth5.
1Honestly, it’s still Zeus.
Despite having an entire council to rule over Earth, Zeus like his father and grandfather was still named the King of the Gods. Rather this title was taken upon by himself or given to him by others, is unsure. However most historians believe that after the Titanomachy, the Gods decided to name Zeus the king for defeating Kronos.
2More Gods, this time the children of Zeus.
In a time of prosperity when the world was at peace the Gods themselves began to prosper as well, no more than Zeus himself. Unlike his father(Kronos) or grandfather(Ouranos) wasn’t afraid of children and as a result many of the second generation Gods that we are familiar with are children of Zeus. Including Artemis, Apollo, Athena, Ares, Persephone and Hephaestus.
3The Three Big and Most Powerful Gods.
Historians believed that out of all the Gods, the sons of Kronos, Poseidon, Hades and Zeus grew to be the most powerful. And thus dubbed the Big Three Gods of Greek mythology. And when Kronos was defeated, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades drew lots to determine who would rule over the sky, underworld and the sea. It is then said that Zeus became the God of the Sky and everything under that. Poseidon got the sea, and Hades everything under the earth or in other words the Underworld.
4Domains and Tasks
Along with ruling over the Earth each Olympian God had other tasks more specialised with their domain. For example, in some myths, Apollo and Artemis flew the Sun and Moon Chariot respectively. And Poseidon is depicted to be ruling over life under the sea and watching out for sailors and traders. And Athena is to be the patron of Athens after having won it over from Poseidon. A story for another time.
5Humans
In the Golden Age also known as Kronos’s reign, it is believed that creatures such as humans were used as entertainment by the Titans, however this is contradictory as the popular retelling is that Prometheus created humans out of clay and Athena breathed life into them, however Athena was born after the Titans’ defeat so that’s illogical. However, either way, the treatment of humans improved throughout the reign of the Gods.