Story of Cronus Versus Uranus in Greek Mythology

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There were several generations of gods and goddesses who ruled over the earth in Greek Mythology. Uranus was the father of Cronus, and Cronus was the father of Zeus. Each of these three were deemed to be “King of the Gods” when it was their generation’s time to rule. The struggle between Cronus and Zeus is pretty well known, and this conflict is known as the Titanomachy or the “Clash of the Titans”.

Part of what drove Cronus to take the actions that he did, which ultimately led to the “Clash of the Titans”, where the Olympian gods and goddesses dethroned the Titans, was the way that Uranus had treated him. However, the story of what happened between Cronus and Zeus is fairly well known. To understand that, we need to know what happened between Uranus and Cronus.

Cronus and His Descendants

Cronus was one of the Greek gods and the personification of the sky. He was the husband and son of Gaia or the Earth Mother. Gaia conceived Uranus alone and the belief is he was born from Hemera and Aether or Nyx. Uranus and Gaia belonged to the first Titan generation and became the ancestors of the majority of Greek gods.

Once Uranus and Gaia mated, she birthed the twelve Titans, Coeus, Hyperion, Theia, Themis, Phoebe, Cronus, Oceanus, Crius, Iapetus, Rhea, Mnemosyne and Tethys. Gaia also birthed the Cyclops Arges, Steropes and Brontes in addition to the Hecatoncheires Gyges, Briareus and Cottus. After Uranus was castrated by Cronus, his blood splattered on the earth and the Meliae, Giants and Furies were created.

The severed genitals were thrown into the sea by Cronus. A white foam then emerged and expanded until it became the goddess Aphrodite. According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite was the daughter of Dione and Zeus.

Story of Uranus Versus Cronus

According to Greek mythology, Cronus was the son of heaven and earth and the youngest Titan. He separated heaven and earth by using a harpe to castrate his father on the advice provided by his mother and became king of the Titans. His sister Rhea became his consort and birthed Hestia, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter and Hades. Due to a warning from his parents his child would overthrow him, he swallowed all of his children.

Rhea hid Zeus after his birth in Crete and Cronus was tricked into swallowing a stone. When Zeus was grown, his brothers and sisters were disgorged by Cronus by force. War was then waged on Cronus and he lost the battle. There were different versions of the story after this resulting in Cronus either becoming king of Elysium or a prisoner in Tartarus.

First Generation of Gods and Goddesses

Greeks believed that there was an original generation of gods and goddesses, known as the Primordial gods and goddesses today. It was believed that the original two were Uranus and Gaia.  They birthed the first Titans and became great-grandparents to the majority of gods. Gaia slept with Uranus every night and he placed a cover on her. Uranus had a deep hatred for all of his children and did not want to see them. According to the myths, his children were either imprisoned in Tartarus or Gaia.

Gaia was so hurt she created a giant sickle from stone. She then urged her children to castrate their father Uranus. The only child willing to rise against him was the youngest, Cronus. He accepted his mother’s offer due to his ambition. He ambushed Uranus, severed his genitals and flung them into the sea. The next generation rose from the foam including the ash tree nymphs.

After Cronus had taken the throne, he wed his sister Rhea, the Titan. This was the beginning of the Golden Age of Greek mythology. During this time, immortality did not exist. Laws were unnecessary since all of the humans and gods made the right choices on their own. Both gods and mortals prospered and lived in peace.

Categorized in: Greek Mythology

This post was written by Greek Boston