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Kronos


I will do a series of posts about the Gods, trying to describe in detail what and who they are and their place in polytheistic religion. I will start with Kronos. 
Kronos (Ancient Greek: Κρόνoς, Kronos), also spelled Cronus, was the king of the Titans, and father of the first generation of the Olympian gods; Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. He is also the father of Chiron. He is the Titan lord of the universe; his rule was known as the Golden Age. He is the Titan god of Time, Harvest, Fate, Justice and Evil. His Roman name is Saturn. 
Kronos was the second ruler of the universe in Hellenic theology. The first was his father Ouranos, than came his son Kronos. He is not to be confused with Khronos who was the personification of time, but over time (no pun intended) they became one deity in Kronos. He was the youngest of the Titans, but the one who had the strength to put up the sickle to castrate his father. Here its meant to be taken literally where Ouranos (the sky) came down to Earth to lay with Gaia (Earth). One night he was coming down, Kronos took the nickel and castrate him. The blood from Ouranos that landed on Earth (in Hellenic mythology Gods could bleed)came forth the Erinyes or also called the Eumenids, the Gigantes and according to one account when the genitals of Ouranos landed in the sea, Aphrodite was born. Another account, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus. If you don\”t know who the Erinyes are. They are vengeance goddesses (some groups of Gods are in three). Here the accounts differ as well. Some claim that the Erinyes were three daughters of Nyx and Virgil made them daughters of Nox(Nyx) and Pluto(Aidoneos). Hesiodos states that they are daughters from Nyx. All accounts agree that these were terrible deities to come across and that they were called Eumenids to pacify them. 
It were the Erinyes who warned Kronos that one day he would be supplanted by his children. Out of fear he ate his children, all but Zeus. As you can see, history repeated itself. Ouranos was not warned of this doom and he was supplanted by his youngest son. Kronos did receive a warning, but through his actions, it happened. Zeus received a similar warning. He courted the Titanide Metis when he received the warning that if she would bear a child, that child would replace him like he did with Kronos and Kronos did before him. So Zeus turned Metis into a fly and ate her. Afterwards Athena was “born” from Zeus\” head. Yeah mythology can be weird sometimes. 
Kronos did receive cultus because he was an important deity. Every year in Roman times and before that, he received cultus during the Kronia and Saturnalia. In media he was depicted as a huge monstrous figure in Wrath of the Titans, the second Percy Jackson film or portrayed as human looking in some shows like in Charmed. The fact that he was portrayed as monstrous may more have to do with the fact that he was a “Titan” and that he ate his children. Even in the games “God of War” he was depicted as a huge monster, but all Titans were. Which is understandable because Titans  represent a older generation of Gods that were more closer related to nature and pre-civilisation than anything else. When looking the Gods through mythology, it most not be forgotten that ancient Hellenes viewed the Gods not just through myths, but that these were part of the cults  the Gods received. Just because a deity did not appear in any myths, that they weren\”t worshipped at all. Kronos was worshipped in ancient Hellas, most likely more privately or in small shrines and sanctuaries. Just as with all other Gods. 

                                           Myths

Childhood

Gaea and Ouranos had three races of children; the Hekatonkheires, the Elder Kyklopes, and the Titans; Kronos was the youngest Titan. Ouranos, however, hated his children; he then locked the Hekatonkheires and Elder Kyklopes deep within Gaea, causing her great displeasure and pain.

Castration of Ouranos

Angered at Ouranos and his actions, Gaea then created a sickle from the strongest metal. She then gathered her remaining children, the Titans, urging them to take the scythe, so as to take vengeance against Ouranos and free their brothers. The Titans, however, out of fear of their father, refused. Only Kronos was willing. He took the scythe and then convinced his older brothers (Hyperion, Koios, Krios, and Iapetos) to help him ambush their father (Okeanos, the eldest Titan, refused to help with the murder). When Ouranos came down to earth to lay with Gaia, the four of them ambushed their father, holding him down by his arms and legs. Kronos castrated Ouranos, and threw his genitals into the sea, as an insult to Okeanos for not helping with the murder. Ouranos\” blood spilled acrosd the earth, and from it came forth the Gigantes, and Erinyes (the Furies). Where Kronos threw Ouranos\” genitalia, sea foam started to form and Aphrodite sprung forth from it. Eventually, Gaea took a new husband, Pontus – and later Tartarus (Protogenoi) – and Kronos had become the new king and ruler of the universe.

The Golden Age

Kronos married his sister Rhea and they had six children; Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. In fear of his father\”s words that one of his own children would overthrow him, he then swallowed them after they were born. However, when Rhea was pregnant with her sixth child, Zeus, she went to a cave on Mount Ida in Crete where she gave birth to him in private. Rhea then took a boulder (provided to her by Gaia) which she wrapped in a blanket, which she gave to Kronos instead of Zeus. Rhea left Zeus on the island of Crete where he grew up. Fearing Kronos would hear Zeus\” crying, Rhea sent Nymphs to make noise so loud, Kronos would never hear him. She had also sent a goat named Amaltheia and a few other nymphs to tend to him and they raised him deep within a cave. Once he grew to a formidable age, he was nearly ready to combat Kronos. Zeus married the goddess of prudence, Metis, for he needed her good advice. Zeus gained a position as Kronos\” cubbearer; he gave Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine to drink (some sources say nectar). Kronos thought it would make him more powerful, but to his surprise, he instead vomited his children.

Titanomachy and Kronos\”s punishment

Enraged by their father\”s cannibalism, the six gods then declared war on Kronos. The three most powerful gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, went down to Tartarus and freed their uncles, the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires. In gratitude, the beings allied with the gods; the Elder Kyklopes forged the brothers powerful weapons; Zeus a lightning bolt, Poseidon a trident, and Hades a helm, which granted the wearer invisibility.

For ten long years, the gods waged a brutal war against the Titans, slowly conquering their realms, and forcing them into Mount Othrys. On the final battle, the Hekatonkheires razed Kronos\” palace on Mount Othrys, and Zeus sheared Othrys\” peak with his lightning bolts, toppling Kronos from his throne. The Titans were defeated and chained. Zeus then took Kronos\” scythe and eviscerated his father into pieces. He cast them into the dark pit of Tartarus, along with the other Titans who supported Kronos. Atlas was condemned to hold the burden of the sky for the rest of his life.


Saturnalia

The festival called Saturnalia, which is named after Kronos\” Roman name Saturn, was celebrated during winter and was the merriest time of the year. The Greeks had their own festival called the Kronia, which took place during the summer and Saturnalia took place in the winter, around the time we now know as Christmas. 

In Roman mythology, Saturn was an agricultural deity who was said to have reigned over the world in the Golden Age, when humans enjoyed the spontaneous bounty of the earth without labour in a state of innocence. The revelries of Saturnalia were supposed to reflect the conditions of the lost mythical age. The Greek equivalent was the Kronia, which was celebrated on the twelfth day of the month of Hekatombaion,which occurred from around mid-July to mid-August on the Attic calendar.The Greek writer Athenaeus also cites numerous other examples of similar festivals celebrated throughout the Greco-Roman world including the Cretan festival of Hermaia in honor of Hermes, an unnamed festival from Troezen in honor of Poseidon, the Thessalian festival of Peloria in honor of Zeus Pelorios, and an unnamed festival from Babylon He also mentions that the custom of masters dining with their slaves was associated with the Athenian festival of Anthesteria and the Spartan festival of Hyacinthia. The Argive festival of Hybristica, though not directly related to the Saturnalia, involved a similar reversal of roles in which women would dress as men and men would dress as women.

The ancient Roman historian Justinus credits Saturn with being a historical king of the pre-Roman inhabitants of Italy:

Although probably the best-known Roman holiday, Saturnalia as a whole is not described from beginning to end in any single ancient source. Modern understanding of the festival is pieced together from several accounts dealing with various aspects. The Saturnalia was the dramatic setting of the multivolume work of that name by Macrobius, a Latin writer from late antiquity who is the major source for information about the holiday. Macrobius describes the reign of Justinus\” “king Saturn” as “a time of great happiness, both on account of the universal plenty that prevailed and because as yet there was no division into bond and free – as one may gather from the complete license enjoyed by slaves at the Saturnalia. In Lucian\”s Saturnalia it is Chronos himself who proclaims a “festive season, when \”tis lawful to be drunken, and slaves have license to revile their lords”

In one of the interpretations in Macrobius\”s work, Saturnalia is a festival of light leading to the winter solstice, with the abundant presence of candles symbolizing the quest for knowledge and truth. The renewal of light and the coming of the new year was celebrated in the later Roman Empire at the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the “Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun”, on 23 December.

The popularity of Saturnalia continued into the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, and as the Roman Empire came under Christian rule, many of its customs were recast into or at least influenced the seasonal celebrations surrounding Christmas and the New Year.Like with the Kronia, it was a time of role reversal where slaves and masters were freed from social constraints, even though laws were still in place to make sure that the slaves did not kill their masters. 

Ruler of the Isle of the Blessed

In some myths after Zeus and the other Olympians defeated the titans, Kronos was given a happier fate and ruled over the Isles of Blessed. And in a Roman myth, he became the king of Latium after he was banished from Olympus and taught his people agriculture and the blessings of civilization.

Parents

Gaea (Mother)

Ouranos (Father)

Spouse & Lovers

Rhea (Sister and Wife)
Philyra (Lover)

Children

  • Hestia (with Rhea)
  • Demeter (with Rhea)
  • Hera (with Rhea)
  • Hades (with Rhea)
  • Poseidon (with Rhea)
  • Zeus (with Rhea)
  • Chiron (with Philyra)

Siblings

  • Argês (Brother)
  • Briareos (Brother)
  • Brontês (Brother)
  • Gyes (Brother)
  • Hyperion (Brother)
  • Iapetos (Brother)
  • Koios (Brother)
  • Kottos (Brother)
  • Krios (Brother)
  • Mnemosyne (Sister)
  • Okeanos(Brother)
  • Phoibe (Sister)
  • Rhea (Sister)
  • Steropês (Brother)
  • Tethys (Sister)
  • Theia (Sister)
  • Themis (Sister)

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