Kronos

Kronos (Greek: Κρόνος, Krónos; Latin: CRONVS, Cronus), is the leader of the Titans and the Titan of time in Greek mythology.

Kronos and his wife Rhea

Painting by Peter Paul Rubens of Cronus devouring one of his children

The son of Gaia (Mother Earth) and Ouranos (Father Sky), he was the youngest of his brothers. At the urging of Gaia, Kronos castrated his father, Ouranos, with a sickle and overthrew him, ruling the cosmos as king during the so-called Golden Age. Kronos married his sister Rhea, and sired the first generation of the Olympian gods: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.

In fear of a prophecy that told of him being overthrown by his own children, Kronos swallowed each of them as soon they were born. Only the youngest, Zeus, managed to escape this fate and, after freeing his siblings, waged war against Kronos and the other Titans. During this Titanomachy, the Olympians emerged victorious, and Kronos himself was cast into Tartarus. In some versions, Kronos was later freed by Zeus and became ruler of the Elysian Islands.

In popular culture

Kronos appears as the main antagonist in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

Other websites

Media related to Kronos at Wikimedia Commons