Cronus

 **T **h e T **i t a n K i n g  ** By Peter Baldwin Main Facts and Points: =Who is Cronus? =
 * Cronus (**kroh**-nuhs)
 * Son of Uranus and Gaia
 * Married his sister Rhea
 * Ate his children
 * Overthrew his father then later overthrown by his own children
 * God of time and ages
 * 6 Children: Demeter, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus
 * Cronus is an allusion as Father time on New Year's Day

Cronus, or Kronos, was a son of Ouranos and Gaia, the goddess of Earth. Cronus was the Greek god of time and the ages though he is confused for the Roman god Saturn. Being the god of time means he had basic control of time and could slow it or speed it to his will. Ouranos, or Uranus, was jealous of his own children, called the Titans. There were twelve Titans in total; Titans were the children of Ouranos and Gaia, though there were some others called Titans, even though they were not their children. As the Titans grew in strength and power, Ouranos became worried they would overthrow him. So he tried to destroy his children. This was his demise because they rallied together and Cronus castrated and killed his father; and Cronus was chosen to be the leader of the Titans.

Cronus's Rule
==   The time that Cronus ruled was called the “Golden age,” a common mistake is that this was a time peace and happiness, but in actuality for anyone besides the Titans it was a time of hardship. == =Family Marriage=

The Titan males would each have children with one of their sisters. This act of having a child with one of his sisters caused Cronus to marry his sister Rhea.

Problems With Children and Appetite
There was a prophecy that he would be overthrown by his children. Just as his father before him, Cronus became jealous and was worried about his children trying to overthrow him. So, as his sister Rhea had children, he would eat them; but since they were immortal, they did not die but were just trapped. The five children he ate were  Demeter , Hades <span style="font-size: 9.5pt; background: white; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">,  Hestia <span style="font-size: 9.5pt; background: white; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">,  Hera <span style="font-size: 9.5pt; background: white; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">, <span style="background-position: 0% 0%; font-size: 9.5pt; background-image: none; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; background-color: white; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msobidilanguage: AR-SA;">and    Poseidon <span style="font-size: 9.5pt; background: white; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">.<span style="font-size: 9.5pt; background: white; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msobidilanguage: AR-SA;">Rhea felt sorry for her children and could not bear to have her sixth and final child eaten. So, as it came time to have the child, she fled to <span style="font-size: 9.5pt; background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msobidilanguage: AR-SA;">Crete to have  Zeus <span style="font-size: 9.5pt; background: white; color: teal; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">.

Gods Rise to Power
After Zeus was born, he cried so Rhea had the Kouretes drown out his cries by bashing their weapons. Rhea returned to Cronus then as Amaltheia cared for Zeus. Cronus knew Rhea was to have a sixth child, so she fed him a rock that he ate believ<span style="font-size: 80%; color: #909717; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; msofontkerning: 18.0pt;"> ing it to be Zeus. Zeus grew quickly; Hesiod’s Theogony said it took only one year. So, Zeus tricked Cronus into throwing up the rock and his siblings, defeated his father in a ten-year war with his fellow Olympians, and took ruling power of the gods. Zeus got the sky, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the sea. = = =**<span style="font-size: 80%; color: #909717; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; msofontkerning: 18.0pt;">Cronus defeated **= = = After Cronus was defeated, he was thrown into Tartaros and was kept there for many human generations. Some sources say that eventually Zeus let him out to join the gods in eternal paradise at the end of the world.

=<span style="display: block; color: #289023; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: left;">Facts =
 * Cronus has many spellings and commom misspellings like...
 * Chronos, Chronus, Cronus, Kronos, and Kronus
 * One of the most popular and recogniazable allusions to Cronus is on New Year's Day
 * Cronus is "Father Time" and is replaced by the "New Year's Baby" Zeus
 * Another weird fact is that since the Gods are immortal they were not digested, but instead grew up inside of Cronus

<span style="display: block; color: #ff6600; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: center;">Pictures of Cronus:

[[image:http://hess.ess.washington.edu/img/cronus-header.jpeg width="617" height="319" align="right" caption="Overthrowing his father Ouranos"]] Family Summary:
Parents: Wife: Children:
 * Ouranos
 * Gaia
 * Rhea
 * Demeter
 * Hades
 * Poseidon
 * Zeus
 * Hera
 * Hestia

Nephews and Nieces:


 * Athena
 * Ares
 * Hebe
 * Hephaestus

Sources:[[image:Cronus_old.jpg width="645" height="571" align="right" caption="Cronus viewed as an old man..." link="Picture Sites"]]
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