Cronus

The Titan Who Ruled Before Zeus

Cronus was the youngest of the twelve Titans, the children of Gaia, the Earth, and Uranus, the sky. Uranus treated some of his children terribly, so Gaia decided he had to be stopped. She made a powerful sickle and asked her Titan children to help. Cronus was the one who agreed. He attacked Uranus and became the new ruler. For a while, Cronus was the most powerful god around, but then he received some worrying news. A prophecy said that one of his own children would overthrow him one day, just as he had overthrown his father. Cronus became absolutely determined to stop that from happening.

Cronus married Rhea, and every time she had a baby he swallowed it. Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon all disappeared into his stomach. Because they were immortal gods, they did not simply die, but Rhea was horrified. When her sixth child, Zeus, was born, she came up with a plan. She secretly hid the baby on the island of Crete and wrapped a large stone in baby clothes instead. Cronus swallowed the stone without noticing! Zeus was raised in hiding until he was old enough to return. Eventually Cronus was made to bring the swallowed gods back up, giving Zeus five very powerful brothers and sisters to join him.

Zeus and the younger gods then fought Cronus and the Titans in a huge ten-year war called the Titanomachy. Zeus eventually won and became the new ruler of the gods. Different ancient stories give Cronus slightly different endings, but his time as king was over. The Romans later connected him with their god Saturn. Cronus is also sometimes mixed up with Chronos, a figure connected with time, mainly because their names look so similar, but they were originally different. I think the funniest part of Cronus’s story is also the most important: he spent years trying to stop the prophecy, but all his horrible decisions helped make it happen. Also, checking whether a baby is actually a rock seems like a sensible first step!

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