by Tim Harry

Created on: September 21, 2008   Last Updated: November 01, 2009

The mythology of Ancient Greece has survived through into the modern day, and the tales and exploits of the Greek gods and mortal heroes still enthrall millions of readers each year. These tales though often purely focus on the time when the Olympian gods were ruling over the world from Mount Olympus, there was though a period of Greek mythology that predates the likes of Zeus, Hades and other Olympians. This period was known as the "Golden Age", and was a time when the Titans ruled the world, and the leader of the twelve main Titans was Chronos.

Translation of ancient Greek to modern English has created some confusion about the link of Chronos the Titan with Chronus, Father Time. It is of course not uncommon for different beings from Greek mythology to have the same name but this article focuses on the leader of the Titans.

Chronos is more commonly known as Cronus or Kronos in the English language, and was the youngest of the children of the rulers of the universe, Ouranos and Gaia. Ouranos, also known as the sky, was supreme ruler of everything, and ruled along with his wife, Gaia, the earth. It was not marital bliss between husband and wife though, and Ouranos had angered his wife be imprisoning their other children, the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires, in Tartarus. Cronus and the other Titans though were not imprisoned, and it was Cronus who was the biggest threat to Ouranos, as he was power hungry.

Gaia sought revenge on her husband and devised an adamant sickle with which he could be defeated. Cronus willingly took up the sickle and used it on his father. The sickle was used to castrate Ouranos, with the resulting blood causing the birth of the Gigantes, Meliae and Erinyes, whilst the fallen penis eventually turned into the goddess Aphrodite. The castrated Ouranos was powerless to prevent Cronus taking over, and so began the rule of the twelve Titans with Cronus in charge.

The Titans ruled in pairs, Cronus paired with the female Titan Rhea, whilst the other pairs were Oceanus and Tethys; Hyperion and Theia; Coeus and Phoebe; Mnemosyne and Themis; and Crius and Iapetus.

There are various tales about the rule of Cronus some tell of peace and justice, others tell of cruel and ruthless rule. The naming of the period as the "Golden Age", indicates a bountiful period, and yet Cronus decided to keep his siblings the Cyclopes, Gigantes and Hecatonchires imprisoned in Tartarus.

The stories of Greek mythology though tend to display Cronus as a cruel ruler and Zeus as

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