![]() With the defeat of Cronus and his banishment from his dominions, his career as a ruling Greek divinity entirely ceases. This war was called the Titanomachia, and is most graphically described by the old classic poets. Cronus and his army were completely overthrown, his brothers despatched to the gloomy depths of the lower world, and Cronus himself was banished from his kingdom and deprived for ever of the supreme power, which now became vested in his son Zeus. The sea rose mountains high, and its angry billows hissed and foamed the earth shook to its foundations, the heavens sent forth rolling thunder, and flash after flash of death-bringing lightning, whilst a blinding mist enveloped Cronus and his allies.Īnd now the fortunes of war began to turn, and victory smiled on Zeus. Aided by these new and powerful allies, Zeus now made a furious onslaught on his enemies, and so tremendous was the encounter that all nature is said to have throbbed in accord with this mighty effort of the celestial deities. They promptly responded to his summons for help, and brought with them tremendous thunderbolts which the Hecatoncheires, with their hundred hands, hurled down upon the enemy, at the same time raising mighty earthquakes, which swallowed up and destroyed all who opposed them. He also called to his aid the Cyclops (sons of Poseidon and Amphitrite), who had only one eye each in the middle of their foreheads, and were called Brontes (Thunder), Steropes (Lightning), and Pyracmon (Fire-anvil). The struggle was long and fierce, and at length Zeus, finding that he was no nearer victory than before, bethought himself of the existence of the imprisoned Giants, and knowing that they would be able to render him most powerful assistance, he hastened to liberate them. Cronus and his brother-Titans took possession of Mount Othrys, and prepared for battle. The rival forces ranged themselves on two separate high mountains in Thessaly Zeus, with his brothers and sisters, took his stand on Mount Olympus, where he was joined by Oceanus, and others of the Titans, who had forsaken Cronus on account of his oppressions. ![]() The stone which had counterfeited Zeus was placed at Delphi, where it was long exhibited as a sacred relic.Ĭronus was so enraged at being circumvented that war between the father and son became inevitable. Grown to manhood, he determined to compel his father to restore his brothers and sisters to the light of day, and is said to have been assisted in this difficult task by the goddess Metis, who artfully persuaded Cronus to drink a potion, which caused him to give back the children he had swallowed. Under the watchful care of the Nymphs the infant Zeus throve rapidly, developing great physical powers, combined with extraordinary wisdom and intelligence. He was kept concealed in a cave in the heart of Mount Ida, and the Curetes, or priests of Rhea, by beating their shields together, kept up a constant noise at the entrance, which drowned the cries of the child and frightened away all intruders. A sacred goat, called Amalthea, supplied the place of his mother, by providing him with milk nymphs, called Melissae, fed him with honey, and eagles and doves brought him nectar and ambrosia. The child thus saved, eventually, as we shall see, dethroned his father Cronus, became supreme god in his stead, and was universally venerated as the great national god of the Greeks.Ĭronus devouring one of his children, painting by Peter Paul Rubens, c.1636 / Prado National Museum, Wikimedia CommonsĪnxious to preserve the secret of his existence from Cronus, Rhea sent the infant Zeus secretly to Crete, where he was nourished, protected, and educated. By their advice she wrapped a stone in baby-clothes, and Cronus, in eager haste, swallowed it, without noticing the deception. When it came to Zeus, the sixth and last, Rhea resolved to try and save this one child at least, to love and cherish, and appealed to her parents, Uranus and Gaea, for counsel and assistance. In order, therefore, to render the prophecy impossible of fulfilment, Cronus swallowed each child as soon as it was born, greatly to the sorrow and indignation of his wife Rhea. Cronus, having an uneasy conscience, was afraid that his children might one day rise up against his authority, and thus verify the prediction of his father Uranus. Their children were, three sons: Aïdes (Pluto), Poseidon (Neptune), Zeus (Jupiter), and three daughters: Hestia (Vesta), Demeter (Ceres), and Hera (Juno). He married Rhea, daughter of Uranus and Gaea, a very important divinity. Cronus was the god of time in its sense of eternal duration.
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