Greek Mythology

The Beginning of Creation and the Rise of Cronus

 

At the beginning of time, there was nothing but the all-encompassing void of Chaos. But then, Chaos became less chaotic and from Chaos came Gaia, the earth; Tartarus, the place below the earth; and Eros, the god of Love. Then came Night, Day and Erebus.

 

Gaia gave birth to Uranus, the sky, and to the mountains and the sea. She then married her child Uranus and their children were the Echidna, the Hundred Handed Ones, the Cyclopes and the mighty 12 Titans.

 

Uranus was repulsed by his children and feared their might, so he wrapped them all in chains and threw them in Tartarus, never to see the light of day again. Gaia was furious at what her husband had done and decided to strike back against him. She fashioned together sharp scythe made out of iron and complained to her Titan children about Uranus. She urged one of them to stand up against him and take leadership. Though none of them wanted to face their father, eventually the youngest of the 12 stepped forth. His name was Cronus and he offered to whoever stepped forth to help hold down his father while he killed him, would be granted one corner of the earth (north, south, east or west). Four Titans stepped forward and they were Coeus (North), Crius (South), Hyperion (East) and Iapetus (West).

 

Cronus told Gaia to invite Uranus to meet her and then he would strike. Uranus was lured into the trap and was jumped by the 4 Titans who each held one of his struggling limbs. Cronus came out with his new scythe and cut off  Uranus' genitals and tossed them into sea. Uranus fled and hid in the sky where he remains powerless and was no longer worshipped.

 

As he fled, droplets of Uranus’ blood fell onto the earth. When it landed on rocks, three winged demons called the Furies rose, the spirits of punishment. They fled into the darkness of Tartarus. When the blood landed on fertile soil, wild but gentle creatures called nymphs and satyrs were created. Other droplets of his blood created the evil race of Giants. His genitals that were tossed into the sea combined with the sea foam and created the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, the eldest Olympian.