The Titans and Titanomachy

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The TITANS ruled the world after having dethroned their father Uranus, the first ruler of the universe. It was their mother Gaia who persuaded them to attack their father and overthrow him; for she grieved at the destruction of her children, the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES, who had been cast into Tartarus by Uranus. The Titan Cronos then ambushed his father and castrated him with a sickle, being himself appointed by the TITANS to be their sovereign. However, once in power, Cronos behaved as his father, and again shut the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES up in Tartarus.

And since both Gaia and Uranus foretold to Cronos that he would be dethroned by his own son, he decided to swallow his children as they were born. But Zeus escaped this fate, and leading the OLYMPIANS, he waged war against the TITANS, taking the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES, whom he had liberated, as allies. This is how Cronos was dethroned and shut up, along with the other TITANS, in Tartarus. But later Zeus gave them their freedom again.

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Uranus was the first ruler of the universe. He reigned until his son Cronos, revolting against his rule, castrated him.




Son and husband Uranus (Sky) is first of all the son of Gaia (Earth), but secondly he is also her husband. And having wedded his mother, Uranus had by her an impressive offspring:


HECATONCHEIRES First the HECATONCHEIRES, who were of great size and might, each of them having a hundred hands and fifty heads.

Uranus hated this terrible offspring, and used to hide them away in a secret place of earth as soon as each was born. It has been asserted that, in addition, Uranus rejoiced in his evil doing.


CYCLOPES Thereafter Gaia gave birth to the CYCLOPES, who are known for having one eye on their foreheads. Though they were strong like gods, Uranus, repeating his previous deed, bound them and cast them into Tartarus, a gloomy place in the Underworld, as far distant from earth as earth is distant from heaven.


The Takeover Then Uranus had more children by Gaia: the TITANS. But Gaia, who had never accepted the fate of her former children, persuaded the TITANS to attack their father, and for that purpose she armed Cronos with an adamantine sickle. And when the opportunity came, all TITANS except Oceanus attacked him, and Cronos cut off his father's genitals, throwing them into the sea behind his back, some say at Cape Drepanum in Achaea.

From the drops of Uranus' flowing blood which fell upon earth, the ERINYES were born, and the GIANTS, and those NYMPHS called MELIADS. The genitals that Cronos threw away were first swept away over the sea a long time, but finally, from the white foam which spread around them, Aphrodite was born.


Regime changes but opression remains Having dethroned their father, the TITANS brought up their brethren from Tartarus, and gave the rule to Cronos, who wedded his sister Rhea 1. However, once in power, Cronos bound the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES, and shut them up in Tartarus again.

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Cronos is the wily, youngest and most terrible of the children of Uranus, whom he hated. He castrated his father and became ruler of the universe, but was later overthrown by his own son Zeus.




Children of Uranus Cronos' father Uranus (Sky) is counted as the first to have ruled the Universe. He was the son of Gaia (Earth) or, as others say, the son of Aether (the Upper Sky) and Hemera (Day). Uranus married Gaia, and had children by her among which the HECATONCHEIRES, who had hundred hands and fifty heads, and the CYCLOPES, who had only one eye in their forehead.


Uranus banishes his children Uranus, for some reason or other, hated these children of his and hid them away in a secret place on earth, or as others say, cast them into Tartarus, which is a gloomy place in the Underworld as far distant from earth as earth is from the sky. However, Gaia, grieved at the destruction of her gifted children, and being strained and stretched with so many giant beings inside her, planned the destruction of her own husband and his rule as a way to set them and herself free.


Cronos eager to revolt In order to overthrow him, Gaia tried to persuade the TITANS, who were also her own children by Uranus, to attack their father, but these were afraid, excepting Cronos who immediately said:

"Mother, I will undertake to do this deed, for I reverence not our father of evil name, for he first thought of doing shameful things." [Cronos to Gaia. Hesiod, Theogony 170]


Castration of Uranus In order to accomplish the seditious purpose, Gaia gave Cronos an adamantine sickle with jagged teeth, which is said to have been made by the TELCHINES. And when Uranus by night approached Gaia longing for love, Cronos came out from his hiding place and cut off his father's genitals, throwing them into the sea behind his back at cape Drepanum in Achaea. And from the foam which gathered round the severed genitals, lovely Aphrodite was born after a long time, but from the drops of flowing blood that fell on Earth the ERINYES were created, who avenge crime and wickedness, and punish those who are guilty of bloodshed within the family.


Power changes the mind This is how the TITANS dethroned their father and first ruler of the Universe, committing the sovereignty to Cronos, who was the youngest of them all. Having thus succeeded his father, Cronos brought up the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES, who were prisoners in Tartarus. But Power changes the mind, whereas there is no mind able to change the nature of Power. So, when Cronos became ruler, he started seeing things in the same way as the predecessor he had dethroned had seen them; and soon he again bound and shut his brethren up in the same dark depth.


The Punishment of Neoptolemus Cronos was affected, for having attacked his father, by what later came to be called the "Punishment of Neoptolemus", which consists in suffering oneself what one has done to another, or almost. Soon Cronos was prophetically informed by his parents that he would be dethroned by his own son.


Cronos devours his offspring


And believing that these fateful news could be averted, he started to swallow his offspring at birth. But once the procedure had been repeated several times, her wife and sister Rhea 1, feeling for her children as Gaia for her own, deceived her husband by wrapping a stone in clothes and giving it to him to swallow, as if it were the newborn child Zeus. Some say that when Rhea 1 brought the stone to Cronos, he, believing the stone to be a child, bade her offer milk to the baby. Rhea 1 then pressed her breast, and the flowing milk created the stars that are known by the name of the Milky Way.



Rhea 1 saves Zeus Having thus deluded her husband, Rhea 1 went to Crete where she gave birth to Zeus in a cave in Mount Dicte. And while the child was fed by NYMPHS on the milk of Amalthea the goat, the CURETES who guarded the cave clashed their spears on their shields in order that Cronos might not hear the child's voice.

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Cronos meets Philyra 1 In the meantime, Cronos, having realised that he had been deluded by means of a stone, was hunting his child Zeus throughout the earth. During his search he met the Oceanid Philyra 1 and consorted with her. By him she bore the wise Centaur Chiron, but later, when Philyra 1 saw the strange species she had given birth to, she asked Zeus to change her into another form, and he turned her into the tree called linden.


What was said in Arcadia The Arcadians are reported to have said that when Rhea 1 gave birth to Poseidon, which she did before she gave birth to Zeus, she declared to Cronos that she had given birth to a horse. Apparently Cronos had no reason to disbelieve his wife, for gods are capable of anything, and so Rhea 1, who had laid Poseidon in a flock of lambs to live with them, gave him a foal to swallow instead of the child. This account has been considered to be both foolish and wise, for wisdom at times appears as foolishness, being sometimes difficult to tell one from the other, specially when riddles and hidden meanings are suspected. And the Arcadians also said that in a wonderful mountain near Methydrium, Rhea 1 enlisted, when she was pregnant with Zeus, the giant Hopladamus as an ally against Cronos, whom she feared might attack her, adding that it was in that place that the substitution of a stone for the child took place. The stone itself, however, was shown at Delphi, not far away from the tomb of Neoptolemus, whose 'punishment' Cronos shared. Olive oil was poured on the stone every day, and on special occasions unworked wool was placed on it.


The Divine Vomit In any case, Cronos was later forced to disgorge the children that he had previously swallowed through a drug that the Oceanid Metis 1 gave him. So when the gods had been vomited, they aided Zeus in waging war against Cronos and the TITANS, for Zeus had promised that whosoever would fight with him against the TITANS, would keep the office he had before, adding that he who was without office or right under the rule of Cronos, should be raised and acquire them.


Zeus banishes Cronos The TITANS, who fought from Mount Othrys in Thessaly, were defeated when the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES sided with the gods, who fought from Mount Olympus. When Zeus had conquered the TITANS he bound them in chains and shut them up in Tartarus to live in darkness, for Night spreads about it in triple line.


Men cannot do as gods do Some have thought that neither Cronos nor Zeus honoured their fathers, and that consequently, men could do the same or even worse against their own, but Apollo reminds that Zeus was able to undo Cronos' fetters whenever he wished, for gods have at their disposal many remedies,

"But when the dust has drawn up the blood of a man, once he is dead, there is no return to life." [Apollo to the ERINYES. Aeschylus, Eumenides 645]


The rule of Cronos Despite all these events, which some have called barbarous, Cronos has been celebrated for having ruled the world under the period known as the Golden Age, which is the first age of man. At this time there were no punishments, no swords, no helmets and no threatening words, and even to eat the flesh of oxen was held a crime. And being so, war was unknown and life passed in gentle ease. This was the time when spring was everlasting, and streams of milk, nectar and honey flowed in abundance. And, as unbelievable as it sounds, this was the nature of the rule held by the one who castrated his father: a time and a rule without pain, during which the earth, without compulsion, brought forth great stores of all kinds of needful things, and men lived secure never cheating or destroying each other.


More about his rule During the reign of Cronos, they say, men did not have children, for at that time, when the universe revolved backwards, all humans came out of the earth and were therefore called AUTOCHTHONOUS. And for that very reason there were no families or states and nothing of what comes with them. Instead, humans had the ability of conversing, not only among themselves, but also with all kinds of animals, and were able to learn from every creature. For all these reasons the men of the Golden Age are believed in any respect to have been happier than those of the following ages. This rule lasted until Zeus overthrew his father and banished him to Tartarus, land of darkness and death in the depth of the Underworld.


Zeus releases Cronos Later, however, Zeus released Cronos from his bonds and let him rule the Islands of the Blest, a place where the virtuous come after death, retaining their faculties and enjoying a life free of care [see also Underworld & Afterlife].


Note about Cronos and Chronos The name Chronos appears in several authors such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Pindar, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Cicero and Nonnus. He is identified with Time, but some of them say that he is the same as Cronos (Saturn). Chronos is said to be the father of the HORAE, of Aether and Eros. In this version (Nonnus), the HORAE are regarded as Hours instead of Seasons. Chronos appears as father of Aether (the upper sky) and Eros in the Argonautica Orphica.

The CYCLOPES belong to the first generations of deities, being generally called sons of Uranus and Gaia [but see other parentages in the list below]. They are well known for having only one eye in their forehead, and for having given weapons to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.




Uranus gets rid of his offspring The CYCLOPES were bound and cast into Tartarus by Uranus, to make there company to their brethren the HECATONCHEIRES. In this way, their father expected to get rid of the terrible generations he was procreating.


Betrayed by Cronos When the Titan Cronos revolted against his father Uranus [see also Castration of Uranus], he delivered both the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES, but later, following the example of his father and predecessor, Cronos shut them up in Tartarus again.


Zeus sets them free Later on, when Zeus attacked the TITANS [see Titanomachy], Gaia prophesied victory to him if he would have both the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES as allies. So he slew their jaileress Campe [see Underworld], and set them free.


Weapons for the gods The CYCLOPES then gave Zeus the thunderbolt, Hades a helmet, and Poseidon the trident. And armed with these weapons, the gods overcame the TITANS.


Destroyed by Apollo It is said that because Zeus smote Asclepius with a thunderbolt, Apollo, father of Asclepius, angry on that account, slew the CYCLOPES (Arges, Brontes 1, and Steropes), who had fashioned the thunderbolt for Zeus.


The Cyclops Polyphemus 2 Whereas the children of Gaia were like the gods, the race of Polyphemus 2 was formed by a fierce and uncivilized people.

The Cyclops Polyphemus 2 loved the Nereid Galatea 1, but she in turn loved Acis, the son of Faunus 1 and a Symaethian Nymph. This triangle drama caused the death of Acis, who was buried by a rock hurled at him by the jealous Polyphemus 2. Acis was turned into a river.

Later Polyphemus 2 was blinded by Odysseus.

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List of CYCLOPES


Acamans This Cyclops lived in the company of Pyracmon in Pelorum (north-east coast of Sicily).

Arges, born of Uranus & Gaia.


Argilipus One of the CYCLOPES who joined Dionysus 2 in his Indian campaign

Brontes 1, born of Uranus & Gaia.


Elatreus 2 One of the CYCLOPES who joined Dionysus 2 in his campaign against India.


Euryalus 8 One of the CYCLOPES who joined Dionysus 2 in his campaign against India.


Halimedes One of the CYCLOPES who joined Dionysus 2 in his campaign against India.

Polyphemus 2, born of Poseidon & Thoosa (Thoosa was a Nymph, daughter of Phorcus.)


Pyracmon See Acamans.

Steropes, born of Uranus & Gaia.


Trachius One of the CYCLOPES who joined Dionysus 2 in his campaign against India.

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The HECATONCHEIRES (hundred-handed) are Briareus, Cottus and Gyes, the most terrible offspring of Uranus.


Uranus did not like his children The three HECATONCHEIRES were enormous both in size and might, and each of them had one hundred hands and fifty heads.

But for being either so good or so bad, their father Uranus detested them. Consequently, he hid them in a secret place of earth, or cast them into Tartarus, a gloomy place in Hades where no one wishes to sojourn in, along with his other sons the CYCLOPES, whom he also hated. And having them all well hidden, he rejoiced in his evil doing.


Injustice nourishes sedition This is what the ruler of the universe, apparently ignoring that injustice nourishes sedition, did against the HECATONCHEIRES and the CYCLOPES, his own offspring. But his wife Gaia, not wishing her children to suffer the perpetual prisoner's fate, or to be straitened for having their children within, persuaded the TITANS to revolt against their father. And they, led by Cronos, attacked and dethroned Uranus, after having castrated him [see also Castration of Uranus].


New rule same as old Now Cronos, having coveted his father's chair more than he was disgusted at his deeds, hurled the HECATONCHEIRES down to Tartarus again, as soon as he had gained power. For he, some suggest, was jealous of their manhood and comeliness. In Tartarus, where Night spreads about in triple line, they were guarded by Campe, a gigantic jaileress with clusters of poisonous serpents for hair, who was covered with sea-monster's scales from the chest to the parting-point of the thighs.


The HECATONCHEIRES save the gods Cronos cannot be said to have been more fortunate than his predecessor; for also he was the victim of a conspiracy, being fought against for ten years by Zeus and the gods, his own children. Gaia then prophesied victory to Zeus if he should have as allies the CYCLOPES and the HECATONCHEIRES. So Zeus, having slain their jaileress Campe, freed them, and provided the HECATONCHEIRES with nectar and ambrosia, so that their spirit should come to life again. The gods then, armed with the weapons that the CYCLOPES had given them, and helped by the many missiles of the HECATONCHEIRES, overcame the TITANS [see also Titanomachy].


Heavy bombardment The HECATONCHEIRES' capacity for bombardment was proverbially remembered in later times; for it is said:

"... if a man were gifted by nature with the frame of ... a Briareus, with his hundred hands he ought to be able to throw a hundred darts." [Plato, Laws 795c]

And those who tell the story say that the HECATONCHEIRES made the battle particularly harsh. For they, being insatiable war lovers, hurled three hundred rocks in quick succession, overshadowing the TITANS, and defeating them. And when the TITANS were brought to prison in Tartarus, Zeus appointed the HECATONCHEIRES to guard them, and Poseidon gave Briareus his daughter Cymopolea as wife.


Where they dwell Later the TITANS were released by Zeus, and the Hecatoncheires Cottus and Gyes went to dwell at the source of the Ocean. It is not clear where Briareus and his wife live, but he was seen by Aeneas when he descended to Hades, beside the Elm of False Dreams.


Interventions of Briareus On one occasion, Briareus arbitrated in the dispute between Helius and Poseidon, concerning the lands about Corinth: he assigned to Poseidon the Isthmus of Corinth and the neighbouring lands, and gave to Helius the height above the city (Acrocorinthus).

Briareus is also remembered for having averted a minor conspiracy in heaven. For it is told that when Hera, Poseidon, and Athena plotted against Zeus, planning to throw him into chains, he was saved by Briareus. The Hecatoncheire, whom Achilles' mother Thetis had called, came to Zeus' rescue, and by squatting down close to him, frightened the other gods away through the mere display of his force.

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Gaia gave birth first to the TITANS, then to the CYCLOPES, and after them to the HECATONCHEIRES, says Hesiod; but Apollodorus affirms that the HECATONCHEIRES were the first to be born, the CYCLOPES second, and the TITANS last.