What was cronus punishment

Uranus, because of fear that his children would overthrow him, made a mistake when he imprisoned Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes in Tartarus. He made Gaea angry and Cronus saw his chance now that he wasn't alone anymore in plotting against him.

At last, when the time was right and when Uranus came to lay with Gaea, they attacked him and with the help of Crius , Coeus , Hyperion and Iapetus who had probably held him still, Cronus castrated his father with a flint-sickle , made by his mother Gaea. There is, however, alternative story presented by Diodorus Siculus where Cronus is described as the eldest of the titans and inherited kingship from his father.

Fulgentius supports this claim in his Mythologies where it is said that it was Cronus who actually got castrated, not Uranus like most believed.

His father gone, Cronus became what he always wanted, the Ruler of Cosmos. He was supported by most of his brothers and sisters. And the time couldn't have been better. It was the Golden Age of Men , a time of prosperity, peace and harmony between all living beings. It is said that in this time animals spoke with human voice and no one would get ill, physically or mentally. They had lived in harmony and in abundance of everything and even when they had died, death came peacefully during sleep.

According to Diodorus Siculus , whose Cronus was a kind character, it is said that Cronus taught men to change their living from rude way to civilised life and introduced them sincerity of soul and justice and therefore people became good-hearted and guileless.

Now back to the mainstream story, all living beings were happy and pleased during this age and even Cronus got himself a bride who appeared to be his sister Rhea. Together they made it possible for six children to be born but before they were born, Uranus and Gaea have foretold a future which disturbed Cronus very much. On the final battle, the Hekatonkheires razed Kronos' palace on Mount Othrys, and Zeus sheared Othrys' peak with his lightning bolts, toppling Kronos from his throne.

The Titans were defeated and chained. Zeus then took Kronos' scythe and eviscerated his father into pieces. He cast them into the dark pit of Tartarus, along with the other Titans who supported Kronos. Atlas was condemned to hold the burden of the sky for the rest of his life. Kronos is sometimes depicted as a tall, powerful man with a black or grey hair and beard, blessed with well proportioned features and dressed in simple robes. Alternatively, he is depicted as a skinny old man with wispy grey hair and beard and a wicked expression.

The festival called Saturnalia, which is named after Kronos' Roman name Saturn, was celebrated during winter and was the merriest time of the year. In some myths after Zeus and the other Olympians defeated the titans, Kronos was given a happier fate and ruled over the Isles of Blessed. And in a Roman myth, he became the king of Latium after he was banished from Olympus and taught his people agriculture and the blessings of civilization. Rhea Sister and Wife Philyra Lover.

Greek Mythology Wiki Explore. Bureaucrats Messenger of Heaven. Register Don't have an account? View source. History Talk 5. We've moved! Depiction of Kronos identifiable because of the hourglass in his hand representing time. The fulfillment of the will of Zeus was in the end accomplished. Lycaon and the Wickedness of Mortals. In the Age of Iron, Zeus took the form of a man to find out whether reports of the great wickedness of mortals were true.

Lycaon even went so far as to slaughter a man and offer human flesh as a meal for Zeus, who in anger brought the house down in flames. Lycaon fled but was turned into a howling, bloodthirsty wolf, a kind of werewolf in fact, since in this transformation he still manifested his human, evil looks and nature.

Disgusted with the wickedness that he found everywhere he roamed, Zeus decided that the human race must be destroyed by a great flood. Deucalion and Pyrrha. When the flood subsided they found themselves in their little boat stranded on Mt.

They were dismayed to discover that they were the only survivors and consulted the oracle of Themis about what they should do. The goddess ordered them to toss the bones of their great mother behind their backs. Deucalion understood that the stones in the body of earth are her bones.

And so the stones that Deucalion tossed behind his back were miraculously transformed into men, while those cast by Pyrrha became women. In this way the world was repopulated. Hellen and the Hellenes. It cannot escape notice that many Greek myths that explain the creation of the world have been influenced by Near Eastern forerunners.

Commercial contact between the Greeks and the Near East seems the most likely conduit. This contact took place mainly in two distinct periods: the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries B. Five basic myths have proved especially fertile: the Creation, Succession, the Flood, the Descent to the Underworld, and the hero-king Gilgamesh. A number of peoples have told and retold these myth archetypes in many different versions.

The most important of these civilizations, for our purposes, are the following:. Sumerian, Babylonian, and Akkadian myths tell, like Hesiod, of order arising out of disorder, without an intelligent creator cf. These creation accounts, by their very nature, include myths of Succession, the Flood, and the creation and recreation of man. Enuma Elish. Marduk, a god of the younger generation, usurps the rule of the god Enlil and battles Tiamat, much as Zeus battles Typhoeus. Tiamat is blown up like an enormous balloon and rent in two.

After the death of Tiamat, Marduk creates in the sky Esharra as a home for the gods. Marduk brings order to the world and creates human beings from the blood of Kingu, who by this time has been killed. Human beings are to serve the gods. Both are akin to the Hebrew Noah and the Greek Prometheus god of wisdom and crafts and Deucalion survivor of the flood. Enlil will later order the destruction of human beings by flood, but Atrahasis, who is favored by Enki, will survive.

Eventually there is a reconciliation between Enlil and Enki. Epic of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh contains the best known of the early flood myths. Enkidu wrestles Gilgamesh but is defeated, after which the two become fast friends. Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the bull, but one of them must atone for this sacrilege with his life. The gods decide that Enkidu must die. Gilgamesh will be unsuccessful in his quest and eventually will return to Uruk. This brief sketch of the main elements in the Epic of Gilgamesh will serve to highlight a few observations.

Gilgamesh himself was an historical figure, king of Sumerian Uruk, ca. His legends were refashioned into various Assyrian versions dating from about He stands as a figure akin to Odysseus or Heracles, a wise hero and slayer of beasts. Like Odysseus, his quest for immortality requires a descent to the Underworld. Like the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu serves as a major theme. Kingship in Heaven. The Hittite-Hurrian poem Kingship in Heaven recounts myths of succession and of the separation of earth and sky.

After his birth, Teshub plots with Anu to overthrow Kumarbi. Though the poem is fragmentary, Teshub appears to have been successful.