Cronus

Cronus, also Kronos, is a central figure in Greek mythology. He is a Titan who ruled during the Golden Age before the Olympian gods arose. He is the youngest of the twelve Titans, the son of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). He married his sister Rhea, and together they fathered the early Olympian deities: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.

With Gaia's aid, Cronus overthrew Uranus by castrating him, becoming supreme ruler of the cosmos. To prevent a prophecy that his own offspring would dethrone him, Cronus swallowed each child at birth. Rhea deceived him by presenting a stone to swallow instead of Zeus.

Zeus survived, grew to adulthood, and compelled Cronus to disgorge his siblings. The Olympians, aided by Zeus, defeated the Titans in the Titanomachy. Cronus's final fate is varied in sources: most commonly he is said to have been confined in Tartarus; in other accounts he ruled a peaceful Golden Age after being dethroned or was exiled to the Isles of the Blessed.

The name Kronos is sometimes confused with Chronos, the personification of time; scholars distinguish the Titan Kronos from Chronos. In Roman mythology, Cronus is identified with Saturn, the elder god of agriculture and a central figure in archaic myth cycles. Cronus has been depicted in art and literature as an aged figure often holding a sickle, symbolizing his original role in the overthrow of Uranus.