Cronus

Cronus was the King of the Titans and the god of time, in particular time when viewed as a destructive, all-devouring force.

Residence: Tartarus
Symbol: Sickle, scythe, grain and snake
Parents: Uranus and Gaia
Siblings:  Coeus, Crius, Cyclops, Furies, Giants, Hecatoncheires, Hyperion, Iapetus, Oceanus, Meliae, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Tethys, Theia and Themis
Consort: Rhea
Children: Chiron, Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus
Roman equivalent: Saturn

Cronus and the Omphalos stone, Athenian red-figure pelike, 5th c. BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art. (c) theoi.com

He ruled the cosmos during the Golden Age after castrating and deposing his father Uranus. In fear of a prophecy that he would in turn be overthrown by his own son, Cronus swallowed each of his children as they were born. Rhea, his wife, managed to save their youngest, Zeus, by hiding him away on the island of Crete, and fed Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. Zeus grew up, forced Cronus to disgorge his swallowed offspring with the help of Metis, and led the Olympians in a ten year war against the Titans, called the Titanomachy, and drove them in defeat into Tartarus.

Roman relief of Rhea handed Cronus the omphalus stone. Capitoline Museum. (c) theoi.com
Roman mosaic of Cronus, 3rd c. AD, from
Roman Villa of Orbe-Boscéaz. (c) theoi.com
Cronus devouring one of his children, painting by Peter Paul Rubens.

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