Uranus

Cronus waited in ambush when Uranus came to Gaia at night. Gaia had armed him with a sickle of adamant after persuading him to attack his father. Cronus was the only one of Gaia’s sons willing to perform the deed. He struck Uranus and castrated him, then cast the severed genitals into the sea. Uranus was overthrown, and Cronus took his throne as king of the gods.

As Uranus’s head rolled in the dust, it foretold Cronus’s fate. Cronus had seized his father’s throne, but one of his own sons would do the same to him. Other accounts say that Gaia and Uranus gave this warning together. Cronus therefore lived in fear of the children born to him and Rhea. He swallowed his offspring as soon as they were born, seeking to prevent the prophecy.

Blood from Uranus’s wound fell upon Gaia. From it came the Erinyes, spirits who avenged crimes such as parricide, the armed Giants, and the Meliae, nymphs of the ash tree. Foam rose in the sea where Uranus’s severed genitals had fallen, and Aphrodite emerged from it. Some accounts instead connect Aphrodite with the severed genitals themselves.

Cronus later released the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclopes from Tartarus, then imprisoned them there again. Rhea deceived him, and Zeus escaped being swallowed. Cronus was eventually overthrown by Zeus, fulfilling Uranus’s prediction that a son would take his throne from him.

Uranus forced the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires back into Gaia after their birth. The six beings caused her great pain. The Cyclopes were Brontes, Steropes, and Arges, each with one eye in the forehead. The Hecatoncheires were Cottus, Briareos, and Gyes, each with one hundred arms and fifty heads. Gaia could no longer bear their imprisonment, so she made a sharp sickle and asked her children to avenge her.

The Titans feared Uranus, but Cronus, the youngest of the twelve Titans, agreed to act. When Uranus came at night to lie with Gaia, Cronus waited in ambush. He struck his father with the sickle and castrated him. Blood from the wound fell upon the Earth. Gaia conceived the Erinyes, spirits of vengeance, the Giants, and the Meliae, ash tree nymphs. The Giants were born fully armed. They were later described as immense beings with gleaming armour and long spears.

Cronus threw the severed genitals into the sea. Foam formed around them, and Aphrodite arose from it. She became the goddess of sexuality and desire. After Uranus had been emasculated, Cronus became king of the gods. He kept that position until his own son Zeus later overthrew him.

Gaia bore Uranus, the Heavens, and he surrounded her. She also produced the mountains and Pontus, the sea. Uranus then united with Gaia. In one telling, their first children were the Hundred-Handers, Briareus, Cottos, and Gyes. Each had one hundred hands and fifty heads. Gaia next bore the Cyclopes, Arges, Steropes, and Brontes. Each had one eye in the forehead. Uranus bound these children and hurled them into Tartarus, a gloomy place beneath the earth.

Uranus and Gaia then became the parents of the Titans. Their sons were Oceanus, Coeus, Hyperion, Crius, Iapetus, and Cronus, the youngest. Their daughters were Tethys, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Dione, and Theia. Other tellings named twelve Titans and omitted Dione and Theia. Another telling placed the Titans before the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handers. The Titans were almost as large as Gaia, and the mountains became their thrones.

Gaia suffered because Uranus had forced the Hundred-Handers and Cyclopes into her. The Hundred-Handers had great strength, and the Cyclopes were wild, one-eyed beings. Gaia could not endure the pain, so she made a sickle and asked her Titan children to avenge her. Only Cronus agreed. He waited until Uranus came to lie with Gaia at night. Then he ambushed Uranus and castrated him with the sickle.

Uranus's blood fell upon the earth. From it came the Erinyes, spirits of vengeance. Some tellings used the names Ouranos and Ge instead of Uranus and Gaia, and Briareos, Cottus, and Gyges instead of Briareus, Cottos, and Gyes.

Uranus became the First One and ruled Sky and Earth, the new boiling seas, and all that lay above, beyond, and between. He sent rain upon Gaia, whose name meant Earth, and the rain filled her hollow places with water. Rivers flowed, while lakes and seas came into being. Under his rule, the world took shape through rain, land, water, and the living things that Gaia bore.

Uranus married Gaia and drew a golden cloud around them. His rain entered the cave of her womb, and she gave birth to the first children. The Hundred-handed Giants came first. Briareus, Gyges, and Cottus had a hundred hands each. The three Cyclopes came next. Brontes, Steropes, and Arges had one eye each, built gigantic walls, and mastered the craft of smithing. Uranus ruled wisely and well, and the lesser gods expected him to remain king forever.

Cronos, his son, praised him loudly and pretended complete devotion. In secret, he planned against his father. Gaia urged Cronos and the other children to act, because Uranus had become their danger. The Cyclopes forged an iron sickle and made a chain strong enough to hold a god. Gaia then brought her children into the plot, and Cronos attacked Uranus.

Uranus was surprised and dismembered. Since the gods were immortal, the act did not end his existence in the manner of a mortal death. After his mutilation, his fate remained unknown. He either died or withdrew from prominence forever. Before he departed, he prophesied that Cronos and the other Titans would be punished for plotting against their father.