Cronos or Chronos is the name given to the personification of time, according to the Greek mythology.
Currently, chronos is the definition of chronological and physical time, understood as years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds and so on.
In Greek mythology, Cronus is considered the youngest of the six mighty titans who belonged to the first generation of divine beings, youngest son of Uranus (representation of heaven) and of Gaia (personification of Earth).
According to Greek legend, Uranus was afraid of losing his power to one of his children, so whenever a new child was born he returned it to the womb of Gaia.
Tired of Uranus' violent attitudes, Gaia decided to hide her youngest son, Kronos, and when he grew up, at his mother's request, she attacked his father with a scythe and castrated him. From the blood of Uranus the Giants, the Erineas and the Meliads were born. From the sperm of Uranus came Aphrodite, the goddess of love for the Greeks.
Learn more about the meaning of aphrodite.
Kronos came to govern, taking as wife his sister Rhea, with whom he had six children, known as Kronidas: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.
Kronos' reign became known as the "Golden Age" of mankind (which had just emerged), a time of great prosperity and peace.
In addition to being the “father of time”, Kronos was also revered as an agricultural deity, particularly in pre-Hellenic mythology.
However, Kronos was preoccupied with an ancient curse cast by Uranus before this being dethroned: one of his sons could seize power and cast him into oblivion in the world underground. To prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, Kronos devoured every child that was born.
But, as happened with Gaia, Rhea hid the last son of Cronus – Zeus – and gave the Titan a rock, which was swallowed without him realizing that it was not a child.
Zeus grew up in a cave in Crete, under the protection of nymphs and his mother Rhea. When it was ready, Zeus allied forces with Metis (daughter of the Titan Ocean) and had Kronos regurgitate all the children he had devoured.
Zeus and his brothers managed to defeat Kronos, after a war that lasted ten years – known as “Titanomachy”. The titan was expelled to Tartarus, a region of great chaos and torment, and Zeus and the other gods gained the gift of immortality by defeating Kronos, as he was considered the "lord of time".
There are several versions of the legend of Cronus, this being one of the most widespread in Greek mythology.
Usually, Kronos is represented as the figure of an old man who carries a large sickle, and represents the passage. between the ancient Greek gods (the Titans and Cyclops) to the Olympian gods, who came to inhabit the famous Mount Olympus.
for the greeks, chronos it was the name given to “men's time”, that is, physical time, which is chronological and which follows an order.
There were also two different concepts of time for the Greeks: the Kairós and the Aeon.
In Roman mythology, Cronus is represented by Saturn.
See also the meaning of kairos and aeon.