Cronus

or Kronos, kro'nus, in Greek mythology, one of the Titans, son of Uranus (Sky) and Gaea or Ge (Earth). Cronus married his sister Rhea and reigned in Olympus during the Golden Age. The myth runs that Cronus swallowed his children as soon as they were born, because of a prophecy to the effect that he would be displaced in power by his son. When the youngest, Zeus, was born, the mother hid him, and gave Cronus a stone to swallow in place of the child. Zeus grew up and married Metis. She gave her father-in-law a drink which caused him to disgorge his children, who were still living. Zeus led them to rebel against their father and the other Titans. Zeus was victorious; the Titans were driven into Tartarus and punished in various ways. Zeus now reigned in Olympus. Cronus was sometimes called the god of time. This idea seems to have arisen from the similarity between the words Cronus and Chronos, time. According to later authorities, the word Cronus is from an entirely different root. See Saturn; Mythology; Golden Age