In Greek mythology Cronos was the son of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth), being the youngest of the 12 Titans. On the advice of his mother he castrated his father with a harp, thus separating Heaven from Earth.
His wife was also one of the Titans, as she married her sister Rhea. His descendants were Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.
It is written that Uranus, in one version, hid his children in the bowels of the earth (Tartarus) as he was horrified at the sight of them, in reality he was fearful of their great strength and power. Gaia found her offspring uncomfortable and also painful and when she found the discomfort too much to bear she hatches a plan, which was to put an end to the passions of Uranus, so that no more children could be produced and that would be the end of her pain. But to achieve this he needed the help of one of his sons. He asked everyone, but only his youngest son, Cronos, did he listen. To help Cronos fulfill his task Gaia gave him an adamantine sickle to serve as his weapon.
Cronos was waiting hidden from view, and when Uranus came to bed with Gaia Cronos struck with a strong blow of the sickle, Cronos cut the genitalia from Uranus's body, from the blood that fell to the earth (Gaia) where they were born. the Erinyes (Furies), the Giants and also the Melias (Nymphs of the mana ash trees). In other versions Aphrodite was born from the foam created from the sexual organs of Uranus, after being thrown into the sea by Cronos.
Once Cronos had castrated Uranus, he and his wife Rhea took the throne. Under his power began a time of harmony and prosperity, which became known as the "Golden Age"; A time when it was said that people lived without greed or violence, without work or the need for laws. But all was not well for Cronos, since he was destined to be overthrown by one of his own sons. To prevent this from happening, she began swallowing her newborns, taking them at birth and then swallowing them whole, retaining them inside her own body where they could not harm her.
Rhea did not like the thoughts of losing all her children, and with the help of Gaia she saved Zeus from this fate. Rhea wrapped a stone in Zeus's cloth clothing that Cronos took and immediately swallowed thinking it was the boy. Gaia and Rhea's plan worked well and baby Zeus was brought to Crete, and there, in a cave on Mount Dicte, the divine goat Amalthea suckled and raised the child Zeus. When Zeus became a young man, he returned to the domain of his parents, and with the help of Gaia, he forced Cronos to regurgitate the five children he had previously swallowed. Zeus led the revolt against his father and the Titans dynasty, defeated and then banished them.
