Cronos
King of the Titans
Cronos was the Titan of Time and Harvest, last and mightiest of the Titans born to Gaia and Ouranos. He overthrew his own father, was overthrown by his son Zeus, and was condemned to bear Pandora's Temple before dying at the hands of Kratos.
Cronos was the Titan of Time and Harvest, the youngest son of Gaia and Ouranos and the leader of the mighty Titans. He cast down his own tyrant father to begin the Golden Age of the Titans, fathered the first Olympians with his wife Rhea, and was in turn overthrown by his son Zeus. Condemned to carry Pandora's Temple on his back, he was at last banished to Tartarus and slain there by Kratos.
The overthrow of Ouranos#
Cronos was the youngest son of Ouranos and Gaia, born on the Island of Creation. He hated his father for his tyranny and for his treatment of Gaia, and deep within him this hatred fed an ambition to rule in his place. When Gaia beseeched her Titan children to stand against the tyrant, only Cronos dared. He challenged Ouranos and castrated him with his blade, mocking the many lustful advances the Skyfather had forced upon the Earth Mother, and so the Golden Age of the Titans began with Cronos as ruler of the cosmos.
The prophecy and the great war#
Cronos was warned by the Sisters of Fate that he would one day be overthrown by his own child, as he had overthrown his father. He tried to bribe the Sisters with the Steeds of Time, but they listened only to their own counsel. He then swallowed each child his wife Rhea bore him. Unable to bear a sixth loss, Rhea sent the infant Zeus away to be raised under Gaia and gave Cronos a stone wrapped in cloth in his place. When Zeus came of age he freed his siblings from within Cronos and declared the Olympians, then waged the great war against the Titans. Atlas served as the Titans' general; Cronos was nearly captured by Hades before Atlas saved him. After Zeus forged the Blade of Olympus, the Titans were defeated and cast into Tartarus, but Zeus spared his own father, refusing to repeat the patricide.
Bearer of Pandora's Temple#
Rather than store Pandora's Box in the Flame of Olympus, Hephaestus deceived Zeus into believing the back of Cronos would be a safer place, since no easy task could fell the Titan. Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon ordered the architect Pathos Verdes III to chain Cronos down and build Pandora's Temple upon him. The Titan was made to wander the Desert of Lost Souls with the temple chained to his back, his flesh torn by the spinning sand. After Kratos retrieved Pandora's Box from the temple and slew Ares, a fearful Zeus blamed Cronos and banished him to the pits of Tartarus to suffer for all time.
Death in Tartarus#
When Hephaestus sent Kratos to retrieve the Omphalos Stone from Cronos's stomach, the Spartan entered Tartarus and came upon the fallen hand of Gaia. Cronos appeared, holding Kratos responsible for his mother's death and for his own torment, and refused to hear that Kratos now fought against Zeus. He tried to crush the Spartan and finally swallowed him whole. Inside the stomach, Kratos found the Omphalos Stone and cut his way out with the Blade of Olympus, spilling the Titan's entrails. Cronos pleaded for his life, but Kratos climbed his chest, drove a shard of his own shackles through his jaw, and then stabbed him through the forehead. In a last act of defiance Cronos cursed Kratos as a coward who kills his own kin, then collapsed and died above the Forge.
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Cronos in God of War?
- Cronos was the Titan of Time and Harvest, the youngest son of Gaia and Ouranos and the leader of the Titans. He cast down his father Ouranos to begin the Golden Age, fathered the first Olympians with his wife Rhea, and was later overthrown by his son Zeus.
- How did Cronos overthrow his father Ouranos?
- When Gaia called on her Titan children to stand against the tyrant Ouranos, only Cronos dared. He challenged his father and castrated him with his blade, beginning the Golden Age of the Titans with Cronos as ruler of the cosmos.
- Why did Cronos swallow his children?
- The Sisters of Fate warned Cronos that he would one day be overthrown by his own child, just as he had overthrown his father. To prevent this he swallowed each child Rhea bore him, until Rhea hid the infant Zeus and gave Cronos a stone wrapped in cloth in the child's place.
- Why did Cronos carry Pandora's Temple on his back?
- Hephaestus deceived Zeus into believing the back of Cronos was the safest place to hide Pandora's Box, since no easy task could fell the Titan. Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon ordered the architect Pathos Verdes III to chain Cronos down and build Pandora's Temple upon him, leaving the Titan to wander the Desert of Lost Souls with the temple on his back.
- How did Cronos die in God of War?
- After Zeus banished him to Tartarus, Cronos blamed Kratos for Gaia's apparent death and swallowed the Spartan whole. Kratos cut his way out of the Titan's stomach with the Blade of Olympus, climbed his chest, and stabbed him through the forehead, killing him above the Forge.
Gallery
Images via God of War Wiki
Sources
- WikiCronos — God of War Wiki entry
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Ares
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Gaia was the Primordial Goddess of the Earth, mother of the Titans and grandmother of the Olympians. She raised the infant Zeus, mourned the fall of her children, and bound her fate to Kratos in a war of vengeance that ended with both betrayed.
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Hades was the Olympian God of the Dead and ruler of the Underworld, the eldest son of Cronos and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He kept the balance of life and death over the Greek world until Kratos turned his own Claws against him and tore out his soul, loosing chaos upon the realm of the dead.
Hephaestus
Hephaestus was the Craftsman of Olympus, the smith who forged Pandora's Box, the Blades of Chaos, and the Gauntlet of Zeus. Cast down to the Underworld and stripped of his standing, he died protecting his daughter Pandora from Kratos.
Olympians
The Olympians were the third and final generation of gods to rule over Greece, led by Zeus after they overthrew the Titans in the Titanomachy. First the allies of Kratos and then his enemies, they were slain almost to the last across his years of vengeance, their fall bringing ruin upon all of Greece.
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Ares
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Athena
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Cyclopes: the one-eyed giants of Greece
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