r/GreekMythology • u/Super_Majin_Cell • 2h ago
Discussion Cronus and the Titans powers and domains
If you want to know more information on the brothers of Cronus, and some inspiration for your art or book, this is the right place. Cronus and four of his brothers were all gods of the Sky, yes, all five of them. The thing is, what was the difference between them? The only source is the Scholia to Hesiod Theogony, that analyzes them from a pre-socratic philosophical point of view, where certain gods were allegories for the elements of nature, instead of being literal, so is not exactly what we want, but is the best we got.
Coeus: "property, likeness, attribute... Coeus as being quality"
Phoebe: "The pure part of the air; on this account she is also called ‘gold-wreathed’, because gold is pure."
So both represent the pure aspects and qualities of the Sky and Air, they gave it their appearance. Their descendant is Apollo is said to be the most beloved of the gods, very beautiful, and bright. Some later interpreted Apollo and Artemis as having domain over the air because they spread plagues (miasma). Apollo also received in one tradition (Aeschylus) the Oracle of Delphi from Phoebe, so she was also a prophetic goddess.
Hyperion: "Hyperion, the motion of everything above the Earth... and Hyperion as Heaven, who passes up above us"
Theia: Theia is the power overseeing all things, from theâsthai (‘to see’); or from théein (‘to run’), that is, being carried everywhere.”
Hyperion and Theia are the parents of Helios, Selene and Eos. Thus, Hyperion can be interpreted as the god who estabilished the motions of the Heavenly Lights, of everything above is. The philosophers believed that fire was the least heavy element, it floated above where it moved in cycles. Hyperion was responsible for this. Theia is the power of sight as she birthed the Sun, Moon and Dawn (altrough Hemera and Aether already existed). Pindar also says she is the creator of the light that emanates from gold. Helios and his children were said to have golden eyes that glittered with light.
Iapetus: "And Iapetus is from iénai (‘to come’), for because it has the nature that all heavy things let loose fall down (píptein) from above, he calls this kind of species (eîdos) Iapetus... and Iapetus as his motion, from íesthai (‘going’) and pétesthai (‘flying’), because Heaven is ever-moving."
Iapetus is interpreted here as the power that pushes all things down. The philosophers believed that the nature of the elements was to be separated from one another, so mortals and earthly materials could not raise to Heaven without being pushed down by the star force that keeps things on earth. So Iapetus can be understood as the god that pushed things down. This may be a stretch on my part, but this connect to his children: Atlas is the god that was punished to keep the Sky separate from the Earth, while Prometheus and Epimetheus were related to mankind, beings that can't go to Heaven (unless a god invites them). Iapetus wife was a Oceanid so there is not much to say.
Crius: "Crius is that which is kingly and rules... Crius is separation"
Cronus: "Kronos is the separation of the elements, which they continue to maintain in good order after they have been made (separate) from each other. Or Kronos is Time (Chronos), because time hides some things, and makes others manifest; or because it passes imperceptibly."
I decided to analyze Crius together with Cronus because they are oddly similar in the allegory, as Crius is said to be both a aspect that rules, and that separated things; but so is Cronus, the titan king who separated the elements (he separated the sky and earth) and here is connected to Time in the sense that Time reveals things (just like Cronus revealed the space between Sky and Earth). Crius children and grandchildren were also very disconnected from one another, as some were winds, other stars, others war spirits, and the goddess of magic. His wife is the sea goddess Eurybia so is all even more disconnected. So I am not sure on how to interpret him.
Rheia is a earth goddess; and Mnemosyne and Themis are Memory and Natural Laws. But on these three we have a lot so no need to elaborate on them. Oceanus is separated from his five brothers because he with his wife Tethys received the "middle domain", the waters that sorrounds the Earth, instead of anything on the Sky. So Oceanus was always the odd one who never joined Cronus in anything. Orphic Fragment 117: "Cronus is superior to Oceanus... Cronus himself received the Celestial Olympus, and there he reigns over the Titans; but Oceanus received the middle allotment... Cronus is above Oceanus, and Rhea above Tethys."