- The Coming of the Titans
- The Titanomachy
After Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos, the Titans - twelve in number - ruled, with Kronos as their head. (For some background to this, see Olympians Emergence)
Each of the male Titans joined with one of his sisters to produce children. Kronos married his sister Rhea, but was told by his parents that he would be defeated by his own son. To thwart this prophesy, he swallowed each of his and Rhea's children as they were born - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Being immortal, this did not kill them, but they remained trapped inside him.
Rhea grieved for the loss of her children. So, when she was close to giving birth to Zeus, she consulted with her parents Gaia and Ouranos. They revealed the future to her, showing her how to thwart Kronos. First, Rhea went to the island of Crete to give birth to her son. When he was born, his infant cries were drowned out by the Kouretes, attendants of his mother, who clashed their weapons together. He was kept hidden in a cave and reputedly nursed by a goat named Amaltheia, although in some versions Amaltheia was the owner of the goat. The horn of this goat may have been the famous horn of plenty (a detail added by Ovid, but possibly with precedent) and it
When Kronos came to Rhea for their child, Rhea gave him instead a stone, wrapped in cloths. Not noticing, he swallowed the stone instead.
The infant Zeus grew quickly - Hesiod's Theogony says it took only a year. Between his strength and the advice of Gaia, Zeus was able to force Kronos to throw up first the stone, and then all his siblings one by one. Alternatively, according to the Apollodoros, the Titaness Metis tricked Kronos into swallowing an emetic.
~ Chris Camfield
Next Page: The Titanomachy
