Cronos
Roman: Saturnus
The story
Cronos (in Rome, Saturnus) is the head of the Titan generation — Zeus's father. He castrates his father Uranus and overthrows him. Then in fear: when prophecy says one of his own children will dethrone him — he swallows Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Hades, Poseidon one by one. His wife Rhea saves the last child Zeus, wrapping a stone as a baby for Cronos to swallow. Zeus grows up and overthrows Cronos. Cronos's dark side: time devours everything. His bright side: the "Golden Age" Cronos ruled — when humans didn't age, ate without working, didn't fall ill. In Rome Saturnus is also the god of agriculture; the Saturnalia festival (around winter solstice) is the mythological ancestor of Christmas. Year-end reckoning, boundary, awareness of time — all from Saturnus.
Why this planet
Saturn is the most distant planet visible to the naked eye — "the limit." Beyond it there was nothing (pre-modern). The astrological themes of time, discipline, limit, maturation, constructive difficulty come from Cronos's devouring time + Golden Age duality.
Themes
- god of time
- child-devouring
- golden age
- limit and discipline