Chronos vs Cronus
Chronos vs Cronus
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Usually when we discuss the theme of Kronos in Greek mythology, or sometimes even its equivalent role in Roman Mythology there is a slight confusion of characters, many believe that Chronos is a Titan and also the God of time, because that name lends itself to that confusion but the truth is they are two different characters.
In the first place we have Chronos, a primordial God, with Primordial we refer to all those Deities previous to the two great cosmic wars, Titanomachy and Gigantomachy of which I will speak to you at another time.
Chronos, is one of these deities, a primordial God, in fact its name "Chronos" comes from the Greek oldest χρόνος romanized centuries later like Khrónos that literally means "abstract time in general" referring to the indeterminate periods of time that do not stop to pass, thus referring to eternity.
Also known in certain Hellenic villages as Eon or Aion (eternal or unlimited time), this deity is the living personification of time, time as such in its most divinized expression, an entity before the birth of the universe and after the disappearance of it .
The cult of Chronos was adopted and adapted by the Greco-Roman culture that represented him as a bearded old man, with huge wings turning a zodiacal wheel, symbolizing the oldness and wisdom of time, the divinity in the concept of the wings that were then Characteristics of many deities and then taken over by the early Christians to characterize the angels, and the wheel of time as a conception of the passing of the months that he supervises.
Now on the other hand we have Cronus, in Latin Kronos, a descendant of the first generation of the Titans, the youngest of his generation but also the most feared and intelligent son of Gaea (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven ), Cronus is remembered as the ruler of the golden age, the chief Deity of that divine pantheon at that time.
Cronus is the King of the Titans and ruler of the Cosmos until being overthrown by his sons Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Cronus is commonly associated with and even syncretized with Saturn (Roman god of harvests and agriculture), because even after his exile from Olympus and his subsequent confinement in the Underworld, in Greece were held the "Cronia" or feasts of Cronus the twelfth day of each month, these celebrations celebrated the harvests that are considered the successful result of the long patriarchate of the Titan.
Here a paragraph of Hesiod, works and days.
While the Greeks regarded Cronus as a cruel and stormy force of chaos and disorder, believing that the Olympian gods had brought a time of peace and order by wresting power from the rude and malicious Titans, the Romans adopted a more positive and innocuous view of this deity, recasting it with its indigenous god Saturn. Consequently, while the Greeks regarded Cronus as a mere intermediate stage between Uranus and Zeus, it was a much more important aspect of Roman mythology and religion: the Saturnalia was a feast celebrated in his honor, and there was at least one temple dedicated to him in the old Roman monarchy.
His association with the golden age ended up making him the god of "human time," that is, calendars, seasons, and harvests (though not to be confused with Chronos, the personification of time in general).
Extra
Mythology continually teaches us that there are several different generations of Deities, the primordial Gods, those prior to Olympus & Humanity, such as Chronos (time), Eros (Love / often mistaken for Cupid), Ananke (Necessity and Inevitable ), Chaos (Previous to everything, even before Chronos) and Erebus (the Darkness), among many others.
Then the Titans, all of them sons of Gaea and Uranus, led by Cronus. Followed by the Gods, led mainly by the 12 (sometimes 13) Olympian gods, and these in turn by 3 Major Kings, Zeus ruling over the air and the heavens, Poseidon in the Oceans and Hades in the Underworld, while Earth is a commission that the three Great Gods divide with other minor deities.
And finally the minor deities, all of them after the Titanomachy and the Gigantomachy divided in turn in particular Deities (like Eolo, god of the air or Achelous, god of the rivers), and the common Deities, like the muses, the nymphs, the hours , The Furies and the Parcae among many others.
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