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In Greek mythology, Chronos is the personification of time. He is often confused with, or deliberately identified with, the Titan Cronus (Kronos), the father of Zeus, because their names sound alike. The Greek writer Plutarch says the Greeks took Cronus to be an allegorical name for Chronos. This page follows that long tradition and treats the two as one figure. Chronos stands for the destructive and all-consuming side of time.
Cronus was the youngest of the Titans, a son of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). He overthrew his father and ruled during the Golden Age. To stop his own children from taking his power, he swallowed them, but his son Zeus escaped, defeated him and freed his brothers and sisters. Cronus was then imprisoned in Tartarus.
Cronus was usually shown with a harpe, sickle or scythe, the tool he used against his father. He was probably first a harvest god. During the Renaissance, the blending of Cronus and Chronos gave rise to the image of Father Time with his harvesting scythe.
The story of Chronos is one of succession: the old order is overthrown by the new, again and again.
Deities similar to Chronos
| Deity | Culture | Attributes and Similarities to Chronos |
|---|---|---|
| Saturn | Roman | Associated with time, wealth, agriculture, overthrown by his son |
| Aion | Greek | Represents eternal, cyclical time and the zodiac |
| Osiris | Egyptian | Symbolizes death, rebirth, and agricultural cycles |
| Yama | Hindu | God of death, ruler of the afterlife, oversees the cycle of life and death |
| Zirnitra | Slavic | Associated with magic, time, and fate |
| Fuxi | Chinese | Culture hero, established order, and civilization |
| Ninurta | Sumerian | God of agriculture, law, and order; linked with the planet Saturn in Babylonian astrology |
| K’awil | Maya | Associated with time, kingship, and cyclical power |
| Satre (Satres) | Etruscan | Identified with Saturn; time, harvest, and natural order |
| Mictlantecuhtli | Aztec | God of the underworld, death, and rebirth cycles |
See also Ninurta.
Book comparisons
1. Ignatius Donnelly’s “Atlantis: The Antediluvian World”
Role and Attributes:
- Connection to Atlantis: Donnelly treats Chronos as a real king of Atlantis. He argues that the empire of the Titans was the empire of Atlantis, and he names Chronos, Saturn, Oceanus and Atlas among its rulers.
- Father of Gods: Donnelly quotes Plato’s Timaeus, in which Zeus, Hera and their brothers and sisters spring from Chronos and Rhea. He also notes that Poseidon, the first king of Atlantis in Plato, was a son of Chronos.
The Romans called the Atlantic Ocean "Chronium Mare," the Sea of Chronos, thus identifying Chronos with that ocean.
Ignatius Donnelly, Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, Part II, Chapter III
Donnelly ties the name of Chronos to the Atlantic Ocean itself.
Chronos and the Flood:
- The Deluge: Donnelly points out that in Berosus’s account of the Chaldean flood, the god who warned of the coming Deluge was Chronos, “the same as Saturn.”
- The Golden Age: He links the Golden Age of Chronos, when “men were rich and lived in plenty,” with Plato’s happy age of Atlantis, and places the Elysian Fields, “ruled over by Chronos,” in the remote west.
2. Bridgman-Metchim’s “Atlantis: The Book of the Angels”
Role and Attributes:
- Titan and Historical Figure: Bridgman-Metchim also connects Chronos to the myth of Atlantis, portraying him as both a mythological figure and a possible historical one whose legacy shaped later cultures.
- Father of Zeus: Like Plato and Donnelly, Bridgman-Metchim stresses Chronos’s role as the father of Zeus and the other Olympian gods, and the family struggles for power.
Symbolism:
- Time and Transformation: Bridgman-Metchim uses Chronos to symbolize the transforming power of time. The fall of Atlantis and the rise of new civilizations are set within Chronos’s influence.
- Cultural Impact: Bridgman-Metchim suggests that the story of Chronos and Zeus shaped later mythologies and historical narratives.
Common Themes and Characteristics
Role as the Father of Zeus:
- Patriarch of the Olympian Gods: Plato, Donnelly and Bridgman-Metchim all place Chronos as the father of Zeus and the other Olympian gods, at the center of the divine family tree.
- Overthrow by Zeus: The overthrow of Chronos by Zeus runs through every version, a story of power passing from one generation to the next.
Association with Time:
- Symbol of Time: Through the blending of Cronus and Chronos, he became the great symbol of time, above all its destructive, all-consuming side.
- Cycle of Rise and Fall: This link with time carries the themes of rise and fall, succession and change.
Connection to Atlantis:
- Atlantean Influence: Both Donnelly and Bridgman-Metchim tie Chronos to Atlantis. Donnelly reads the myths of Chronos as memories of real Atlantean history, and of the flood that ended it.
Symbolic Representation:
- Sickle or Scythe: Chronos is often shown with a sickle or scythe, the harvest tool that later became the scythe of Father Time.
- Cultural Legacy: Both writers see the story of Chronos as one that shaped later mythologies and historical narratives.
