Uranus begot the Titans. Then he banished the Cyclopes, who troubled him, to Tartarus — a place deep within the Earth. An anvil falling from above would take nine days to reach Tartarus; that was the distance. The Earth, angered by Uranus, persuaded the Titans to rebel. The youngest of them, Cronus, taking advantage of the fact that Uranus was about to unite with the Mother, castrated him with a flint sickle in the evening. The blood that spilled onto the Earth gave birth to the Erinyes (the Furies), and from the genitals that fell into the sea near Cape Drepanon arose Aphrodite, born from the foam of the sea.
The Titans freed the Cyclopes and made Cronus their king. In return, he banished the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hundred-Handed Giants to Tartarus, married his sister Rhea, and ruled the world as a tyrant — even worse than his father Uranus, whom he had castrated and exiled, some say to Ausonia, that is, Italy.
For the Latins, Cronus (Saturn) was also called Father Time, who advanced inexorably with his scythe. He had to build his world and at the same time ensure its endurance. Thus, as already mentioned (poor fools who believe in liberators!), he once again exiled the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hundred-Handed Giants to Tartarus, married — willingly or not — his sister Rhea, and ruled unchallenged over the world. In short, one tyrant was replaced by an even worse one.
An ominous prophecy foretold that he would be overthrown by one of his own children, so Cronus decided to devour each child that Rhea bore. He swallowed Hestia, Demeter, Hades, Hera, and finally Poseidon (we shall see later who they were). The prophecy, as we have said, came from Mother Earth and the dying Uranus.
Rhea, deeply angered by Cronus’ behavior and on the advice of Mother Earth, devised a trick to prevent her last child, Zeus, from suffering the same fate as the others. After secretly giving birth, she hid him carefully. She took a large stone, wrapped it in swaddling clothes, and offered it to the unsuspecting Cronus, who swallowed it without hesitation.
Zeus was taken to Crete, and suspended in a cradle hanging from a tree (so that it could be said he was neither in heaven nor on earth), he grew up in secrecy, nursed by the goat Amalthea — whom we shall soon see again.
From: “The Gods of Olympus and Beyond” — Nino Salzone alias Cenides, YCP 2024
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