Uranus
Heaven, born of Earth alone "equal to herself", the first ruler of the world in Apollodorus and the father of the Titans, Cyclopes and Hundred-handers; castrated by his son Cronus with Earth's sickle, from which fall the Erinyes, the Giants and — in the sea — Aphrodite. He gave the Titans their name in reproach.
Why this wins its question: Keeps Hesiod's Heaven (no reign, one attacker) apart from Apollodorus's first king overthrown by all his sons, and binds the etymology of "Titans" to Hesiod's own lines.
Key takeaways
- Son of Earth alone, then her consort; father of Titans, Cyclopes and Hundred-handers (Theog. 126–153).
- Castrated by Cronus alone in Hesiod; by all the Titans but Ocean in Apollodorus, where he is also the first king.
- Blood makes Erinyes, Giants and Meliae on land; the members make Aphrodite in the sea (Theog. 183–200).
- He named the Titans, as an insult, and he keeps prophesying after his fall.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
Heaven has a mother but no father: "Earth first bore starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods" (Theog. 126–128).
By Earth he fathered the twelve Titans, the three Cyclopes and the three Hundred-handers (Theog. 132–153), and hated the last "from the first": he hid them "in a secret place of Earth so soon as each was born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and Heaven rejoiced in his evil doing" (Theog. 154–158).
He was castrated from ambush: as Heaven "came, bringing on night and longing for love", Cronus "swiftly lopped off his own father's members and cast them away" with the jagged sickle (Theog. 176–182). Earth received the blood and bore the Erinyes, the Giants and the Meliae (Theog. 183–187); the members in the sea grew a white foam in which Aphrodite was born (Theog. 188–200).
The name Titans is his reproach: "these sons whom he begot himself great Heaven used to call Titans (Strainers) in reproach, for he said that they strained and did presumptuously a fearful deed, and that vengeance for it would come afterwards" (Theog. 207–210).
Apollodorus opens with him as monarch — "Sky was the first who ruled over the whole world" — and has him bind the Cyclopes and cast them into Tartarus; the attack on him is made by all the Titans "all but Ocean", and the sovereignty then passes to Cronus (Apollod. 1.1.1–1.1.4). Hesiod gives no such reign and names only Cronus as the one who acts.
Even deposed he remains, with Earth, the source of prophecy: they told Cronus he would be overcome by his son (Theog. 463–465), told Rhea what was destined (Theog. 470–475), and advised Zeus to swallow Metis so that no other should hold royal sway (Theog. 888–891).
Questions answered
- Who is the father of Uranus?
- Heaven has a mother but no father: "Earth first bore starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods" (Theog. 126–128). source
- Why did Cronus castrate Uranus?
- By Earth he fathered the twelve Titans, the three Cyclopes and the three Hundred-handers (Theog. 132–153), and hated the last "from the first": he hid them "in a secret place of Earth so soon as each was born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and Heaven rejoiced in his evil doing" (Theog. 154–158). source
- What was born from the blood of Uranus?
- He was castrated from ambush: as Heaven "came, bringing on night and longing for love", Cronus "swiftly lopped off his own father's members and cast them away" with the jagged sickle (Theog. 176–182). Earth received the blood and bore the Erinyes, the Giants and the Meliae (Theog. 183–187); the members in the sea grew a white foam in which Aphrodite was born (Theog. 188–200). source
- Why are the Titans called Titans?
- The name Titans is his reproach: "these sons whom he begot himself great Heaven used to call Titans (Strainers) in reproach, for he said that they strained and did presumptuously a fearful deed, and that vengeance for it would come afterwards" (Theog. 207–210). source