Time of Titans

The titanic struggle between the elder and younger gods for the earth is the bedrock of the origins of the Greek pantheon. Hesiod, an ancient Greek poet, records these legends in beautiful epic poetry that survives to the present day. Hesiod describes the origins of the gods from the seething flux of Chaos, which spontaneously brought forth the order and beauty of creation, peopling it with races of gods and mortals. It is a classic work that details the family and tribal groupings of the various deities, narrating the rise and fall of successive groups from power. The elder gods, the titans, came to power after Kronos overthrew his father Uranus. The titans ruled the earth and heavens during a long Golden Age. But Kronos' prescience foretold that he, too, would be overthrown by one of his sons. Fearful of losing power, he took drastic measures to ensure his continued reign: and immured each of his successive sons as soon as they were born. Kronos' wife, Rhea, was sorely distressed at the imprisonment of her children. Again pregnant, Rhea fled to Crete to bear her latest son far away from Kronos' searching eye, raising him in secret inside a cave on the slopes of Mount Ida. It was there that her youngest son, Zeus, grew to maturity, and nursed his schemes for revenge. With Rhea's active support, Zeus first freed his brothers from their confines before storming heaven and hurling Kronos from his throne to earth. Kronos was taken by surprise, but soon rallied the titans to his side: and then commenced the world-wide struggle between the elder and younger gods for the dominion of heaven, earth, the seas, and the underworld. Enlisting the cyclops to forge him vastly superior armaments, Zeus was ultimately successful. Kronos and his allies were shattered: many of the titans were chained in darkness in the underworld, or subjected to various punishments. Curiously, Kronos, stripped of both his power and his crown, was left free to roam where he wished: a desolate survivor and feeble shadow of the king he had once been. Yet it was now, at the zenith of his success and when his power was supreme, that Zeus became aware that his continuing reign was not guaranteed. Moros and others with second-sight foresaw that, in time, Zeus too would be overthrown by his son: just as he had overthrown his father, Kronos. Zeus was understandably alarmed. A titan who had defected to the Olympians, Prometheus, let slip in a prophetic frenzy that he knew the identity of the one destined to overthrow Zeus. Zeus summoned Prometheus and demanded to be told all he knew. But Prometheus rejoiced in the knowledge that Zeus would one day be overthrown. On that day, his own relations - currently chained in underworld dungeons - would be freed. He refused point blank to tell Zeus anything. Whereupon Zeus exploded in rage. Zeus threw Prometheus out of heaven and had him chained him to the Caucasus mountains. On Zeus' instructions, a royal eagle arrived daily to tear out Prometheus liver, to encourage the titan to change his mind. Prometheus remained defiant - but what happened to the titan next is another story.