According to Hesiod, Uranus was the
son and then the husband of Gaia. He hated his offspring, pushing them down
into a cranny of Gaia and thereby not allowing them to come forth. Gaia
conspired with her son Cronus, a Titan, to overcome Uranus, giving Cronus an
adamantine sickle (probably iron). Cronus waited in ambush from within Gaia.
When Uranus came lusting for Gaia, Cronus cut off his
father's genitals, which fell into the sea. The blood from the wound fell to
the earth, whence sprang up the Giants ("earth-born ones"), the
Erinyes (the "Furies"), and the Meliae (the ash-tree nymphs). From
the foam gathered around the genitals that landed in the sea came forth Aphrodite
(by false etymology, the "foam-born one"). The story attributes
creation to the separation or differentiation of either gods or elements-a
common mythological process. Uranus and Gaia were, in effect, locked in a
perpetual embrace, allowing no place for the world to appear. Once Uranus was
castrated, the Titans and the other children of Uranus and Gaia could emerge,
and the creation of the world could proceed.
by Barry Powell, 30-Second Greek Myths
1 comment:
The picture is of a statue of Oceanus, part of the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
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