Uranus

Father Sky

Uranus is the personified Sky, brought forth by Gaia alone to be her equal and to cover her on every side, providing "an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods." United with Gaia, he fathered the twelve Titans, the three Cyclopes, and the three Hundred-Handed Ones, the Hecatoncheires.

The Hated Father

Hesiod describes Uranus as a father who hated his own monstrous offspring, hiding each newborn child away inside Gaia's body as soon as it was born rather than letting it see the light. This caused Gaia continual pain, and she resolved to punish him with the help of her children.

The Castration

Gaia fashioned a great sickle and asked her Titan sons to act against their father. Only Cronus agreed. Lying in wait, Cronus castrated Uranus as he approached Gaia, throwing the severed member into the sea. From the blood that spattered onto Gaia sprang the avenging Erinyes, the Giants, and the Meliae (ash-tree nymphs); from the sea-foam that gathered around the severed member arose Aphrodite. Grievously wounded, Uranus withdrew from direct rule of the cosmos, and Cronus took his place as king of the Titans.

A Distant Figure

Unlike Cronus or Zeus, Uranus plays little active role in myth after his castration. He survives chiefly as a genealogical starting point, the origin of the sky itself and the fount from which the later, more prominent generations of gods descend.