Uranus (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Uranus is the personification of the sky and the very first king of the gods. He was the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth, with whom he conceived the original inhabitants of the universe, including the Titans. Accordingly, this primordial pairing are the ancestors of the majority of the gods which susequently appeared in the Greek pantheon. Mythologically, Uranus is most famous for his usurpation at the hands of Cronus, his most powerful son and leader of the Titans. Although Uranus is revered as Father Heaven, he enjoyed little significance in the popular Greek religion. His equivalent in Roman mythology was Caelus, the original sky god in that mythological tradition.
Etymology
The theonym "Uranus" is the Latinized form of Ouranos (Οὐρανός), the Greek word for sky. The most probable etymology for this word is from Proto-Greek *worsanos, which itself derives from the proto-Indo-European root *wers-: "to moisten, to drip", referring to the rain which is fittingly linked to celestial dieties. Uranus' Roman equivalent Caelus is based upon a similar linguistic foundation, deriving from caelum, the Latin word for "sky". Robert Graves, among others, has suggested that the name Ouranos may be related to that of another Indo-European sky god, the Vedic Varuna, on the basis of phonological similarity. However, this theory has been widely rejected.
Mythology
Creation of the Universe
As with many other mythological systems, the Greeks understood the primordial universe to consist of two divine entities, the earth and the sky. As Hesiod tells it in Theogony, the earth, personified as a maternal figure and named Gaia, came into existence by her own accord. She then gave birth to Uranus, the sky, so that he could cover her. In the nights that followed, Uranus faithfully lowered himself to earth to make love with Gaia. Other sources claim a different parentage of Ouranos. Cicero, in De Natura Deorum ("The Nature of the Gods") claims that he was the offspring of the ancient gods Aether and Hemera. According to the Orphic Hymns, Ouranos was the son of Nyx, the personification of night.
From these original copulations Uranus sired numerous offspring by Gaia, most notably six sons and six daughters corresponding to various elements of the phenomenal world, later to be known as the Titans. They were: Cronus (the leader of the Titans), his wife Rhea (mother of the Olympians), Oceanus (the "world-ocean" which surrounds the universe), his wife Tethys (mother of the rivers), Hyperion (the sun, according to Homer), his wife Theia, Coeus (the most intelligent Titan), his wife Phoebe, Mnemosyne (the female personification of memory), Iapetus (father of Prometheus), Themis (mother of the Horae) and Crius, who seems to have served no other function than filling out the list.[1]. Uranus and Gaia also created the one-hundred handed, fifty headed giants known as Hecatonchires (Briareus, Cottus, and Gyes), and the one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes, (Brontes, Steropes and Arges).
Uranus Usurped
Uranus was immediatly filled with spite for the children Gaia bore him. He imprisoned the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes in Tartarus, the underworld in the bowels of Mother Earth, where they caused her immense pain. Enraged, Gaia shape a massive flint-bladed sickle so that she and her children could orchestrate their revenge. She gathered together her sons and asked that they kill their tyrannical father. All of them were unwilling to partake in the task, fearing Uranus' power. The only exception was Cronus, and Gaia placed the sickle his hands and positioned him for an ambush. When Uranus met with Gaia that night for their usual round of lovemaking, Cronus attacked him with the sickle, cutting off his testicles then promptly casting them into the sea. Cronus then freed his imprisioned brothers. It was by way of this deed that Uranus bestowed the name Titanes Theoi, or "Straining Gods", upon his children.
The drops of blood (or, by a few accounts, semen) which spilled from Uranus and onto the Earth in the aftermath of his castration created the Gigantes (Alcyoneus, Athos, Clytias, Enceladus and Echion), as well as the three avenging Furies or Erinyes (Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone), the Meliae, a group of ash-tree nymphs, and according to some, the Telchines. From the vital fluids which fell in the ocean, meanwhile, grew another daughter Aphrodite, who drifted into shore on the severed genitals of Uranus. Some say the bloodied sickle used to castrate Uranus was buried in the earth, where it engendered the birth of the fabulous Phaeacian tribe.
After his castration, the Sky came no more to cover the Earth at night, but held to its place, and the creation story of the universe came to a close. Cronus assumed the title of king of the universe in place of his father, and Rhea became his quuen. The new king of the gods, however, would run into problems similar to those of his father, quickly growing power-mad himself. Shortly after Uranus was deposed, Cronus once gain imprisoned the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus along with the Gigantes where they were guarded by the dragon Campe. Uranus and Gaia prophesied that Cronus in turn was destined to be overthrown by his own son, and so the Titan attempted to avoid this fate by devouring his young. Zeus, with help from his mother Rhea, avoided this fate and overthrew Cronus, fulfilling the portent of Uranus and his consort.
Legacy
Because ancient myths of distant origins were not expressed in the popular cults among the Hellenes, the function of Uranus was mostly confined to that of a vanquished god of a long past age before real time began [2]. Thus, Uranus enjoyed no major role in popular Greek religion. Furthermore, Uranus was scarcely regarded as anthropomorphic aside from the mention which is made of his genitalia in the myth describing the emergence of Aphrodite. He was simply the sky, which was conceived by the ancients as an overarching dome or roof of bronze, held in place (or turned on an axis) by the Titan Atlas. Accordingly, few iconographic representations of the God exist.
In spite of Uranus' virtual exclusion from popular Greek worship and iconography, Uranus has not been without some impact upon the Western world. Most notably, Uranus was adopted as the name of the the seventh planet from the sun in our solar system. The ancients Greeks and Romans knew of only five 'wandering stars' (Greek: πλανεται, planetai): Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Following the discovery of a sixth planet in the 18th century, the name Uranus was chosen as the logical addition to the series, since Mars (Ares (mythology)|Ares]] in Greek) was the son of Jupiter, Jupiter (Greek Zeus) the son of Saturn, and Saturn (Greek Cronus) the son of Uranus. This marks Uranus as the only planet in the solar system named by way of a Greek theonym as opposed to its Roman mythological equivalent.
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Avery, Catherine B., ed. The New Century Handbook of Greek Mythology and Legend. New York: Appleton Century-Crofts, 1972. ISBN 0390669466
- Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985. ISBN 0631112413
- Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1990.
- Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson, 1951. ISBN 0500270481
- Rose, H. J. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. (Second Edition). London: Methuen & Co. 1933. ISBN 0415046017
- Ruck, Carl A. P. The World of Classical Myth. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic. 1994. ISBN 0-89089-575-9
External links
- Theoi Project, Ouranos references to Uranus in classical literature
- Greek Mythology Link, Titans summary of Uranus myth
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