God Uranus in Greek mythology. Uranus is the god of the sky in ancient Greece. Olympian goddess Artemis. Statue in the Louvre

Uranus in Greek mythology, the god personifying the sky, the husband of the Earth Gaia. Belongs to the most ancient generation of gods. Gaia gave birth to Uranus; either Uranus is the son of Aether and Hemera; or son of Ophion and the elder Thetis. Father of the gods. The first began to rule the whole world.

According to Hesiod, Gaia, having married him, gave birth to mountains and nymphs. Pontus, Titans and Titanides, Cyclopes and the hundred-armed giants Hecatoncheires. One of the main features of Uranus was its endless fertility. He hated his children, who looked terrible. By hiding them in the womb of Gaia, Uranus caused her great suffering.

To ease the fate of his mother, Kronos. her youngest son castrated Uranus with a sickle. The fruitful power of Uranus was so great that the Erinyes were born from drops of blood that fell to the ground. and from those who fell into the sea, the goddess Aphrodite. The result was the removal of Uranus from continuing the line of monster gods and the transfer of power to his son Kronos.

Uranus- the most ancient of the Greek gods. The personification of the sky, the deity of the sky in Greek mythology. The progenitor of the giants, Erinyes, nymphs, hecatoncheires, cyclops giants, Aphrodite and the titan Kronos. Kronos was born from the marriage of the sky god Uranus and the earth goddess Gaia. He succumbed to his mother’s persuasion and castrated his father Uranus in order to stop the endless births of his children. Thus, Kronos overthrew his father by cunning. He deprived Uranus of his strength and took away his power. Drops of the blood of Uranus fell to the ground and from them the tireless goddess of vengeance Erinyes and the snake-legged giants were born. And the goddess Night, under the cover of which Kronos committed his crime, gave birth to terrible deities as punishment: Tapata - death, Eridu - discord, Apata - deception, Ker - destruction, Hippos - sleep, a swarm of dark, heavy dreams, Nemesis who knows no mercy - revenge for crimes and many others. They brought horror, strife, deception, struggle and misfortune into the world where Kronos reigned on the throne of his father.

Greek god Uranus

The god who personifies the sky in Greek mythology is considered to be the god Uranus. He was the husband of the Earth Gaia and belonged to the most ancient generation of gods. Uranus gave birth to Gaia, but some consider him the son of Hemera and Ether, or the son of the elder Thetis and Ophion.

The Greek god Uranus is the father of the gods. He was the first to rule the whole world. When Gaia married him, then, according to Hesiod, she gave birth to mountains, seas, nymphs, titanides and titans, hecatoncheires - hundred-armed giants. Uranus was famous for its endless fertility.

He hated his children and hid them back into Gaia's womb, which brought her great suffering. In order to somehow help his mother, her youngest son Kronos castrated Uranus with a sickle. But the fruitful power of Uranus was so great that the goddess Aphrodite was born from the drops of blood that fell into the sea, and the Erinyes were born from the drops that fell to the ground. After this, Uranus was removed from procreation, and power passed to Kronos.

Uranus is the supreme deity of ancient Greek mythology. Uranus was the ruler of Heaven. His wife Gaia personified the Earth. Uranus was the progenitor of the Greek gods. According to one version of the myth, Uranus was born from the earth. Uranus and Gaia gave birth to titans. Cyclops. having one eye, as well as hundred-armed giants. There were three of the latter: Egeon, nicknamed Briareus, Cottus and Gies.

Uranus did not love his children and imprisoned them in Tartarus, the darkest place in the underworld. According to various sources, Uranus had from 12 to 45 children. Gaia, who suffered for her children imprisoned in Tartarus, persuaded her youngest son Kronos to rebel against his father. Kronos was supported by the titans. Gaia handed her son a curved steel sword, with which he castrated his father.

The fruitful power of Uranus was so great that from his blood that fell on the earth, giants, Erinyes and Meliad nymphs appeared, and Aphrodite emerged from the foam and blood. With the fall of Uranus, there was a change of gods and an improvement in order on earth and in heaven.

Uranus, in ancient mythology, is the most ancient of the Greek gods. The personification of heaven, the deity of heaven in the ancient Greek pantheon. The progenitor of the giants, Erinyes, nymphs, hecatoncheires, cyclops giants, Aphrodite and the titan Kronos. Kronos was born from the marriage of the sky god Uranus and the earth goddess Gaia. He succumbed to his mother’s persuasion and castrated his father Uranus in order to stop the endless births of his children. Thus, Kronos overthrew his father by cunning. He deprived Uranus of his strength and took away his power. Drops of the blood of Uranus fell to the ground and from them the tireless goddess of vengeance Erinyes and the snake-legged giants were born.

The overthrow of Uranus opened up the possibility of a further change of generations of gods and the improvement of the divine rulers of the world in the spirit of anthropomorphism, orderliness and law and order. The myth of Uranus is evidence of the archaic origins of classical mythology. Heaven and earth are conceived as one whole, which is then divided into two entities in the cosmogonic process. Of these, Uranus, the masculine principle, is at the same time the filial principle, secondary to Gaia. Uranus needs the bosom of the earth - the recipient of its fruitful power. The Earth, having experienced a period of stormy and involuntary procreation, eliminates Uranus. She gives birth to offspring and enters into other marriages, guided by her own plans and purposeful will, which indicates the primacy of the mythology of the earth, and not the sky.

Sources: world-of-legends.su, aforizmu.com, www.mithology.ru, myfhology.info, godsbay.ru

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Ancient Greek mythology is fraught with many secrets and mysteries. What comes first - Earth or Heaven? Or perhaps it is one whole and indivisible entity? According to one version of ancient legends, first there was Chaos, from which fertile Gaia grew. Uranus was given to her as a wife - the god who personified the endless sky. Its opposite was the dark and equally immense Tartarus, where the Sun never looked.

Progenitors of the sea, mountains and almighty titans

Other legends say that Uranus is the god of the sky, born of Gaia. The ancients placed the Earth at the center of the Universe; everything else was its derivative. The matured Uranus took Gaia as his wife. Mountains and rivers, seas and trees are the children of a married couple. In addition, from this marriage the all-powerful titans, hundred-armed giants and one-eyed cyclops were born. Weren't they supposed to support the Earth on their mighty shoulders?

Uranus is a god, according to legends, who strives to see only the beautiful. But for some reason his children did not seem like that to him. He sent them away from his eyes, hid them in bottomless Tartarus. This made Gaia very sad and hurt her maternal soul. She appealed to her husband’s mercy, but he was adamant in his cruel decision.

Overthrow of Uranus

Gaia did not want to give birth to any more children and send her sons to perish. Then she turned to her children with a request, rescuing them from Tartarus. They had to emasculate their father, take away his original strength. The titans were embarrassed, but did not object to their mother’s will. The youngest of the sons, the god of time named Kronos, carried out the act planned by Gaia with a sharp diamond sickle.

But it was not for nothing that Uranus, the Greek god, possessed great life-giving power. From the drops of his blood that fell to the ground, other titans were born, as well as beautiful nymphs and evil Erinyes. At the same time, the goddess of love Aphrodite emerged from the foam of the sea - the last daughter of the castrated god, whose name was dedicated to Heaven.

The ruthless Kronos became the supreme ruler instead of his father. Subsequently, he treated his children even more cruelly, swallowing the babies born to his wife Rhea. Kronos feared that one of his sons would treat him the same way he treated his father. The youngest of the mother's children was saved by deception, and it was Zeus the Thunderer.

Where did the progenitor of the gods, rejected by Gaia, settle?

The further fate of the overthrown deity remains unclear. According to one version, Kronos sent his father to Tartarus along with his original titan brothers, who helped him ascend to the throne. Other legends say that Uranus is a god who died in the ocean and was buried in the fortress of Aulakia. However, in descriptions of the golden age of the reign of Kronos, there is a mention that it was Uranus who told Rhea how to protect the newborn Zeus from death.

The etymology of the name of the oldest of all Greek gods is also interesting. "Uranus" translated from various languages ​​means water, dampness, something wet. It is likely that rain was meant here, that is, moisture falling from above and nourishing the earth.

Celestial namesake of ancient Greek deity

It is surprising that the third largest planet in the solar system and the seventh farthest from the Sun was discovered relatively recently - in 1781. Astronomers had observed this celestial body before, but mistook it for a comet or an asteroid. And only the Englishman William Herschel managed to dispel the misconceptions that had existed for a long time.

Uranus, the god of the sky in ancient Greek mythology, gave his name to the new planet. Although it was originally named George's Star in honor of the English king. Uranus' ring system includes several natural satellites, and the planet's axis is tilted so much that it almost coincides with the plane of its rotation around the Sun. Therefore, where other planets have an equatorial line, Uranus has its north and south poles.

Uranus and Gaia

Uranus greeted the birth of each of his descendants with ever-increasing horror. He was overcome with the certainty that these bestial children would one day rise up and kill him. When they emerged from Gaia's womb, he grabbed them and swallowed them. Those who had already grown up, he threw into Tartarus - the dark Abyss. The mother was torn from suffering. Summoning a river of molten metal from the secret recesses of her soul, Gaia forged a sickle strong enough to cut down a mountain. She went down to Tartarus, where her children were languishing, and asked who would have the courage to raise a hand against their angry father. Of all of them, only the titan Kronos made up his mind.

Kronos

Kronos(Cronus, Roman - Saturn) - titan, the youngest son of Uranus and Gaia, the father of the Olympian gods.

On the same night, when Uranus, inflamed with passion for Gaia, reached out to his wife, Kronos appeared, hiding in the huge folds of his mother’s body. He grabbed a sickle and in an instant castrated Uranus and threw his genitals into the sea. Uranus screamed, a stream of blood gushed from their wounds. Where the hot drops fell, nymphs emerged from the ground Meliades, as well as disgusting creatures - furies (Erinnia), who were destined to become judges of mortal criminals for centuries. From the blood and seed of Uranus, whipped into foam by the waves, the goddess of love was born - Aphrodite.
With Uranus left crippled and helpless, the entire Universe was at the feet of Kronos. He released his brothers and sisters - the titans. Taking his sister Rhea as his wife, Cron laid the foundation for a new tribe, to which people gave the name of the gods. Together they gave birth to two sons -

Ancient Greek culture and religion left a huge imprint on all subsequent European civilization. If you look closely, we still largely live in the atmosphere of Greek myths and think in Greek categories. For example, in the solar system there is a giant planet called Uranus. And they named it so in honor of the sky. It will be discussed below.

Uranus in mythology

Uranus is a god who in Ancient Hellas personified the firmament. He was the son and at the same time the husband of Gaia, the goddess of the earth. Together they gave birth to countless creatures and populated the world with them. Uranus is a god who belongs to the oldest generation of gods in Greece. He was the father of the Titans themselves and, as one source says, he was the first to rule the entire Universe. That is, he was once the supreme deity. As Hesiod reports, together with Gaia, Uranus gave birth to mountains, nymphs, cyclops, titans and giants with a hundred arms. Being so prolific, Uranus, nevertheless, was not distinguished by his love for his offspring and hid them in the womb of Gaia, that is, in Tartarus, the bowels of the earth. This ultimately played a bad joke on him.

Loss of power

Gaia suffered greatly from the behavior of her husband in relation to their offspring. To ease her torment, one of Gaia's sons, named Kronos, rebelled against his father and castrated him with a sickle. From the blood that spilled onto the ground, the Erinyes appeared. And from the one who poured out into the sea, Aphrodite came into being. So Uranus lost control over the world and faded into the background. From that moment on, the God of the sky ceded power over the universe to Kronos.

Origins of the cult

The cult of the sky god is one of the oldest. Therefore, it is no coincidence that it is also present in Greece. The sky god Uranus in this sense is a development of a more archaic image, which, according to many experts, was also the source of the Vedic deity Varuna. We are talking about a certain Proto-Indo-European god who was worshiped by our ancestors. It would be worth noting that in the most ancient civilizations known to us, for example in Babylon and Sumer, it was the heavenly deity that played the supreme role. Uranus is the god who inherited this place, although he lost somewhat of his position. So, in Greece, although he was revered, he was not given special worship. As a matter of fact, to date not a single temple or sanctuary of Uranus has been found, nor have its ancient images. Obviously, the Greeks did not attach much importance to him, nevertheless noting in their myths that once before he played a more significant role.

Uranus was the protogen (primitive god) of the solid dome of the sky. He was the first ruler of the universe to be castrated and overthrown by his son Cronus. Uranus was envisioned as the dome of the sky itself, and not as an anthropomorphic god like his successors Cronus and Zeus. In Roman times, however, Uranus was often associated and represented as Aion, the god of eternal time, in the form of a man turning the wheel of the Zodiac. Sometimes it was placed near the oblique form of Gaia (Mother Earth), and the gods of the seasons.

Parents:

• Gaia (no father)
• Aiter (AITHER) and Gaia (GAIA) (Titanomachia Frag 2)
• Akmon (AKMON) (Alcman Frag 61, Callimachus Frag 498)
• Aiter and Hemera
• NYX (Orphic Fragments)

Offspring

• Titans (Ocean, Koios, Krios, Hyperion, Iapetus, Kronos), Titanides (Thea, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosis, Tethys), Cyclops, Hundred-Handed (with Gaia)
• Ocean, Themis, Tartarus, Pontus, Titan, Briard, Gyes, Steropus, Atlas, Hyperion, Koyo, Kronos, Rhea, Mnemosyne, Dione, Erinea
• Erinea, Giants, Meliaus (born in blood from his castration)
• Faikai (PHAIAKAI) (born by his castration)
• APHRODITE (born from the foam created by castrated genitals thrown into the sea)
• Aita (AITNA)

Uranus, the son of Gaia, but also her husband, and they together gave birth to Oceanus, Cous, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Thea, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phobi, Tethys, Cronus, Cyclops, Brontes, Steropus, Arge, and the hundred-handed - Cotta, Briarus and Gaia. According to Cicero, he was also the father of Mercury (Hermes) and Venus Hemera. Uranus hated his children, and immediately after their birth, he imprisoned them in Tartarus, which caused him to be defeated and deposed by Kronos at the instigation of Gaia. From the fallen blood were born the Giants, the nymphs Melian, and according to some sources, Silena, and from the foam that collected around his genitals in the sea, Aphrodite was born.

"The father of Uranus is called Akmon, because the heavenly movement is tireless (akamatos); the sons of Uranus are the Akmonidai" (Iliad)

Uranus: Great Primordial God of Heaven. Born of Gaia, the Earth, he covered the world in the form of a vast bronze dome and ruled over the entire world. Taking Gaia as his wife, he impregnated her with many children, but was not prepared to deal with the consequences. In fact, he was frightened by the monstrous output of the Titans forming within her, and he thought that they might threaten his power afterwards. Gaea, wanting to protect her children, kept them inside her as long as she could, but soon enough the pain was unbearable. Relief only came when their youngest son Cronus stepped, or rather leaned out, from his mother's womb. Armed with a sickle, he castrated Uranus and took over as a supreme being.