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Uranus (mythology)

Ouranos is the Greek name of the sky, latinized as Uranus. In Greek mythology it is personified as the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth. They were ancestors of most of the Greek gods. His equivalent in Roman mythology was Caelus (sometimes Titan) ("sky"). He may have originally been the same Indo-European god as the Hindu Varuna.

Uranus imprisoned Gaia's youngest children in Tartarus (her bowels). The one-hundred armed giants (Hecatonchires) and the one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes caused pain to Gaia. She shaped a flint sickle and asked her sons Cronus and his brothers to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus was willing, he ambushed his father and severed his testicles, throwing them into the sea. From his blood on the Earth came forth the Gigantes, Erinyes and Meliae. From the testicles in the sea came forth Aphrodite. For this, Uranus called his sons Titanes Theoi, or "Straining Gods" for their fearful deed. After Uranus was deposed, Cronus re-imprisoned the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus.

Consorts/Children

  1. No mother
    1. Aphrodite
    2. Erinyes
      1. Alecto
      2. Megaera
      3. Tisiphone
    3. Gigantes
      1. Alcyoneus
      2. Athos
      3. Clytias
      4. Enceladus
      5. Echion
    4. Meliae
  2. With Gaia
    1. Cyclopes
      1. Brontes
      2. Steropes
      3. Arges
    2. Hecatonchires
      1. Briareus
      2. Cottus
      3. Gyes
    3. Titans
      1. Coeus
      2. Crius
      3. Cronus
      4. Hyperion
      5. Iapetus
      6. Mnemosyne
      7. Oceanus
      8. Phoebe
      9. Rhea
      10. Tethys
      11. Theia
      12. Themis



07-14-2008 23:18:10
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