Castration of Uranus

                        In Greek legend, goddess Gaea (earth)  had come out of Chaos, the great void of emptiness within the universe. She gave birth to Uranus (Heaven,Sky), Pontus (Sea) and Ourea (Mountains) without a mate. Uranus, the first ruler of the Universe,  the eldest son of Gaea, was also her husband.

Gaea and Uranus.....

                                               Uranus came every night to cover the earth and had intercourse with Gaea. Gaea gave birth to twelve Titans, the females were Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, and Themis and the males were Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus, Crius, and Iapetus and then to the three Hecatoncheires, who were of great size and might, each of them having a hundred hands and fifty heads. Uranus hated his terrible offspring, and used to hide them away in a secret place of earth (Tartarus) as soon as each was born. Uranus rejoiced in his evil doing. Thereafter Gaea gave birth to the Cyclopes , who are known for having one eye on their foreheads. Though they were strong like gods, Uranus, repeating his previous deed, bound them and cast them into Tartarus, a gloomy place in the Underworld.

Castration of Uranus...

                          Uranus drew the enmity of Gaea when he imprisoned her children the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus.  Gaea created a great stone sickle and gathered together male Titans to persuade them to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus was willing to do the deed, so Gaea gave him the sickle. When Uranus came to have intercourse with Gaea at night, Hyperion, Crius, Coeus and Iapetus were posted at the four corners of the earth. They seized hold of their father and held him fast while Cronus castrated him with a sickle. Oceanus did not participated in the castration of Uranus. 

Birth of Aphrodite

                                  After cutting off his father's genitals, Cronus throw them into the sea behind his back( according to some versions in Cape Drepanum in Achaea). From the drops of blood that fell on Earth were born the Furies, the Gaints and the ash-tree Nymphs called Meliai. His severed genitals on the sea, producing a white foam from which sprang Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Cronus and Rhea....

                         Having dethroned their father, the Titans brought up their brethren from Tartarus, and gave the rule to Cronus, who wedded his sister Rhea. However, once in power, Cronus turned into the terrible king his father Uranus had been, re-imprisoning his siblings the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes  in Tartarus and swallowing each of his children whole as they were born from his sister-wife Rhea ( fearing to be overthrown by his offsprings). Rhea, however, managed to hide her youngest child Zeus, by tricking Cronus into swallowing a rock wrapped in a blanket instead.

Cronus vomiting

Rhea brought Zeus to a cave in Crete, where he was raised by Amalthea. Upon reaching adulthood, he masqueraded as Cronus' cupbearer. Once Zeus had been established as a servant of Cronus, Metis gave him a mixture of mustard and wine which would cause Cronus to vomit up his swallowed children. After freeing his siblings, Zeus led them in rebellion against the Titans. Began of TITANS WAR....................

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