Chronos, God of Time

There are a lot of interesting stories and characters in biblical, Roman, Greek, Native American, etc etc mythology and I thought it would be fun to do some HUBS on some of these mythological figures and events. Of course, when I say "mythology" I'm not necessarily implying that they are false, only that they should be categorized under the heading of "myth". I hope that you will find them interesting and if you have any specific myths of mythological figures that you would like to see HUBS on, please let me know!

Chronos is the personification of Time. His name is often spelled Chronus or Khronus. He is sometimes called Aeon or Time. For obvious reasons, he is often confused with Cronus, the Titan god and father of Zeus, who ate his children so they would not dethrone him.

Even though he is serpentine in form and has three heads (those of a bull, a man, and a lion), he is usually portrayed as a wise old man with a long grey beard and is sometimes referred to as "Father Time". He is also depicted with wings as in "Time Flies".

Father of Horae (regarded as "hours"), of Aether ("Upper sky"), and of Eros (Yes. The God of erotic love. We should all give thanks!)

He is the representation of Past, Present, Future and Eternity. There are no real specific myths associated with him, but he is said to have been the first to exist, created as part of the Big Bang. Except for the effects of his actions, Chronos is not a physical presence in the world. Effects are always perceived as "Present", but causes can be seen as either "Past", "Present" of "Future". Without these concepts, there would be no before and after; no cause and effect., There would be no perception of time as all things would be perceived simultaneously. This, of course, would be terrifically confusing. Since he is the concept of time, if he were to lengthen or shorten the days, we would not notice as we would have no way to check time and, thus, have no means of comparison. If he decided to move in reverse, the whole physical world would be altered, since causes and effects are dependent on his direction. Thus, death would come before birth, and old age before youth (i.e., Benjamin Button). In short, there would be no life without Chronos.

Some of the current English words with an etymological root of khronos/chronos include chronology, chronometer, chronic, anachronism and chronicle. He could be compared to the Hebrew God Yahweh, who is also said to hold the whole universe, including the concept of time, in his grip and, if he so desired, could usher the world out of existence and/or into total chaos. Unlike Chronos, however, Yahweh is said to be out of the realm of physical time.

all rights reserved. Copyright Justin W. Price August 2011