Translated by Catherine Proppe, December 7, 2015
13. Κρόνου, θυμίαμα στύρακα.
To Kronos[1]
Divine connection: styrax
Ἀιθαλής, μακάρων τε θεῶν πάτερ ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν,
Ever-flourishing blessed father of divinities and humans
ποικιλόβουλ', ἀμίαντε, μεγασθενές, ἄλκιμε Τιτάν·
Complex counselor, flawless, mighty, strong, courageous Titan[2]
ὃς δαπανᾶις μὲν ἅπαντα καὶ αὔξεις ἔμπαλιν αὐτός·
Devouring power supreme and regenerating again as one
δεσμοὺς ἀρρήκτους ὃς ἔχεις κατ' ἀπείρονα κόσμον·,
Bond unbreakable, holding firm the pure impervious cosmos
αἰῶνος Κρόνε παγγενέτωρ, Κρόνε ποικιλόμυθε·
Eternal Kronos, parent of all, Kronos, of varied and complex legend.
Γαίης τε βλάστημα καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος,
Gaia’s[3] sprout and Ouranos’[4] star
γέννα, φυή, μείωσι, Ῥέας πόσι, σεμνὲ Προμηθεῦ,
Generate, thrive[5], wane, Rhea’s[6] revered husband, when forethought[7]
ὃς ναίεις κατὰ πάντα μέρη κόσμοιο, γενάρχα,
Prevailed, each and all portions of the cosmos’ generative architect.
ἀγκυλομῆτα, φέριστε· κλύων ἱκετηρίδα φωνὴν,
Come, cup-measurer, history bearer, be open to suppliants’ appeals,
πέμποις εὔολβον βιότου τέλος αἰὲν ἄμεμπτον.
Send pure whole life, complete, eternally above reproach.
[1] Kronos, the God of time, is the Titan son of Ouranos (sky) and Gaia (earth). Kronos ruled over a Golden Age of health and prosperity.
Kronos’ beneficent rule is described by Diodorus of Sicily and Hesiod:
“Cronus . . . became king and caused all men [and women] who were his subjects to change from a rude way of living to civilized life . . .
“. . . he introduced justice and sincerity of soul, and this is why the tradition has come down to later generations that the men [and women] of Cronus’ time were good-hearted, altogether guileless, and blest with felicity . . .
“And because of the exceptional obedience to laws no injustice was committed by any one at any time and all the subjects of the rule of Cronus lived a life of blessedness, in the unhindered enjoyment of every pleasure. To this the poet Hesiod also bears witness in the following words:
“‘And they who were of Cronus’ day, what time
He reigned in heav’n, lived like the [Goddesses and G]ods, no care
In heart, remote and free from ills and toils
Severe, from grievous sicknesses and cares;
Old age lay not upon their limbs, but they,
Equal in strength of leg and arm, enjoyed
Endless delight of feasting far from ills,
And when death came, they sank in it as in
A sleep. And many other things were theirs;
Grain-giving earth, unploughed, bore for them
fruit
Abundantly and without stint; and glad
Of heart they dwelt upon their tilth throughout
The earth, in midst of blessings manifold,
Rich in their flocks, loved by the blessed [Goddesses and G]ods.’”
(Diodorus of Sicily, The Library of History 5.66.4-6, trans. Oldfather)
Kronos tried to secure his rule by castrating his father and then swallowing his own children, the immortal Olympians. Rhea, the immortal Goddess of flow and the mother of the Olympians, tricked Kronos by swaddling a rock and telling Kronos it was his son, Zeus. When Kronos swallowed the rock it caused him to vomit up all the children he had swallowed. (Some accounts say that Kronos’ children were disgorged after Zeus was fully grown.)
Nonnos describes a scene engraved on a shield of Dionysos which depicts how Kronos was tricked by Rhea:
"Cybele [Rhea] also was depicted [on the shield of Dionysos], newly delivered; she seemed to hold in her arms pressed to her bosom a mock-child she had not borne, all worked by the artist’s hands; aye, cunning Rheia offered to her callous consort [Kronos] a babe of stone, a spiky heavy dinner. There was the father swallowing the stony son, the thing shaped like humanity, in his voracious maw, and making his meal of another pretended Zeus. There he was again in heavy labour, with the stone inside him, bringing up all those children squeezed together and disgorging the burden from his pregnant throat.”
(Nonnos, Dionysiaca 25. 553-562, trans. Rouse)
[2] The Titans reside in Tartaros, the deepest realm beneath the earth, in contrast to the Olympians who reside on Mount Olympos, the highest known place on earth. Titaino (τῐταίνω) means stretch, extend. The Titans are the offspring of Earth (Gaia) and Sky (Ouranos). Olympians are the offspring of Titans Kronos (Time) and Rhea (Flow).
[3] Gaia is the immortal Goddess of generative earth and mother of Kronos.
[4] Ouranos is the immortal God of the heavens and father of Kronos.
[5] Phusis is the immortal Goddess of nature/physics.
[6] Rhea is the immortal Mother of the Goddesses and Gods, the Goddess of “flow.”
[7] Promeetheu (Προμηθεῦ) means fore (Προ) + knowledge (μηθεῦ), forethought, caution, shrewdness, foresight.
13. Κρόνου, θυμίαμα στύρακα.
To Kronos[1]
Divine connection: styrax
Ἀιθαλής, μακάρων τε θεῶν πάτερ ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν,
Ever-flourishing blessed father of divinities and humans
ποικιλόβουλ', ἀμίαντε, μεγασθενές, ἄλκιμε Τιτάν·
Complex counselor, flawless, mighty, strong, courageous Titan[2]
ὃς δαπανᾶις μὲν ἅπαντα καὶ αὔξεις ἔμπαλιν αὐτός·
Devouring power supreme and regenerating again as one
δεσμοὺς ἀρρήκτους ὃς ἔχεις κατ' ἀπείρονα κόσμον·,
Bond unbreakable, holding firm the pure impervious cosmos
αἰῶνος Κρόνε παγγενέτωρ, Κρόνε ποικιλόμυθε·
Eternal Kronos, parent of all, Kronos, of varied and complex legend.
Γαίης τε βλάστημα καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος,
Gaia’s[3] sprout and Ouranos’[4] star
γέννα, φυή, μείωσι, Ῥέας πόσι, σεμνὲ Προμηθεῦ,
Generate, thrive[5], wane, Rhea’s[6] revered husband, when forethought[7]
ὃς ναίεις κατὰ πάντα μέρη κόσμοιο, γενάρχα,
Prevailed, each and all portions of the cosmos’ generative architect.
ἀγκυλομῆτα, φέριστε· κλύων ἱκετηρίδα φωνὴν,
Come, cup-measurer, history bearer, be open to suppliants’ appeals,
πέμποις εὔολβον βιότου τέλος αἰὲν ἄμεμπτον.
Send pure whole life, complete, eternally above reproach.
[1] Kronos, the God of time, is the Titan son of Ouranos (sky) and Gaia (earth). Kronos ruled over a Golden Age of health and prosperity.
Kronos’ beneficent rule is described by Diodorus of Sicily and Hesiod:
“Cronus . . . became king and caused all men [and women] who were his subjects to change from a rude way of living to civilized life . . .
“. . . he introduced justice and sincerity of soul, and this is why the tradition has come down to later generations that the men [and women] of Cronus’ time were good-hearted, altogether guileless, and blest with felicity . . .
“And because of the exceptional obedience to laws no injustice was committed by any one at any time and all the subjects of the rule of Cronus lived a life of blessedness, in the unhindered enjoyment of every pleasure. To this the poet Hesiod also bears witness in the following words:
“‘And they who were of Cronus’ day, what time
He reigned in heav’n, lived like the [Goddesses and G]ods, no care
In heart, remote and free from ills and toils
Severe, from grievous sicknesses and cares;
Old age lay not upon their limbs, but they,
Equal in strength of leg and arm, enjoyed
Endless delight of feasting far from ills,
And when death came, they sank in it as in
A sleep. And many other things were theirs;
Grain-giving earth, unploughed, bore for them
fruit
Abundantly and without stint; and glad
Of heart they dwelt upon their tilth throughout
The earth, in midst of blessings manifold,
Rich in their flocks, loved by the blessed [Goddesses and G]ods.’”
(Diodorus of Sicily, The Library of History 5.66.4-6, trans. Oldfather)
Kronos tried to secure his rule by castrating his father and then swallowing his own children, the immortal Olympians. Rhea, the immortal Goddess of flow and the mother of the Olympians, tricked Kronos by swaddling a rock and telling Kronos it was his son, Zeus. When Kronos swallowed the rock it caused him to vomit up all the children he had swallowed. (Some accounts say that Kronos’ children were disgorged after Zeus was fully grown.)
Nonnos describes a scene engraved on a shield of Dionysos which depicts how Kronos was tricked by Rhea:
"Cybele [Rhea] also was depicted [on the shield of Dionysos], newly delivered; she seemed to hold in her arms pressed to her bosom a mock-child she had not borne, all worked by the artist’s hands; aye, cunning Rheia offered to her callous consort [Kronos] a babe of stone, a spiky heavy dinner. There was the father swallowing the stony son, the thing shaped like humanity, in his voracious maw, and making his meal of another pretended Zeus. There he was again in heavy labour, with the stone inside him, bringing up all those children squeezed together and disgorging the burden from his pregnant throat.”
(Nonnos, Dionysiaca 25. 553-562, trans. Rouse)
[2] The Titans reside in Tartaros, the deepest realm beneath the earth, in contrast to the Olympians who reside on Mount Olympos, the highest known place on earth. Titaino (τῐταίνω) means stretch, extend. The Titans are the offspring of Earth (Gaia) and Sky (Ouranos). Olympians are the offspring of Titans Kronos (Time) and Rhea (Flow).
[3] Gaia is the immortal Goddess of generative earth and mother of Kronos.
[4] Ouranos is the immortal God of the heavens and father of Kronos.
[5] Phusis is the immortal Goddess of nature/physics.
[6] Rhea is the immortal Mother of the Goddesses and Gods, the Goddess of “flow.”
[7] Promeetheu (Προμηθεῦ) means fore (Προ) + knowledge (μηθεῦ), forethought, caution, shrewdness, foresight.
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