Crius

In Greek mythology, Crius (/ˈkraɪəs/; Ancient Greek: Κρεῖος[1] or Κριός, Kreios/Krios) was one of the Titans, children of Uranus and Gaia.[2]

Crius
Member of Titans
Abode	Tartarus
Battles	Titanomachy
Personal information
Parents	Uranus and Gaia
Siblings	Titans Cronus Coeus Hyperion Iapetus Oceanus Mnemosyne Phoebe Rhea Tethys Theia Themis Hekatonkheires Briareos Cottus Gyges Cyclopes Arges Brontes Steropes Other siblings Gigantes Erinyes (the Furies) Meliae
Consort	Eurybia
Offspring	Astraios, Pallas, Perses

As the least individualized among the Titans,[3] he was overthrown in the Titanomachy. M. L. West has suggested how Hesiod filled out the complement of Titans from the core group—adding three figures from the archaic tradition of Delphi, Coeus, and Phoibe, whose name Apollo assumed with the oracle, and Themis.[4] Among possible further interpolations among the Titans was Crius, whose interest for Hesiod was as the father of Perses and grandfather of Hecate, for whom Hesiod was, according to West, an "enthusiastic evangelist".

Etymology

Although "krios" was also the ancient Greek word for "ram", the Titan's chthonic position in the underworld means no classical association with Aries, the ram of the zodiac, is ordinarily made. Aries is the first visible constellation in the sky at the spring season, marking the start of the new year in the ancient Greek calendar.

Mythology

Joined to fill out lists of Titans to form a total that made a match with the Twelve Olympians, Crius was inexorably involved in the ten-year-long[5] war between the Olympian gods and Titans, the Titanomachy, though without any specific part to play. When the war was lost, Crius was banished along with the others to the lower level of Hades called Tartarus.

Family

According to Hesiod, with Eurybia, daughter of Gaia ("Earth") and Pontus ("Sea"), he fathered Astraios, Pallas, and Perses. The joining of Astraios with Eos, the Dawn, brought forth Eosphoros, Hesperus, Astraea, the other stars, and the winds.

Genealogical tree

Family of Eurybia and Crius

Pontus Gaia Uranus Eurybia Crius Astraeus Eos Perses Asteria Pallas Styx Boreas Astraea Phainon Hecate Zelus Scylla Notus Phaethon Nike Fontes Eurus Pyroeis Kratos Lacus Zephyrus Eosphorus Bia Stilbon

See also

• Greek mythology in popular culture
• Greek primordial deities

Notes

1. Etymology uncertain: traditionally considered a variation of κρῑός "ram"; the word κρεῖος was also extant in Ancient Greek but only in the sense of "type of mussel" Archived 2012-02-19 at the Wayback Machine.
2. Hesiod. Theogony, 133; Apollodorus, 1.1.3.
3. "About the other siblings of Kronos no close inquiry is called for," observes Friedrich Solmsen, in discussing "The Two Near Eastern Sources of Hesiod", Hermes 117.4 (1989:413–422) p. 419. "They prove useful for Hesiod to head his pedigrees of the gods", adding in a note "On Koios and Kreios we have to admit abysmal ignorance."
4. M.L. West, "Hesiod's Titans," The Journal of Hellenic Studies 105 (1985), pp. 174–175.
5. About.com's Ancient/Classical History section & Hesiod, Theogony, 617-643: "So they, with bitter wrath, were fighting continually with one another at that time for ten full years, and the hard strife had no close or end for either side..."

References

• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.