Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified with, the
Titan,
Cronus, in antiquity, due to the similarity in names.[2] The identification became more widespread during the Renaissance, giving rise to the iconography of
Father Time wielding the harvesting scythe.[3]
Greco-Roman mosaics depicted Chronos as a man turning the
zodiac wheel.[4] He is comparable to the
deity Aion as a symbol of cyclical time.[5] He is usually portrayed as an old callous man with a thick grey beard, personifying the destructive and stifling aspects of time.[6]
Name
During antiquity, Chronos was occasionally interpreted as
Cronus.[7] According to
Plutarch, the Greeks believed that Cronus was an allegorical name for Chronos.[8]
Mythology
In the
Orphic tradition, the unaging Chronos was "engendered" by "earth and water", and produced
Aether,
Chaos, and an egg.[9] The egg produced the hermaphroditic god
Phanes who gave birth to the first generation of gods and is the ultimate creator of the
cosmos.
Pherecydes of Syros in his lost Heptamychos ("The seven recesses"), around 6th century BC, claimed that there were three eternal principles: Chronos, Zas (
Zeus) and Chthonie (the
chthonic). The semen of Chronos was placed in the recesses of the Earth and produced the first generation of gods.[10]
Kirk, G. S., J. E. Raven, M. Schofield. The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts.
Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (February 24, 1984).
ISBN0521274559.