Short answer: Cronus (Cronos or Kronos) is the youngest of the Titans, son of Uranus and Gaia, and the father of Zeus. He dethroned his father with a sickle, ruled the cosmos, and swallowed his own newborn children so none could do the same to him. With the sixth, his wife Rhea pulled the switch: a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. The rescued baby was Zeus.
Who Cronus ate, in order
| Order | Swallowed child | What they later became |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Hestia | Goddess of the hearth |
| 2nd | Demeter | Goddess of the harvest |
| 3rd | Hera | Queen of Olympus |
| 4th | Hades | Lord of the underworld |
| 5th | Poseidon | God of the sea |
| 6th | A stone | Zeus grew up hidden in Crete |
Years later Zeus forced him to vomit all five (plus the stone) — they came out in reverse order, "reborn" from their father. That's why Zeus, the youngest, acts as the eldest.
Why he ate them
Because of the same prophecy he himself had fulfilled: a son of yours will overthrow you. Cronus knew it firsthand — he had toppled his father Uranus with a stone sickle, urged on by Gaia. His tragedy is Greek myth distilled: the harder you run from fate, the faster you build it. Every swallowed child gave Rhea one more reason to conspire.
Cronus is not the god of time (that's a different word)
The most repeated mix-up in Greek mythology. Cronus (Kronos), the Titan of this story, and Chronos (Khronos), the abstract personification of time, are different figures with nearly identical names. The Greeks themselves were already conflating them 2,500 years ago — which is where "Father Time" with his scythe comes from: Cronus's sickle fused with all-devouring time. If you were looking for the clock guy: not this one. If you were looking for the one who ate Zeus — also no: Zeus is the one child he didn't eat.
What happened to him afterwards
After ten years of war — the Titanomachy, told in the War of the Titans — Zeus and his siblings won. Cronus ended up locked in Tartarus, though other traditions send him, pardoned, to rule the Isles of the Blessed. The father-dethroned-by-son cycle broke with Zeus — which is why his reign is the one that lasts.
The full story — stone switcheroo included — is the first episode of The Rise of Zeus, and it's exactly the sample episode you can listen to free on this site.
Quick questions
Who is Zeus's father?
Cronus, the youngest Titan. His mother is Rhea, also a Titan — Cronus's sister, as was customary among the first gods.
How many children did Cronus eat?
Five: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, in that order. The sixth, Zeus, was saved because Rhea handed Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Is Cronus the god of time?
No. The Titan Cronus (Kronos) and Chronos, the personification of time, are distinct figures that have been confused since antiquity. The "Father Time" image with the scythe comes from that very mix-up.
The fall of Uranus, Rhea's switch and the war that founded Olympus — told as audio dramas in MythologyNow.
