Galaxy/The codex of Crius

In Greek mythology, Crius (also Krios or Kreios) is one of the Titans, son of Uranus and Gaia. Joined with the sea-goddess Eurybia, he fathers Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses — a branch that leads to the stars and winds, to Victory and Force, and to Hecate. Among the Titans he is one of the least individualized. This entry is the Titan — not the zodiacal ram Aries as a separate figure.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Crius" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Family

Hesiod numbers Crius among the sons Gaia bore to Uranus, listing him between Coeus and Hyperion. With Eurybia, daughter of Pontus (and Gaia), he fathers three sons: Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses — "eminent in wisdom" in Hesiod's phrase.

Astraeus by Eos becomes father of the winds and the stars; Perses by Asteria fathers Hecate; Pallas by Styx fathers Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia. Crius thus matters less as an actor than as the genealogical hinge of those lines. Apollodorus preserves the same stemma.

II.Mythology

Like several Titans, Crius has no episode of his own beyond the collective Titanomachy. He is counted among the Titans who war against the Olympians for ten years and, after defeat, are banished to Tartarus.

Modern scholars note how little individuality he carries. Friedrich Solmsen remarked on "abysmal ignorance" concerning Koios and Kreios; M. L. West suggested Crius may have been among Hesiodic interpolations whose chief interest was as father of Perses and grandfather of Hecate.

III.Scope

Although the Greek word krios means "ram," this notice does not treat Crius as the constellation Aries or as a zodiacal cult figure. It concerns only the Titan ancestor of Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameKreios (Κρεῖος)
Typetitan
Domainsthe Titan generation · ancestry of stars and winds
ParentageUranus · Gaia
SymbolsTitan generation · Ancestry of Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses
EtymologyAncient Greek Kreîos / Kriós (Κρεῖος, Κριός). Traditionally associated with krios, "ram," but Crius's underworld fate after the Titanomachy means classical sources do not ordinarily identify him with the zodiacal Aries. The etymology remains uncertain.
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