In Greek mythology, Uranus (Ouranos; Ancient Greek: Οὐρανός, "sky") is the personification of the sky and a primordial deity. Hesiod makes him son and husband of Gaia; together they father the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatoncheires. Cronus castrates him with Gaia's sickle, ending his reign; from his blood and severed genitals arise the Erinyes, Giants, Meliae, and Aphrodite. No classical cult of Uranus survived. His Latin name is Caelus. This entry is the mythic Sky — not the modern planet alone.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Uranus (mythology)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Genealogy
In Hesiod, after Chaos, Gaia brings forth Uranus equal to herself to cover her on every side, along with the Mountains and Pontus. Uranus and Gaia then produce the twelve Titans (Oceanus through Cronus), the Cyclopes, and the Hecatoncheires. Other traditions differ: the lost Titanomachy apparently made him son of Aether; Orphic texts make Uranus and Gaia children of Nyx and Phanes; Apollodorus begins with Uranus as first ruler of the world without naming parents; Roman authors sometimes give Caelus as offspring of Aether and Dies.
Homeric lines that call Oceanus "genesis of the gods" and Tethys "mother" may reflect an alternate theogony. Plato's Timaeus mediates by making Uranus and Gaia parents of Oceanus and Tethys, who in turn parent Cronus, Rhea, and the other Titans.
II.Castration and aftermath
Hating his children, Uranus hid the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires inside Gaia. She fashioned an adamantine sickle and urged revenge; only Cronus struck. He ambushed his father as Uranus came to lie with Gaia, castrated him, and cast the genitals into the sea. Uranus named his sons Titans ("Strainers") and prophesied later vengeance. From blood on the earth came the Erinyes, Giants, and Meliae; from the sea-foam, Aphrodite. Sites linked to the sickle include Zancle and Drepanum in Sicily, Corcyra, and a cape Drepanum in Achaea.
Afterward Uranus recedes: with Gaia he warns Cronus of overthrow by a son, advises Rhea to bear Zeus in Crete, and later advises Zeus to swallow Metis. He is scarcely anthropomorphic beyond the castration myth — simply the sky as a bronze dome. He appears, bearded and winged, fighting Giants on the Pergamon Altar.
III.Cult, sky, and later names
No cult addressed directly to Uranus survived into classical times, and he is rare in vase painting. Homeric epic may join elemental Earth, Sky, and Styx in solemn oath. Formulaic ouranos sometimes rivals Olympus as the gods' home, though Olympus remains the usual seat.
The planet Uranus, discovered in 1781, took the Greek name (not Roman Caelus) by nineteenth-century convention, completing the genealogical sequence Saturn ← Jupiter ← Mars. This notice treats the primordial sky-god, not astronomy alone.