In Greek mythology, which Titan was the father of Zeus?

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In Greek mythology, Cronus was the Titan father of Zeus.

Cronus was the youngest of the twelve original Titans, born to Uranus, the sky, and Gaia, the earth. He overthrew Uranus and became ruler of the cosmos. A prophecy warned Cronus that one of his own children would overthrow him, so he swallowed each child as soon as it was born.

Rhea, Cronus’s wife and the mother of the Olympian gods, saved Zeus by hiding him in Crete. She gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead. Zeus later forced Cronus to disgorge his swallowed siblings: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.

Zeus and his siblings then fought the Titans in the Titanomachy. After the Olympians won, Cronus was imprisoned in Tartarus in many versions. Cronus is often confused with Chronos, a personification of time from later tradition; the names became associated, but they are not originally the same figure.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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