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Brenda Pendarvis
Chronus vs. Atum
For some time now I have been fascinated by the study of Ancient Mythology. This
began with the ancient Greek culture and the magnificent stories that had been constructed by
leaders to explain the enormous power of the gods. I have come to learn that every myth has a
beginning origin in the Greek culture and that these myths are not only stories, but the Greek
way of life. It has been intriguing to see the same pattern emerge in the Ancient Egyptian culture.
The stories of their gods link to the power of their pharaohs. I have connected the origins of the
two father gods of the most prominent ancient cultures, Cronus and Atum-Re. In comparing the
origin of both these gods and identifying the similarity in both myths we gain an understanding
of their specific cultures and why each civilization rose to become powerful societies.
During fall semester of 2011 I completed a study abroad program in Rhodes, Greece.
That program was taught by professors with very strong cultural pride. Each class had a Greek
perspective, and a very strong one at that. My favorite class was Ancient Mythology. The course
was taught by respected Greek anthropologist and historian Dr. Syropoulous. Ancient Mythology
covered the major myths and their origins in ancient society. As background for the entire
semester, Dr. Syropoulus went over the three different types of myths and their importance to
ancient society.
The three main categories of myths are; cosmic myths, myths of gods, and hero myths.
The Greek god Cronus, the original father figure god, falls into two of these categories. He is
connected to cosmic myths, which are myths about the creation of the earth and the gods. He is
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also part of the myths of the gods, which are myths that explain the origins and powers of each of
the gods. The stories of Cronus are very ancient, and they all connect back to the creation myths
that the ancient culture relies on to define who they are as a society. The reason I say this is
because the gods were much more than just worship figures to the Greek society. Gods were in
every aspect of everyday life and the home of each individual. There is a god of water, sun, air,
life, death, love, growth, hearth, leaves, and even the stones have their own gods. As you can see,
the list goes on and on. In myths, we see that gods were everything; people’s jobs, homes, love
lives, & crops. The gods controlled every aspect of hope and life in their world.
It is believed by most that Cronus had a father, Ouranos, who is believed to be the primal
god. He is the first male god, who was born from Gaea. Gaea the goddess of earth is the creator
alone. She is responsible for creating three gods on her own, Ouranos, Pontus and Ourea.
Together, Ouranos and Gaea created 12 gods and the 12 original titans. Out of these titans
Cronus is the god who, with Rhea, created 6 children gods and this made them the most famous
of the original ancient parent gods. Cronus had the most famous children gods with Rhea. They
were known as Zeus, Hera, Hestia, Hades, Demeter and Poseidon.
For the everyday Greek it was crucial to have a god to pray to, and a city dedicated to
what god would provide them what was most needed. Now it was tricky at first for these 6
children gods because the “fates” had prophesied that one of the sons would dominate Cronus
and usurp his power over the world. Believing this to be unacceptable, he swallowed his children
one by one. The three fates, (Maloirae) told many prophesies in three parts. Klotho, who spins
the thread of life, Lachesis who choses and measures your thread of life, and Atropos who cuts
the thread of life. Together they were the “political consciousness” behind all the clandestine
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business between the gods. They played games, and manipulated their words to conjure the most
mischief out of their visions (theoi.com, 2010). They told Uranus and Gaea that Cronus would be
taken over by one of his children, and they warned him. With that knowledge in had Cronus
swallowed each of his children (but later spat them out) with the exception of the youngest, Zeus.
This was because Rhea hid Zeus in Gaea’s caves where he was nursed by a goat until his time to
conquer.
Cronus was the father of the most powerful and famous of the gods, of the Titans and the
monsters of mythology like the Cyclopes, the Hecatonchires and giants too. I focus on Cronus
because unlike his father Uranus, Cronus was extremely powerful and controlling. Until the time
of Zeus, it can be argued that Cronus and Atum-Re, of the Egyptian world, are one in the same.
At this point I note that they are very different, and in fact I would argue that Zeus and Cronus
combined are a better match for Atum-Re. What is complicated with my research is that the
Egyptians only had Atum as the head of the gods, where the Greeks have a few over the course
of ancient times.
The journal of the American research center in Egypt gave great background of ancient
Egypt and information about Atum-Re. “The very name of the creator god Atum signifies
something like "’he who is complete’, 13 that is, the one who contains within himself the
fullness of all things. The sacredness of the life giving creative force was symbolized in the
figures of Min of Coptos and Ptah of Memphis.” This quote really helped me understand his
significance to the times. He was everything, and he controlled everything. Where the Greeks
have three different gods, the Egyptians have only one.
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“Egyptians worshipped at least four different sun gods: Khepri, god of the morning sun;
Re, god of the noonday sun; Atum, god of the setting sun; and Aten, the solar disk. All of these
gods were recognized at some point or other as self-created creator deities.” (The journal of the
American research center in Egypt, 1988) This is the evidence that led me to really comprehend
the similarities in the system of gods for these two cultures. The Egyptians, like the Greeks, had
a few gods for similar real life things. For example, Aphrodite may be the goddess of things that
surround love but Aires is the god of love and Hera is the goddess of women and marriage. It
was an intricate system but the main point remains that myths and gods were a way of life that
was crucial for both of these cultures.
Dr. Syropoulos has great pride in what he teaches. He paints a clear picture of everyday
life for a citizen of this culture. The “polis” or city states were self-sufficient and independent
and they had no capital, but rather a palatial society. In Athens they had this polis and then
Sparta they developed into stronger and stronger cities. “Kingship is the most ancient kind of
leadership” Dr. Syropoulos explained, the power triangle is one of the most simple and ancient
forms of leadership. The aristocracy was the next rung on the ladder, aristos=best and
kratos=strength in Greek. These people were the best of the best because “once upon a time they
were related to a demi-god or a god.” He went on to explain, just like I have seen in our studies
of the Egyptian culture, if you had enough people saying you were connected to the gods then
you were set for success and power.
We see the same pattern of power in the Egyptian culture. They actually had both a
capital and a kingship. The pharaoh and priests were in charge of not only leading the cities, but
also had to know how to do the right things to worship the gods correctly in order to get what
they needed as a society. This rule was the same for the Greeks each “city state” is controlled by
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a different patron god who was worshiped differently depending on who it was. In fact, there are
myths that actually have certain gods bribing the people for the pride and right to be the patron of
their city. In particular Poseidon and Athena fought for the city of Athens, as you can tell by its
name Athena won that battle (S. Syropoulos, 2011). She offered the people an olive tree where
Poseidon offered a strong sea fleet. This myth illustrates that the people, in a strange sense,
control the gods. With the Egyptian pharaohs, specifically Amenhotep IV, we see he and
Nefertiti strove to bring the god Aten to power over the god I have been focusing on, Atum.
In this circumstance you see how the people relied on their tradition, and when that
tradition is interrupted, events go badly for the one perpetuating the interruption. The people
Amenhotep IV reigned over were severely unhappy with his sovereignty because of that very
reason (Ramsier, 2012). He gave many resources, and even moved the capital to a new city just
to show how better Aten was as their patron head god. With his death they celebrated and the
next sequence of pharaohs made it a widely known fact that they would go back to Atum and
forget all the Aten nonsense that the previous pharaoh had pushed on them.
Cronus had to deal with some pushing around as well. With Zeus castrating him and
taking his power away, the Greeks now had a new lead father god to worship. I have found that
many of Cronus’ characteristics can be seen in his son Zeus, perhaps, because the people needed
a figure like him in their society. They needed to do some give and take with the aspects of each
god to keep that need filled in society. They still needed a god to be in charge, to birth more gods
that would exist in their everyday lives, and to be the one with the most power. Atum is the same
for the Egyptians, there may be gods with similar characteristics and powers but really Atum is
the name you would cry out when it all came down to it.
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In imagery we see that Cronus is depicted with one arm up and one holding a sickle (the
tool used to castrate him). Atum is seen wearing his royal head cloth with the dual crown and
holding a scepter and often the symbol, ankh, which is for eternal life (British Encyclopedia,
2012). These symbols and depictions are key and simple triggers for the commoner to know who
they are looking at. A famous Greek example of this is Hercules. He is almost always depicted
wearing the impenetrable skin of the beast he defeated as well as his weapon in hand. These
symbols are for the people, they are all linked to stories and myths that make the gods who they
are for the societies.
These two “father gods” are what makes the two cultures so successful. Having a strong
following and a specific goal and power over the people is really what cements the similarities in
the cultures. For Egypt Atum controlled the sun and therefore controlled whether or not the
world ended. Cronus fathered such powerful Titans and had them at his disposal, he controlled
the same thing. At any given time Cronus could end the world and having that authority made
him the most dominant. These are two of the main ideas that went through the cities and stood
out to the commoner. It is a known fact that the gods were invented to create order in society and
a general collaboration among the people, but it’s no fun to think of them as pretend tools.
Instead I see these gods as the backbone of the cultures they were from, the fathers to them all
and to their way of life. Though the Mediterranean sea divided them it is easy to see that they are
influenced from the same morals and are what gave each society the chance to flourish and be as
successful as they were.
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