Uranus

Not to be confused with Uranus, the Greek god of the sky.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is the only planet whose name comes from a Greek god rather than a Roman one: Ouranos (Latin Uranus), the ancient deity of the sky and the first ruler of the universe in Hesiod’s Theogony. Like the other giant planets, Uranus has a ring system, a magnetosphere and numerous moons.

The Planet and Its Name

Uranus was discovered in 1781 by the astronomer William Herschel, the first planet found with a telescope; it was unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who knew only five planets besides the Sun and Moon. The German astronomer Johann Elert Bode proposed the name, in line with the other planets, which carry the names of gods: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are Roman names, and Neptune was added later. In Greek myth, Uranus was the father of Cronus, whom the Romans identified with Saturn.

Uranus the God

In Greek the god is Ouranos, “Sky”. According to Hesiod, Gaia (Earth) first bore Ouranos, starry and equal to herself, so that he might cover her on every side and be a safe home for the blessed gods for ever (Theogony 126–128). Uranus is therefore both the son and the husband of Gaia. The Latin equivalent is Caelus.

Children of Uranus and Gaia

From the union of Gaia and Uranus came the twelve Titans, Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys and, youngest, Cronus (Hesiod, Theogony 133–138). They were followed by the Cyclopes and the three Hundred-Handers (Theogony 139–153). Uranus hated his children and hid each of them away in the earth as soon as it was born, so that none came up to the light; Gaia groaned within and made a great sickle of grey adamant (Theogony 154–162).

The Castration of Uranus

Gaia asked her sons to punish their father. Only Cronus, the youngest, agreed; she hid him in ambush and put the sickle in his hands. When Uranus came to lie with Gaia at nightfall, Cronus reached out with his left hand, took the great sickle in his right, cut off his father’s genitals and threw them behind him (Theogony 163–182). The drops of blood that fell on the earth gave birth to the Erinyes, the great Giants in shining armour and the Meliai nymphs (Theogony 183–187). The genitals fell into the sea, and from the white foam that gathered around them grew the goddess Aphrodite, who came to Cythera and then to Cyprus (Theogony 188–200). Hesiod adds that Uranus gave his sons the name Titans, saying that they had strained to do a great wrong and that vengeance would follow (Theogony 207–210). Cronus then ruled in his place, until his own son Zeus overthrew him (Theogony 453–506).

Uranus Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 126–210 and 453–506. The facts about the planet are modern: the discovery by William Herschel in 1781 and the naming by Johann Bode.

See Also: Gaia, Cronus, Saturn, Neptune, Aphrodite, Titans, Cyclopes