Kratos

Kratos (also spelled Cratus or Cratos) was the personification of strength and power in Greek mythology. His name is the Greek word kratos, “strength” or “power”. In Hesiod he is a son of the Titan Pallas and the Oceanid Styx and a brother of Zelus, Nike and Bia, and in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound he appears as a character, the servant of Zeus who helps to chain Prometheus to a rock.

Parents and Siblings of Kratos

Hesiod says that Styx, the eldest of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, lay with Pallas, son of Crius and Eurybia, and bore Zelus (Zeal), fair-ankled Nike (Victory), and Kratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), “glorious children” (Hesiod, Theogony 361, 375–376, 383–385, 776–777). Kratos is therefore a grandson of the Titans Crius and Oceanus, but Hesiod does not number him or his siblings among the twelve Titans born of Uranus and Gaia (Theogony 132–138). No ancient source names children or a consort of Kratos.

His brother and both of his sisters were personifications of similar powers: Zelus of zeal and emulation, Nike of victory, and Bia of might and force.

Kratos and Zeus

Hesiod says that Kratos and his siblings have no house or seat apart from Zeus, and no road where the god does not lead them, but always sit beside Zeus the loud thunderer (Theogony 386–388). The reason, according to Hesiod, is Styx’ choice in the war against the Titans. When Zeus called all the gods to Olympus and promised that whoever fought with him against the Titans would keep their privileges, and that those without honour under Cronus would receive honour and rights, Styx was the first to come to Olympus with her children, through the counsel of her father (Theogony 389–398). Zeus honoured her with great gifts. He made her the great oath of the gods, and decreed that her children should live with him all their days (Theogony 399–403). In this way Kratos and his siblings became the permanent companions of Zeus, and not gods who live in a place of their own.

Kratos in Prometheus Bound

Kratos has a speaking part at the beginning of Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. He arrives with his sister Bia and Hephaestus at a remote crag in Scythia, and tells Hephaestus to carry out the orders that Zeus, Hephaestus’ father, has given him: to fasten Prometheus to the high rocks with unbreakable bonds, as punishment for stealing the fire of Hephaestus’ craft and giving it to mortals (Prometheus Bound 1–11). Bia, addressed with Kratos, says nothing. Hephaestus is reluctant to bind a god who is his kinsman, but Kratos rebukes him for pitying Prometheus, reminds him that no one is free except Zeus (Prometheus Bound 50), and urges him on while he works with the hammer and the wedges (Prometheus Bound 12–87). When the work is done Kratos mocks the prisoner, saying that the gods call him Prometheus (“Forethought”) falsely, because he needs forethought himself to find a way out of the craft that binds him (Prometheus Bound 82–87).

Sources

For Kratos and his family, see Hesiod, Theogony 361–403, with the Titans listed at 132–138 and Styx as eldest daughter of Oceanus at 776–777. Kratos appears as a character in Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1–87.

See Also: Bia, Zelus, Nike, Prometheus, Styx, Pallas, Hephaestus, Zeus