So Ouranos was castrated by Kronos and Titans.
When that happened, why didn't the sky just collapse?
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Sign up to join this communitySo Ouranos was castrated by Kronos and Titans.
When that happened, why didn't the sky just collapse?
The castration is taken as a metaphor for the transfer of power from the old generation to the new. It is not a voluntary relinquishing of power.
Ouranous actually is the sky, in the same way that Gaia is the literal earth. His name means "sky". You can look for a parallel with the Norse Ymir, where they use his body parts to create the universe.
Castration is generally viewed as a curtailing of power, thus the act is symbolic of transfer of power to the next generation.
Note: Kronos is popularly believed to mean "time", which is interesting because time is, in some sense, a function of distance, which requires matter and space. (i.e. He is the son of the sky and the earth, void and matter.)
However, there is also an argument that Kronos derives from the Indo-European root for "cut".
Regardless of the "true" origin, which must always be obscure, name meanings are very important in Greek Mythology.
On a different metaphoric level, the myth also signifies that creation/procreation specifically between Gaia and Ouranos was terminated. Thus there would be no further macro-elements to the universe. Heaven's 'dynamism' thereby curtailed, other micro-elements (like wind, stars, sun, moon, aether, etc.) were free to develop without the direct/paternal/procreative influence of Ouranos. Ouranos was, in a sense, creatively marginalized.
I believe that when Kronos 'castarated' Ouranos, he destroyed his human-like appearance so that he could no longer appear on Earth to assert himself as a king. Kronos just exiled him into the air. He's not dead, per se, he would now be just a dome over the earth.