Cronus Crowned as Ruler
With the defeat of Uranus, the Titans, Titanesses, Cyclopes, and Hecaton-cheires were all freed. Cronus took his place as ruler of the universe and married his sister Rhea. Unfortunately, despite the injustice he'd suffered from Uranus, Cronus also fell victim to a lust for power.
Interestingly enough, several of the other Titans and Titanesses paired off in marriage. Themis married Iapetus, Phoebe married Coeus, Theia married Hyperion, Tethys married Oceanus, and of course, Rhea married Cronus.
No sooner had the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclopes been freed than they were once again imprisoned in Tartarus by Cronus. He feared these giants as his father had. However, he allowed his brothers and sisters, the Titans and Titanesses, to keep their freedom.
Like Father, Like Son
Cronus was every bit as power-hungry as his father had been. As a result, he was not a very good ruler and a terrible father. Cronus had heard a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him. So he devised a scheme to prevent his own children from ever challenging him.
Cronus remembered that his mother had planned and initiated the over-throw of Uranus. But he also realized that Gaia probably wouldn't have called for this revenge if she had not been so burdened by the children in her womb. So Cronus decided to remove the threat of his children himself.
Every year for five years, Rhea gave birth to a child. As soon as the child left her womb, it went straight into the mouth of Cronus. Instead of trying to hold the children inside their mother's body, Cronus literally took them into his own, by swallowing them whole.
Rhea was overcome with grief and rage. She couldn't stand to have her children taken away from her so soon after their birth. Cronus had underestimated a mother's love for her children and her natural instinct to protect them. Rhea's maternal feelings became the driving force behind her own scheme of revenge.
When Rhea conceived her sixth child, she asked her mother for help. Gaia sent her to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Zeus. Rhea returned to Cronus after the child was born but left Zeus behind. She tricked her husband by wrapping a large stone in swaddling cloths and telling Cronus it was Zeus. Cronus swallowed the stone, believing it was his sixth child. Meanwhile, the real Zeus remained unharmed.
