Cratos
Divine personification of strength and power, son of Pallas and Styx, who with his sister Bia oversees the chaining of Prometheus on behalf of Zeus.
The Myth of Cratos
Cratos and his siblings joined Zeus at the outset of the Titanomachy, brought to Olympus by their mother Styx as the first to answer Zeus' call for allies. In return, they remained as permanent attendants of Zeus — living embodiments of his power. Cratos speaks at length in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound: he commands Hephaestus to chain Prometheus, arguing the will of Zeus is absolute and that pity has no place in the execution of divine justice. He is harsh, methodical, and unsparing — the voice of power without mercy. His name passed into Greek as a root meaning rule or strength, and survives in English in words like democracy and aristocracy. He appears nowhere else in surviving Greek drama with such a substantial speaking role.
Parents
Pallas,Styx
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Greek root kratos, meaning strength or rule, survives in English in over a dozen words — including democracy, bureaucracy, and autocracy — all ultimately tracing back to this divine personification.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Bia
🐉 creatureforce,divine personification
Divine personification of raw force and violent compulsion, twin of Cratos, offspring of the Titan Pallas and the Oceanid Styx.
Zelus
🐉 creaturedivine personification,rivalry
The divine personification of zeal, rivalry, and jealous dedication — one of the four children of Pallas and Styx who joined Zeus at the start of the Titanomachy and remained as his permanent attendants.
Kratos
🏔 titanstrength, might, power
The personification of strength and ruling power, son of Pallas and Styx, divine executor of Zeus's commands.
Arae
🐉 creatureCurses, vengeance
Spirits of curses who personified the destructive power of spoken imprecations and oaths
Cratus
daimonstrength, power, might
Personification of strength and raw power, one of the enforcers of Zeus's will, son of Styx and Pallas.
Zeus
⚡ godKing of gods and men
The supreme Olympian who rules gods and mortals from Mount Olympus, wielding the thunderbolt as weapon and symbol of cosmic authority.
Makhai
🐉 creaturepersonifications
Daimones of battle and combat, born from Eris, who haunted every battlefield in the Greek world
Hades
⚡ godKing of the dead
The ruler of the Underworld who received the dead, guarded by Cerberus and feared so deeply that Greeks avoided speaking his name.
Ctesios
🗡 heroWealth, possession
Minor warrior or figure associated with the Trojan War whose name means man of possessions
Centimani
🐉 creaturecosmic warfare, imprisonment
The Hundred-Handed Ones — Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges — titanic beings of overwhelming force who helped Zeus win the war against the Titans.
Alecto
⚡ godUnderworld
One of the three Erinyes whose name means "Unceasing" and who embodies relentless anger
Xanthus
🐉 creatureSpeed, prophecy
Immortal horse of Achilles gifted with speech who prophesied his master's death at Troy