Uranus is a sky deity in Ancient Greek Mythology. He is one of the Primordial Gods, which means he was one of the first Gods born in the universe. He is often referred to as the Father Sky because he is a personification of the sky. He was even known as ruler of the universe for a short time.
His name is derived from the Greek word “Οὐρανός,” (Ouranos) meaning heaven or sky. Another Greek Primordial deity, Gaia, or Gaea is associated with Uranus. She was the personification of the Earth and is often referred to as Mother Earth. In some cases, Gaia is said to have birthed Uranus without a father. Other sources point to Aether, God of light and heavenly air, as being the father of Uranus.
However that may be, the fact remains that Gaia and Uranus were mother and son as well as wife and husband. Together, they became parents of the initial Titans generation, making them ancestors of most Greek deity. The Titans were as follows: Oceanus, Crius, Iapetus, Rhea, Mnemosyne , Tethys, Coeus, Hyperion, Theia, Themis, Phoebe, and Cronus. They also had the Cyclopes: Arges, Brontes and Steropes. Lastly, they were parents of the Hecatoncheires, or one-hundred-handed giants, Briareos, Cottus and Gyges.
The legend tells of Uranus and Gaia mating every night to create so many children. Not only did Gaia give birth to the children of her own son, but the God of the sky became evil and banished the children to the depths of the Earth. In other words, he sent them back to their mother’s womb. This caused a great deal of discomfort the Mother Earth so she devised a plan. She managed to create a sickle for the purpose of relief. She asked her sons to escape and castrate their father. Her sons were fearful and only the youngest accepted the challenge.
Gaia’s plan was to hide the youngest son, Cronus, until she was to lay with Uranus again. He would then come out and castrate Uranus. He successfully freed the descendants of Gaia and Uranus from her womb and made himself ruler of Gods and men. The blood was poured into the Earth and the genitals sunk into the sea. Tthe blood that spilled on Earth from Uranus gave life to the Erinyes, the Giants and the Meliae. The Genitals that fell into the sea gave life to the most loved of all being Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty.
The sickle was later argued to have been found on several occasions such as Sicily, Bolina and Corcyra.
The legend continues with the son Cronus re-enslaving his brothers and sisters, the Hekatonkheires and Cyclopes, back to their mother’s womb. The Mother Earth and Father Sky believed that Cronus would soon be overthrown in his own time by one of his descendants. The prophecy scared the God so much that he resorted to eating his own son, the infamous Zeus. Rhea, the mother of Zeus, helped avoid the whole thing by lying to Cronus.
Since Uranus is now mostly known as the seventh planet in the Solar System, it is time to explain this as well.
The other planets bear names from ancient mythology. The discovery of Uranus as a planet in 1781 was disputed among astronomers. Since Mars meant “Ares” in Greek, Mercury and Venus were names of the children of Jupiter, Jupiter means Zeus, Saturn means Cronus, through logic, the next generations was the father of Cronus, who happens to be Uranus. The name was accepted in the 19th century.
The equivalent in Roman Mythology is Caelus or Coelus. He was also married to Terra, or Earth. A similar story forms in the Roman Mythology, with results in the castration of Caelus and the birth of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.