Crius

Crius was one of the elder Titans, sons of Uranus (Sky) and Gaea (Earth). Led by Cronus, the brothers conspired against their father and prepared an ambush as he descended to lie with Earth. Crius, Coeus, Hyperion and Iapetus were posted at the four corners of the world where they seized hold of the sky-god and held him firm, while Cronos, hidden in the centre, castrated him with a sickle.

In this myth the four brothers probably represent the four cosmic pillars separating heaven and earth which are described in near-Eastern cosmogonies. Crius was likely the southern pillar, while his brothers Coeus, Iapetus, and Hyperion were the pillars of the north, east and west respectively.

Crius' connection with the south is found both in his name and family connections:-he is "the Ram," the constellation Aries, whose springtime rising in the south marked the start of the Greek year; his eldest son is Astraeus, god of the stars; and his wife is Eurybia, a daughter of the sea.