Kratos

Kratos (Strength/Power), the personified spirit of might and sovereign mastery, one of the four winged warrior-spirits and the executive enforcer of Zeus. With his sister Bia he opens Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, dragging the Titan to the crag and compelling Hephaestus to chain him. Son of the Titan Pallas (greek_hesiod_pallas_titan) and the Oceanid Styx (greek_hesiod_styx); brother of Zelos, Bia and the existing Nike (greek_hesiod_nike). Authored as a deity (both parents deities). A personified abstraction; deathless, so no lifecycle event is recorded.

Parentage

• father: Pallas
• mother: Styx

Domains

• strength and sovereign power
• enforcement of zeus will
• attendance on zeus

Powers

• Embodies strength and sovereign mastery
• Fetters the enemies of Zeus and enforces his decrees
• Stands in perpetual attendance at the throne of Zeus

Epithets

• ἀγλαὰ τέκνα ('splendid children' of Styx)Hesiod, Theogony 385 (primary)

Relations

• sibling: ZelusFull sibling; fellow child of Pallas and Styx, fellow throne-attendant of Zeus.Hesiod, Theogony 383-385 (primary)
• sibling: BiaFull sibling; his constant companion, the silent Bia, with whom he binds Prometheus.Hesiod, Theogony 383-385; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 12-13 (primary)
• sibling: NikeFull sibling; trim-ankled Nike, fellow child of Pallas and Styx (reciprocal to be added on the existing Nike entry).Hesiod, Theogony 383-385 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Hesiod, Theogony 383-385 (primary); Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1-87 (primary); Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.2.4 (primary); Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), 26-28 (secondary)