Chronos

Chronos (/ˈkroʊnɒs, -oʊs/; Ancient Greek: Χρόνος, romanized: Khronos, lit. 'Time'; [kʰrónos], Modern Greek: ['xronos]), also spelled Chronus, is a personification of time in Greek mythology, who is also discussed in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature.^[1]

Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified with, the Titan, Cronus, in antiquity, due to the similarity in names.^[2] The identification became more widespread during the Renaissance, giving rise to the iconography of Father Time wielding the harvesting scythe.^[3]

Greco-Roman mosaics depicted Chronos as a man turning the zodiac wheel.^[4] He is comparable to the deity Aion as a symbol of cyclical time.^[5] He is usually portrayed as an old callous man with a thick grey beard, personifying the destructive and stifling aspects of time.^[6]