Editing Kratos (mythology)

{{short description|Personification of strength in Greek mythology}}
{{About|the mythical figure|the video game character|Kratos (God of War)|the philosopher with a similar name|Cratylus}}
{{Infobox deity
| name = Kratos
| type = Greek
| image = Mural of Kratos at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on May 22, 2022.jpg
| caption = Mural of Kratos at the [[National and Kapodistrian University of Athens]], Greece
| god_of = Personification of Strength
| abode = [[Mount Olympus]]
| father = [[Pallas (Titan)|Pallas]]
| mother = [[Styx (mythology)|Styx]]
| siblings = [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], [[Bia (mythology)|Bia]], and [[Zelus]]
| Roman_equivalent = 
}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Kratos''' ({{langx|grc|Κράτος||power, strength}}<ref>For the former translation, see {{harvnb|Ruffell|2012|page=25}} and {{harvnb|Martin|2016|page=163}}. For the latter translation, see {{harvnb|Lowe|2009|page=82}} and [[LSJ]], s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=kra/tos1 κράτος].</ref>) also known as '''Cratus''' or '''Cratos''', is the divine personification of strength. He is the son of [[Pallas (Titan)|Pallas]] and [[Styx#Goddess|Styx]]. Kratos and his siblings [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] ('Victory'), [[Bia (mythology)|Bia]] ('Force'), and [[Zelus]] ('Glory') are all the personification of a specific trait.<ref>Gantz, pp. 25&ndash;26 (the translations given here are Gantz's); [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:371-403 383&ndash;385]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.4 1.2.4]</ref> Kratos is first mentioned alongside his siblings in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]''. According to Hesiod, Kratos and his siblings dwell with [[Zeus]] because their mother Styx came to him first to request a position in his regime, so he honored her and her children with exalted positions. Kratos and his sister Bia are best known for their appearance in the opening scene of [[Aeschylus]]' ''[[Prometheus Bound]]''. Acting as agents of Zeus, they lead the captive [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] [[Prometheus]] on stage. Kratos compels the mild-mannered blacksmith god [[Hephaestus]] to chain Prometheus to a rock as punishment for his theft of fire.<ref>Gantz, p. 158; [[Aeschylus]] (?), ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:1-35 1 ff.]</ref>

Kratos is characterized as brutal and merciless, repeatedly mocking both Hephaestus and Prometheus and advocating for the use of unnecessary violence. He defends Zeus' oppressive rule and predicts that Prometheus will never escape his bonds. In Aeschylus' ''[[Libation Bearers]]'', [[Electra]] calls upon Kratos, [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]] ("Justice"), and Zeus to aid her brother [[Orestes]] in avenging the murder of their father [[Agamemnon]]. Kratos and Bia appear in a late fifth-century BC [[red-figure]] Attic ''[[skyphos]]'' of the punishment of [[Ixion]], possibly based on a scene from a lost tragedy by [[Euripides]]. They also appear in late eighteenth and nineteenth-century [[Romanticism|Romantic]] depictions and adaptations of the binding of Prometheus.

== Ancient Greek literature and art ==
=== ''Theogony'' ===
Kratos and his siblings are first mentioned in the ''[[Theogony]]'', which was composed by the [[Boeotia]]n poet [[Hesiod]] in the late eighth or early seventh century BC.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}}{{sfn|Sammons|2018|page=131}}{{sfn|Burton|2011|page=58}} Hesiod states: "And Styx the daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and bore Zelus (Emulation) and trim-ankled Nike (Victory) in the house. Also she brought forth Cratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), wonderful children. These have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except that wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus the loud-thunderer."<ref name="Hesiod383–387">[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' lines [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D371 383–387], translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White</ref> Here Kratos is merely listed as a deified abstraction with little development or explanation.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} Hesiod goes on to explain that the reason why the children of Styx were allowed to dwell with Zeus was because Zeus had decreed after the [[Titanomachy]] that all those who had not held offices under [[Cronus|Kronos]] would be given positions in his regime.<ref name="Hesiod383–387"/>{{sfn|Sammons|2018|page=131}} Because Styx came to Zeus first, along with her children, Zeus honored them as among the highest members of his new regime.<ref name="Hesiod383–387"/>{{sfn|Sammons|2018|page=131}} According to Diana Burton, Styx, Zelos, Nike, Kratos, and Bia's voluntary change in allegiance represents the certainty of Zeus' victory over the Titans.{{sfn|Burton|2011|page=58}} While the goddesses [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]] ("Justice"), [[Eunomia]] ("Good Law"), and [[Eirene (goddess)|Eirene]] ("Peace") represent the benefits of Zeus' reign, Kratos and his siblings represent the work needed to build that regime.{{sfn|Burton|2011|page=58}}

=== ''Prometheus Bound'' ===
[[File:Prometheus door Vulcanus geketend, SK-A-1606.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''[[Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan]]'' (1623) by [[Dirck van Baburen]]. In [[Aeschylus]]' ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', Kratos (not shown in this painting) is the one who orders Hephaestus to chain Prometheus.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}}{{sfn|Allen|2000|page=294}}{{sfn|Beck|1975|pages=126–127}}]]

In the opening scene of the tragedy ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', which is traditionally attributed to [[Aeschylus]], Kratos and his sister [[Bia (mythology)|Bia]] are taking [[Prometheus]] to a remote location in the [[Scythia]]n wilderness, where he will be chained to a rocky outcropping.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=25}}{{sfn|Pearson|1997|page=187}}{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=95}} The order to do this was given by Zeus himself{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=25}}{{sfn|Pearson|1997|page=187}}{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=95}} and Kratos and Bia are portrayed as the embodiment of Zeus' new regime.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}}{{sfn|Beck|1975|pages=126–127}} The presence of Kratos and Bia but absence of Nike and Zelos indicates the play's tyrannical portrayal of Zeus, since Kratos and Bia represent the more tyrannical aspects of authority.{{sfn|Burton|2011|pages=58–59}} Kratos in particular represents what Ian Ruffell calls "the kind of uncomplicated thug for whom despotic regimes offer countless job opportunities."{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} He enforces the power of Zeus through physical brutality and pitilessness.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}}{{sfn|Beck|1975|pages=126–127}} Bia, though present in the scene, does not have any lines; only Kratos speaks.{{sfn|Beck|1975|page=127}}{{sfn|Spindler|2015|pages=17–18}}

Kratos coerces the mild-mannered blacksmith god [[Hephaestus]] into chaining Prometheus to the rocky crag, despite Hephaestus' objections to this.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=25}}{{sfn|Allen|2000|page=294}}{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=95}} Hephaestus laments over Prometheus' future suffering, leading Kratos to ridicule him.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=31}} Kratos equates the rule of law with [[rule by fear]]{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} and condemns pity as a pointless waste of time.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} Hephaestus and Kratos agree that Zeus is "oppressive" (''barys''; literally "heavy").{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} Kratos regards justice (δίκη; ''dikê'') as a system of cosmic hierarchy in which the monarch, Zeus, decides who receives which privileges and who does not.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} Anyone who breaches this social divide is a transgressor who must be punished.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} Kratos states that, under the rule of a monarch such as Zeus, no one but Zeus himself is truly free.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|pages=30–31}} Hephaestus agrees with this assessment.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=31}}

Kratos repeatedly orders Hephaestus to use more violence than necessary to inflict as much pain as possible against Prometheus.{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}}{{sfn|Allen|2000|page=294}} First he orders Hephaestus to nail Prometheus' hands to the rock.{{sfn|Spindler|2015|page=24}} Then he orders him to drive a steel wedge through his chest.{{sfn|Spindler|2015|page=24}} Finally, he orders him to tie Prometheus' legs to immobilize him.{{sfn|Spindler|2015|page=24}} Hephaestus criticizes Kratos, telling him that his speech is as ugly as his physical appearance.{{sfn|Boegehold|1999|page=54}}{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} Kratos responds by telling him, "Be soft. Do not throw in my face my 'willfulness' and 'roughness of temper'."{{sfn|Boegehold|1999|page=54}}{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=30}} Once Prometheus has been bound, Hephaestus, Bia, and Kratos exit offstage, with Kratos being the last one to leave.{{sfn|Spindler|2015|page=27}} Just before his exeunt, Kratos mocks Prometheus, saying that he will never escape from his shackles{{sfn|Allen|2000|page=294}} (which he later does, aided by [[Heracles]]) and that he does not deserve his name.{{sfn|Allen|2000|page=294}} (''Prometheus'' means "forethought" in Greek.{{sfn|Allen|2000|page=294}}) According to Robert Holmes Beck, Aeschylus' depiction of the harsh punishment of Prometheus was intended as an example of how wrongdoers must be punished to deter others from transgressing.{{sfn|Beck|1975|page=127}} In this interpretation, Kratos' cruelty is not intended to be viewed as excessive, but rather as the proper enforcement of justice.{{sfn|Beck|1975|page=127}}

=== Other references ===
In Aeschylus' ''[[Libation Bearers]]'', [[Electra]] invokes Kratos, [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]], and Zeus to support her and her brother [[Orestes]]' quest to avenge the murder of their father [[Agamemnon]] by their mother [[Clytemnestra]].<ref>[[Aeschylus]], ''[[Libation Bearers]]'', lines [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg006.perseus-eng1:225-263 244&ndash;245].</ref>{{sfn|Marshall|2017|page=40}} [[Plato]]'s dialogue ''[[Protagoras (dialogue)|Protagoras]]'', written in the fourth century BC, includes an account of the legend of Prometheus in which Prometheus stole fire from the temple of Athena and Hephaestus rather than the citadel of Zeus because the "guards of Zeus" (Διὸς φυλακαί; ''Dios phylakai'') were too frightening.<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Protagoras (dialogue)|Protagoras]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178%3Atext%3DProt.%3Apage%3D321 321a]</ref>{{sfn|Ruffell|2012|page=74}}{{sfn|Huffman|2007|page=82}} The identity of these "guards" is unknown and disputed.{{sfn|Huffman|2007|pages=81–83}}

Depictions of Kratos and Bia in [[ancient Greek art]] are extremely rare.{{sfn|Smith|2011|page=18}}{{sfn|Burton|2011|page=59}}{{sfn|Spindler|2015|page=32}} The only known surviving depiction of Kratos and Bia in [[ancient Greek pottery]] is on a fragmentary [[red-figure pottery|red-figure]] ''[[skyphos]]'' by the [[Meidias Painter]], or a member of his circle, that is dated to the end of the fifth century BC and depicts the punishment of [[Ixion]].{{sfn|Smith|2011|page=18}}{{sfn|Shapiro|1994|pages=81–82}} The vase is in the private collection of Herbert Cahn in Basel, Switzerland, and only a bit of hair belonging to Kratos is still visible on the remaining fragments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monument #8449 |url=https://weblimc.org/page/monument/2079054 |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=weblimc.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=5448, ATHENIAN, BASEL, PRIVATE, H. CAHN, HC541 |url=https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetails.asp?id=50F13C6F-E42B-4B44-8DE0-CF92BE47F2CA&noResults=&recordCount=&databaseID=&search= |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=www.carc.ox.ac.uk}}</ref> One of Bia's hands is visible on the wheel that Ixion is bound to, steadying it.{{sfn|Shapiro|1994|pages=81–82}} H. A. Shapiro conjectures that this is probably a representation of a scene from the lost tragedy ''Ixion'' by [[Euripides]], who likely borrowed the figures of Kratos and Bia from ''Prometheus Bound''.{{sfn|Shapiro|1994|page=81}} Kratos is listed as one of the sons of Pallas and Styx in the ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Library]]'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|The Library]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:text=Library:book=1:chapter=2 1.2]</ref>

In the preface to his ''Fabulae'', the Roman author [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]] describes Potestas (Power) as being among the offspring of Pallas and Styx.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' Preface ([https://latin.packhum.org/loc/1263/1/0#0 Rose's Greek text]; [https://topostext.org/work/206#p.9 Grant's translation]).</ref>

== In modern culture ==
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| image1    = Illustration of the binding of Prometheus by John Flaxman.jpg
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| caption1  = Illustration of the binding of Prometheus by [[John Flaxman]], first published in [[Richard Porson]]'s 1795 translation of Aeschylus' ''Prometheus Bound''. Kratos and Bia stand on either side holding him down as Hephaestus chains him to the mountainside.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|pages=166–167}}
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| image2    = Drawing of the binding of Prometheus by George Romney.jpg
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| caption2  = Black chalk drawing of the binding of Prometheus by [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]], dating to {{circa}} 1798–1799. Kratos and Bia are at his feet, holding him down as Hephaestus binds his arms.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|page=166}}
}}

In 1772, [[Thomas Morell]] published his English translation of ''Prometheus Bound'' as ''Prometheus in Chains'', making the work widely available to the British public for the first time.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|page=166}} Four years afterwards, the [[Abolitionism|abolitionist]] Richard Potter published a complete English translation of all Aeschylus' tragedies.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|page=166}} The scene from ''Prometheus Bound'' in which Hephaestus chains Prometheus to a mountainside with the aid of Kratos and Bia captured the imagination of the eighteenth and nineteenth-century [[Romanticism|Romantics]]{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|pages=165–166}} and became a lens through which they analyzed questions of the relationships between revolution and tyranny, slavery and freedom, and war and peace.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|pages=165–166}}

[[Richard Porson]]'s 1795 translation of ''Prometheus Bound'' was illustrated with drawings by [[John Flaxman]] showing the famous binding scene.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|page=166}} Between 1798 and 1799, [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]] produced a series of chalk drawings of scenes from ''Prometheus Bound'', including the binding scene with Kratos and Bia.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|page=166}} In both Flaxman and Romney's illustrations, Kratos and Bia are shown together in symmetry.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|page=166}} In 1819, [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] adapted the myth of Prometheus for his own play ''[[Prometheus Unbound (Shelley)|Prometheus Unbound]]''.{{sfn|Van Kooy|2016|page=165}}

In [[Gabriel Fauré]]'s three-act opera ''[[Prométhée]]'', first performed in 1900 with a French [[libretto]] written by the poets [[Jean Lorrain]] and André-Ferdinand Hérold, the scene from the beginning of ''Prometheus Bound'' in which Kratos coerces Hephaestus into binding Prometheus is closely paraphrased.{{sfn|Bertagnolli|2016|page=238}} Hephaestus' dialogue with Kratos is set to music containing "[[Impressionism in music|impressionist]] allusions to the [[whole tone scale|whole-tone scale]]".{{sfn|Bertagnolli|2016|page=246}} Fauré was known for his soft, genteel [[chamber music]] and the "hateful fury" of the music behind Kratos and Bia's dialogue stunned audiences.{{sfn|Bertagnolli|2016|page=246}}

[[Kratos (God of War)|A character named Kratos]] appears in the ''[[God of War (franchise)|God of War]]'' video game franchise, the first seven games of which are based on Greek mythology.{{sfn|Martin|2016|page=163}}{{sfn|Chmielewski|2016|page=186}}{{sfn|Lowe|2009|pages=81–82}} The character is portrayed as what classical scholar Sylwia Chmielewski calls "a deeply tragic, Herculean anti-hero who, after murdering his family, has to wash away the [[Miasma (Greek mythology)|miasma]] to regain his peace of mind."{{sfn|Chmielewski|2016|page=186}} The video game character Kratos was given his name at a late stage in the development of the [[God of War (2005 video game)|original 2005 game]], after the character had already been fleshed out.{{sfn|Quinio et al.,|2010|ref=GodofWar}} Unaware of the actual mythological god named Kratos appearing in ''Prometheus Bound'', the creators coincidentally chose the name Kratos, the same Greek word meaning "Strength", of which the mythological figure Kratos is the personification.{{sfn|Lowe|2009|page=82}}{{sfn|Quinio et al.,|2010|ref=GodofWar}} [[Stig Asmussen]], the director of 2010's ''[[God of War III]]'', called the naming coincidence a "happy mistake",{{sfn|Quinio et al.,|2010|ref=GodofWar}} noting that the Kratos in the game and the one in ''Prometheus Bound'' are both "pawns".{{sfn|Quinio et al.,|2010|ref=GodofWar}} Zoran Iovanovici of [[California State University, Long Beach]] observed with irony that, while the mythological Kratos is best known for chaining Prometheus, in 2007's ''[[God of War II]]'', the video game character releases him.{{sfn|Quinio et al.,|2010|ref=GodofWar}} Chmielewski states that the video game character Kratos draws extensively on other figures from Greek mythology, including the heroes [[Perseus]], [[Theseus]], and [[Achilles]],{{sfn|Chmielewski|2016|page=186}}{{sfn|Martin|2016|page=163}} but his strongest influence is the hero [[Heracles]].{{sfn|Chmielewski|2016|page=186}} The Greek-based games portray Kratos as brutal and violent towards innocents.{{sfn|Chmielewski|2016|pages=186–187}}{{sfn|Lowe|2009|pages=81–82}} In ''God of War III'', he kills the vast majority of the Greek gods, who are portrayed as "corrupted and vengeful", and restores the original state of [[Chaos (cosmogony)|primordial chaos]] to Greece.{{sfn|Chmielewski|2016|pages=185–186}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[Aeschylus]] (?), ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' in ''Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes.'' Vol 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard University Press. 1926. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=4995E0C297BD54D0B2C116B6EB6720BF?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0010%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* {{citation|last=Allen|first=Danielle S.|date=2000|title=The World of Prometheus: The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2LRCwAAQBAJ&q=Kratos+Prometheus+Bound&pg=PA294|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-05869-6}}
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=C431BA809CA4DEA22A15DA9C666F3400?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0022%3atext%3dLibrary  Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* {{citation|last=Beck|first=Robert Holmes|date=1975|title=Aeschylus: Playwright Educator|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72evBQAAQBAJ&q=Kratos+Aeschylus+Libation+Bearers&pg=PA127|location=The Hague, The Netherlands|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff|isbn=978-94-011-8818-0|doi=10.1007/978-94-011-8818-0}}
* {{citation|last=Bertagnolli|first=Paul|date=2016|orig-year=2007|title=Prometheus in Music: Representations of the Myth in the Romantic Era|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jj8rDwAAQBAJ&q=Kratos+and+Bia+Romantics&pg=PA241|location=New York City, New York and London, England|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-07-546-5468-1}}
* {{citation|last=Boegehold|first=Alan L.|date=1999|title=When a Gesture was Expected: A Selection of Examples from Archaic and Classical Greek Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7T74dfHDTgC&q=Kratos+Prometheus+Bound&pg=PA54|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-00263-7}}
* {{citation|last=Burton|first=Diana|date=2011|chapter=Chapter Four: Nike, Dike and Zeus at Olympia|title=The Statue of Zeus at Olympia: New Approaches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAMrBwAAQBAJ&q=Prometheus+Bound+Kratos+and+Bia&pg=PA58|editor1-last=McWilliam|editor1-first=Janette|editor2-last=Puttock|editor2-first=Sonia|editor3-last=Stevenson|editor3-first=Tom|editor4-last=Taraporewalla|editor4-first=Rashna|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-2921-2}}
* {{citation|last=Chmielewski|first=Sylwia|date=2016|chapter=C:&#x2F;/Hercules in Computer Games/A Heroic Evolution|title=Antiquity in Popular Literature and Culture|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNL6DAAAQBAJ&q=Kratos&pg=PA188|editor1-last=Dominas|editor1-first=Konrad|editor2-last=Wesołowska|editor2-first=Elżbieta|editor3-last=Trocha|editor3-first=Bogdan|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-9024-3|pages=177–192}}
* [[Timothy Gantz|Gantz, Timothy]], ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* {{citation|last=Hard|first=Robin|date=2004|title=The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's ''Handbook of Greek Mythology''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&q=Kratos|location=New York City, New York and London, England|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-44633-1}}
* {{citation|last=Huffman|first=Carl|date=2007|chapter=Philolaus and the Central Fire|title=Reading Ancient Texts: Presocratics and Plato: Essays in Honour of Denis O'Brien|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deoD0uAdQVwC&q=Plato+Protagoras+guards+of+Zeus&pg=PA82|editor1-last=Stern-Gilette|editor1-first=Suzanne|editor2-last=Corrigan|editor2-first=Kevin|location=Leiden, The Netherlands and Boston, Massachusetts|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-16509-0|pages=57–96}}
* {{citation|last=Lowe|first=Dunstan|date=2009|chapter=Playing with Antiquity: Videogame Receptions of the Classical World|title=Classics For All: Reworking Antiquity in Mass Culture|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=350YBwAAQBAJ&q=Prometheus+Bound&pg=PA82|editor1-last=Lowe|editor1-first=Dunstan|editor2-last=Shahabudin|editor2-first=Kim|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-0120-1|pages=64–90}}
* {{citation|last=Marshall|first=C. W.|date=2017|title=Aeschylus: Libation Bearers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4VQvDwAAQBAJ&q=Kratos+Aeschylus+Libation+Bearers&pg=PA40|series=Bloomsbury Companions to Greek and Roman Tragedy|location=New York City, New York and London, England|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4742-5508-0}}
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{{refend}}

{{Greek religion|state=collapsed}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}
{{good article}}

[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Olympian deities]]
[[Category:Greek deities]]