Editing Father Time (section)

{{short description|Personification of time passing}}
{{About|the personification of time|the weathervane at Lord's Cricket Ground|Father Time (Lord's)|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
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 | caption1  = A 19th-century Father Time with [[Baby New Year]]

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 | caption2  = Detail of Father Time in the Rotunda Clock (1896)

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 | caption3  = Father Time in ''[[Fountain of Time]]''

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'''Father Time''' is a [[personification]] of [[time]], in particular the progression of history and the approach of death. In recent centuries, he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with [[Bird wing|wings]], dressed in a robe and carrying a [[scythe]] and an [[hourglass]] or other timekeeping device.

As an image, the origins of "Father Time" are varied.<ref>Hall, 119</ref> The ancient Greeks themselves began to associate ''[[Chronos]] [[Protogenos]]'' with the god [[Cronus|Cronos]], who had the attribute of a harvester's [[sickle]]. The Romans equated Cronos with [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]], who also had a sickle, and was treated as an old man, often with a crutch. The wings and hourglass were early Renaissance additions and he eventually became a companion of [[Personifications of death|the Grim Reaper, personification of Death]], often taking his scythe. He may have as an attribute a [[Ouroboros|snake with its tail in its mouth]], an ancient Egyptian symbol of eternity.<ref>Hall, 119-120</ref>
[[File:Grave_memorial_3.jpg|thumb|upright|Father Time on an Irish memorial stone, displaying an empty hourglass to a mourning [[widow]]]]