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Father Time

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This article is about the personification of time. For the weathervane at Lord's Cricket Ground, see Old Father Time. For other uses, see Father Time (disambiguation).

A 19th-century Father Time with Baby New Year
Detail of Father Time in the Rotunda Clock (1896) by John Flanagan, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
Father Time in Fountain of Time
Allegorical portrait of Elizabeth I with Old Father Time at her right in the background and Death at her left (dated around 1610)

Father Time is the anthropomorphized depiction of time.

Description

Father Time is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device (which represents time's constant one-way movement, and more generally and abstractly, entropy). This image derives from several sources, including the Grim Reaper and the misattribution of Cronus (not Chronos) as the Greek Titan of human time, reaping and calendars, or the Lord of Time.

Around New Year's Eve, the media (in particular editorial cartoons) use the convenient trope[1] of Father Time as the personification of the previous year (or "the Old Year") who typically "hands over" the duties of time to the equally allegorical Baby New Year (or "the New Year") or who otherwise characterizes the preceding year.[2][3] In these depictions, Father Time is usually depicted wearing a sash with the old year's date on it.

Father Time is an established symbol in numerous cultures, and appears in a variety of art and media. In some cases, they appear specifically as Father Time, while in other cases they may have another name (such as Saturn) but the characters demonstrate the attributes which Father Time has acquired over the centuries.

Art

  • Saturn, in his incarnation as Father Time, is the central figure in Simon Vouet's 1627 painting, Time Vanquished by Love, Hope & Beauty, which is in the collection of the Museo de Prado in Madrid, Spain.[4]

Books

  • Old Father Time appears in the fantasy novel series Nightside as an elderly character tending to peoples' needs for time travel—and in some cases—guidance.
  • Father Time appears in the fairy tale themed short story, written by L. Frank Baum. Entitled "The Capture of Father Time". That Father Time was captured by a son of Arizonian cowboy named Jim because of his foolishness.
  • Time is one of the Incarnations of Immortality in Piers Anthony's series of the same name. Time (also referred to as "Chronos") appears in several of the books and is the main character of Bearing an Hourglass. For most of the series he appears as a middle-aged man in a blue robe (which has the power to age to oblivion anything which attacks him) and bearing an hourglass which he can use to control the flow of time and move himself through both time and space.
  • Father Time is painted in the ceiling of the dungeon, in the Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Pit and the Pendulum.
  • Father time also appeared in Mitch Albom's novel "The time keeper".
  • Father time also appeared in C.S. Lewis' novel The Last Battle which is the final novel (chronologically) in the series The Chronicles of Narnia.

Business and industry

  • Father Time was the logo for the Elgin Watch Company. Notable in the logo was that Father Time had switched out his traditional hourglass for a watch.
  • Father Time appears on the Presidential Seal of the Actuaries Institute.

Comics, magazines and periodicals

  • Father Time made numerous appearances in the classic comic Little Nemo in Slumberland, both as a general representation of time and as a symbol of the new year.[5][6]
  • A Norman Rockwell painting of Father Time appeared on 31 December 1910 cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
  • Father Time is a recurring character in Tatsuya Ishida's webcomic Sinfest, often appearing as an infant immediately on or after the Western New Year, and as an old man fated to die during the end of the year.

Film and television

  • In The Chronicles of Narnia, Father Time appears in The Silver Chair as a sleeping giant living beneath the surfaces of Narnia. It is said that Father Time will awaken at the end of days as seen in The Last Battle.
  • Father Time appears in the television special Rudolph's Shiny New Year voiced by Red Skelton, who also narrated the special.
  • Father Time appears as a recurring character in The Smurfs voiced by Alan Oppenheimer.
  • Father Time appears as one of the main characters in Histeria! voiced by Frank Welker.
  • In Flint the Time Detective, the Old Timer is depicted as a Father Time-like character.
  • Father Time appears in The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause portrayed by Peter Boyle. He is shown as a member of the Council of Legendary Figures alongside Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Cupid, Mother Nature, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost.
  • Father Time appeared in Regular Show episode called "It's Time" voiced by Alan Sklar. He appears to be made out of clocks and wears a purple hat. Father Time gives Mordecai a second chance to stop his jealously towards Rigby and Margaret.
  • Chronos features in the Supernatural episode "Time after Time" (Season 7).
  • A song in the animated version of Charlotte's Web is titled "Mother Earth and Father Time".
  • Father Time is a character that appears in The Fairly OddParents episode Timmy's Secret Wish! and is voiced by Jeff Bennett. It was also the name of an episode. (Father Time!)
  • A character in Danny Phantom created by Butch Hartman embodies Father Time and is named Clockwork. He is known as the master of time, and is depicted as a child, young man, and old man in a constantly changing cycle. He also has a variety of timekeeping devices on his person, and wields a staff that can be transformed into a scythe. He first appeared in the special episode "The Ultimate Enemy".
  • "Father Time" is a character in Jude the Obscure, a novel by Thomas Hardy. Father Time is the name given to Jude Fawley's son, who is dreadfully melancholy and commits suicide at a young age.
  • In Mitch Albom's latest book The Time Keeper, Dor, the central character, is Father Time. He is freed from exile and sent to Earth on the condition that he teaches two people on Earth the true importance of time, a teenage girl who does not wish to live anymore, and a dying old billionaire who wishes to live forever.
  • Father Time appeared in a version of YooHoo & Friends produced by David Feiss where he was depicted as a blue Viking-like ogre who transformed five business executives into cute animals.

Music

Sculpture

See also

References

  1. ^ Mike Luckovich Copyright 2010 Creators Syndicate. "Father time takes a beating – Foreign Relations Political and Editorial Cartoons". The Week. Retrieved 12 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "The Father Time Comics and Cartoons – Cartoonist Group – Lisa Benson's Editorial Cartoons". Cartoonist Group. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  3. ^ dePIXion studios www.depixion.com. "AAEC – Political Cartoons". Editorialcartoonists.com. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Museo Nacional del Prado: On-line gallery". Museodelprado.es. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Digital Collection of Classic Comic Strips". Comic Strip Library. 31 December 1905. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Digital Collection of Classic Comic Strips". Comic Strip Library. 29 December 1907. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  7. ^ "The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Clock with Father Time". Metmuseum.org. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  8. ^ "The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Father Time on a Globe; Design for a Clock". Metmuseum.org. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
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