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The Greek Titan: Atlas by Seaborn

The Titan who lead a group of many other Titans to fight against the Olympians in the gruesome Titanomachy, and received severe punishment for it. Now, condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders for eternity, I have decided to research the Mighty Bearer of Heavens, Atlas. With Atlas' overpowering strength, and his renowned popularity in today's culture, he is without a doubt the most powerful and well-known Titan in Greek Mythology.

In Greek Mythology, Atlas is the very first Titan to bear the heavens on his shoulders. After being condemned by Zeus, (Which I will explain in the second body paragraph), he was forced to stand at the edge of the Earth, (Gaia), and hold up the Sky. Before his condemnment, Atlas ruled as the King of Arcadia for a long amount of time. He was said to be the first to instruct mankind in the art of astronomy, which was used by farmers and sailors to predict the seasons and help with navigational issues. The name for Atlases(The actual collection of maps), started when Antonio Lafreri made the first published, printed collection of maps in year 1572, and dedicated them to the Titan Atlas, "The Astronomer King". []



Atlas became the bearer of Gods when he led the Titanomachy against the gods. The Titanomachy took place when the Titans of Greek Mythology decided to rebel against the Olympians with his brother, Menoitius. Two of his other brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus, decided siding with the Olympians against the titans would be a smarter choice. After the many battles in the war that lasted ten years, the Titans fell, losing to the Olympians. Menoitius was condemned to the nether even lower than the underworld, Tartarus, and Atlas was singled out by Zeus and was forced by Zeus to bear the heavens upon his shoulders for eternity. During this time of Atlas' punishment, Heracles' famous, "Twelve Labors", were taking place. One of his labors was to retrieve a golden apple from the Garden of Hera, which was tended to by Atlas' daughters. Heracles made a deal with Atlas and offered to bear the heavens on his own shoulders while Atlas retrieved the apple from his daughters. Atlas attempted to trick Heracles into making him stay with the burden forever, but Heracles tricked him back by asking if he could readjust his cloak to act as padding for his shoulders while Atlas would hold it, and as soon as Atlas started to hold the heavens again, Heracles ran away with the apple. [] [] []

Atlas was born along with his three brothers, Menoitius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus. The only one of his brothers that joined his side during the Titanomachy was Meoitius, Prometheus and Epimetheus decided to side with the Olympians. Atlas is said to have been the father of many different children, mostly consisting of daughters, by many goddesses. Hesperis gave birth to Hespirides. Aethra gave birth to Hyades, Hyas, and Pleiades. He has also been said to be the father of the Sea Nymph Calypso, the mother of Aphrodite, Dione, and Maera. Atlas is seen today as a representation of strength, power, and endurance. Sculptural and architectural recreations of him mostly show a very masculine man bearing an oversized globe of the Earth on his shoulders while kneeling on one knee. Many cultural representations have been made of him. He appears in a giant statue in front of Rockefeller Center in New York, various rock band album covers such as Van Halen’s,"5150". People of today use Atlas as a metaphor to describe a very important or hard working person in society as people who, "hold up the world". Many different comic strips have made parodies of the legend of Atlas, such as the Belgian Comic, "Scrameustache", and the 1970 comic strip, "Mickey through the Centuries". He also makes many appearances in mythological video games such as God of War II. Competitors in the World’s Strongest Man competition have to lift what are called, Atlas Stones which are huge spherical boulders, onto pedestals. [] []

Atlas was the son of the Titan of Mortal Living, Lapetus, and the Oceanid, Asia. Lapetus was the son of Uranus, (The Sky in Greek Mythology), and Gaia (The Earth in Greek Mythology). Lapetus was even the brother of Cronus, the Titan who ruled the world during the Golden Age because of all the power he possessed. Being the son of these major mythological figures and being directly related to the most powerful Titan, he was an extremely powerful Titan himself, and would as well have a powerful son, Atlas. Asia, (or Asie), was simply a Sea Nymph, similar to Calypso, who seduced Lapetus. [] [] Overall, I am confident that I have proved my thesis correct and that Atlas is the mightiest of the Titans and among the most popular as well. I feel my researches were reliable, and that I was efficient in presenting the information I have learned.

Hesperis:, By. "Atlas (mythology)." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. []

"ATLAS : Greek Titan God Bearer of the Heavens ; Mythology ; Pictures." //THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art//. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. []

Gill, By N.s. "Atlas - The Titan Atlas." //Ancient / Classical History - Ancient Greece & Rome & Classics Research Guide//. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. []

"Atlas." //Greek Mythology//. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. []. All of these pages provide a lot of inform

ation on the Titan Atlas

"Titanomachy." //Ancient / Classical History - Ancient Greece & Rome & Classics Research Guide//. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. []

"Atlas (Statue in New York)." //Pictures / Stock Photos//. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. []

"IAPETUS : Greek Titan God of Mortality ; Mythology : IAPETOS, JAPETUS." //THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art//. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. []

"Amazon.com: Prometheus: Greek Mythology, Titan, Iapetus, Themis, Atlas, Epimetheus, Menoetius, Zeus, Theogony (9786130470876): Lambert M. Surhone, Miriam T. Timpledon, Susan F. Marseken: Books." Web. 15 Dec. 2010. []

"Amazon.com: Titans and Olympians Greek & Roman Myth (9780705435130): Tony Allan, Sara Maitland, Time-Life Books, Duncan Baird Publishers: Books." Web. 15 Dec. 2010. []