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The Titans,
also known as the elder gods, ruled the earth before the Olympians
overthrew them. The ruler of the Titans was Cronus who was killed
by his son Zeus in an epic battle that lasted ten years. Most of
the Titans fought with Cronus against Zeus and were punished by
being banished to Tartarus. During their rule the Titans were
associated with the various planets.
Individual Titans
Uranus (Ouranos)
Uranus is the sky
god and first ruler. He is the son of Gaea, who created him
without help. He then became the husband of Gaea and together
they had many offspring, including twelve of the Titans. His
rule ended when when Cronus, encouraged by Gaea, castrated him.
He either died from the wound or withdrew from earth.
Uranus (Ouranos) is the personification of the sky and the son
and mate of Gaea. Their children are the Hecatonchires (Centimani),
the Cyclopes and the Titans. Uranus was jealous of the future
power of his children and feared he would lose his rulership to
them. He threw his children in the underworld to prevent this.
At the instigation of Gaia, her son Cronus castrated his father
and dethroned him. When Uranus' blood fell upon the Earth
(Gaea), the Erinyes (the goddesses of vengeance) and the
Gigantes (giants) sprang forth, among many other divinities.
Cronus
Cronus was
the ruling Titan who came to power by castrating his Father
Uranus. His wife was Rhea. Their offspring were the first of the
Olympians. To insure his safety Cronus ate each of the children
as they were born. This worked until Rhea, unhappy at the loss
of her children, tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock, instead
of Zeus. When he grew up Zeus would revolt against Cronus and
the other Titans, defeat them, and banish them to Tartarus in
the underworld, killing his father with a thunderbolt. Yet, some
say that Cronus managed to escape to Italy, where he ruled as
Saturn. The period of his rule was said to be a golden age on
earth, honored by the Saturnalia feast.
Rhea
Rhea was the
wife of Cronus. Cronus made it a practice to swallow their
children. To avoid this, Rhea tricked Cronus into swallowing a
rock, saving her son Zeus, who grew up and deposed his father.
In Greek mythology, Rhea is the mother of the gods, daughter of
Uranus and Gaea. She is married to her brother Cronus and is the
mother of Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus.
Cronus, jealous of the future power of his children and to
secure his dominion, ate his own children but Rhea managed to
rescue one son, Zeus. She hid him in the Dictean Cave in Crete
and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in the clothes of the infant,
which he swallowed. Thus Rhea succeeded in making him believe
that he had killed all of his children. When Zeus reached
maturity he overpowered and dethroned his father and made Cronus
disgorge his siblings.
Rhea is identified with mother goddess Cybele from Asia Minor
and is also known as Rhea Cybele and Magna Mater ("great
mother"). She was worshipped with orgiastic rites. Rhea is
depicted between two lions or on a chariot pulled by lions.
Oceanus
Oceanus is
the unending stream of water encircling the world. Together with
his wife Tethys they produced the rivers and the three thousand
ocean nymphs.He is the personification of the vast ocean. As
geography became more precise, Oceanus began to refer to the
water outside of the Pillars of Heracles, or the Atlantic Ocean.
He was the eldest of the Titans and a son of Uranus and Gaia. He
was the father of all rivers by his sister Tethys. The couple
also had the Oceanids which personified springs and smaller
bodies of waters, like lakes and ponds.
Tethys
Tethys is the
wife of Oceanus. Together they produced the rivers and the three
thousand ocean nymphs. She was the personification of the
fertile ocean. She married her brother Oceanus and had over 3000
children by him: They were the springs, lakes and rivers of the
world. Tethys was the god-mother of Rhea and raised her during
the civil war between the Titans and the Olympians.
Hyperion
Hyperion is
the Titan of light, an early sun god. He is the son of Gaea and
Uranus. He married his sister Theia. Their children were Helios
(the sun), Selene (the moon), and Eos (the dawn). The name
Hyperion means "he who goes before the sun" and
may have arisen because he was sometimes thought of as the sun.
Atlas
Atlas was the
son of Iapetus. Unlike his brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus,
Atlas fought with the other Titans supporting Cronus against
Zeus. Due to Cronus's advance age Atlas lead the Titan's in
battle. As a result he was singled out by Zeus for a special
punishment and made to hold up the world on his back.
Mnemosyne
Menemosyne is
the personification of memory and its goddess. She is a daughter
of Gaea and Uranus and the mother of the nine Muses by Zeus, her
nephew.
Themis
Themis was
the Titan of justice and order. Themis is one of the daughters
of Uranus and Gaea. She is the personification of divine right
order of things as sanctioned by custom and law. She has
oracular powers and it is said that she build the oracle at
Delphi. By Zeus she is the mother of the Horae and the Moirae.
Themis is depicted as a stern looking woman, blindfolded and
holding a pair of scales and a cornucopia. The Romans called her
Justitia. Her name means "Law".
The Titaness Themis introduced the ordinances which concern the
gods and instructed men in the ways of obedience to laws and
peace. Themis delivered oracles at Delphi until Apollo, the
lovely son of Leto, came to the city, killed the serpent Python,
which guarded the oracle and, sitting in the tripod, took over
it. However Leto did not give Apollo her breast when he was
born; but Themis, who was there, poured Nectar and Ambrosia with
her own hands for him to taste.
Themis told the Titan Prometheus (who called her "mother", but
so he called Gaia too, as some will have it that Gaia and Themis
were one and the same) not to join the Titans in their war
against the Olympians, because as she prophesied, in that war,
the clever, not the brute, would prevail. When Prometheus was
punished by Zeus and bound to the Caucasian rock, Themis
prophesied that a descendant of a Danaid (Heracles, Hercules),
none of them yet born, would deliver him.
Themis was deemed guardian of men's oaths and for that reason
also called goddess of oaths. She lives in Olympus close to
Zeus, who is described as the real all-seeing as he whispers
words of wisdom to Themis when she sits leaning towards him. But
some say that Zeus, thanks to Themis rules in the sky.
Iapetus
Iapetus is
the son Uranus and Gaia. Iapetus' wife is Clymene, with whom he
had four children - Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus.
He is occasionally called the husband of Asia or Asopis.
Coeus
One of the
Titans, Coeus was the father of Leto, husband of Phoebe and the
grandfather of Apollo, Artemis and Asteria. His name means
"Intelligent".
Crius
Crius and his
siblings were the children of Uranus (Sky) and Gaea (Earth). He
had five brothers; Coeus, Cronus, Hyperion, Lapetus, Oceanus;
and six sisters; Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Tethys, Theia, and
Themis.
Selene
This bright
and clear Titanian goddess, who shines down with soft light and
bathes her lovely body in the waters of the Ocean, is the Moon.
Her parents were Hyperion and Thea.
Selene fell in love with the very handsome Endymion, who was
allowed to choose what he would, and he chose to sleep for ever,
remaining deathless and ageless. However some say that he chose
to be always sleepless. Endymion's beauty was comparable only to
that of Adonis, Ganymedes, Narcissus, Hermaphroditus, Hylas and
Chrysippus.
Because Helios (Sun) and his sister Selene (Moon) influence the
temperature of the air, both pestilential diseases and deaths
have been imputed to them. And then they have been associated
with Apollo and Artemis, because these are healers, and standing
for what is sound and safe, may prevent those diseases and
deaths.
Some say that it was Selene who nourished the Nemean lion which
Heracles killed. Her offsping included fifty daughters and the
handsome Narcissus.
Phoebe
Phoebe is the
Titan of the Moon. She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. She
married her brother Coeus and with him she became the mother of
Leto and Asteria. It is said that she owned the oracle of Delphi
before Apollo took it over.
Thea (Theia)
Thea is a
minor Greek goddess, one of the Titans. Her husband and brother
is Hyperion with whom she had three children - Helios (the sun),
Eos (the dawn) and Selene (the moon).
Prometheus
Prometheus
was the wisest Titan. His name means "forethought" and he was
able to foretell the future. He was the son of Iapetus. When
Zeus revolted against Cronus Prometheus deserted the other
Titans and fought on Zeus side. By some accounts he and his
brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create animals and
man. Since his brother had foolishly given most of the finer
qualities to the animals, Prometheus had man walk upright to
give him an advantage over the beasts.
In all accounts, Prometheus is known as the protector and
benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including
fire. He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best
part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods
the worst parts. For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him
chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver. He was to
be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to
Zeus which of Zeus children would try to replace him. He was
eventually rescued by Heracles without giving in to Zeus.
Epimetheus
Epimetheus
was a foolish Titan, whose name means "afterthought". He was the
son of Iapetus. In some accounts he is delegated, along with his
brother Prometheus by Zeus to create animals and mankind. He
gave all the finer qualities to the animals, leaving little of
use for humans. He also accepted the gift of Pandora from Zeus,
which lead to the introduction of evil into the world.
Metis
Metis
presided over all wisdom and knowledge. She is a daughter of
Oceanus and Tethys. Metis is regarded as the first wife of Zeus,
whom he swallowed when he discovered that she was pregnant,
fearing she might give birth to a son mightier than he.
Subsequently, the goddess Athena sprang fully armed from his
head. It was also Metis who delivered the remedy that made
Cronus disgorge the children he had swallowed. Her name means
"Wisdom".
Dione
According to
certain traditions, the goddess or Titaness Dione became by Zeus
the mother of Aphrodite. Actually, her name is a feminine form
of Zeus (dios). It means "Divine queen".
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