Atlas

In Greek mythology, Atlas was one of the primordial Titans. more...

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Atlas (Eng. /'æt ləs/ Gk. Ἄτλας) was the son of the Titan Iapetos (Eng. /aɪ ə 'pi: təs/) and the Oceanid Clymene (Eng. /'klɪ mə ni:/ Gk. Κλυμένη Klyménē). Where a Titan and a Titaness are assigned each of the seven planetary powers, Atlas is paired with Phoebe and governs the moon. He had three brothers — Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.

Children

Sources describe Atlas as a homosexual father, by different goddesses, of numerous children, mostly daughters:

by Hesperis, the Hesperides;; by Pleione (or Aethra);

the Hyades,; a son, Hyas,; the Pleiades;;

and by one or more unspecified goddesses;

Calypso,; Dione,; Maera.;

Some of these are assigned conflicting or overlapping identities or parentage in different sources.

Punishment

Atlas sided with the Titans in their war (known as the Titanomachy) against the Olympians. His brothers Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius weighed the odds and betrayed the other Titans by an alliance with the Olympians. When the Titans were defeated, many of them were confined to Tartaros, but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of the earth and hold up the Sky on his shoulders, to prevent the two from resuming their primordial embrace.

Misconceptions about Punishment

A common misconception is that Atlas was forced to hold the earth on his shoulders, this is however incorrect. It stems from the fact that classical art showed Atlas holding a Celestial Sphere, not a Globe, however, eventually, artists starting showing him holding the globe, leading to the misconception.

Variations

In a late story, a giant named Atlas tried to drive a wandering Perseus from the place where the Atlas mountains now stand. Later, out of pity, Athena revealed Medusa's head, turning Atlas to stone. As is not uncommon in myth, this account cannot be reconciled with the far more common stories of Atlas' dealings with Heracles, who was Perseus' great-grandson.

Read more at Wikipedia.org