The Pivotal Role Of Atlas In Ancient Greek Myth

Beginning around 700 B.C., stories by Homer and other Greek poets told of the lives of powerful gods who involved themselves in human affairs. Supreme among these gods was Zeus, but to the Romans he was known as Jupiter. Zeus was the supreme god and ruler of Olympus. He was known by many titles: Lord of the Sky, the Cloud- gatherer, the Rain-god, and Zeus the Thunderer. All of which are the most popular names dating back to ancient Greek history and mythology.

Zeus, he was the king of the gods and the supreme ruler of people. He originally was a god of the sky. In time, the Greeks regarded him as the only god who concerned him-self with the whole universe. They also associated Zeus with justice and believed that he punished the wicked and rewarded the good. He belonged to the race of Titans, and was the son of Cronus and Rhea. After overthrowing Cronus, Zeus took his father's place and ruled from Mount Olympus. He headed a family of twelve major gods, called the Olympians.

Zeus, his name is synonymous with Greek mythology and religion. God of the weather and sky he used his powers of wind, lightning, and thunder to uphold the law and keep order. He ruled Mount Olympus as well as the pantheon of gods who lived there. Watching over mankind he would punish those who defied him and help those who were wronged. However, Zeus did have his flaws. His quick tempered nature combined with his lust for women made him relatable to the common man. From his coming to power until the beginning of Christianity, this complex god would have no equal.

Zeus: He is the king of all gods and goddesses, ruler of Mount Olympus. Zeus is the god of sky and thunder. His symbols would be the thunderbolt, Eagle, Bull, and the Oak tree. In relation to the other gods and goddesses Poseidon and Hades are known as his brothers and Hera is known as his sister and his wife. Cronus and Rhea were the parents of Zeus. His father wanted to swallow him like the rest of his older siblings because Cronus was afraid of his children gaining more power than him. Before Cronus had a chance to swallow Zeus, Rhea took him to Mount Crete. When Zeus got older he caused his father to throw up his brothers and sisters and together they destroyed Cronus.

Atlas was one of the strongest, and most respected titan of them all. Close friend and a follower of Cronus. He would partake in the danger provoked by Cronus’s son Zeus. Atlas is the son of Iapetus. A brother to Prometheus, and Epimetheus. Atlas leading a battle against Zeus. Unfortunately even though Atlas was one of the strongest Titan, he had a punishment that no individual could bear. (Atlas Mythology)

Zeus was the supreme god and ruler of Olympus. He was known by many names: Lord of the Sky, the Rain-god, the Cloud-gatherer, and Zeus the Thunderer. Zeus was the sixth child born to Cronus and Rhea behind Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Dementer, and Hera. The high soaring eagle was sacred to him, and to the Romans he was known as Jupiter. Zeus was a strong, mighty, awesome, glorious, and wise god. Although, he was very foolish and naïve with hiding his love affairs from Hera.

Atlas was one of the Titans, the one who held the world upon his back. The golden apples were a wedding gift Gaea gave to Hera, and they were guarded by the immortal dragon that has hundreds of heads. Heracles knew that it would be near impossible to defeat it, so he was advised to ask Atlas for his help. He told Atlas he would hold the sky upon his shoulder if he goes to get the golden apples. Atlas did that, and once he was back, he told Heracles that he would bring the apples to Eurystheus himself since he was tired of holding the world upon his shoulders. Heracles told him that he would do it, but to hold it back for a moment until he gets something to make the task a little easier. Once Atlas did that, he took the apples and ran

Zeus is the Greek god of the sky and ruler of the Olympians. Zeus overthrew his father, Cronus, then drew lots with his brothers in order to decide who would succeed their father on the throne. Zeus was the winner of the draw and became the almighty ruler of the gods, as well became the lord of the sky and rain. Zeus was one who was easily angered which was not a good thing sometimes.. He also easily fell in love and had affairs with various women. Some of the abilities he possessed was the ability to throw lightning bolts. He had a winged horse called a Pegasus which carried his lightning bolts and he had trained an eagle to retrieve his lightning bolts.

Atlas was the Titan God of astronomy and navigation. He was the son of Iapetus and Clymene, and the brother of Prometheus, Epithemus, and Menoetius. He was married to his sister, Phoebe, and had lots of children including the Hesperides, the Hyades, Hyas, the Pleiades, Dione, Maera, and Calypso. Atlas had the Atlantic Ocean named after him; Atlantic meaning the “Sea of Atlas” and the lost city; Atlantis meaning the “Island of Atlas”.

Atlas was always causing trouble. He was doing this by starting wars or fights. It really depended on the day he was having that affected his mood and how he would act during the day. Atlas was a Titan god of endurance. He was also identified as a god of astronomy because he was the first who instructed mankind in astronomical science which was basically used for navigation and measuring the seasons.

This week in history, Atlas was sentenced by Zeus to hold the sky on his shoulders. Godly Gossip went to investigate some of the rumors that eventually spread, saying that Atlas planned to sacrifice himself and let go of the sky as revenge on Zeus.

Atlas is not one of the Olympians, he is the Titan God of navigation and astronomy. Aaron J. Atsma, creator and editor of website Theoi Greek Mythology: Exploring Mythology In Literature and Art states that Atlas was also the god who taught mankind in the art of astronomy, a device that was used by sailors in navigation on their ships and by farmers to measure the seasons throughout the year.These roles were usually put together and showed how Atlas became the god who turned the earth and sky on their axis, which caused the stars to move in the universe. Since the earth was on a tilted axis, it gave us our seasons Summer, Spring Winter and Fall throughout the year which we still experience until this day.

Atlus is the Titan god of astronomy and navigation, whose name means ‘very enduring’. He was punished by Zeus to forever stand on the western side of the Earth and hold the heavens on his shoulders to keep the heavens and Earth apart. This was because during the war between the Titans and the Olympian gods for control of the heavens, also known as the Titanomachy, he led the Titan’s in battle along with his brother Menoetius, and the Titans were the losing side. Their brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus, were on the opposing side, the Olympian gods.

Many a few have heard of Atlas, the almighty titan. After the gods of olympus, led by Zeus defeated the titans, Atlas was charged to eternally bear the weight of the world on his shoulders. To be a bit more specific, Atlas was mandated to keep apart the heavens and the Earth. This was the predicament of a number of titans at the hands of Zeus and the other Gods. For example, Prometheus, creator of the Earth is tortured eternally. Every Day, a murderous phoenix attacks him and steals his liver, and everyday, his liver grows back so that he suffers the pain each and every day. Well, both Prometheus and Atlas helped our beloved hero Hercules with his 12 labors. His eleventh labor was to retrieve some golden apples from the Garden of Hesperides. However, this garden was protected by a powerful fire-breathing

I believe that every Greek god has their own way of being significant. But I also believe that one Greek god does stand out. I think that the most significant Greek God that we have read about is Zeus. Zeus was known to be the as the King of all Gods in mythology. Since we covered most of the Greek gods and goddesses I read so much descriptions about Zeus that honestly point him out as to being the most significant. In the eyes of many people Zeus (Roman name is Jupiter) was portrayed as the king who basically oversaw the whole universe. He was the brother of Poseidon (who was the God of the sea) and Hades (who was the God of the underworld). Even though both Poseidon and Hades were powerful, Zeus was even more powerful. Like I have mentioned before Zeus was often referred to as the “Father of God and Men”. He literally was the father of the majority of Gods because of his sexual activities with many of the female goddesses. Zeus controlled the lighting and thunder. He usually used the lighting as a weapon. He was the king of the famous Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus was basically the home of many different Greek Gods that were mentioned over the course. Because he was so powerful and so significant he assigned the positions to many different gods. For example he gave Aphrodite the position as being the Goddess of love and gave Apollo the position of being the God of the sun. Aphrodite and Apollo