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This page is about the Titan. For a collection of maps, see atlas. For other uses, see Atlas (disambiguation).

Atlas
Titan of endurance and astronomy
The Farnese Atlas, a 2nd century Roman marble and copy of an earlier Hellenistic sculpture. It is the oldest known representation of the celestial sphere.
Abode	Western edge of Gaia (the Earth)
Personal information
Parents	Iapetus (father) Asia or Clymene (mother)
Consort	Pleione Hesperius
Children	The Hesperides The Hyades The Pleiades Hyas Calypso Dione Maera
Equivalents
Roman equivalent	Atlas

In Greek mythology, Atlas (/ˈætləs/; Greek: Ἄτλας, Átlas) was a Titan condemned to hold up the celestial heavens for eternity after the Titanomachy. Atlas also plays a role in the myths of two of the greatest Greek heroes: Heracles (the Roman equivalent being Hercules) and Perseus. According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, Atlas stood at the ends of the earth in extreme west. Later, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa and was said to be "King of Mauretania". Atlas was said to have been skilled in philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. In antiquity, he was credited with inventing the first celestial sphere. In some texts, he is even credited with the invention of astronomy itself.

Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Clymene. He had many children, mostly daughters, the Hesperides, the Hyades, the Pleiades, and the nymph Calypso who lived on the island Ogygia.

The term Atlas has been used to describe a collection of maps since the 16th century when German-Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published his work in honor of the mythological Titan. The "Atlantic Ocean" means "Sea of Atlas", while "Atlantis" means "island of Atlas", with some myths calling the deity a king of Atlantis.

Etymology

The etymology of the name Atlas is uncertain. Virgil took pleasure in translating etymologies of Greek names by combining them with adjectives that explained them: for Atlas his adjective is durus, "hard, enduring", which suggested to George Doig that Virgil was aware of the Greek τλῆναι "to endure"; Doig offers the further possibility that Virgil was aware of Strabo's remark that the native North African name for this mountain was Douris. Since the Atlas mountains rise in the region inhabited by Berbers, it has been suggested that the name might be taken from one of the Berber, specifically ádrār 'mountain'.

Traditionally historical linguists etymologize the Ancient Greek word Ἄτλας (genitive: Ἄτλαντος) as comprised from copulative α- and the Proto-Indo-European root *telh₂- 'to uphold, support' (whence also τλῆναι), and which was later reshaped to an nt-stem. However, Robert Beekes argues that it cannot be expected that this ancient Titan carries an Indo-European name, and that the word is of Pre-Greek origin, and such words often end in -ant.

Mythology

Atlas and Prometheus' punishment. A Lakonian cup (c. 550 BC) by the Arkesilas Painter

Oldest Legends

In Homer's Odyssey, Atlas is described as "oloophron" or baleful, a word which means "with destructive thoughts" and was applied to wild animals and dangerous humans. In his account Atlas "knows the depths of all the seas, and he, no other, guards (or holds) the tall pillars that keep the sky and earth apart." Though classical greek myths state that the Titans are an older generation of primordial gods, there is no evidence that the Titans had ancient cults that worshipped them, as was the case for the younger generation of gods, the Olympians. This is true even in the early Mycenaean or Minoan period, and so the defeat and punishment of the Titans did not symbolize some historic change in religion to new a pantheon of gods. Despite Homer's description, there is no evidence that the word "Titan" equated with "wild" "rebellious" even "wicked" as has been suggested by some scholars. Rather, the gods of Asia minor, such as those of the Hittites, tell tales of battling gods that show points of contact with the greek tales of the Titans.

Punishment

Main article: Titanomachy

Atlas and his brother Menoetius sided with the Titans in their war against the Olympians, the Titanomachy. When the Titans were defeated, many of them (including Menoetius) were confined to Tartarus, but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of Gaia (the Earth) and hold up the sky on his shoulders. Thus, he was Atlas Telamon, "enduring Atlas," and became a doublet of Coeus, the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve.

A common misconception today is that Atlas was forced to hold the Earth on his shoulders, but Classical art shows Atlas holding the celestial spheres, not a globe; the solidity of the marble globe borne by the renowned Farnese Atlas may have aided the conflation, reinforced in the 16th century by the developing usage of atlas to describe a corpus of terrestrial maps.

Encounter with Heracles

Olympia Metopes c. 470-57 BC. Athena, Atlas, Heracles and the apples of the Hesperides

Main article: Heracles

One of the Twelve Labors of the hero Heracles was to fetch some of the golden apples which grow in Hera's garden, tended by Atlas' reputed daughters, the Hesperides which were also called the Atlantides, and guarded by the dragon Ladon. Heracles went to Atlas and offered to hold up the heavens while Atlas got the apples from his daughters.

Upon his return with the apples, however, Atlas attempted to trick Heracles into carrying the sky permanently by offering to deliver the apples himself, as anyone who purposely took the burden must carry it forever, or until someone else took it away. Heracles, suspecting Atlas did not intend to return, pretended to agree to Atlas' offer, asking only that Atlas take the sky again for a few minutes so Heracles could rearrange his cloak as padding on his shoulders. When Atlas set down the apples and took the heavens upon his shoulders again, Heracles took the apples and ran away.

In some versions, Heracles instead built the two great Pillars of Hercules to hold the sky away from the earth, liberating Atlas much as he liberated Prometheus.

Encounter with Perseus

Main article: Perseus

The greek poet Polyidus ca. 398 BC tells a tale of Atlas, then a shepherd, encountering Perseus who turned him to stone. Ovid later gives a more detailed account of the incident, combining it with the myth of Heracles. In this account Atlas is not a shepherd but a King. According to Ovid, Perseus arrives in Atlas's Kingdom and asks for shelter, declaring he is a son of Zeus. Altas, fearful of a prophecy which warned of a son of Zeus stealing his golden apples from his orchard, refuses Perseus hospitality. In this account, Atlas is turned not just into stone by Perseus, but an entire mountain range: Atlas's head the peak, his shoulders ridges and his hair woods. The prophecy did not relate to Perseus stealing the golden apples but Heracles, another son of Zeus, and Perseus' great-grandson.

Other Variations

Frontispiece of Mercator's 1595 collection of maps, dedicated to Atlas "king of Mauretania"

King of Atlantis

Main article: Atlantis

According to Plato, the first king of Atlantis was also named Atlas, but that Atlas was a son of Poseidon and the mortal woman Cleito. The works of Eusebius and Diodorus also give an Atlantean account of Atlas. In these accounts, Atlas's father was Uranus and mother Gaia. His grandfather was Elium "King of Phoenicia" who lived in Byblos with his wife Beruth. Atlas was raised by his sister, Basilia.

King of Mauretania

Atlas was also a legendary king of Mauretania, the land of the Mauri in antiquity roughly corresponding with modern Maghreb. In the 16th Century Gerardus Mercator put together the first collection of maps to be called an "Atlas" and devoted his book to the "King of Mauretania".

Atlas became associated with Northwest Africa over time. He had been connected with the Hesperides, "Nymphs" which guarded the golden apples, and Gorgons both of which lived beyond Ocean in the extreme west of the world since Hesiod's Theogony. Diodorus and Palaephatus mention that the Gorgons lived in the Gorgades, islands in the Aethiopian Sea. The main island was called Cerna and modern day arguments have been advanced that these islands may correspond to Cape Verde due to Phoenician exploration. The Northwest Africa region emerged as the canonical home of the King via separate sources. In particular, according to Ovid, after Perseus turns Atlas to into a mountain range, he flies over Aethiopia, the blood of Medusa's head giving rise to Libyan snakes. By the time of the Roman empire the habit of associating Atlas' home to a chain of mountains, the Atlas mountains, which were near Mauretania and Numidia, was firmly entrenched.

Other

The identifying name Aril is inscribed on two 5th-century BCE Etruscan bronze items, a mirror from Vulci and a ring from an unknown site. Both objects depict the encounter with Atlas of Hercle, the Etruscan Heracles, identified by the inscription; they represent rare instances where a figure from Greek mythology is imported into Etruscan mythology, but the name is not. The Etruscan name Aril is etymologically independent.

According to Robert Graves's The Greek Myths, the Pelasgians believed the creator goddess Eurynome assigned Atlas and Phoebe to govern the moon.

Genealogy

Atlas and the Hesperides by Singer Sargent, John (1925)

According to Hesiod, Atlas a son of Iapetus and Clymene, and a brother of Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus. According to Apollodorus, his mother's name was Asia; and, according to Hyginus, he was a son of Aether and Gaia. In Plato's Atlantis Atlas is son of Neputune and...

According to Diodorus and Eusebius Atlas's father was Uranus and mother Gaia. His grandfather was Elium "King of Phoenicia" who lived in Byblos with his wife Beruth. Atlas was raised by his sister, Basilia.

According to Servius.

• Iapetus & Clymene (Hesoid)
• Iapetus & Asia (Apollodorus}
• Iapetus (Ovid)
• Aether & Gaia (Hyginus)
• Uranus & Gaia (Diodorus)
• Poseidon & Cleito (Plato)

Sources describe Atlas as the father, by different goddesses, of numerous children, mostly daughters. Some of these are assigned conflicting or overlapping identities or parentage in different sources.

• By Hesperius:
  • the Hesperides
• By Pleione (or Aethra):
  • the Hyades
  • a son, Hyas
  • the Pleiades
• By one or more unspecified goddesses:
  • Calypso
  • Dione
  • Maera

Hyginus emphasises the primordial nature of Atlas by making him the son of Aether and Gaia.

Cultural influence

Main article: Atlas (disambiguation)

Atlas' best-known cultural association is in cartography. The first publisher to associate the Titan Atlas with a group of maps was the print-seller Antonio Lafreri, on the engraved title-page he applied to his ad hoc assemblages of maps, Tavole Moderne Di Geografia De La Maggior Parte Del Mondo Di Diversi Autori (1572); however, he did not use the word "A"tlas" in the title of his work, an innovation of Gerardus Mercator, who dedicated his "atlas" specifically to honour the Titan, Atlas, King of Mauretania, a learned philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer.

In psychology, Atlas is used metaphorically to describe the personality of someone whose childhood was characterized by excessive responsibilities.

Gallery

• 
  Atlas supports the terrestrial globe on a building in Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia.
• 
  Nautilus Cup. This drinking vessel, for court feasts, depicts Atlas holding the shell on his back. The Walters Art Museum
• 
  Sculpture of Atlas, Praza do Toural, Santiago de Compostela
• 
  Lee Lawrie's colossal bronze Atlas, Rockefeller Center, New York
• 
  Greco-Buddhist (c. AD 100) Atlas, supporting a Buddhist monument, Hadda, Afghanistan

See also

• Atlas (architecture)
• Bahamut, a rough analogue from Arabian mythology
• Farnese Atlas
• Upelluri, a rough analogue from Hurrian mythology
• Mythical world-bearing animals

References

Test

Ancient Sources

• Homer, The Odyssey, ca. 725 BC
• Hesiod, Theogony, ca. 700 BC
• Polyidus, fr. 837 PMG, ca. 398 BC
• Plato, Critias, ca. 400-350 BC
• Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, ca. 60-30 BC
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae, ca. 50 BC
• Virgil, Aeneid, ca. 29-19 BC
• Ovid, Metamorphoses, ca. 20 BC
• Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, ca. 100-200 AD
• Eusebius of Caesarea, Praeparatio evangelica, ca. 313 AD
• Second Vatican Mythographer, 114 Bode, ca. 1000-1100 AD

Modern Sources

• Akerman, J. R. (1994). "Atlas, la genèse d'un titre". In Watelet, M. (ed.). Gerardi Mercatoris, Atlas Europae. Antwerp: Bibliothèque des Amis du Fonds Mercator. pp. 15–29.
• Diodorus Siculus (1933–67). Oldfather, C. H.; Sherman, C. L.; Welles, C. B.; Geer, R. M.; Walton, F. R. (eds.). Diodorus of Sicily : The Library of History. 12 Vols (2004 ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
• Gantz, T. (1993). Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-4410-2. LCCN 92026010. OCLC 917033766.
• Grafton, A.; Most, G. W.; Settis, S., eds. (2010). The Classical Tradition (2013 ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-07227-5. LCCN 2010019667. OCLC 957010841.
• Hornblower, S.; Spawforth, A.; Eidinow, E., eds. (2012). The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8. LCCN 2012009579. OCLC 799019502.
• Keuning, J. (1947). "The History of an Atlas: Mercator. Hondius". Imago Mundi. 4 (1): 37–62. doi:10.1080/03085694708591880. ISSN 0308-5694. JSTOR 1149747.
• Lemprière, J. (1833). Anthon, C. (ed.). A Classical Dictionary. New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill [etc.] LCCN 31001224. OCLC 81170896.
• Ogden, D. (2008). Perseus (1st ed.). London ; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-42724-1. LCCN 2007031552. OCLC 163604137.
• Ogden, D. (2013). Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-955732-5. LCCN 2012277527. OCLC 799069191.
• Ramachandran, A. (2015). The Worldmakers: Global Imagining in Early Modern Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-28879-6. OCLC 930260324.
• Mercator, G.; Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection (Library of Congress) (2000). Karrow, R. W. (ed.). Atlas sive Cosmographicæ Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura: Duisburg, 1595 (PDF). Translated by Sullivan, D. Oakland, CA: Octavo. ISBN 978-1-891788-26-0. LCCN map55000728. OCLC 48878698. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 Mar 2016.
• Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, London: Penguin, 1955; Baltimore: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-001026-2
• Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Hesiod; Works and Days, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Atlas"

External links

• Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (c. 140 images of Atlas)

Category:Greek gods Category:Mythology of Heracles Category:Titans Category:Kings of Mauretania