Atlas

Nationality/Culture

Greek

Pronunciation

AT-luhs

Alternate Names

None

Appears In

Hesiod's Theogony, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Hyginus's Fabulae

Lineage

Son of Iapetus and Clymene

Character Overview

In Greek mythology, Atlas (pronounced AT-luhs) was a Titan, a son of Titans Iapetus (pronounced eye-AP-uh-tus) and Clymene (pronounced KLEM-eh-nee), also known as Asia. After the Titans lost a war against the upstart younger god Zeus (pronounced ZOOS), Adas was condemned to stand forever holding up the heavens.

Atlas belonged to an illustrious, or widely known, family. One of his brothers was Prometheus (pronounced pruh-MEE-thee-uhs), god of fire and creator of humankind. Atlas's daughters included the Pleiades (pronounced PLEE-uh-deez), a group of seven stars that announce good spring weather; the Hyades (pronounced HIGH-uh-deez), the stars that announce the rainy season; and the nymph Calypso (pronounced kuh-LIP-soh). Atlas was also either the father or the grandfather of the Hesperides (pronounced hee-SPER-uh-deez), nymphs who, according to Greek legend, guarded a tree bearing golden apples.

Major Myths

Many different stories are told about Atlas. One story features Heracles (pronounced HAIR-uh-kleez; also known as Hercules), the great-grandson of Perseus (pronounced PUR-see-uhs). One of the labors of Heracles was to obtain some of the golden apples that were guarded by the Hesperides. Heracles asked Adas to help him get the apples. Seeing an opportunity to escape from the burden of holding up the heavens, Atlas asked Heracles to take over while he obtained the apples. Heracles agreed. When Atlas returned with the apples, he told Heracles that he would deliver them for him. His intention was to leave Heracles to support the heavens; however, Heracles asked Adas to take back the heavens for just a moment so that he could adjust his burden. When Atlas did this, Heracles walked away with the apples.

Another story concerns Perseus, son of Zeus and slayer of the Gorgon Medusa (pronounced meh-DOO-suh). Because of a prophecy, or prediction, that a son of Zeus would one day steal the golden apples of the Hesperides, Atlas refused to offer Perseus hospitality when he came to visit. Insulted, Perseus showed him the severed head of Medusa, which had the power to turn all who looked at it into stone. Atlas was therefore turned into stone. The stone became the Atlas Mountains in what is now the country of Morocco.

Atlas in Context

A collection of maps has been called an atlas since the sixteenth century when cartographer, or mapmaker, Gerardus Mercator (pronounced muhr-KAY-tuhr) put a picture of Adas holding up the earth, not the heavens, on the tide page of his book. Because the place where Atlas stood to perform his task was the westernmost end of the world known to the ancient Greeks, the ocean near him was named the Atlantic in his honor.

For the ancient Greeks, Adas was an attempt to explain how certain things existed the way they did. It was obvious that something thrown into the sky would eventually fall back down, so how did the heavens remain above the Earth? The answer was Atlas, a Titan who held the heavens in place with his enormous strength.

Key Themes and Symbols

Because of the task he performs of holding up the heavens, Atlas has become a symbol of strength, power, and, most importantly, endurance. Atlas also symbolizes the unseen forces at work in the world that allow humans to exist. In the story of Atlas and Heracles, Atlas represents a cunning trickster who attempts to deceive Heracles into performing his thankless task.

Atlas in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life

Atlas has become a popular icon in art, and is usually depicted holding a celestial sphere or the earth upon his shoulders. Sculptures of Atlas have appeared in front of many prestigious buildings, including Rockefeller Center in New York City and the World Trade Center in Amsterdam. The comic book publishing company known as Marvel Comics was previously called Atlas Comics, and the Marvel Comics universe features a super-villain named Adas.

Read, Write, Think, Discuss

Readers can find new sympathy for the difficulty of Atlas's job after reading Rick Riordan's 2007 novel The Titan's Curse, the third in his Percy Jackson series.

SEE ALSO Heracles; Medusa; Prometheus; Titans