TITANS : TITANES. THE TITANES were six elder gods named Kronos, Koios, Krios, Iapetos, Hyperion and Okeanos, ons of Ouranos (Sky) and Gaia (Earth), who ruled the cosmos before the Olympians came to power. When their father was king he imprisoned six giant brothers of the Titanes--the Kyklopes and Hekatonkheires--in the belly of Earth. Gaia was incensed and incited her Titan sons to rebel. Led by Kronos, five of the six brothers, laid an ambush for their father, seizing hold of him as he descended to lie upon Earth.
Four of them--Hyperion, Krios, Koios and Iapetos--were posted at the four corners of the earth to hold Sky fast, while Kronos in the centre castrated him with an adamantine sickle. After they had seized control of the cosmos, the Titanes released their storm giant brothers from Gaia's belly, only to lock them away shortly afterwards in the pit of Tartaros. The sisters of the six Titanes--Rhea, Theia, Mnemosyne, Themis and Tethys--were titled Titanides (or female Titanes). OCEANUS : OKEANOS. OKEANOS (or Oceanus) was the Titan god or Protogenos (primeval deity) of the great earth-encircling river Okeanos, the font of all the earth's fresh-water: including rivers, wells, springs and rain-clouds.
Okeanos was also the god who regulated the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies which were believed to emerge and descend into his watery realm at the ends of the earth. Okeanos' wife was Tethys, the nurse, who was probably thought to distribute his water to the earth via subterranean caverns. Their children were the Potamoi or River-Gods and Okeanides, nymphs of springs and fountains. Unlike his brother Titanes, Okeanos neither participated in the castration of Ouranos nor joined the battle against the younger Olympian gods. He was probably identical to Ophion, an elder Titan in the Orphic myths who ruled heaven briefly before being wrestled and cast into the Ocean stream by Kronos. Hesiod, Theogony 132 ff (trans. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 2 (trans. OPHION (Orphic) HYPERION. HYPERION was the Titan god of light, one of the sons of Ouranos (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth), and the father of the lights of heaven--Eos the Dawn, Helios the Sun, and Selene the Moon.
His wife was Theia, lady of the aither--the shining blue of the sky. Hyperion's name means "watcher from above" or "he who goes above" from the greek words hyper and iôn. Hyperion was one of the four Titan brothers who conspired with Kronos in the castration of their father Ouranos. When Sky descended to lie with Earth, Hyperion, Krios, Koios and Iapetos--posted at the four corners of the world--seized hold of their father and held him fast while Kronos castrated him with a sickle. In this myth these four Titanes personify the great pillars which appear in Near-Eastern cosmogonies holding heaven and earth apart, or else the entire cosmos aloft. As the father of the sun and dawn, Hyperion was no doubt regarded as the Titan of the pillar of the east. Hesiod, Theogony 133 & 207 (trans.
Sources: The Theogony of Hesiod. Sacred-Texts Classics Hesiod Greek translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (ll. 1-25) From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse's Spring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and move with vigorous feet.
(ll. 26-28) `Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.' (ll. 36-52) Come thou, let us begin with the Muses who gladden the great spirit of their father Zeus in Olympus with their songs, telling of things that are and that shall be and that were aforetime with consenting voice. (ll. 104-115) Hail, children of Zeus! (ll. 167-169) So she said; but fear seized them all, and none of them uttered a word. Hesiod, Theogony, line 1. Ref: people, places & things. Note this entire site has moved to Please update your links to us to use this new web address. Thank you! > People, Places, & Things My goal is to create a comprehensive on-line dictionary of all things dealing with Ancient Greece, to create an electronic resource that will be accurate and easy to use. Your suggestions, comments and criticisms are very welcome.
Send email to xavr at operamail dot com To begin, just click on one of the letters at the top of this page. I hope you will find the information you desire and that you will not hesitate to offer your opinion as to the usefulness of the information provided. Sincerely,Michael Stewart Original content Copyright 1996–2005 Michael Stewart. Perseus search. THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art. Mythology, folklore, and religion. History: The Last Tyrant. Note this entire site has moved to Please update your links to us to use this new web address. Thank you! > > The Last Tyrant The last tyrant of ancient Greece was the Athenian, Pisistratus (Peisistratus). In ancient Greece, the term Tyrant was not always associated with bad or self-indulgent leaders.
Some tyrants were noble and benevolent, others were greedy and hypocritical. In our modern age, we have come to accept the idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely and therefore any un-elected leader is either corrupt or will eventually become so. Pisistratus died in 527 BCE and left behind a legacy mixed with egotistical indulgences and priceless contributions to the city and citizens of Athens. In 560 BCE he and his supporters forcefully occupied the Athenian Akropolis (Acropolis) and proclaimed himself tyrant.
Cut and paste the following text for use in a paper or electronic document report. Cut and paste the following html for use in a web report. Protogenoi. The first born of the immortals, who formed the very fabric of the universe, were known in Greek mythology as the Protogenoi (protos meaning "first," and genos "born"). They were, for the most part, purely elemental beings - Uranus was the literal sky, Gaea the body of the earth, etc. A few of them were ocassionally described or portrayed in anthropomorphic form, however these forms were inevitably inseperable from their native element. For example Gaea or Thalassa might appear as a woman half risen from the earth or sea.
AETHER (Aither) The Protogenos of the mists of light which fill the upper zones of air. His element lay beneath the arch of heaven's dome, but high above the airs of the mortal realm. ANANKE The Protogeonos of inevitability, compulsion and necessity. CHAOS (Khaos) The Protogenos of the lower air. CHRONOS (Khronos) The Protogenos of time was the very first being to emerge at creation self-formed. EREBUS (Erebos) The Protogenos of the mists of darkness. PHANES (Orphic) Bulfinch - Index. Sacred-texts Classical Paganism Legends & Sagas CHAPTER I. Introduction.CHAPTER II. Prometheus And Pandora.CHAPTER III. Apollo And Daphne- Pyramus And Thisbe- Cephalus And Procris.CHAPTER IV. Juno And Her Rivals, Io And Callisto- Diana And Actaeon- Latona And The Rustics.CHAPTER V.