A COMPLETE LIST OF TITANS & TITANESSES

Pindar, Pythian Ode 4. 290 ff (trans. Conway)

(Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :
"Does not even now great Atlas struggle to bear
up the weight of heaven, far from his fathers
land and his possessions? But almighty Zeus set
free the Titanes for as time passes and the
breeze abates, the sails are set anew."
The Titans were an elder generation of gods who
ruled the cosmos before the Olympians gods
came to power. They were responsible for the
original ordering of time and the establishment of
fixed heavenly cycles.
The eldest of the Titans--Cronos and his four
brothers, Crius, Coeus, Hyperion and Iapetus-were imprisoned in the stormy pit of Tartarus by
Zeus after he was victorious in the War. Many of
the younger Titan gods, however, allied
themselves with Zeus and retained their divine
rights under the new regime. Some of these allies
later proved to be rebellious and were sentenced
to harsh punishments, such as Atlas who was
condemned to bear the heavens, and
Prometheus, who was chained to a rock and an
eagle set to feed on his liver.
The female Titans or Titanides remained neutral
in the War, and retained their positions as
prophetic goddesses. Several of these goddesses
became consorts of Zeus and received a place on
Mount Olympos as mothers of the gods.
ADANUS (Adanos) An alternate name for one of
the elder Titan sons of Uranus.
ANDES An alternate name for one of the elder
Titan sons of Uranus. He was perhaps the same
as Hyperion.
ANCHIALE (Ankhiale) A younger Titan goddess
who perhaps represented the warmth of fire. She
was the wife of Hecaterus and hte mother of the
metal-working Dactyli.
ANYTUS (Anytos) One of the younger Titans or
Curetes. Anytus was an attendant of the goddess
Demeter who fostered her Arcadian daughter
Despoine.
ASTERIA A younger Titan goddess whose name
and genealogy suggest presided over the night,
stars and nocturnal prophecy. She was the
mother of the goddess Hecate. After the fall of
the Titans Asteria was pursued by Zeus and but

leapt into the sea to escape him where she was

transformed into the island of Delos.
ASTRAEUS (Astraios) The younger Titan god of
the stars, the winds, and the art of astrology. He
was the father of the four directional winds and
the five wandering stars (the Planeta) by his wife
Eos, the goddess of the dawn.
ATLAS The younger Titan god of astronomy and
the revolution of the heavnely constellations. He
was arrested by Zeus and condemned to bear the
heavens upon his shoulders. Homer suggests he
was later released from this torment and
appointed guardian of the pillars of heaven.
AURA The younger Titanis-goddess of the
breezes. She was a virgin huntress raped by the
god Dionysos.
CLYMENE (Klymene) The younger Titanis-goddess
of fame and renown. She was the wife of Iapetos
and mother of Prometheus.
COEUS (Koios) The Titan god of the intellect as his
name would suggest. He was also known as Polus
(the pole) and probably presided over the axis of
heaven in the north around which the
constellations revolve. Coeus was one of the four
Titan-brothers who conspired with Cronus in the
ambush and castration of Uranus. At the end of
the Titan-War, he was confined by Zeus in the
Tartarean pit. Coeus was sometimes described as
leader of the Gigantes, who rebelled against
Zeus.
CRIUS (Kreios) The Titan god of the heavenly
constellations and the measure of the year. He
was probably associated with the constellation
Aries, the heavenly ram (which the Greeks called
Crius). Its spring rising marked the start of the
new year, andthe other constellations were said
to follow in its wake. Crius was one of the four
Titan brothers who conspired with Cronus in the
castration of Uranus. He was later cast into the
Tartarean pit by Zeus. Crius was sometimes
named as a leader of the Gigantes who rebelled
against the rule of Zeus.
CRONUS (Kronos) The King of the Titanes, and the
god of destructive time--time which devours all.
He led his brothers in the ambush and castration
of their father Uranus, but was himself deposed
and cast into the pit of Tartaros by his own son
Zeus. Some say the old Titan was later released
by Zeus and appointed King of Islands of the
Blessed, home of the favoured dead.

CURETES (Kouretes) A group of shield clashing

Daemones or Titan gods who came to the aid of
Rhea to act as guardians of her son Zeus. They
were sometimes called Gigantes, and were
probably the same as those which Hesiod
described as being born from the castration of
Uranus. Their sisters, the Meliae, were Zeus'
nurses.
DIONE A prophetic Titan-goddess who presided
over the Oracle at Dodona alongside Zeus.
According to some she was the mother of the
goddess Aphrodite.
EOS The younger Titan-goddess of the dawn. She
was the mother of the wandering stars (that is,
the planets) and the four directional winds by the
Titan Astraeus.
EPIMETHEUS The Titan god of afterthought. He
was appointed with the task of creating the
beasts of the earth, while his brother Prometheus
was busy with the crafting of man. Epimetheus
was tricked by Zeus into receiving Pandora, the
first woman, and her jar of evils into the house of
man.
EURYBIA A Titan goddess of the power of the sea.
She was the wife of the Uranid Crius.
EURYNOME (1) The younger Titan-goddess of
earth's flowery meadows. She was the mother of
the three lovely Graces by Zeus.
EURYNOME (2) The younger Titan-goddess of the
earth's meadows. She was the wife of the first
Titan-King Ophion. The couple were cast from
heaven by Cronus and Rhea who wrestled them
for the throne. This Eurynome may have been the
same as Tethys.
GIGANTES The War of the Giants and its
combatants the Gigantes were frequently
confounded by the ancients with the Titans and
the Titan War. Sometimes the Gigantes were
represented as soldiers in the army of the Titangods, or as rebellious supporters of the deposed
Titan Cronus.
HECATE (Hekate) The younger Titan-goddess of
the ghosts, witchcraft and necromancy. She
supported Zeus in the Titan war and so retained
all of her privileges.
HELIUS (Helios) The Titan god of the sun who
rode across the sky in a chariot drawn by four
fiery, winged steeds. He was an ally of Zeus in
the Titan-War.

HOPLODAMUS (Hoplodamos) A Titan, Giant or

Curete who with his brothers came to the aid of
the Titaness Rhea after Cronus learnt of her
deceptions surrounding the birth of Zeus.
HYPERION The Titan god of light, and of the
cycles of time measured by the lights of heaven -the sun, the moon and the dawn. Hyperion was
one of the four brother Titans who held Uranus
fast while Cronus castrated him with the sickle. At
the end of the Titan War he was cast into the pit
of Tartarus by Zeus.
IAPETUS (Iapetos) The Titan god of mortality and
the allotment of the mortal life-span. His sons
Prometheus and Epimetheus were the creators of
animals and men. Iapetus was one of the four
brother-Titans who held Uranus fast while Cronus
castrated him with the sickle. As punishment he
was cast into the Tartarean pit by Zeus at the end
of the Titan War.
LELANTOS The Titan god of the breezes of the air.
His name means "the unnoticed" or "unseen
one".
LETO The younger Titan-goddess of motherhood,
light, and womanly demure. She was the mother
of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis by Zeus.
MEGAMEDES Another name for the Titan Crios,
meaning "the great lord."
MELISSEUS The Titan or Curete god of honey. He
was one of the protectors of the infant Zeus. His
daughters were the god's nurses.
MENOETIUS (Menoitios) The Titan god of violent
anger and rash action as his name would
suggest. Zeus blasted him into Erebus with a
thunderbolt, where he became a bondsman of
King Hades.
METIS The younger Titan-goddess of good
counsel. She was an ally of Zeus in the Titan War
who fed Cronus an elixir which forced him to
disgorge his five devoured children. Later she was
swallowed whole by Zeus who had learned that a
son born of their union was destined to depose
him. Their only child was instead a daughter,
Athena, who sprang fully grown from her father's
head.
MNEMOSYNE The elder Titanis-goddess of
memory, words and language. She was the
mother of the nine Muses by Zeus. Mnemosyne
was also a prophetic goddess associated with the
oracle of Trophonius in Lebadeia.

MUSES ELDER (Mousai) Three Titan goddesses of

music and song. One of them, Mneme (Memory),
was the mother of the nine younger Muses by
Zeus.
MYLINUS (Mylinos) A Titan or Giant of the island
of Crete who was destroyed by Zeus. His name
means "he of the grinding millstone," and he was
perhaps the same as Cronus "time."
OCEANUS (Okeanos) The Titan god of the earthencircling, fresh-water river Oceanus. As a Titan
god he presided over the rising and setting of the
heavenly bodies : the sun, the moon, the stars,
and the dawn. His ever-flowing waters, encircling
the edges of the cosmos were associated with the
neverending flow of time. Oceanus was the only
one of the brother Uranides not to participate in
the castration of their father Uranus. In the TitanWar he remained neutral, giving his tacit support
to Zeus.
OLYMBRUS (Olymbros) An alternate name for one
of the elder Titan. He may be the same as
Olympus
the Cretan mentor of Zeus.
OLYMPUS (Olympus) A Cretan Titan or Giant who
mentored Zeusin his youth. He later roused his
kin in an uprisal against the god but was
destroyed. Olympos (whose name may derive
from a word meaning eternal time) was perhaps
the same as Cronus or Olymbrus.
OPHION The eldest of the Titan gods whose
brother Cronus wrestled him for the throne of
heaven and cast him down into the Oceanstream. He was probably the same as Oceanus,
or perhaps Uranus.
OSTASUS An alternative name for one of the Titan
sons of Uranus.
PALLAS The Titan god of warcraft and the military
campaign season. Some say Athena defeated him
in battle and crafted her aegis-cape from his
goatish skin.
PERSES The Titan god of destruction, and perhaps
of summer droughts whose name means "the
destroyer." Like his daughter Hecate, he was
probably associated with the dog-sta r: the source
of scorching heat of mid-summer.
PHOEBE (Phoibe) The elder Titan-goddess of
intellect and prophetic goddess of the great
Oracle of Delphi. She was the grandmother of the
god Apollo.

PHORCYS (Phorkys) The old man of the sea was

sometimes named as one of the six Titan sons of
Uranus.
POLUS (Polos) The Titan god of the axis of heaven
("polos"). He was usually called Coeus.
PROMETHEUS The Titan god of forethought and
the creator and benefactor of man. He defied
Zeus on several occasions, including tricking the
gods out of the best share of the sacrificial meat,
and stealing fire from heaven for the benefit of
mankind. Zeus was furious, and had Prometheus
chained to Mount Caucasus, where an eagle was
set to devour his ever-regenerating liver. The
Titan was eventually released from his tortures by
Heracles.
RHEA (Rheia) The Queen of the Titans and
goddess of female fertility and the mountain
wilds. She saved her son Zeus from the maw of
Cronus by substituting the child for a stone
wrapped in swaddling cloth. The Titan had
devoured her other five children, but these were
later freed from his beely by Zeus.
SELENE The younger Titan-goddess of the moon.
STYX The younger Titan-goddess of oaths of
allegiance and of the deadly, netherworld River
Styx. She brought her children Victory, Rivalry,
Force and Power to the side of Zeus at the start of
the Titan-War.
SYCEUS (Sykeus) A Titan or giant who fled from
Zeus in the course of their war against the gods.
He was hidden by his mother in the earth in the
guise of a fig tree or its sprouting seed.
TETHYS The elder Titan-goddess of the sources of
fresh-water. She was known as the great nurse
("tethis") of life, and was sometimes equated with
Thesis, the goddess "creation." Tethys spawned
the Rivers, Clouds and Springs.
THEIA The elder Titanis goddess of sight and the
shining light of heaven ("aither"). She was the
mother of Sun, Moon and Dawn. Her name is also
connected with words meaning "foresight" and
"prophecy".
THEMIS The elder Titan-goddess of the natural
order, divine law and tradition. She was also a
goddess of the oracles of Dodona and Delphi. By
Zeus she was the mother of the goddess Fates
and of the Seasons, and had a seat by his side on
Olympus as advisor.

TITAN A Titan god who instructed mankind in the

observation of the stars and establishment of the
natural or farming calendar. He was perhaps the
same as Atlas.

The Titans were overthrown by a race of younger

gods, the Olympians, in a ten-year war called the
Titanomachy ("War of the Titans") - a series of
battles which were fought in Thessaly between
the two camps of deities long before the
existence of mankind. This Titanomachia is also
known as the Battle of the Titans, Battle of Gods,
or just The Titan War. It represented a
mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks may
have borrowed from the Ancient Near East.
The 12 Titans gods, also known as the elder gods.
Their ruler was Cronus who was dethroned by his
son Zeus. Most of the Titans fought with Cronus
against Zeus and were punished by being
banished to Tartarus.
Greeks of the Classical age knew of several
poems about the war between the gods. The
dominant one, and the only one that has
survived, was in the Theogony attributed to
Hesiod. A lost epic Titanomachy attributed to the
blind Thracian bard Thamyris, himself a
legendary figure, was mentioned in passing in an
essay On Music that was once attributed to
Plutarch. And the Titans played a prominent role
in the poems attributed to Orpheus. Although
only scraps of the Orphic narratives survive, they
show interesting differences with the Hesiodic
tradition.

These Greek myths of the Titanomachy fall into a

class of similar myths of a War in Heaven
throughout Europe and the Near East, where one
generation or group of gods by and large opposes
the dominant one. Sometimes the Elder Gods are
supplanted. Sometimes the rebels lose, and are
either cast out of power entirely or incorporated
into the pantheon. Other examples might include
the wars of the Aesir with the Vanir and Jotuns in
Scandinavian mythology, the Babylonian epic
Enuma Elish, the Hittite "Kingship in Heaven"
narrative, and the obscure generational conflict in
Ugaritic fragments. The rebellion of Lucifer from
Christianity could also fall under this category.
In Hesiod's Theogony the twelve Titans follow the
Hundred-handers and Cyclopes as children of
Ouranos, heaven, and Gaia, the Earth. Ouranos
considers Cronus monsterous, and so imprisons
him in the bowels of the Earth. Cronus, aided by
the Hundred-handers and Cyclopes, then sets
upon his father, castrates him, and sets himself
up as king of the gods, with Rhea as his wife and
queen.
Rhea bears a new generation of gods to Cronus,
but in fear that they will overthrow him, he
swallows them all one by one. Only Zeus is
saved: Rhea gives Cronus a stone in swaddling
clothes in his place, and places him in Crete to be
guarded by the Kouretes.
Once Zeus reaches adulthood, he subdues Cronus
by force. Using a potion concocted with the help
of Gaia, his grandmother, forcibly cause Cronus
to vomit up Zeus's siblings. A war between the
younger and many of older gods commences, in
which Zeus is aided by the Hundred-handers,
Gigantes, and Cyclopes, who have once again
been freed from Tartarus. Zeus wins after a long
struggle, and casts many of the Titans down into
Tartarus.
And yet the older gods leave their mark on the
world. Some of them - like Mnemosyne, Gaia,
Rhea, Hyperion, Themis and Metis - had not
fought the Olympians, and become key players in
the new administration. The Titans also leave
behind a number of offspring, some of whom may
also be counted as Titans, most notably the sons
of Iapetus - Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas, and
Menoetius. Many ancient sources follow Hesiod

closely, with minor variations: Apollodorus adds

Dione as a thirteenth Titan.
Surviving fragments of Orphic poetry in particular
preserve some variations on the myth.In one
Orphic text, Zeus does not simply set upon his
father violently. Instead, Rhea spreads out a
banquet for Cronus, so that he becomes drunk
upon honey. Zeus chains him and castrates him.
Rather than being consigned to Tartarus, Cronus
is dragged - still drunk - to the cave of Night,
where he continues to dream and prophesy
throughout eternity.
By and large Neopagan views of Titans can be
considered 'New Age'. Many of the ancient myths
are often conveniently reinterpreted as metaphor
or seen as man's account of the divine. As such
rather or not most modern beliefs regarding the
Titans are grounded in actual mythology is often
irrelevant to many Neopagans of today. In the
United States Hellenistic Neopagan sects often
have a special place for the Titan gods of ancient
Greece, in particular Gaia, Cronus, Hecate,
Hyperion, Theia, and Themis. It is sometimes
argued that most of the beliefs regarding these
Titan gods are inspired by popular fiction and
entertainment media and not by actual
mythology.
The second generation of Cyclopes was a band of
lawless shepherds living in Sicily who had lost the
skill of metallurgy. Polyphemus, son of Poseidon
and the sea nymph Thoosa, is the only notable
individual of the lot and figures prominently in
Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus and his crew landed
on Sicily, realm of the Cyclopes. He and a few of
his best men became trapped in Polyphemus'
cave when Polyphemus rolled a large boulder in
front of the entrance to corral his sheep while
Odysseus was still inside. Polyphemus was fond
of human flesh and devoured many of the men
for dinner. On the second night, Odysseus told
Polyphemus that his name was "Nobody," and
tricked him into drinking enough wine to pass
out. While he was incapacitated,
Odysseus/Nobody blinded him with a red hot
poker. Polyphemus shouted in pain to the other

Cyclopes on the island that "Nobody" was trying

to kill him, so no one came to his rescue.
Eventually, he had to roll away the stone to allow
his sheep to graze. Odysseus and the remaining
crew clung to the bellies of the exiting sheep
where Polyphemus could not feel them as they
passed him on their way to pasture and escaped.
As Odysseus sailed away from the island, he
shouted to Polyphemus that it was Odysseus who
had blinded him. Enraged, the Cyclops threw
huge boulders at the ship and shouted to his
father, Poseidon, to avenge him.
Recent scholars have hypothesized about the
origin of the Cyclopes' single eye. One possibility
is that in ancient times, smiths could have worn
an eye patch over one eye to prevent being
blinded in both eyes from flying sparks. Also,
smiths sometimes tattooed themselves with
concentric circles which could have been in honor
of the sun which provided the fire for their
furnaces. Concentric rings were also part of the
pattern for making bowls, helmets, masks, and
other metal objects. Notice that the first
generation Cyclopes were associated with metalworking while the second generation was not.
Apparently, the lawless band of Cyclopes is a
later addition to the myths. The incidence with
Polyphemus seems to have had an independent
existence from the Odyssey before Homer added
it to his epic adventure. It was probably told as a
separate myth at certain functions.
It is uncertain why the Cyclopes were demoted
from the smiths of the gods to a lawless group of
monsters with no reverence for the gods. When
the universe came into being, there were many
monsters and vague forms that were gradually
replaced with beings with more human forms.
Order was replacing chaos. The monsters were
phased out, and this could have lead to the
transformation of the "good" Cyclopes to the
"evil" Cyclopes that were destined to be fought
and defeated by the divine human form.