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greek titans
In Greek mythology, much is said about the Greek titans, since they are the twelve children that Gea had with Uranus, and they were made up of six male Greek titans who were Oceanus, Ceo, Crio, Hyperion, Iapetus and Chronos, there were also in feminine they were called the Titanesses and the group of six was made up of Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Rhea, Themis, Themis and Tea.
In this way, the Greek titans were a powerful race of gods who ruled the world during the ancient golden age, according to specialists this period is between the end of the sixth century and the seventh century AD.
The Greek titans made their first appearance in the poetic literature called Hesiod's Theogony, where the Greek titans are related to many concepts that are primordial, since some Greek titans simply had the names like the ocean and the earth, which were united to the sun. and to the moon as a natural law.
The twelve Greek titans were headed by the youngest who bore the name of Cronus, who should not be confused with Cronus who makes the personification of time. Who had the idea of overthrowing his father Uranus which means sky, thanks to the requests of his mother Gea which means Earth.
The twelve Greek titans preceded the twelve gods of the Greek Olympus who were guided by the God Zeus, who defeated them in the so-called Titanomachy, which was the so-called war of the titans, where most of the Greek titans sent them to the prison of Tartarus that It is found in the deepest part of the Underworld.
Background of the twelve greek titans
In Greek mythology, it is said that the God Uranus kept all his children locked up in Tartarus prison as punishment, but his wife Gea did not agree with what he did, so he had the idea of sending his youngest son and one of the Greek titans Cronus to fight with his father Uranus.
During the fight Crono managed to castrate the God Uranus with the use of an adamantine sickle, and in this way he was able to free the rest of the Greek titans from the bowels of the earth, for having done that Crono proclaimed himself king of all the Greek titans and He took his sister the Greek Titaness as his queen and wife.
Both began to generate a new generation of Greek gods, but the Greek titan Cronus was worried that one day he would dethrone him, as he did to his father Uranus, swallowing his children at birth.
Rhea, dismayed by such a situation, decided to hide her sixth and last son named Zeus, for which she grabbed a large stone and placed a diaper on it so that Crono would eat the stone thinking it was her son. After that she sent her son to the city of Crete, in that place he was protected by the Curete warriors and suckled by the goat Amalthea.
When Zeus reached adulthood, he had a confrontation against Crono but it was more cunning than force, since he gave him a special potion to drink that his grandmother Gea prepared, which made him vomit his brothers, at that moment he began the war between the major and minor gods.
In this way Zeus had the help of the Hecatonchires, the Giants and the Cyclopes, who had been imprisoned by Cronus in the prison of Tartarus located in the depths of the underworld.
The war favored Zeus after spending time at war against the titans he was able to lock them up in the prison of Tartarus, the Greek titans who did not oppose Zeus, were able to continue living their lives peacefully in the new order on earth .
One of the most important cases is that of the Greek Titan Ocean that continued to circle around the world, in the same way it happened to the Titanesses named Febes who used her nickname of Artemis and complemented her description of Apollo as Apollo Phoebus, the other Greek Titaness named Mnemosyne gave birth to the Muses, while Themis followed the concept of the "Law of nature” and finally Metis became the mother of Athena.
Characteristics of the Greek Titans
In Greek mythology, the Greek titans were a race of gods who had great powers and ruled the Earth for a long time, according to the stories we have about the Greek titans, these are the ones that preceded the twelve Olympic gods and after the war, many were imprisoned in the prison of Tartarus that is located in the depths of the underworld.
The Greek titans were twelve who were children of the God Uranus with the goddess Gea, they were made up of six males and six females of considerable size. The place where the Greek titans stayed was named Mount Othrys, a very high place.
Each of the Greek titans represented the different forces of nature, and thanks to these very rudimentary and at the same time very brutal powers, but in Greek mythology it is said that this power managed to evolve into more special forces that in the end were identified as the Gods of Olympus.
In this way, each of the Greek titans has a responsibility that must rule over the universe and each Greek titan had a quality that made him stand out from the other twelve Greek titans, such as: intelligence, control of time, seas, sight, fire , memory, etc
It is important to clarify that both the titans and the titánides had a certain personification or quality and ability on the face of the Earth, that is why in this article we will describe the characteristics and attributes of each of the twelve Greek titans beginning with:
The ocean titan
In Greek antiquity, the titan Ocean emphasized the world ocean, since at that time the Greeks and Romans had the idea that the titan Ocean was a huge river that surrounded the whole world, exactly through the Equator its marine water ran. in which the ecumene floated.
In Greek mythology, the titan Oceanus was the son of Uranus with Gea and was represented as a titan with a very muscular torso and arms and a long beard and large horns, and in other stories it was said that he had crab claws and the lower part of its body was similar to a snake.
In other representations made to the Titan Ocean, he appears with a large fish tail, and in his hands he carries a fish and a snake, this represented that he brought gifts, rewards and prophecies.
Many researchers on Greek mythology claim that the Titan Oceanus was the representative of all bodies of salt water, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, which were the two great masses of water known to the Greeks at that time.
The wife of the titan Oceanus was his sister Tethys, and when they joined, more than three thousand Oceanids or the so-called nymphs of the sea were born, the rivers of the world and the lakes were also born.
In the version of the Titanomachy or war between the Greek Titans and the Olympians, in that war the Greek titan Oceanus did not participate in the war and together with Prometheus and Themis, did not join the side of his brother Titans against the Olympians.
the ceo titan
He is one of the Greek titans who stood out from the others for his great intelligence, Ceo was the father of Leto, Lelanto and Asteria. In turn Leto was the mother of the God Apollo and his twin sister Artemis. While Asteria was the mother of Perses to Hecate.
Ceo was the representative of the divination of the stars, and ruled the northern axis of the sky where the stars rotated, the Greek titan Ceo along with his wife were the representatives of the Earth seeing the Earth as a flat disk.
That is why the Greek titan Ceo stood out as one of the Greek titans of prophecy, and was the spokesman for the wisdom that his father Uranus had. That is why his two sons had the power of clairvoyance, these being the god Apollo and his twin sister Artemis.
The Titan Child
He was one of the Greek titans who was known as the titan of the herds and herds, he was one of the oldest being the son of Uranus and Gea, he was the only Greek titan who did not marry a sister since he married Eurybia the daughter of Pontus.
When Cronus was leading the other Greek titans to conspire against his father Uranus, the titan Crío prevented him, but holding his father Uranus Cronus took the opportunity to castrate him. Crío is known as the Greek titan of the north axis and according to cosmology he was the one who could separate the sky from the Earth.
In the war against the Olympian gods Crío was one of the exiles who sent them to the prison of Tartarus in the depths of the underworld. But over time being there it is said that the God Zeus released him along with Cronus.
According to what is told in Greek mythology, the titan Crío was the father of Astreos, Pallas and Perseus and from the union of Astreo Aurora was born who went along with the other stars and the winds.
The Titan Hyperion
He is one of the children of Uranus and Gea, it is told in Greek mythology that this titan is the one who is called "The walker of the heights" He is also known as the Titan of Observation and together with his sister the Titaness Thea is known as the Greek Titans of Sight.
The poet Hesiod tells in his writings that the Titan Hyperion married Thea, and had three children who were Helios the sun god, Selene the goddess of the moon and Eos the ruler of the dawn.
Hyperion was one of those who planned the conspiracy against Uranus, being Crono's right hand in the castration of Uranus, since it is told in the myth that Uranus (Heaven) descended to be with Gea (Earth), four of the Greek titans Hyperion, Crio, Coios and Iapetos held him by his limbs so that Cronus with a sickle could castrate him.
Hyperion is the first titan to drive the solar chariot, and manages to travel in that chariot that becomes a sphere of fire that gives heat to the sky and to the earth where the king was the Ether. That is why Hyperion is known as the watchman who watches everything.
The Titan Iapetus
In Greek mythology this titan is known as the one with a useful mortal life and the ancestor of the human race, it is said that he is the son of Uranus (heaven) with Gaia (Earth), but in other stories it is said that the son of Tartarus. Since many do not associate him as a Greek titan but as a giant.
He was known as the oldest and greatest of the Greek titans, and the ruler of the west pillar of heaven, his name translated into Spanish means “pierce or spear” and he was also one of the Greek titans who did not marry one of his sisters, since he married one of his nieces.
The wife of this Greek titan was Clymene, an Oceanid, and the descendants of this Greek titan are known as the Japetidae or Japetonidae. Among these stand out Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menecio.
When the plan that the Greek titan Cronus had designed was executed, Uranus (sky) was held by the Greek titans who personify the pillars that will support the sky in the cosmology of the Far East and is ordered as follows:
- In the north Ceo.
- To the west Hyperion.
- In the south Crío.
- Iapetus and Hyperion to the east and west respectively.
the titan chrono
Known as the youngest and most important Greek titan of the first generation of Greek titans, he is the descendant of Uranus (heaven) and Gea (Earth), he was the one who had the idea of overthrowing his father Uranus and ruled in the golden age.
Until he was overthrown by the Olympian gods and locked up in the Tartarus jail which is deep in the underworld and then he was pardoned by the god Zeus and sent to rule the paradise of the Elysian Fields.
He is one of the Greek titans who is represented with a sickle or a scythe, which he used as a weapon to be able to castrate Uranus (Heaven), in the city of Athens every year a great festival is celebrated in honor of this Greek titan.
In the Theogony written by the poet Hesiod, it is said that Cronus had a great grudge against Uranus (heaven). Since Uranus had earned the hatred and enmity of Gea (Earth), and Cronus in addition to the other twelve Greek titans since after having spawned them they were held so that they could not see the light of day.
That is why Gea (Earth) decided to create a weapon called a sickle, then invoke Crono and the other Greek titans to convince him to assassinate Uranus, but only the Greek titan Crono accepted the proposal to do so, in this way Gea gave him the sickle and they ambushed Uranus.
When Uranus was together with Gea, he was seized by the Greek titans and Cronus with the sickle weapon castrated Uranus and with the blood or semen of Uranus that was spread over the Earth, the giants, the Melias and the Erinyes arose.
After having performed such an act Crono threw the sickle weapon into the sea, which is said to be found on the island of Corfu next to the genitals of Uranus, and Aphrodite emerged from the foam, for having done this Uranus swore revenge and for that gave them in the name of titans.
Having executed the plan and removed Uranus from the throne Cronus seized the throne to free the world from slavery and for a time he ruled righteously, but afterwards Cronus locked up the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclopes, whom he feared, in the prison of the Tartarus and leave them in charge of the monstrous Campe.
Being the new king together with his sister and wife Rea, he called that moment the golden age since neither laws nor regulations were needed since everything they did was correct and the term of morality was not known, he also knew from de Gea that he himself would be overthrown by one of his sons just as Uranus was done.
Knowing this news and being the father of the gods Demeter, Hera, Hades, Hestia and Poseidon, he made the decision to swallow them as soon as they were born, but when his sixth son named Zeus was going to be born, Crono Rhea's wife asked Gea to plan a strategy to save his sixth son.
When she was going to give birth to Zeus, she hid him and gave Crono a stone wrapped in a diaper so that he could swallow it and in this way send his sixth son to the city of Crete to be a city and nursed until he fulfilled the adulthood.
When Zeus was already an adult, he used a poison that Gea prepared in order to force Crono to regurgitate all the content that was staying in his stomach in reverse order, first it was the stone that was sent to Python and was placed in the ravines of Parnassus as the sign of mortal men.
After this he regurgitated the rest of his brothers, but there are several versions, since in one it is said that Zeus had to open Crono's stomach to be able to get his other brothers out, after having performed this feat he had to go to the underworld where the prison of Tartarus is located to be able to free Hecatonchiros and the Cyclopes, who forged for him his lightning bolts, the trident for Poseidon and the invisibility helmet for Hades.
At that moment began the great war that was called Titanomaquia, Zeus and his brothers and sisters overthrew Cronus and the other Titans with the help of the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes. After this, many of them were imprisoned in Tartarus, but some Greek titans did not want to participate in such a war, such as the Greek titans Rhea, Metis, Epimetheus, Menecio, Hecate, Oceanus and Prometheus among many others.
The Titaness Phoebe
She is a female titan who is known as the one with the golden crown, she also has one of the longest names within the Greek titans since her name is associated with various meanings such as bright, radiant, prophesy and the brightness of the intellect. .
Phoebe is the wife of Creo, and the mother of Leto and Asteria, being the grandmother of the God Apollo and her twin sister Artemis, she was considered the spokeswoman for the wisdom of Gea (Earth), that is why her daughters had the power of clairvoyance,
For example, his daughter Asteria together with his daughter Hecate had the gift or power of the prophecy of the night, of the spirits, of the deceased beings and those of darkness, in the same way Leto together with his two children Artemis and Apola. both twins had the virtue of predicting the future through the light and the sky.
In this way, the Titaness Themis gave the power of the Oracle of Delphi to Phoebe and she in turn gave it to her grandson the god Apollo. The oracle was assigned to three generations of Greek gods, first it belonged to Uranus, who later gave it to his wife Gaea, who in turn offered it to Themis.
The Titaness Mnemosyne
She is known in Greek mythology as the personification of memory, being the daughter of Uranus (sky) and Gea (Earth), and in Hesiod's Theogony she was the fifth wife of the god Zeus preceded by Metis, Themis, Eurynome and Demeter.
It is also known that the gods of Olympus asked the god Zeus to procreate children who were divinities who could sow inspiration to artists and musicians in order to promote the arts and sciences.
In this way the god Zeus fulfilled the request of the gods and had relations with the Greek Titaness Mnemosyne and with her he was nine nights in a row and as a result of these nights of union Mnemosyne became pregnant by the nine muses and gave birth to them in nine days followed and they became very famous since they had the power to inspire artists and scientists. The names of the muses were:
- Calliope.
- Clio.
- Erato
- euterpe
- Melpomene.
- polyhymnia
- Talía
- Terpsichore.
- Urania
The Titaness Rhea
She is the daughter of Uranus (sky) and Gea (Earth), she was also the sister and wife of Cronus and is the mother of Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus. She was associated with Cybele the Earth mother, thus she was often depicted in a chariot that was pulled by lions.
Since she did not agree with what her husband Cronus was doing by eating her children as soon as they were born, she had the idea of hiding the last one, who is known as Zeus, who protected him in a cave in the city of Crete and was cared for by the nymph Amalthea until she became an adult.
For the poet Homer, the Titaness is the mother of all the gods, but not like Cybele Phrygia, who is the universal mother of the gods and has a higher hierarchy than Rhea. Although she did not have great power in the city of Crete, she was paid tribute to, so it was the place she chose to hide her son Zeus from her.
The Titaness Themis
She is also known as the goddess of justice in Greek mythology and her name Themis means "Law of Nature", her parents were Gea (Earth) and Uranus (Sky), she was the most generous Titaness as well as the guide of the right path and could establish order and good habits.
This Greek goddess is usually represented as justice and equity and in her hands she always carries a scale and a sword and almost always wears her eyes blindfolded. She is mentioned by the poet Hesiod as one of the twelve oldest Greek titans that the followers of the god Zeus who was with him who had the three Fates want the beings who could control the threads of life.
When the Titaness Themis married the god Zeus, the Moirae, who were the beings that personify destiny, were there, and after the marriage was consummated, the springs sprout towards the Ocean surrounding the world and accompanied by the brilliant solar path to see the god Zeus on Olympus.
Themis, who was known as the Titaness of good advice, was the reincarnation of divine order, and when her advice is not heeded, the goddess Nemesis appears, bearing fair treatment and punishment, since Themis was not angry or rabid, since she was They were also known as the one with the rosy cheeks and she was the first goddess to offer Hera a drink when she returned to Olympus sad because of the threats made by the god Zeus.
The Titaness Tethys
She is known as a Titaness but at the same time she is usually recognized as the goddess of the sea and fresh water, but at the same time she is the wife of the Titan Ocean and her sister, she was the mother of the main rivers of the Oceanids and of the rivers known to the Greeks, among whom the Nile, the Alphaeus, the Meander, and about three thousand daughters called the Oceanids stand out.
Although in Greek mythology Thetis is very named in the Greek texts that are still preserved there are no historical records or cults to her personification, but in the novel of The Iliad that was written by the poet Homer, there is a passage which is titled "The Deception of Zeus" where the goddess Hera sets a trap for her husband the God Zeus, and says these words:
"Who wants to go to the ends of the fertile earth, to see Oceanus, father of the gods, and mother Tethys"
In the representations that are made of Tethys, she identifies with different themes, so there is a bust where she is made with different fish and she emerges from the water carrying her bare shoulders and a rudder rests on her shoulder and two wings sprout on her forehead. of gray color.
She did not participate in the war between the Greek titans and the Olympian gods, but there is a moment when Tethys raises Rhea as her daughter-goddess and many specialists have confused her with the sea goddess that bears her name, also with Nereida, the wife of Peleus and the mother of Achilles.
The Titaness Tea
It is known in Greek mythology as Tea (The divine) or the Eurifaesa which means the one with ample brightness, being the daughter of Uranus (sky) and Gea (Earth), she was responsible for gold, silver and gems of its intrinsic value with its brilliance.
She represents the faculty of sight and has the ability to be able to evaluate very clearly the given situations in any circumstance, Tea had a relationship with her brother Hyperion from which three children were born Helios who represents the sun, Eos who represents the dawn and Selene who makes the representation of the moon.
At that time, the Greeks had the belief that sight was like a ray that was emitted from the eyes of people, as well as the sun and the moon, so they believed that the goddess of sight was the mother of the gods. gods of the heavenly bodies.
The war between the gods and the Greek titans
The war begins between the Olympians led by Zeus and that group is made up of Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Hades and Poseidon, but the Greek titans Hecate and Styx and the Hecatonchires (beings with 50 heads and 100 arms) and the Cyclopes (one-eyed beings),
These beings were locked up in Tartarus prison by Cronus, in the history of war it is said that the Hecatonchires threw large stones at the Greek titans, while the Cyclopes were the forgers of Zeus' powerful weapons, lightning and Poseidon's trident, as well as Hades' helmet of invisibility.
While the Greek titans participated in the battle, they were led by the Greek titan Crono followed by Ceo, Crío, Hyperión, Iápeto, Atlas and Menecio. The war lasted a decade with victory for the gods of the Olympians after the victory they shared the spoils, the god Zeus was granted the dominion of the sky, the god Poseidon took charge of the sea and the god Hades of the underworld.
After this distribution made by the Olympic gods, they made the decision to lock the Greek titans in the prison of Tartarus, which is located in the depths of the underworld. But some Greek titans were forgiven for being neutral and were not punished by the Olympian god Zeus. These Greek titans were Thea, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe and Tethys.
In the case of the Greek titan Atlas, a different punishment was given, which consisted of holding the sky for all eternity since it was very destroyed by the war that had taken place. On the other hand, the Greek titans named Epimetheus, Menecio and Prometheus changed sides and helped Zeus in the war, so they were not punished.
In the case of the Greek Titan Crono there are two aspects in the story about what they did with him, the first and the most used in the Greek tradition is that he was sent to the Tartar prison located in the underworld and is surrounded by the other titans Greeks, the second story is that he was forgiven by the god Zeus after spending time in prison in Tartarus, and he was sent to the Island of the Blessed and is reigning.
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