NAME OF THE TITANS

 Coeus (Koios, Polos)

koios Coeus was a Titan god of intelligence and farsighted, meaning

that, due to his inquisitive mind and desire to learn, he was with
gained knowledge and understanding able to see beyond the obvious.
He was also identified as a god of wisdom and heavenly oracles. Coeus
was also known as a Pillar of the north pole from which constellations
revolved and therefore controlled the axis between Heaven and Earth.
Together with his other three brothers Crius, Hyperion and Iapetus,
they presided as the Pillars of holding Heaven and Earth apart. He was
one of six sons of Uranus and Gaea and is mentioned by Apollodorus
as one of the five brothers, all but Oceanus, who participated in
rebellion against Uranus and later attacked him. When they overcame
him, the four brothers probably held him down, while Cronus
castrated him. His latin name was Polos or Polus and according to
Hyginus the name Coeus was used for the giant instead of titan. They
are clearly two different characters mentioned by not only Hyginus,
but also by Virgil, another latin author.

 Crius (Krios, the Ram, Aries)

Crius was a Titan god of heavenly constellations and was also

known as a Pillar of the south pole. Crius, which means “Ram”, was
often referred as a starting season of the Greek year, because his
constellation was called Aries which nowadays means the start of
spring. Together with his other three brothers Coeus, Hyperion and
Iapetus, they presided as the Pillars of holding Heaven and Earth
apart. He was one of six sons of Uranus and Gaea and is mentioned by
Apollodorus as one of the five brothers, all but Oceanus, who
participated in rebellion against Uranus and later attacked him. When
they overcame him, the four brothers probably held him down, while
Cronus castrated him. According to Pausanias, Crius was the father of
Python, a dragon slain by Apollo, and was also closely related with the
island of Euboea. The author even names two rivers after the titan.
 Cronus (Kronos, Chronos, Saturn)

kronosCronus was a Titan god of time and ages and was, above all,
associated with the destructive force of time which sooner or later
consumes everything. He represented changing time, from his status
of being the King of the Golden Age to his place of being imprisoned in
Tartarus, and according to Hesiod`s Works and Days from Tartarus
being promoted by Zeus to become a king of Islands of the Blessed or
Elysian Fields somewhere in the underworld. Cronus was married to
his sister Rhea with whom they represented “eternal flow”, as they
gave birth to a new generation gods, known as the Olympian Gods,
who then took control of the world, just like they had done in the past.
According to a fragment found in a collection of fragments from the
Greek Epic cycle, Cronus also had another descendant. It is said that
he took a shape of a horse and impregnated Philyra, a daughter of
Oceanus, who then gave birth to a famous centaur Chiron.

 Hyperion

Hyperion was a Titan god of light or sunlight and was associated

with watching and observation from above. He was also known as a
Pillar of east. Together with his other three brothers, Crius, Coeus and
Iapetus, they presided as the Pillars of holding Heaven and Earth
apart. He was one of six sons of Uranus and Gaea and is mentioned by
Apollodorus as one of the five brothers, all but Oceanus, who
participated in rebellion against Uranus and later attacked him. When
they overcame him, the four brothers probably held him down while
Cronus castrated him. While most of the authors are identifying
Hyperion as unique character, Homer is equating Helios and
Hyperion as one and the same character and it can be seen in both of
his epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
 Iapetus (Japetus, the Piercer)

Iapetus was a Titan god of mortal life span or god of death. He

presided over the timeline of all mortals. His nickname, “the piercer”,
actually meant that he came for a life of mortals in terms of violence.
In other words, when Iapetus decided that one`s time had passed, he
brought violent death upon him. He was also known as a Pillar of west.
Together with his other three brothers Coeus, Hyperion and Crius they
presided as the Pillars of holding Heaven and Earth apart. He was one
of six sons of Uranus and Gaea and is mentioned by Apollodorus as
one of the five brothers, all but Oceanus, who participated in rebellion
against Uranus and later attacked him. When they overcame him, the
four brothers probably held him down while Cronus castrated him.

 Mnemosyne (Mnemosine, Juno Moneta, Memory)

mnemosineMnemosyne was a Titan goddess of memory and

remembrance. She was believed to be the inventress of speech and
writings. In Hesiod`s Theogony, her daughters, the Muses, are
described as the spirits who possessed kings and poets, whom the gods
favoured and gave them special powers of authoritative speech and
wisdom. Mnemosyne was also one of the six daughters of primeval
deities Uranus and Gaea in the first generation of Titans. Mnemosyne
was also known to be the mother of Muses and represented the
memorisation of stories and myths preserved in history before the
discovery of writing.

 Oceanus (Okeanos, Ocean)

okeanos Oceanus was a Titan god of enormous river called Okeanos

which was believed to be encircling the world and was connecting this
world to other realms, such as heavenly realms from which the gods
came and underworld where the souls of the dead lived. He was a
personification of all salt water in the world, more precisely
Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean which were the
most familiar to ancient Greeks at the time, and all the fresh water
that includes rivers, lakes, streams and rain. Oceanus was originally
the source of all the water. However, when geography became more
known and accurate to the Greeks, he was placed to represent more
stranger and unknown waters of Atlantic and Indian Ocean while
Mediterranean Sea was ruled by a younger god Poseidon, and rivers,
fountains, streams and rain waters were controlled by the titan`s sons
and daughters. Oceanus was, according to most authors, a first
descendant of Uranus and Gaea and was married to his sister Tethys.
Together they gave birth to three thousand Potamoi or river gods and
Oceanids, known as nymphs of rivers, lakes, streams, fountains and
wells which never ran dry. But according to Ovid, Oceanus is said to be
one of the primeval deities, born alongside Gaea.

 Phoebe (Phoibe)

Phoebe was the Titan goddess of brightness and radiance, often

associated with Selene (goddess of the moon). She, however, had
never been referred as the goddess of the moon. The misinterpretation
probably comes because her granddaughter Artemis was also called
Phoebe, after her, just like her grandson Apollo was called Phoebus.
And latin authors were all referring Phoebe as the moon goddess or
moon itself, but they clearly had Artemis in mind doing so. That is why
the Titaness is often misidentified as the moon goddess. To the Greeks
it was pretty simple and obvious that Selene was the correct goddess.
Romans on the other hand associated Artemis, Hera and Selene to the
moon amongst others, but there was no mentioning of Titaness
Phoebe. However, some researchers believe that Artemis (Diana,
Phoebe) became known as the goddess of the moon because of her
grandmother whom she got the name after. Anyhow, Phoebe was
rather associated with being prophetic, like her sister Themis and her
mother Gaea. She was also one of the twelve titans who were the
descendants of Uranus and Gaea. She was, like all of her sisters, never
involved in the war between Titans and Olympian gods, and was
spared from being imprisoned in Tartarus. Instead, she took her place
at the oracle of Delphi.
 Rhea (Rheia, Opis, Ops)

rheaRhea was a Titan goddess of fertility and motherhood. She was

very gentle and comfortable. Her name actually means “ease” as “at
ease” and therefore this was probably the reason she was interpreted
and worshiped as a goddess of comfort and ease. According to some
authors, she is also described as the supreme mother goddess, just like
her mother Gaea was and what later her daughter Hera became, but in
Orphic hymn Rhea was even described as the supreme goddess,
mother of all gods and men and it is said that even Uranus and Gaea
derived from her. And as if there were not enough confusion yet,
according to various authors Rhea is also described as Cybelean
goddess whose home was in Phyrgia which means that they are
equating her with Cybelle, Anatolian earth goddess, but to return back
to mainstream belief, backed by most authors, Rhea was a daughter of
Uranus and Gaea and, because she was married to her brother Cronus,
she was also the queen of the Cosmos. Together they represented
“eternal flow” as they gave birth to a new generation of gods who then
took control of the world, just like they and other titans had done it in
the past. Therefore she was also identified as a goddess of generations.

 Tethys

tethysTethys was a Titan goddess of all the fresh water on earth.

She was one of six daughters of Uranus and Gaea. She appropriately
married Oceanus (personification of all the salt water on earth) and,
according to Hesiod, they gave birth to three thousand Potamoi or
river gods and Oceanids, known as nymphs of seas, rivers, lakes,
streams, fountains, and marshes. She was also believed to be nursing
and feeding her children by drawing water from Oceanus through
subterranean channels and also taking care for all creatures living in
the waters such as fish, seals and dolphins. During the war between
the Titans and younger Olympian gods Tethys was believed to had
been raising Hera as her step-child. According to Claudian she is also
said to had been taking care of Helios and Selene. In art she is often
depicted with a small pair of wings just above her eyebrows which
probably presents her not only being a mother of rivers, streams and
other supplies of fresh water but also as a mother of Nephelai (rain-
clouds) and Aurai (breeze) who are associated with Sky deities.

Theia (Thia, Thea, Euryphaessa)

Theia or Thea was a Titan goddess of shinning, associated with

shinning light, shinning metals or jewels. Her other name
Euryphaessa means “wide-shinning” and therefore she was connected
with all that is shinning. In Pindar`s Isthmian Odes, Theia is
described as the goddess of shining after whom men honored gold as
the most powerful shining object. She was also a goddess of sight,
because ancient Greeks believed that eyes emitted beams of light
which allowed them to see what they looked upon. She was one of the
twelve titans and one of the six daughters of Uranus and Gaea. Theia
was also, like her sisters Phoebe and Themis, associated with
prophecies. She had a shrine
in Thessaly.

 Themis

themisThemis was a Titan goddess of divine law, order and costums.

She was a daughter of Uranus and Gaea and was the messenger of the
very first rules of conduct, established by the elder gods. Her place was
at Oracle of Delphi where she was one of the early prophets, second
more precisely according to Aeschylus. In a role of divine voice
(themistes), she first instructed the primal laws of justice and morality
to mankind. Some of these were precepts of piety, rules of hospitality,
good governance, conduct of assembly and various offerings to gods.
Themis was also known to be a counsellor of Zeus, advising the king of
gods on the conduct of men. Alongside her daughter Dike(justice) she
would have reported to Zeus, if the primal laws had been breached by
anyone. She is also said to had gathered all the gods at the assembly
on Olympus on Zeus` orders.
 OLYMPIAN GODS AND GODDESSES

APHRODITE
Aphrodite was the goddess of fertility, love, and beauty. During the Trojan War, Aphrodite
fought on the side of Paris. Aphrodite and her son Eros (Cupid) teamed up to cause Zeus to fall
in love with a human named Europa.

APOLLO
Apollo was the son of Leto and Zeus. He was born on the island of Delos. He and his twin sister
Artemis, also an Olympian, shared an aptitude for archery. The nine Muses were companions of
his; they were goddesses known for inspiring art and music.

ARES
He was the son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom hated him (according to Homer). Eros (more
commonly known as Cupid) was the child of Ares and Aphrodite. Ares was most notably
referred to as the God of War; he represented the unpleasant aspects of battle.
ARTEMIS
Artemis was daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo. She was primarily a virgin
huntress, goddess of wildlife and patroness of hunters. She was an important goddess in the lives
of women, especially when it came to marriage and young creatures.

ATHENA
Athena was the Goddess of War, the female counterpart of Ares. She is one of three virgin
goddesses; the other two were Hestia and Artemis. Athena served as a guardian of Athens, where
the Parthenon served as her temple.

DEMETER
Demeter was the daughter of Cronos and Rhea. She was the goddess of harvest and fertility.
Only women attended the Thesmophoria, a fertility festival held in honor of Demeter.
DIONYSUS
Dionysus was primarily known as the God of the Vine. Upon reaching adulthood, Dionysus
wandered the Earth, teaching men the culture of the vine. Dionysus was the last god to enter
Olympus.

HADES
He was also called the God of Wealth or “the rich one” because he possessed the precious metals
of the earth. Hades had a cap or helmet that made its wearer invisible. His wife was Persephone,
Demeter’s only daughter, whom he kidnapped and made his queen.

HEPHAESTUS
Hephaestus was the only ugly god among perfectly beautiful immortals. He was the workman of
the immortals: he made their dwellings, furnishings, and weapons. Hephaestus was known as the
God of Fire.
HERA
Hera was Queen of the Olympian gods. In the story of the Quest of the Golden Fleece, Hera was
a gracious protector of the heroes. Hera had few, if any, redeeming qualities. She never forgot an
injury.

HERMES
Hermes was considered a “trickster” due to his cunning and clever personality. He primarily
served as the herald or messenger of the gods. Hermes was born in a cave on a mountain in
Arcadia; he was conceived and born within the course of one day.

HESTIA
Although Hestia appeared in a few stories, she was not overly significant in Greek mythology.
She was a sibling to Demeter, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus. Hestia is completely omitted
from the works of Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
POSEIDON
Poseidon was allotted his dominion after the fall of the Titans. He wielded the trident or three-
pronged spear, and this image of him is reflected in art. Poseidon was most notably the God of
the sea and the protector of all waters.

ZEUS
Zeus was the father of the famous Greek hero Hercules. The name Zeus
means "bright" or "sky." His weapon of choice was the thunderbolt, made for
him by the Cyclops.