Greek mythology: who were the titans?

The first generation Titans are the direct relatives of Zeus and other Olympian gods. It is about twelve titans, children of the first personifications of the Earth, Gaea, and the sky, Uranus:

• Chrono . He was the main and youngest Titan of the first generation, having overthrown his father Urano and castrating him. With his reign the Greek Golden Age began. He represented it to him with a sickle. He was the father of Zeus , Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, Hades , and Hestia.
• ocean . He was the titan of the ocean and all bodies of salt water. With Thetis, he was the father of the Oceanides, the three thousand sea nymphs.
• CEO or Polo . It represented the stars, especially the northern one. With Phoebe he had Asteria, Leto and Lelanto.
• I kid . With the titan Eurybia he was the father of Perses, Pallas and Astraeus. He was known as the god of the herd.
• hyperion . He represented the light of dawn and was the god of observation.
• Iapetus . Father of Prometheus, Atlas, Menoetius and Epimetheus.

First Generation Titans

• tea . Goddess of sight
• laughed _ Goddess of fertility and motherhood. Along with Crono, she had several Olympic gods.
• Themis . It represented justice and order.
• mnemosyne . She represented memory. With Zeus she had the Muses.
• Phoebe . She represented the intellect and controlled the oracle at Delphi.
• Thetis . Goddess of water, and especially fresh water.

second generation of titans

The Titans and Titanides had other descendants besides the twelve Olympian gods. And those descendants became part of the second generation of titans. However, some of them were not named Titans or Titans.

• eosphorus It represented Venus, the morning star.
• epimetheus . He personified hindsight thinking. He was the brother of Prometheus. With Pandora, he had Pyrrha.
• helium . She was the personification of the sun and light and used to be represented in a cart pulled by bulls.
• astreus . With Eos, he had the anemoi or winds, Euro, Boreas, Noto and Cefiro, and five planets: Estilbonte (Mercury), Eosphorus or Héspero (Venus), Pyroides (Mars), Fenonte (Jupiter) and Phaetonte (Saturn).
• mencio . Brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Atlas.
• shovels . With Estigia he had Cratos, Nike, Zelo and Bía.
• perses . He stood out for his wisdom. With Asteria he had Hecate.
• prometheus . He was considered the protector and benefactor of humanity. He performed various feats, and in one of them he stole fire from the gods and gave it to men.
• Atlas . He was the father of Mera, Calypso, the Hyades, the Pleiades, and the Hesperides.

Second Generation Titans

• eos . She was the goddess of the dawn.
• Asteria . Also known as Delos. To flee from Zeus she threw herself into the sea and turned into an island.
• astrea . She personified human justice. She was an ally of Zeus during the War of the Titans .
• Leto . With Zeus he had the twins Apollo and Artemis.
• Selene . She was the goddess of the moon.

Other gods that are included in the second generation but that did not receive the name of titans are: Caanto, brother of Melia; the oceanids Dione and Metis; the sea nymphs; Pico, father of Faun; Chiron, the centaur; and the children of Cronus and Rhea: Zeus, Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Demeter .

titan war

The end of the age of the titans was in the famous War of the Titans or Titanomaquia . In this war, Zeus overthrew his father Cronus. He this one had swallowed his siblings immediately after they were born. After forcing him to vomit them, Zeus released the Cyclops, one-eyed giants, and the hecatonchires, hundred-armed, fifty-headed giants. These were also children of Gea and Urano and they allied with Zeus, as well as other titans, to defeat Crono.

After ten years of battles, Zeus won the war and threw all the Titans into Tartarus, the deepest area of ​​the underworld , which was left in charge of Hades. Finally, Zeus became the king god of the sky and his brother Poseidon, the god of the ocean.

Bibliography

• Hesiod. Theogony . (VII or VIII BC).
• Tristan, M. Greek Myths . (2013). Editorial Vicens Vives.
• Schoua, A.M. Gods and Heroes of Greek Mythology . (2016). Santillana Education.