#Iapetos

[koishiarts]

mythology stuff im prolly doin nothin with. here's some titans

[theoihalioistuff]

Does anybody know where Theoi gets the theory that the titans (save for Okeanos and Kronos) held Ouranos down and were associated with the cardinal points?

The titans attacking Ouranos as a collective body, save for Okeanos, is attested (Apollod. 1.1.4 and Orphic Fr. 135 Kern), though how they participate is to my knowledge never expanded upon. Though Theoi cites nebulous "near-eastern cosmogonies" as parallels, I've yet to find these (despite the popularity of the motif throughout many other mythical traditions).

Koios being named Polus by Hyginus (Fabulae. Preface) is certainly very interesting. Πόλος could sometimes refer to the Pole Star, and Leto is sometimes described as hailing from Hyperborea (Ael. On Animals. 4.4) or being brought to Delos by the North Wind (Hyginus Fabulae 53 and 140). Though a connection to the North is not impossible, it's nevertheless conjecture. Likewise Hyperion's association with the East is, again, not impossible, but also eyebrow-raising. Krios' identification with the constellation Aries and the South is, to put it generously, wacko conspiracy, and Iapetos' association with the West is non-existent.

Is this an invention of Theoi, or is it based on any previous scholarly discussion?

[mask131]

Let’s talk about the Titans...

Like many of you, I am fascinated by the Titans as the “previous generation of gods”, as the “gods before the gods”, as the “lost pantheon”. And like many of you I read Riordan and his take on the Titans and loved it.

But there is a problem I see arising everywhere. The repetition of something oddly specific - something present and popularized by Riordan himself. The idea that for example “Coeos was the Titan of hindsight”, “Crios was the Titan of the stars”, “Japet was the Titan of mortality”. It is repeated everywhere as if it was fact. But it is wrong. 

Let’s consider it in two steps, shall we?

1) Yes, Titans are the gods of something. Well... some of them are

A first confusion arose from the fact that several of the deities we know as “titans” are explicit deities of given concept. Themis and Mnemosyne were the embodiment of justice and memory, Rhea and Tethys were important and well-defined figures, Prometheus was a hero of legends and Helios was the sun... This led to the idea that ALL of the Titans had to be the “god of something”. After all, if half of the Titans were attested deities of given concepts, the other had to, right? Because all the Greek gods embodied or reflected something, so they HAD to, right?

Well... no. One has to consider that the Titans are mythologically distinct in two groups: those that “survived the war” so to speak, and thus became part of the Greek mythological tales ; and those that “lost the war” and completely left the story (such as Kronos’ brothers - except Okeanos). But this distinction isn’t just mythological: it is also a religious and cultural difference. All the Titans that “survived the war” in texts are actually deities whose cult and worship was well-installed and attested in Ancient Greece, or whose folkloric presence was undeniable, while those that “lost the war” were not present in any form in Greece’s religion and culture, often limited to one obscure literary mention.

Of course, from the fictional point of view of “They were locked in Tartarus so of course they wouldn’t be known or venerated” it makes sense... But we are talking here from a real-life point of view, an actual look at those entities. We have to take into account that the “surviving Titans” were actually considered equal to and regularly mixed with the other “Olympian” gods, to the point that a lot of texts and legends don’t actually specify they are Titans or doesn’t identify them as such. Which led to so many retellings of Greek mythology where these deities are not Titans but Olympians or “other Greek gods”. Which are NOT wrong interpretations of mythology - it just depends on which side you stand on. Titan wasn’t a clear-cut religious category, but rather a literary and poetic construct (but more on that later), and all in all they were all gods - so after the war, that “destroyed” the Titans, the gods became just gods.

But from a logical, outside-story, real-life point of view... it is very probable that these “Titan gods” did not start as Titan at all. It is possible that they simply started as gods. They were gods, deities, part of the same pantheon as the Olympians, and only later through epic and poetic texts did the “Titans” appear, invented by authors for their cosmogny - a new pantheon that mixed together the well-known deities (well-known because they “survived” the war) and literary inventions (to fill the gap and explain who was defeated - they couldn’t have picked gods part of Greece’s religion). 

This explanation of the inclusion of “actual” deities alongside literary inventions seems to be the most reasonable one, and is especially revealing when you compare the discrepancy between these enormous and important figures, such as Themis, and these unknown figures with no background or backstory, such as Theia or Crius. Now I am not saying that the authors didn’t try to have these “invented Titans” mean something - after all you can’t just drop a random name between “Justice” and “Memory”, or have some random name birth “Sun, Moon and Dawn”. There was probably allegories and symbols in those invented figures, they probably were meant to embody or personify something... But people shouldn’t treat them as if they were actual gods of Ancient Greece - at least until we find archeological proof that there were cults of them.

That being said...

2) Where does this Titan-system comes from?

There is a “Titan system” that keeps being repeated around the Internet. A reading of mythology that claims things such as how Theia is the goddess of “brightness and sight”, how Coeos is the “lord of insight, curiosity and intellect”, how Japet embodies “mortality”. A part of it appeared in Age of Mythology ; it was heavily used by Riordan in his books ; it is in fact described by the website Theoi - which is a huge and very useful resource when it comes to Ancient Greek texts, Greek gods analysis and mythology comparison.

But this “system” and these “interpretations” have to be taken with CAUTION! Because when you actually read the reasoning behind those interpretations, you realize that these are not “truths” about the Titans. These are theories, and hypothesis, a guessing game based on clues - but nothing certain, and sometimes the guesses even feel stretchy. 

Given studying all of the Titans would take too much time, I will only take four cases: the “defeated brothers of Kronos”. Iapetos, Coios, Crios and Hyperion. 

A) Hyperion. This one is actually the one we know the most about, and the interpretations of him are pretty correct. Hyperion’s name itself means “he who is above” and hints at a celestial position, reinforced by how Hyperion gave birth to the three main “light-givers” of the world: Helios the sun, Selene the moon and Eos the dawn. It makes sense to identify him as “Titan of light”. Even more; the name Hyperion was known to be use as an epithet or synonym of Helios himself, the sun-god, who was also known as the god watching humanity from above - to the point we can even claim that the literary Hyperion was probably invented by splitting Helios from his alternate name. (After all, Homer does call regularly Helios “Hyperion”, while Hesiod splits the two, and it is pretty much agreed that the Homeric pantheon reflects an “older” state of Greek mythology and the Hesiodic one a “newer”). 

So clearly he is a sun or light figure ; and it is something that Diodorus Siculus, in his “Library of History”, understood very well: when he re-wrote the Titans as the “ human inventers of primitive civilization”, he gave to Hyperion the discovery of the movement of the celestial bodies and of the cycle of seasons, leading to him being called in legend the “father of the sun and the moon” when, according to Siculus, he was just a man who studied them very closely (the whole text was an attempt at proving that Greek myths were just real stories of men that got taken out of context - after all Siculus was an historian). 

B) Coeos/Coios. We can’t guess much from his children, unlike Hyperion, as he fathered the strange duo of Leto and Asteria ; but from his name we can find what he possibly meant, as “Koios” comes from the Greek word for “query”, “questionning”. This is a clue that opens up to a LOT of various possibilities and interpretations - the most notably being a tie to the “prophetic” and “knowledgeable” grandchildren of Koios, Apollo son of Leto and Hecate daughter of Asteria (yeah people tend to forget Apollo and Artemis are Hecate’s cousins). A great open road of interpretations... But sometimes people will also use to defend their theories the “other name” of Koios, “Polus” or “Polos”, which is supposed to mean the celestial axis, the north pole or something like that... Completely ignoring the fact that this alternate name comes from ROMAN texts, not Greek ones. While interesting when considering the figure as a whole, it makes any attempt at recreating its “Greek self” wrong.

C) Crios. As with Coeos we can only trust the eventual clue left by the name, as we know Krios was the Greek word for “ram”. And once more the possibilities are VAST. As with most Titans we can only rely on his children to bring additional information, but the trio of Crios children is even more mysterious and disparate than Coios’: Pallas, Perses, Astreos. For some “the ram” has to be understood as a constellation, and they’ll read star-thematic and signification in Crios’ children. For others the “ram” rather indicates a form of animality and will highlight the animal nature of Crios children (associated with horses, dogs, goats...). But in truth? We know nothing. We cannot ignore that the children of a deity are always important for the meaning of the deity’s role, especially in Hesiod’s writings (Themis births the Fates because fate is just in a Greek’s mind) - but people tend to be too simple in their reading and forget how complex things can be (after all, Mnemosyne isn’t the mother of the Muses because she is a goddess of art - she births the Muses because art is nothing without memory). 

D) And then comes the “worst offender” so to speak... Iapetos. Japet as we call him in France. Heralded by many as the “god of mortality” when truly there is NOTHING that tells us that. People that defend this theory use three elements. One, the fact his children were involved in the creation of humanity and mortal beings: but in truth only two of his children were involved in that, as the other two had no link whatsoever to humanity. Two, the meaning of his name: “iaptô”, “the piercer”. It is true that Iapetos name reveals a brutal, hostile nature as something that pierces, that empales, that stabs. But does it truly mean he is a being of death or mortality? It could just as well mean he is an entity of violence, war or brutality. And third, the idea that he is a “Titan of the west”.

And there I have to burst one of the most-beloved modern beliefs about the Titans... The whole thing of the “Titans embody the four cardinal points” is bullshit. Riordan took it back and reinvented it for his fiction, okay. And Theoi.com promotes it - but this is a very stretchy interpretation, probably born out of a comparative mythologist who was bothered the Greeks didn’t had the same “guardians of the four cardinal points” that other Indo-European mythologies had. NO ANTIQUE TEXT WHATSOEVER can even lead to guessing that the four Titans were embodiments of the cardinal points. THERE WAS NO FRIGGIN LINK BETWEEN THE FOUR TITAN BROTHERS AND THE CARDINAL POINTS in Ancient Greece. Heck the idea that they represent the cardinal points because they were four Titans who held the sky doesn’t even stand in front of Hesiod’s text, as the Theogony makes it clear the FIVE Titans brother held down their sky-father. 

So the idea of the “cardinal Titans”, while truly lovely from a poetic point of view, and clever as a mythological reinterpretation, is not “accurate” or “true” to mythology.

And all of this shows that in truth, when dealing with “not-well-known Titans” one should always be VERY careful, because while some are attested deities that “became” Titans (Helios or Themis, who all seem pretty “Olympian” from a worship point of view and yet are Titans), others are just names invented to fill a fictional family tree and a poetic pantheon - significative names, open to interpretation, but not the names of actually recognized and known figure of Ancient Greeks. You ask an Ancient Greek what Iapetos was a god was and they’ll be confused because they don’t have a god named Iapetos, but if they read Hesiod’s text (and they probably did given how popular and widespread it was), they’ll answer “Oh he’s not a god! He’s this character from Hesiod’s poem!”. Remember that when it comes to Titans, either you have a solid and complex deity ; either you have just a name and nothing else.

[aliciavance4228]

I've came across this Typhon×Echidna VS. Zeus×Hera comparison many times. Basically, people are talking about how the monstrosity who tried to overthrow Zeus and scared the shit out of all Olympians has a more stable, unproblematic relationship with Echidna than Zeus has with Hera, and that he would never cheat on her. Which is an unnecessary over exaggeration.

There's one version of the myth of Typhon (specifically in the one where he's Gaia's son, not Hera's) where he starts telling Zeus about all he's gonna do after he'll overthrow him. Here are some of the lovely things listed by him:

I will keep the chains of Iapetos (Iapetus) for Poseidon; and the soaring round Kaukasos (Caucasus), another and better eagle shall tear the bleeding liver, growing for ever anew, of Hephaistos the fiery: since fire was the for which Prometheus has been suffering the ravages of his self-growing liver. I will take a shape the counterpart of the sons [the Aloadai giants] of Iphimedeia, and I will shut up the intriguing son of Maia [Hermes] in a brazen jar, prisoned with galling bonds, that people may say, "Hermes freed Ares from prison, and he was put in prison himself!" Let Artemis break the untouched seal of her maidenhood, and become enforced consort of [the giant] Orion; Leto shall spread her old bedding for [the giant] Tityos, dragged to wedlock by force. I will strip murderous Ares of his ragged bucklers, I will bind the lord of battle, and carry him off, and make the Killer the Gentle; I will carry off Pallas [Athena] and join her to [the giant] Ephialtes, married at last; that I may see Ares a slave, and Athena a mother. ‘Kronion [Zeus] also shall lift the spinning heavens of Atlas, and bear the load on weary shoulders--there shall he stand, and hear the song at my wedding, and hide his jealousy when I shall be Hera's bridegroom. Torches shall not lack at my wedding. Bright lightning shall come of itself to be selfmade torch of the bride-chamber; Phaethon [Helios the Sun] himself instead of pine-brands, kindled at the light of his own flames, shall put his radiance at the service of Typhoeus the Bridegroom; the stars shall sprinkle their bridal sparks over Olympos as lamps to my loves, the stars lights of evening! My servant Selene (the Moon), Endymion's bed-fellow, along with Aphrodite the friend of marriage, shall lay my bed; and if I want a bath, I will bathe in the waters of starry Eridanos.

Chaining up Poseidon with the same chains that Iapetus is bound by (this one is justified, but still horrible).

Sending a bigger, stronger eagle to peck out Hephaestus' liver to avenge Prometheus (again; justified but still horrible).

Trapping Hermes in a jar forever.

Enslaving Ares, Selene, Aphrodite and Apollo (Selene and Aphrodite would've been his sex slaves).

Forcibly marrying off Artemis, Leto and Athena and letting their husbands rape them.

Forcing Hera to marry him (Typhon) specifically.

Etc.

And yet people are really going to claim that Typhon is faithful to Echidna just so that they could make the relationship between Zeus and Hera seem more problematic than it already was. Speaking about "problematic", both Typhon and his offspring could definitely be described like that. The reason why not all of them are terrible monsters is because the gods realized that the best decision is to make good use of them instead of letting them free.

[whencyclopedia]

Cronus

In Greek mythology, Cronus (also spelt Kronos) is a Titan and the youngest son of Uranus (Heaven/Sky) and Gaia (Earth). He dethroned Uranus and became the world's first king, ruling over his siblings and fellow Titans. Cronus married his sister Rhea and was eventually overthrown by his son Zeus.

Cronus' origin story is most famously told in Hesiod's (c. 700 BCE) Theogony. He is linked to the Roman god Saturn, the Egyptian god Geb, the Phoenician Ēl, and the Hittite/Hurrian god Kumarbi.

Birth & Family

According to Hesiod, Cronus was the youngest child of Uranus, the primordial deity of heaven and the sky, and Gaia, the primordial deity of the earth. Uranus and Gaia had six male Titans and six female Titans (Titanides):

And then she lay with Heaven, and bore Deep-whirling Oceanus and Koios; then Kreius, Iapetos, Hyperion, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Lovely Tethys, and Phoebe, golden-crowned. Last, after these, most terrible of sons, The crooked-scheming Kronos came to birth Who was his vigorous father's enemy.

(Hesiod, Theogony, 131-138)

The Titans are rarely represented in art and are not found in many myths; however, they played an essential role in the creation story of the Olympian gods. Uranus and Gaia also gave birth to the Cyclopes (giants with one eye) and the Hecatonchires (giants with a hundred hands).

Continue reading...

[hermesmoly]

for you, what to you think is the birth order for the 12 Titans? Love to have you back and your reasonings are fun :)

thank you nonnie 🧡 there’s nothing I love more than making lore out of crumbs we have, so here’s my interpretation!

In Hesiod’s Theogony, we get this birth order: "She [Gaia, Earth] lay with Ouranos (Uranus, Sky) and bare deep-swirling

1. Okeanos (Oceanus), 2. Koios (Coeus) 3. Krios (Crius) and 4. Hyperion and 5. Iapetos (Iapetus), 6. Theia and 7. Rhea, 8. Themis and 9. Mnemosyne and gold-crowned 10. Phoibe (Phoebe) and lovely 11. Tethys. After them was born 12. Kronos (Cronus)."

EDIT: I missed two more accounts, one from the Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca (who listed Dione as a Titaness):

"Ouranos (Uranus, Sky) . . . fathered other sons on Ge (Gaea, Earth), namely the Titanes (Titans) :

1. Okeanos (Oceanus), 2. Koios (Coeus), 3. Hyperion, 4. Krios (Crius), 5. Iapetos, and 6. Kronos (Cronus) the youngest; also daughters called Titanides (Titanesses) : 1. Tethys, 2. Rhea, 3. Themis, 4. Mnemosyne, 5. Phoibe (Phoebe), Dione, and Theia."

and another from the Diodorus Siculus' Library of History (which sites Cronus as the oldest and forgets Theia)

The males were 1. Kronos (Cronus), 2. Hyperion, 3. Koios (Coeus), 4. Iapetos, 5. Krios (Crius) and 6. Okeanos (Oceanus) , and their sisters were 7. Rhea 8. Themis, 9. Mnemosyne, 10. Phoibe (Phoebe) and 11. Tethys. Each one of them was the discover of things of benefit to mankind, and because of the benefaction they conferred upon all men they were accorded honors and everlasting fame."

Of the three accounts mentioned I've noticed some similarities:

All three accounts have the pattern Rhea-Themis-Mnemosyne-Phoebe consistently

Two accounts have Oceanus as the oldest child and one as the youngest brother

Two accounts have Tethys as the youngest daughter and one as the oldest daughter

Iapetus is the closest in age to Cronus in two accounts and the second closest in the other

Koios is often the second or third son

Now, just because I've noticed these doesn't necessarily mean I will follow these "rules" in making my own birth order, especially considering many narrative issues regarding Styx/Pallas and Atlas/Pleione being second-generation Titans with fully grown children during the war (as well as well, who I think would fit more into the role of older/younger).

So, here is my own version (sprinkled in with headcanon):

BIRTH ORDER OF THE TWELVE OTHYRIANS:

1-2. Oceanus and Tethys (eldest son and daughter) - So Oceanus is described by Hera as where “all gods have risen” in the Iliad, and in the same breath describes Tethys as “our mother” and in another account by Homer- “Okeanos (Oceanus) the origin of the gods, and Tethys their mother.” They are also identified with Ophion and Eurynome, the supposed first King and Queen of the Heavens before Cronus and Rhea had them overthrown. Because of that, and because Tethys is often described as a loving mother/nurse, I like to think of O&T as a unit (Oceanus still as the older one but Tethys following shortly after) who once took care of their younger siblings especially when Gaia and Uranus were constantly fighting and fell in love in the process, vowing to have many kids of their own when they got married. Oceanus abstaining from the castration can be because of many reasons, but I believe it had to do with his kind nature, being a father and not wanting to set a bad example towards them (thus disappointing Gaia and prompting Cronus to take action)

3. Crius (second brother)- EDIT: making Crius the second oldest as one of his sons, Pallas, later marries Styx, Oceanus, and Tethys' oldest daughter, and unless they were older woman/younger man I prefer that they were closer in age (and I guess narratively it would Make Sense for Oceanus' oldest to be betrothed to the child of the sibling who came after him). As for loyalty, his sons Pallas and Perses are vaguely dutiful to the Titans during the war.

4. Iapetus (third brother) - As much as I like Cronus and Iapetus being closest in age for brothers, Iapetus being older makes more sense to me. Atlas is his eldest son (with a wife and children) and Cronus’ right hand, rather than Iapetus himself, so I believe that Iapetus thinks Atlas would do a much better, youthful job at it. Cronus could see Iapetus as everything Oceanus should’ve been, the reliable older brother (even if his traitorous other nephew Prometheus joined the opposite side)

5. Hyperion (fourth brother) - no particular reason for this one besides being close to Theia’s age and his children being close to Hestia-Zeus' age.

6-7. Theia & Rhea (second and third sister) - TWINS TIME BABYYY. This is all purely headcanon be warned. As I’ve mentioned before, in my ficverse Theia and Rhea were born as twins destined to have favorable children. Theia eventually becomes close with Hyperion, marrying him and leaving Rhea jealous but happy to see little Eos, Helios, and Selene grow up. Rhea begins sticking closer to Themis, Phoebe, and Cronus after Theia’s wedding. Theia and Rhea’s relationship is still close as they once joked about their firstborns being fire starters (Helios and Hestia) in the short time frame before Cronus devoured Hestia.

8. Themis (fourth sister) - besides the constant of Themis being younger than Rhea, my main reasoning with this is simply that Zeus marrying his aunt who is younger than his mom is more palatable than marrying an aunt older than her (then again both Titanesses are older than his father but Zeus isn’t close to his dad anyways). Narratively her getting the oracle makes much sense too as her older sisters have their roles (Tethys is the mother of the ocean deities, and Theia and Rhea are destined to have favorable kids), it would make sense for Gaia to give her the Oracle and become her prophetic successor (before giving it to her younger sister Phoebe as she establishes herself as the goddess of divine law)

9. Phoebe (fifth daughter) - being the younger to Themis, she gets the Oracle of Delphi from her and is the third goddess to hold it before giving it to her grandson Apollo (Aeschylus, Eumenides 1 ff). Besides that, she’s renowned thanks to her grandchildren. I still want her to be older than Mnemosyne as I imagine her kind of mature while Mnemosyne more youthful.

9. Mnemoysne (Melete, Aiode, Thelixonoe, Arche, Mneme) (sixth-tenth daughter) - OKAY so I had this idea when reading about the Elder Muses, who were said to be daughters of Ge/Gaia according to Mimnermus. There are two accounts, one with four muses (Thelixonoe, Aode, Arche, and Melete) and one with three (Melete, Aiode, and Mneme). Mneme is said most likely to be Mnemosyne as her name means “Memory” but honestly, what if they were all Mnemosyne? What if Mnemosyne was like Garnet in Steven Universe, a combination of close Muse sisters to make up an entire deity? Seems cooler than just forgetting about these Muses. Making Mnemosyne the younger makes sense too since Muses are said to be youthful/have the least amount of responsibility.

10. Dione (eleventh daughter) - yeah actually why not make Dione a Titaness too? Most have her as a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys but there are accounts of her being the child of Gaia and Uranus, also I like the little headcanon of him and Phorcys being Titans as Plato wanted. (Albeit in most canon Phorcys is cited as a son of Gaia and Pontos which is. close enough!)

11-12. Coeus and Cronus (fifth and sixth brother) - I still wanted Coeus and Cronus to be twins/close the age gap, mainly because alliterative names are cool and should be highlighted. Coeus is allegedly the Titan of Intellect, so To Me as an older brother who gives advice and not really proactively fights like their older brothers (also, I like to think Asteria and Hestia are within the same age group), and Cronus’ birth order is fixed as the youngest.

EDIT: Aside from their main family tree, they also have the three Cyclopes and three Hecatoncheires, the Pontus-Gaia family tree of Eurybia (Crius' wife), Thaumas (Iris and Arke's father), Ceto (The Gorgon's mother), Nereus (father of the Nereids), Aegaeon (ally to the Titans), Phorcys (Ceto's mate) and the four Telchines who invented metalwork and made Cronus' infamous sickle.

[ideas-left-unwritten]

So this would have been one of my (many) superpower fics, because I love superhero aus too much.

So, in this au, Phil and Kristin are both retired vigilantes (superheroes aren't exactly legal - or, at least, fighting crime with superpowers isn't legal) who settled down to have a family. Here, they only have two sons, Techno and Wilbur. Phil's power is making things wither just through his touch, and Kristin is a necromancer.

The twins don't show any signs of powers for a long time, so Phil and Kristin basically give up. That is, until one day, the twins are separated.

Kristin is driving Techno to the doctor's, for a checkup he really doesn't want to go to. And then, suddenly, he isn't in the car, he's on the side of the road. He teleported out. At the same time, back in the house, Phil nearly knocks something over, and Wilbur instinctively reaches out from across the room, and it stops mid air. Of course, the twins immediately want to be vigilantes, and eventually twist their parent's arms and get them to agree to train them. The only thing is, both Phil and Kristin come to the conclusion that the other wouldn't agree with what they're doing, and both decide to keep this from each other.

So, we have Techno, who has teleportation and can make portals, and Wilbur, who has telekinesis. They also have a little bonus power with Wilbur having really good spatial awareness and Techno with heightened reaction speeds. Kristin knows about Techno's powers, Phil knows about Wilbur's, and neither party knows about the other. Oh, and an important thing is that superpowers don't work properly on close family members, so Techno can't teleport out of Wilbur's grip, he'll teleport with Wilbur, and Wilbur can't use his telekinesis directly on Techno. Mumza also wouldn't be able to bring them back from the dead, which worries her a little bit.

Of course, the twins become vigilantes without knowing the other even has powers in the first place. Techno, taught by 'death isn't permanent' Kristin, is a bit more violent, and willing to kill people if necessary, where as Wilbur won't. But they keep running into each other, and Wilbur grows a bit annoyed that the guy who can literally teleport keeps beating him to crime scenes. They start a friendly rivalry, and even team up on a few things, despite disagreements on how to handle some situations. I also had an idea that Wilbur call himself 'Aeolus' and Techno would just be 'The Blade'. Not by choice - he actually had a cool name thought out (Iapetos) but turns out when you carry a large sword and don't literally tell people your name like Wilbur does, they just call you 'The Blade'. It infuriates him that he can't use his cool name, but Blade is kind of badass anyway.

One day, in the house, Techno and Wilbur are squabbling over something and nearly break something, but Wilbur stops it from falling. Techno pieces two and two together and runs to go and secretly portal to tell Mumza. Now, the whole family knows about Wilbur's powers.

From there, the dynamic changes a little bit. Blade doesn't ask Aeolus for help as much, and starts overextending, being overprotective and making sure Aeolus doesn't get hurt, despite him being able to handle himself in a fight. And this frustrates Wilbur to no end. He confronts the Blade about it, and challenges him to a fight to prove that he 's not useless. Techno doesn't even use his powers, and still wins the fight. He uses this as justification for his actions.

More frustrated than ever, Wilbur decides to fight with Techno the civilian, taking him out into the forest for a sparring match. Now, Techno knows that if he fights back, in his normal style at least, Wilbur will know it's him. So he handicaps himself the entire fight, and consequently gets thrown around quite a bit. It's not that Wilbur is trying to hurt him, but has a lot of pent-up anger that he takes out on Techno by proxy of him not being able to do it to the Blade. And now, Techno is really scrambling, and unfortunately, Wilbur is just not letting up. At one point, he grabs a large boulder and throws it at Techno, and it just doesn't stop - or at least it looks that way - and Techno, on instinct, teleports out of the way, thinking he'll be crushed otherwise. He lands a few metres away, staring wide-eyed at the rock hovering inches away from where he was before. Wilbur had no intention of hurting him.

Techno meets Wilbur's eyes for a moment, sees a flash of realisation and hurt, and then he reacts. The fight is now really on.

Techno keeps on the defensive, and Wilbur starts actually trying to hurt him (it doesn't work because Techno is really good at this whole superpower thing) but Techno is still able to easily subdue him. Wilbur breaks down, Techno apologises, and they sort of make up. It'll take a little more time to fully heal of course.

And then, from there, the two vigilantes become a team. Phil and Kristin have Talks with one another, and they settle into their new normal, with both twins using their powers pretty freely in the house. And life is good.

[evanescent-shorty]

This design is NOT final, but I thought I'd show it anyways. Ankhialê, daughter of Iapetos.

She was a daemon of fire's warmth.

[princessmeepa]

Can you tell the difference game from mine version or LO/RS version

Note that I do not own the characters from the Greek Myth, I was doing this for fun.

My Cronus

Cronus is the Titan god of Time, he is the son of Gaia and Uranus, he is the brother of His siblings included Oceanus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Tethys, Rhea, Themis, Crius, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Theia and Coeus. He was also the brother of the three Cyclopes and three Hecatonchires, brother to husband of Rhea, he is the father of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.

Likes: Clocks, time, Rhea, power, his mother, eating, his siblings, snakes, helping his grandchildren and weapons (mostly scythes).

Dislikes: afraid that his children were going to overthrow him, Zeus and his father.

Friends/Allies: Atlas, Koios, Krios, Iapetos, Hyperion and Rhea (sometimes).

Enemies: Rhea (because he ate their children), his Children (because he ate them), his mother Gaia, his father Uranus, and Zeus.

Personality: He was carefree and naive, when he was young, when he grew up he is very rebellious towards his father and he kills him and he falls in love with his sister Rhea and he deeply cares for her, when they got married and he be comes king, when his older daughter Hestia, was born, he becomes afraid of being thrown over, his jealous and power hungr grows and he ate all his children (except for Zeus), which he end up feeling guilty of and he does his best to make up for it.

LO Cronus

He is sick man, who ate all his sons (except for Zeus), and he Cheated on his wife Rhea, with Hera and he groom/rape her, when she was a teenager????

[zahramorningstar]

The Feast Of The Gods

Hendrik van Balen (Flemish, 1575-1632)

In the beginning there was only Chaos, the Abyss, But then Gaia, the Earth, came into being, Her broad bosom the ever-firm foundation of all, And Tartaros, dim in the underground depths,

And Eros, loveliest of all the Immortals, who makes their bodies (and men’s bodies) go limp, Mastering their minds and subduing their wills. From the Abyss were born Erebos and dark Night.

And Night, pregnant after sweet intercourse, with Erebos, gave birth to Aether and Day.

Earth’s first child was Ouranos, starry Heaven, just her size, a perfect fit on all sides, And a firm foundation for the blessed gods.

And she bore the Mountains in long ranges, haunted By the Nymphs who live in the deep mountain dells. Then she gave birth to the barren, raging Sea without any sexual love.

But later she slept with Ouranos and bore Ocean with its deep currents, And also: Coios, Crios, Hyperion, Iapetos, Theia, Rheia, Themis, Mnemosyne, Gold-crowned Phoibe, and lovely Tethys.

~ • Hesiod’s Theogony • ~

[lonewolfel]

No Changing Fate

Also read it here 

Warnings: Character death (a lot of character death, one of these days I’ll write an original story that doesn’t feature character death but today is not that day), child death, graphic depictions of violence and death

Inspired by Epic the musical The Horse and the Infant by Jay Herrans

Iapetos chased after a boar with a spear in his hands. The boar seemed to move impossibly fast through the forest. 

Iapetos reached a small clearing. The learning had the smell of ozone. The air seemed to be charged as if the bolts of Zeus were about to strike. It caused the hair on Iapetos's body to stand on end and a shiver to go down his spine.

"Prince Iapetos" A loud booming voice said. It reminded the young man of the clashing of thunder. 

Iapetos froze as he realized who it was.

He knelt down in respect.

"King of the Gods," Iapetos said.

"You do not belong here. You must learn the truth," Zeus boomed out.

Iapetos looked up in confusion.

"The truth?" Iapetos asked.

"Bring this to Persephone and Hades, and you will learn the truth about who you are," Zeus boomed out.

A bolt of lightning struck before Iapetos. When it dispersed it left blackened scars on the ground and a golden item. 

Iapetos picked up the item. It seemed to be some sort of medallion or necklace. It had a symbol that he couldn't recognize.

The smell and the charge in the air disappeared signaling that Zeus had left. 

Iapotes walked back to the palace that he had been raised in all the while staring at the golden symbol. 

"Iapetos your back!" his little sister, Euanthe exclaimed. 

Iapotes looked up having not realized that he had returned home. 

The 10-year-old girl rushed through the halls. Her brunette hair flowed behind her. She paused and a look of confusion passed over her face. 

"Where's your spear? I thought you were out hunting," Euanthe questioned.

"Oh, I must've left it," Iapetos absentmindedly admitted. 

Euanthe looked at her brother in concern.

"Are you ok? What happened out there?" Euanthe asked.

"Zeus spoke to me," Iapetos admitted.

He continued to walk to his room.

Euanthe gasped in shock.

"Are you the son of..." Euanthe asked.

Iapetos turned around to face his sister.

"No, maybe, I don't know," Iapetos said. 

He continued to walk. Iapetos heard his sister chase after him but paid her no mind. 

"Then what did Zeus want with you?" Euanthe asked.

Iapetos finally reached his room. He grabbed a bag to pack his stuff. 

"That I need to learn the truth and that I don't belong here," Iapetos said.

"Of course, you belong here, you’re my brother," Euanthe said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Iapetos turned around to face her. He had a knife in his hands.

"Zeus had a reason to tell me that. I have to go to Hades," Iapetos said.

"Hades," Euanthe gasped in horror. She grabbed his arm that held the knife. "That's too dangerous."

"I have to go," Iapetos said. He pulled his arm.

Euanthe grabbed his arm with both hands and pulled it towards her not even realizing that there was a knife now pointed at her.

"You'll die," Euanthe cried. "No one exits Hades' domain."

"I can't just ignore an order by Zeus!" Iapetos yelled.

This shocked the girl enough to stumble forward in shock right into the blade. It pierced her eye. 

Euanthe let out an inhuman cry and then fell limp.

"Euanthe!" Iapetos exclaimed in horror. 

The girl crumbled onto the ground unmoving. 

Guards ran into the room. They froze with a gasp.

"The prince killed the princess," one guard said. 

Iapetos looked down and saw the bloody knife and his hand-stained crimson. 

"No, it isn't what it seemed," Iapetos protested.

"What is going on?" Another voice boomed. This voice came from the elder prince and future King, Laertes.

Laertes entered the room and gasped in horror at the scene.

"It was an accident," Iapetos cried. "I didn't mean to. She slipped."

Laertes' face hardened. 

"The Fates were right. Capture Iapetos he is under arrest for the murder of Princess Euanthe," Laetes ordered.

"Yes, your highness," the guards responded. They moved forward to grab the now criminal prince.

Iapetos grabbed his partly packed bag. He quickly dashed out of his window. He ran through the gardens that he had grown up playing in. The heavy footsteps of guards followed him. They tripped and stumbled over a stray root or fallen branch but kept up. 

Finally, Iapetos reached the back wall of the palace. He quickly scaled it using the uneven rocks as a hold. 

Spears and arrows embedded the wall beside Iapetos. He avoided all of them and jumped off the wall into the forest behind the palace. 

Iapetos knew that he only had a few minutes before the guards will be upon that spot so he ran through the forest not looking back.

~~~

Iapetos returns to the palace shrouded in darkness a month after he had left. His trip to Hades had left him scarred in more than one way.

He knew what he had to do. It was the will of the Gods and the only way to return his family's honor.

Even still Iapetos' heart breaks at what he has to do. They had been the only family that he has had for so long now he was being sent to destroy it. 

Though they made it all the easier because he was now considered a murderer and a traitor. They had already abandoned him so why should he try to fight the Fates for them? 

He sneaks into the palace shrouded by Nyx. Iapetos knew the palace as if it was the back of his hand. He avoided all the patrols and guards. 

Iapetos slipped into Laertes' room. 

The man didn't even twitch. Laertes was always a heavy sleeper and someone who had zero altitudes for was despite his father being a famous and heroic general... a heroic general that slaughtered the entirety of Iapetos' family. 

Iapetos raised his sword to strike the killing blow and yet he couldn't. His arm shook raised over the sleeping form of the man he grew up calling brother. This was the man that would play with him. The man that Iapetos once aspired to be.

He couldn't do this.

Iapetos felt the eyes of the dead watching him as the Goddess of the Dead led him. 

"The ones you seek are just ahead," Persephone said. She placed a hand on Iapetos' shoulder. It was cold and weighed so little. "I'm sorry."

Persephone walked to the side to meet her husband. Hades wrapped an arm around her and with the other beckoned the alive young man forward.

Iapotes walked forward feeling the gaze of the two gods follow him forward. 

Iapetos saw a young woman wearing a torn dress and a man in a soldier's armor caked in blood. The man sees him and a smile that seemed far more like a grimace of pain than anything of joy.

"My son," the man said. 

The woman whirled around and gasped in shock.

"What?" Iapetos asked.

"You're our son," the young woman said.

"The man that claimed you took you after he killed me," The man said

Iapetos shook his head desperately.

"He took his sword and stabbed it through my neck."

Iapetos looked at the sword lodged into the man he had called a brother’s throat. Blood poured out of the wound and out of the sides of his mouth. His eyes were open in horror.

Iapetos withdrew the sword causing blood to drip on both the bed and the floor. With a shaky hand, he dropped the weapon. A choked sob sounded in the back of his throat.

There was no going back from this. 

Iapetos picked up the sword with still shaking hands and left the room. Crimson drops leaving a trail as he went. 

Iapetos walked through the halls effortlessly. His feet carried him to the room that had been the one that belong to the people that he once called parents. 

Only the one he used to call mom was laying in bed, sleeping peacefully. 

Iapetos couldn't even really bring himself to raise the sword. After all, despite everything that has happened she was the one that raised him.

"I was told that you had died. That he killed you. I soon after died of a broken heart," the woman said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Iapetos asked. 

He didn't believe that the gods were trying to play a cruel joke on him. After all, why would they care about him? So why was he being told any of this? 

"You must revenge us," the man snarled.

Iapetos took a step back and shook his head.

"I can't," Iapetos said. "They raised me. They are my family."

"Yet you're the only one that sees it that way," his birth mother said.

"You killed the girl," his birth father said. 

"It was an accident," Iapetos interrupted. 

"I know that and you do, but do they?" his birth father questioned. "To them, it is the prophecy coming true. Damocles will see it as the prophecy coming true. He will have his whole kingdom search for you to kill you in order to save his own family. You will never be safe. You will spend your whole life running if you don't follow through. This is the gods' will, who are you to go against it."

Iapetos pulled out the blade from the woman that had once been his mother's heart rapidly. Tears clouded his eyes, and he stumbled back into the nightstand. 

There was a loud crash, and then the room filled with smoke. He had knocked over a lit candle. 

Flames heated the room as Iapetos let out a sob. He could still hear her singing him a lullaby when he was young and too scared to sleep. 

Iapetos dropped his sword where the blood of mother and son mingled in a morbid greeting. He stumbled out of the room. 

The palace around Iapetos burst into flames around him. He quickly stumbled out of there with tears running down his soot-covered cheeks washing it away. 

"YOU!" A loud snarl sounded.

Iapetos turned around and faced King Damocles the man who raised him. The once great hero that had killed his father in combat and despite the warning of the gods raised him as his own only to turn against him. 

Damocles drew his sword and charged. Iapetos quickly dodged out of the way. Domacles has seen far more combat but old age slowed him and ager clouded his brilliant mind. 

The two of them fought. 

"What do I have to do?" Iapetos sighed. He knew they were right. 

"Kill them," his father demanded. 

"If I may," Hades interrupted. Iapetos froze having forgotten that the two gods were there. "Damocles' future is clouded. You have to kill Aglaia and Laertes but his fate is up to you. All I ask is that you consider killing him."

Damocles was down on his knees. He coughed and blood sprayed across his lips.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," Damocles snarled. 

"You should have," Iapetos agreed.

Ultimately, so much pain could have been avoided if Damoces had listened to the gods and killed him as an infant. They both wouldn't have to lose their family. 

Iapetos looked down at the sword at his feet. He picked it up. 

"Everything I have done has been your fault. I wanted none of this," Iapetos said. 

"So what?" Damocles demanded. "Are you going to kill me?"

Iapotes stopped for a moment.

"No, you get to live with the knowledge of what happens when you defy the will of the gods," Iapotes said.

Iapetos turned around and began to walk away. He left the crumbed hero in front of his burning family and throne. 

"COWARD!" Damocles screeched. Iapetos paid the cry no mind.

Iapetos slipped into the darkness of the night. 

Like what you read consider commissioning me

[mask131]

I have a question about Zeus and Kronos. SEVERAL actually. Their relationship gets more confusing the far you dig into it.

How did the ancient Greeks see their relationship? How did they see the whole conflict between the Gods and the Titans?

In modern works, Kronos and the Titans are almost always portrayed as evil, monstrous tyrants, and Zeus and the Olympians as the young heroes that bring them down.

However, in Greek Mythology, Kronos' reign was the Golden Age, an utopic and paradisiac time of peace, happiness and prosperity, and Zeus is the main responsible for bringing pain, disease, and death to humankind through Pandora.

And to make matters more confusing, patricide was a huge sin in ancient Greek culture.

Was Zeus and Kronos' story a heroic tale of order overcoming chaos, or a tragic "Paradise Lost" type of scenario? Is Zeus a hero for deposing his father, or fallen hero that only escaped divine retribution because he himself is a god? Who was in the right in the conflict between Olympians and Titans? How am I supposed to interpret Hesiod's Theogony?

This is a very complex question that opens the door to many, many possibilities. But long story short: in the Olympians vs Titans conflict, the Titans were definitively in the wrong, and yes we are supposed to root for the Olympians.

Remember, the Olympians are supposed to be the "big goods" of Greek mythology - or at least, mostly positive figures. The enemies of the Olympians are by extension our enemies because the Olympians represent order and civilization. The Gigantomachy is the best representation of that, as the Giants were literaly designed to kill and destroy and nothing else. Same thing with Typhon, chaos and terror embodied.

Now what was the problem with the Titans? Long story short, many things. But what we have to understand is that the Titans are being supposed to represent... yes chaos in a way, but also a more brutal, primitive form of the universe. Yes the Titans are gods like the Olympians - but they are not the same kind of gods. Older, rougher. For example take the Olympians - they are kings and queens over the principles they control. Poseidon rules over the sea but is not the sea ; Zeus' decisions control the weather but he is not the weather. When we go by the Titans, however, we have beings such as Helios who was the literal sun or Oceanos who was the literal ocean. The Titans reflect the primal forces of nature, the rough and brutal, less humanized elements, more personifications and embodiments than deities as we understand them today. So what was the object and purpose of the Titanomachy? The "taming" and ordering of the world. Some Titans sided with the Olympians, and thus became more human and more "ordered" and found a place for themselves within an organized world. Themis for example, who as the embodiment of the Law and of Justice, would of course choose the Olympians' side. Also note that, outside of Themis, none of the Titans reflected any concept or principle part of a civilization. The Titans were violence (Iapetos whose name means "piercer", and Kronos who castrated his own father), the Titans were animals (many are the titans with strong animal motifs), the Titans were the sea and the moon and the sun and the light and the earth... They were literaly born out of the sky and earth. But what came with the Olympians? When Zeus got onto the throne, he started creating new gods through his many marriages and alliances: he brought forth Apollo of the art, Athena of wisdom and peace, Artemis of the hunt of the wild, Hermes of all the sciences, and the Horai, and the Muses, and sometimes even the Moirai themselves. Zeus organized the world and brought many of the concepts we cherish so much today.

Not only was the problem with the Titans that they were primordial and brutal forces of nature, but the problem with the specific Titans that went at war against the gods is that they literaly refused to let fate be and time pass. Kronos' flaw and fault is the most common of all mythology: fighting an oracle, trying to destroy a prediction, trying to avoid his fate. He was foretold he would be overthrown by his son. Not destroyed, not mutilated, certainly not killed (because gods cannot die, they are immortal), but just overthrown. And he refused this. He refused to have his throne taken away from him - he refused to let generations change, to let youth come. He had obtained his throne for right reasons (he punished the sins of his father) and yet through bad means (mutilating his own father). As such he got the throne but was fated to let it go, and know a "lesser" version of what he had inflicted upon his father. But he refused this.

Not only that, but he actually ended up repeating the mistakes and crimes of his father Ouranos. By not just bringing a stasis, but by literaly causing a regression. Imprisoning back the Cyclops and Hekatoncheires he had set free ; and then swallowing back into his belly the children he brought forth, literaly reversing the natural cycle of time. So Zeus' war against Cronos was justified to allow the world to continue its own maturation, and evolve further. And from a world of brutality, barbary and regression, we reached an age of order and civilization.

Now let's take the second side of the problem - the whole "Ages of Mankind".

It should be recalled that the Ages of Mankind story comes from Hesiod's "Of Works and Days", not from his "Theogony". And "Of Works and Days" is not supposed to just be a cosmogony like the Theogony, but rather a didactic work. It isn't about mythology per se, as the true topic of the work is agriculture, and all sorts of advices on how to take care of your field, woven with philosophical and moralist lessons about the importance of hard work. The mythological story woven in the work is meant to be an illustration of why humanity has to work, and is tied to all sorts of socio-philosophico messages, making it closer to a fable in many ways. It should also be taken into account that the "Ages of Man" story is tied in "Of Works and Days" to the legend of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Pandora. A legend also told in "Theogony"... but with slightly different details. For example, in the Theogony the story is very misogynistic as the curse of Zeus is... literaly women. As in, women are evil, and that's it. The version of "Of Works and Days", slightly less misogynistic, is the one with the famous Pandora jar later turn Pandora 's box, and there the evil is contained within the jar and is all a convoluted plan to force the "clan" of Prometheus to end up cursing the humanity they favored. Hesiod was never afraid of contradicting himself - even within the Theogony you have opposite stories, such as how in one part the Moirai are aughters of Zeus and Themis, in another daughters of Nyx that predated Zeus.

Anyway, all of that being said, I want to point out something important: in the Ages of Man storyline by Hesiod, Zeus is not supposed to be the one that caused the misery of mankind. At least not directly. It is true that the Golden Age and the first humanity is said to have existed/been formed under the rule of Cronos, while the Silver Age, which was a downgrade, occured when Zeus arrived on the throne. But the text does not say that Zeus was the one who caused the downgrade of humanity. There is definitively a change, an evolution, but it doesn't mean it is Zeus that "corrupted" humanity. In fact, the text does say that Zeus kept around the first humanity as powerful spirits to help, guide and enrich the following humanity. And Zeus' "rule" is not all bad, as there is a mention of one of the humanities brought forth under him being the Heroic Age, which is considered one of the best humanities after the Golden Age. The legend isn't actually about Zeus "ruining" humanity in any way, as the message Hesiod tries to give here is rather that humanity is living through a sort of natural decline... Yes, Hesiod was quite pessimistic, and honestly you can hear a bit of the old as time rant "Young people are doing everything bad, the world is getting worst and worst, wasn't it better before?". You can literaly hear Hesiod doing his youth-hating-grandpa-rant through his tale.

Afterward, we have to consider the whole Prometheus-Pandora-Zeus triangle... And this is where things get tricky and dual. Now I can't possibly embrace the full scope of the implications of the Prometheus legend. There is a reason he is such an inspiring and powerful figure even today - and Prometheus is one of the most complicated entities of all of Greek mythology. But here is the thing I wanted to say... Yes Hesiod does say and explain that Zeus created all sorts of evil he inflicted upon humanity because he was unhappy with being deceived by Prometheus. In "Of Works and Days" it is an especially strong point because the entire text is about explaining why humanity has to work so hard, and why labor is needed by humanity, and why if we have benevolent deities we must still be burdened by chores and toil. And in general this is an answer to the very same problem that the Genesis of the Bible poses: Why would a benevolent god inflict us a life of suffering? Why do we have to work to eat and why isn't the superior power providing us, if they love us so much?

In the Biblical text, this is explained by the original sin, and by all this being a punishment for humanity's original flaw. But in the Greek texts we have something very different - as it is inflicted... to punish Prometheus? That's what Hesiod's text tells us and/or implies, by making the equation "Zeus got tricked by Prometheus, he got mad, and as a result he unleashed evils on humanity". This is what led to so many readings of Zeus as some sort of petty tyrant who wounded humanity to just get back at Prometheus. And this is partially true in Hesiod's myth... But not the whole truth. Because Hesiod insists on a very important fact: he stands as both a human speaking to other humans, and thus he cries over the misfortune of humanity and our suffering, and he explains it comes from Zeus and thus it is why it is unescapable... But he also stands as a devout Greek, as a herald of the gods' words, as someone inspired by the Muse - meaning he also has to point out that Zeus was in the right. This is why, when you compile the dual legends in "The Theogony" and "Of Works and Days", you get a very ambiguous Prometheus, more of a anti-villain by Ancient Greeks standards.

For example, the idea that Zeus got mad upon discovering he had been cheated by Prometheus is a misconception when it comes to the Hesiodic text. When you read Hesiod's text in the Theogony, what does it say? It says that Zeus was not fooled by Prometheus' trick, during the partition of the cow (when it was time to decide which part of food ent to the gods, which part went to humanity). No, Zeus, as king of the gods and superior god, is all-knowing and all-seeing, and the text does say he did knew of Prometheus' trick as soon as he laid eyes on the divided cow. He did play along with Prometheus' trick, but he got massively angry - not at being cheated, no... he got angry at the idea that Prometheus had rigged the game, and had tried to deceive him. See this as some sort of betrayal - he entrusted Prometheus with doing a fair share, and he discovers the Titan had rigged the game. Similarly, when Prometheus stole the fire, Zeus got angry because it was a theft - a theft opposing his law and decisions, an act of rebellion against his position as a king - and yes he would dislike humanity, because now they literaly had a stolen good that they were not supposed to have. Remember that Zeus is a god of justice whose deal was punishing criminals and enacting the law - so of course, a cheater, a scammer and thief like Prometheus would displease him, especially when he is not just a rebel that opposes Zeus' very rule... but also who threatens the cosmic order.

I said it before - in Ancient Greece everything was about balance ad harmony. Humanity had to be "balanced". And the actions of Prometheus literaly placed humanity out of balance. When the partiton of food came, Prometheus rigged the game so that humanity would have the best part. As a result, Zeus had to inflict an "handicap", a "flaw" to humanity so that they wouldn't be too overpowered. This was the removal of the fire. But then Prometheus stole the fire back, making humanity over-powered again. And so Zeus decided to bring the ultimate "handicap", the ultimate "flaw", the ultimate "evil" that would never go away... Because that's another thing with this legend. Zeus never takes away what had been given by the gods. When the partition of food was done, Zeus did not fight it. Zeus removed the fire yes, but when Prometheus gave it back, he did not remove it again. Once something is gifted, it cannot just be snatched back - again, Zeus respects the laws, the promises, the customs. A choice is a choice, a gift is a gift. Which is why, to weaken humanity, Zeus had to GIVE something instead of remove it. And this gift was A) in Theogony, Pandora. Because the Theogony's misogynistic take on the Pandora myth is that SHE was evil because women are by nature evil and ruin humanity. B) in Of Works and Days, the gift of the jar containing all the evils and misfortunes. Which, as I said, was a clever plan to have Prometheus' own family balance his over-powering of humanity by having THEM bring upon humanity something bad. As a way to even things out. When Hesiod evokes the person that brought misfortune upon humanity, when he describes the source of all the evils mankind has to suffer through, he doesn't speak of Zeus... He speaks of Epimetheus. Or of Pandora. But not Zeus. Zeus isn't the "culprit" in Hesiod's texts - rather it is either Pandora (for, misogynistic time, women are inherently curious and curiosity - and women in general - is evil), or Epimetheus (for being a dummy who gets seduced by pretty appearances, doesn't think of anything before acting, accepts any shining gift and is too naive for his own good, trusting both his enemies and the people he doesn't know). Oh yes, the human in Hesiod will cry and lament that Zeus is persecuting humanity... But he will make it clear it was the fault of Prometheus and Epimetheus (Pandora doesn't get much of the "culprit" treatment" because she is either seen as A, the evil Epimetheus brought into the world, B, just a tool and extension of Zeus' own will, and so not an actual "culprit").

The final piece of the puzzle that allows us to understand a bit more the tale of Hesiod is that we have to recall what was the worst crime ever in Ancient Greece. Hubris: for humanity to believe itself equal or above the gods. This was the manifestation of the Greeks' immense fear of unbalance and disharmony, when the low humans tried and believed themselves to be above their natural condition, about to rival with the immortals who were perfect in body and mind (well... absolutely perfect in the religion, much more flawed in the myths and literary works). And all the actions of Prometheus worked on bringing forward humanity close to hubris. By giving them a food better than the gods', by leaving them the full mastery of fire - especially since at the time it was the early humanity, the "golden age", those long-lived, happy, careless, ageless humans that were basically Tolkien's elves - Prometheus was literaly building rivals for the gods. Remember that what Prometheus did was seen as an act of rebellion and disobediance towards Zeus' order, ruling and position... Betrayal of his king, so to speak. Zeus had to inflict on humanity something so that they wouldn't get too overpowered or too similar to gods - he had to inflict on them something that would remind them that they were mortals, not gods, and that the world did not belong to them.

And THIS is where the "Silver Age" problems come from. As I said before, when Hesiod uses Cronos and Zeus to evoke the Golden and Silver Age, he uses them more as chronological markings than anything. By making the Golden Age Cronus' era, Hesiod places this humanity in the far, far, far away distant past, in a time beyond what is mythical - in a time before the actual organized time of the gods people knew, before what humans understood of humanity. And Hesiod insists in his texts that the ills and the worries brought by either Pandora's presence among humanity (Thegony) or by the jar of Pandora (Of Works and Days) are what caused humanity's downfall as they started aging, and falling sick, and losing their happiness, and living shorter... So long story short, it isn't because Zeus became king of the gods that the Golden Age became the Silver Age. It is rather because of the chain of events started by Prometheus - it is because of all the punishments Zeus had to took against the rebellious and cheating Prometheus that the original humanity became another. So... while yes, Zeus did send the evil, the texts of Hesiod also make it clear it is kind of Prometheus' fault. Hence the anti-villain status: yes he tried to favorite and help humanity, and thus is our hero... But he also tried to destroy the order of the world and is the reason we were cursed in the first place, so he is still a villain. Mind you, in the times after Hesiod the Greeks would come to gain a much more positive view of Prometheus - but I am focusing here only on Hesiod since it is what the question is about.

The best metaphor I would have would be : all those incidents we have today when we favorize and protect one species in an ecosystem because it is "cute"... and by doing so, we ruin the entire ecosystem. This is literaly what Prometheus did, as the trickster-rebel, and what Zeus had to fight as the god of order and balance. (And again, we have an Hesiod that is literaly doing grandpa rants about how the "good ol' times" were better and the "youth today is crap", so of course he would offer us a myth where the established order and ruling monarchy is praised, while the rebellious opposition is demonized... with the nuance that the rebellious opposition protected us humans, and thus we have this very ambiguous territory.) It is no wonder that in modern fiction dealing with Prometheus, a question arises that was first brought forward by commentators of Greek myths: did Prometheus act out of excessive love for humanity, or more to get at Zeus? Both options are possible: in "The God Beneath the Sea" for example Prometheus is this tragic figure of someone who loved too much humanity and tried to protect it at all costs... But in the French novel "Prometheus the revolted" by Janine Teisson, he is more presented as a cunning, exploitative schemer that uses humanity as a tool to discreetly try to get back at Zeus, because while he sided with him, he could never fully accept his new king due to his older Titan alliegeance. Which interpret is correct? We can't tell, because the older record is just very ambiguous...

As a final, final note, we have to bring in more "outside-the-text" context to the whole situation. Because these stories were told within a society that had an established hierarchy, an established religion and established morals differing from our own, hence why we can lack some key information to get the nuance. For example, in "Of Works and Days", Hesiod cries and laments about one of the punishments of Zeus against humanity - hiding the grain of plants below the earth, and forcing humans to work to grow their crops and their food. A punishment which is nuanced when you remember something from Greek religion that the text does not speak about: Zeus was one of the favorite gods of farmers and crop-growers, and seen as their ally, because he was a god of fertility and agriculture. Zeus was the god of weather - but of good, fertile, helpful weather. Zeus sent the fertile rain that made the plants grow and the earth alive ; and he also sent all the sunlight needed for fruits to mature and plants to be healthy. This was in fact part of his dicotomy with Hades - Hades kept the grain under the earth to protect it, and then Zeus helped it grow into a plant above the soil. (And yes, this is tied to the Persephone legend in some ways). When you know that, you realize that Zeus might have cursed humans with having to work hard and search hard for their food... But he also clearly helps them to do so by sending the weather needed for the crop to grow well.

Just like how he is said to destroy the various humanities of the Ages of Man one by one to punish them or due to other incidents... But he then grants them some pretty sweet things. Like how the Golden Age humans became Greek-equivalent of guardian angels, benevolent semi-divine entities, or how the men of the Silver Age were said to be among the "Blessed" in the afterlife, and supposedly to dwell in some sort of paradise...

Of course the issue is infinitely more complex, and there's entire books written about this, so this is just a fragment of synthesis. But to return to the original question... Cronos, and the other Titans, were not at fault for oppressing humanity or being tyrants, no. From what Hesiod gives us to read, the Titans in fact had nothing to do or didn't care about humanity in the first place - since before Zeus' time we have no record of any god mingling with humans. We'd have to wait for the Olympians for humanity to become "interestng" or even "desirable" in the yes of the gods. No, Kronos' true crime was a cosmic one. The Titans had to be overthrown because they refused the natural flow of time and the natural evolution of the world, because they repeated the same oppression they had delivered the world from (Ouranos'), because they had enforced a stagnation and even a regression, perfectly symbolized by the image of the father swallowing the babies as soon as they are out of their mother's belly. The gods do grow - but they grow trapped within their father's stomach in a perverse, reverse pregnancy, and in a mirror of how Ouranos' lust also prevented life from spreading forth into the world. And we'd have to wait for Zeus to force a new "birth", through making his father vomit, for the gods to finally be able to accomplish their purpose in life - change the world and make the universe go forward...

As a final note, and I think this is something Jean-Pierre Vernant said (but a lot of what I said above comes from Jean-Pierre Vernant): Zeus overthrowing Cronos is a symbol of the rule of brute strength and violent tyranny being stopped. How did Cronos reached the throne? By castrating his father. How did he maintain his rule? By imprisoning his siblings and devouring his own children. What happened when he was challenged? A cosmic war. And Cronos ruled alone as sole king over the universe. But when Zeus came into the world... He was first of the gods, yes, but he still shared the world with his brothers, so that there were three "kings of the world". His first instinct was to ave sex once he was king, yes, but he didn't just "have sex". He symbolically or officially married the most important goddesses (Themis, the Law/Justice, Mnemosyne, Memory, Metis, Prudence/Wisdom) to bring forth the embodiments of order and peace: the Horai, the Charites, the Muses, the Moirai, Athena... And, unlike Cronos who had imprisoned his siblings as soon as he was king, Zeus accepted and rewarded his allies among the Titans, making entities such as Themis, Helios or Hecate first-rank deities in the new pantheon. AND, while he did overthrow his father, it was in the result of a long war, without any brutal mutilation, and what he merely did was imprison him - and perhaps even latter forgave him and released him according to some stories. So we are definitively into a much better rule than the predecessor.

[titanomakhea]

the concept of belos as a wild wizard is just so top tier to me and im so glad im just going with what i started with and being like ... everything is just slightly to the left of canon ...

belos post-finale / post-respawn ... living in the woods and yeah ok he has The Big Primordial Power but it's like ... too much to be easily yeet, not enough to be able to withstand everything he was able to take before??? but

per his abilities remaining as "titan iapetos" (which in fact is a different ass titan from luz's titan), he does have the ability to command the isles and shape areas to his liking, hence how he's been living in the forest in the first place? he creates his own shelter and he can make it so that he Isn't Found and even if you do find him, he's got like 50 alchemic traps to keep people away because he's just tired and sad and sorting through a lot of things

he doesn't leave the forest because he doesn't really have any clue how to face anyone now that things are over. he also is learning to control the primordial power basically on his own with no guidance, because he sure isn't getting any help from any titan now- "buddy you made your bed, sleep in it" vibes

he has remnant scars from where luz tricked him and put the coven brand on him, and while the brand doesn't do anything (because it's really just scar tissue), it's still like that constant reminder. not to mention all the other scars he has- his other constant reminders of how he massively fucked all of this shit up.

he managed to travel to the now supremely wrecked site where the house he built for his family once was. he took from what was left the "memory chest" that has arete's wedding dress, some of meesha's journals, and zanera's favorite toys- and an unused bit of palistrom wood (arete, meesha, and zanera had all been able to carve palismen- belos had that bit of palistrom wood but never used it because he was sorta too busy playing fuck around and find out with primordial beings...). he guards that with his life in the same manner a dragon guards treasure.

he considered rebuilding the house since it had been built sorta on the outskirts of everything as it was, but never really got to it. that, and it's a lot of painful memories only for the sake that he knows he's not the person who originally came to the isles with his family and so he feels that he can't start rebuilding that home until he works through the next 400 years of absolute bullshit.

mind you, he also isn't expecting and quite frankly isn't interested in other people forgiving him and he certainly doesn't want pity- belos is stubborn, he was stubborn from the start, and if anyone is going to solve his problems, it's going to be himself. it just so happens that inevitably he probably will run into other people and then he'll have to deal with that.

truly, bro you made your bed, sleep in it.

[superemeralds]

ATLAS OF IAPETOS

Iapetos is the titan of the west, where the sun kisses the earth good night. In greek myth, ATLAS is his son. ATLAS is a titan that is burdened with seperating earth and sky, eternally carrying the sky on his shoulders.

This Titan looks a little... different. There‘s a top and bottom side to it. It‘s somewhat twofaced. There‘s also an oceatic theme to the design, covering the seas (Okeanos, the strongest Titan, who actually stayed neutral in the mythos). Now land, sky and sea have been represented by a titan.

There‘s obviously also the theme of Atlas, though in the second phase the burden is not on the back anymore... also did the hind legs really transform into laser guns!?

Giant of Koios <> Wyvern of Hyperion <> Aries of Kreios

wanna see more about this project, but way before i post it? literally while im working on this stuff?

more info below the cut, as always!

IAPETOS ISLAND:

The island is covered by autumnal trees. it almost seems like the islands have their own seasons... There‘s a big temple of ATLAS in the middle, where the titan is locked away. (on the same scope as with the big structure with the pinball machine in the actual game)

4 of the emeralds are hidden in the area, but 3 of them are near or on the Titan itself.

Once you get the first emerald near the Titan, it activates and starts attacking. This is the first phase, where you need to play as normal Sonic and use parkur and parry to climb and stun the Titan, so you have more time to get to the two emeralds that are on opposite ends of the titan. The challenge of this phase is the hostile environment on the Titan itself and the fact you're not Super Sonic yet. You couldn't beat the previous Titans as normal Sonic, so getting the last emerald is a desperate need. Additionally, Sonic is at this point visibly corrupted. There is a dire urgency to this fight.

Once you turn super sonic the fight takes to the sky as the titan breaks out of its confinements. I was really disappointed with how Supreme got wings in a cutscene and then they just? were gone? what? I incorporated them in this version of Supreme, which i think is... supreme...............

anyways moving on.

The orb it‘s holding is its weakspot, but little does sonic know this is the physical place that uranos (the end) is sealed away. Shortly before defeating the titan the orb breaks and reveals a black hole.

Sonic succumbs to the corruption after defeating ATLAS. He absorbs all of it and carries the entire burden of the corruption alone, becoming the new ATLAS. Meanwhile the black hole from in its hands takes to the sky, floating above KRONOS ISLAND, slowly growing as it reforms.

This means Sonic‘s friends, now free of the Cyber-Limbo, have to go on to KRONOS ISLAND to find the emeralds to restore him to normal before URANOS (The End) can reform completely. ((Uranos is the sky god, being eternally seperated from his wife gaia, whom he raped on the regular which is why his children, the titans (in particular Kronos, who was the one to castrate his father) fought him in the first place))

[blog-aventin-de]

Prometheus und die ersten Menschen

Prometheus und die ersten Menschen · Griechische Sage

Himmel und Erde waren geschaffen: das Meer wogte in seinen Ufern und die Fische spielten darin; in den Lüften sangen beflügelt die Vögel; der Erdboden wimmelte von Tieren. Aber noch fehlte es an dem Geschöpf, dessen Leib so beschaffen war, dass der Geist in ihm Wohnung machen und von ihm aus die Erden-Welt beherrschen konnte. Da betrat Prometheus die Erde, ein Sprössling des alten Göttergeschlechts, das Zeus entthront hatte, ein Sohn des erdgeborenen Uranossohnes Iapetos, kluger Erfindung voll. Dieser wusste wohl, dass im Erdboden der Samen des Himmels schlummere. Darum nahm er von Ton, befeuchtete denselben mit dem Wasser des Flusses, knetete ihn und formte daraus ein Gebilde, nach dem Ebenbild der Götter, der Herren der Welt. Diesen seinen Erdenkloß zu beleben, entlehnte er allenthalben von den Tierseelen gute und böse Eigenschaften und schloss sie in die Brust des Menschen ein. Unter den Himmlischen hatte er eine Freundin, Athene, die Göttin der Weisheit. Diese bewunderte die Schöpfung des Titanen-Sohnes und blies dem halbbeseelten Bild den Geist, den göttlichen Atem ein. So entstanden die ersten Menschen und füllten bald vervielfältigt die Erde. Lange aber wussten diese nicht, wie sie sich ihrer edlen Glieder und des empfangenen Götterfunkens bedienen sollten. Sehend sahen sie umsonst, hörten hörend nicht; wie Traumgestalten liefen sie umher und wussten sich der Schöpfung nicht zu bedienen. Unbekannt war ihnen die Kunst, Steine auszugraben und zu behauen, aus Lehm Ziegel zu brennen, Balken aus dem gefällten Holz des Waldes zu zimmern, und mit allem diesem sich Häuser zu erbauen. Unter der Erde, in sonnenlosen Höhlen, wimmelte es von ihnen wie von beweglichen Ameisen; nicht den Winter, nicht den blütevollen Frühling, nicht den früchtereichen Sommer kannten sie an sicheren Zeichen; planlos war alles, was sie verrichteten. Da nahm sich Prometheus seiner Geschöpfe an. Er lehrte sie den Auf- und Niedergang der Gestirne zu beobachten, erfand ihnen die Kunst zu zählen, die Buchstabenschrift; lehrte sie Tiere ans Joch spannen und zu Genossen ihrer Arbeit zu gebrauchen, gewöhnte die Rosse an Zügel und Wagen und erfand Nachen und Segel für die Schifffahrt. Auch fürs übrige Leben sorgte er bei den Menschen. Früher, wenn einer krank wurde, wusste keiner ein Mittel, nicht was von Speis und Trank ihm zuträglich sei, kannte kein Salböl zur Linderung seiner Schäden; sondern aus Mangel an Arzneien starben sie elendiglich dahin. Darum zeigte ihnen Prometheus die Mischung milder Heilmittel um allerlei Krankheiten damit zu vertreiben. Dann lehrte er sie die Wahrsagekunst, deutete ihnen Vorzeichen und Träume, Vogelflug und Opferschau. Ferner führte er ihren Blick unter die Erde und ließ sie hier das Erz, das Eisen, das Silber und das Gold entdecken. Kurz gesprochen: In alle Bequemlichkeiten und Künste des Lebens leitete er sie an. Prometheus und die ersten Menschen · Griechische Sage · Mythologie Read the full article

[rh35211]

The creation of women as Zeus’ revenge: an excerpt from Hesiod’s “Theogony.” | Laurel A. Rockefeller

“Prometheus: Pandora and the Lineage of Women

570 Forthwith then he fashioned evil for men in requital for the fire bestowed. For from the earth the famous Hephaistos, halting in both feet, fashioned the image of a modest maiden, through the counsels of the son of Kronos. And the goddess glancing-eyed Athena girded and arrayed her in silver-white raiment; 575 and from her head she held with her hands a curiously embroidered veil, a marvel to look upon: and Pallas Athena placed around her about her head lovely garlands fresh-budding with meadow-flowers, and around her head she set a golden coronet, which renowned Hephaistos lame with both feet had made himself, 580 having wrought it carefully by hand, out of compliment to Zeus his father. On it had been wrought many curious monsters, a marvel to view, as many as in great abundance the continent and the sea maintain. Many of these he introduced, and much elegance beamed from it, of wondrous beauty, like to living animals gifted with sounds. 585 But when he had wrought a beauteous evil instead of good, he led her forth even where were the rest of gods and men, exulting as she was in the adornment of the gleaming-eyed daughter-of-a-strong-father: and wonder seized immortal gods as well as mortal men, when they beheld a deep snare, against which man’s craftiness is in vain.

590 From her is the race of tender women. For from her is a pernicious race. Tribes of women, a great source of hurt, dwell with mortal men, helpmates not in consuming poverty, but in surfeit. And as when in close-roofed hives bees 595 feed drones, sharers in bad works, the former through the whole day till sunset are busy day by day, and make white combs, while the latter, remaining within in the close-roofed hives, reap the labors of others for their own stomachs. 600 Just as to mortal men high-thundering Zeus gave women as an evil, accomplices of painful toils: another evil too did he provide instead of good; to wit whosoever shunning marriage and the ills that women work, declines to marry, and has come to old age pernicious, 605 through want of one to tend his final days; he lives not, it is true, in lack of subsistence, but, when he is dead, distant kindred divide his possessions; while to whomsoever, on the other hand, the lot of marriage shall have fallen, and he has had a good wife congenial to his heart, to him then forever ill contends with good to be with him: 610 but whoso finds a baneful breed, lives with an incessant care to spirit and heart within his breast, and it is an irremediable woe. Thus it is not possible to deceive or overreach the mind of Zeus, for neither did Prometheus, helpful son of Iapetos, 615 escape from beneath his severe wrath; but a great chain, by necessity, constrains him, very knowing though he is.”