The Titans - the first pantheon of Greek deities
The mighty Titans were a powerful race that ruled the world before Olympians, in a time of the Golden Age of man. They were immortal giants of incredible strength and knowledge of old religion rituals and magic. They are also known as the Elder Gods and their dwelling place was at Mount Othrys. In Greek culture they were interpreted as personifications of the Earth (Gaea) and the Sky or Heavens (Uranus).
The first generation of Titans were the direct descendants of Gaea and Uranus who originally gave birth to Twelve Titans, six males and six females.
The six males were Coeus, Cronus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus and Oceanus and the females were Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Theia, Themis and Tethys. They arose to power when Cronus, in a plot with his mother and his brothers, castrated his father Uranus and took the rulership of Cosmos from him.
During this reign, some brothers and sisters consorted with each other while others consorted with sons and daughters of their relatives and gave birth to the second generation of Titans. Hyperion and Theia gave birth to Eos, Helios and Selene, while Coeus and Phoebe brought forth Leto and Asteria. Oceanus and Tethys gave birth to Oceanids and Potamoi who are in general not referred as Titans.
However, an Oceanid Clymene, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, helped Iapetus to continue the next generation and bore him Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius. Crius and his half-sister Eurybia, a daughter of Gaea and Pontus, brought forth Astraeus, Pallas and Perses and, eventually, Cronus and Rhea gave birth to younger gods, Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia and Demeter who rebelled against Cronus and his followers and later defeated them in a ten-year war, known as Titanomachy.
Titans
Atlas
Atlas was a Titan who was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, a punishment bestowed on him by Zeus. Atlas was given this task in retribution for him leading the Titans into battle, or Titanomachy, against the Olympian Gods for control of the heavens.
Aura
Aura was a nymph (minor diety) that appears in both Greek and Roman mythology. She was the daughter of the Titan Lelantos and Periboa. Aura is associated with gentle breezes, especially the cool, fresh winds that occur early in the morning. She was worshiped as part of an ancient Greek religion called the Eleusinian Mysteries. […]
Coeus
Coeus is the Titan God of the North, and the Titan of Resolve and Intelligence as well as the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve.
Cronus
Cronus is possibly the most famous of the Titans as he was the King and leader of his brothers fighting against Uranus and eventually the Olympian Gods. Born of Uranus and Gaia, he was the wiliest and youngest of their offspring and perhaps the most powerful. Cronus would gain by power by overthrowing his father […]
Helios
Helios, the Sun God A handsome Titan with flowing hair, driving a golden chariot pulled by four fiery steeds across the sky. That was the image that would come to the minds of ancient Greeks when they thought of Helios. To them, he was the representation of the sun and sunlight, traveling across the sky […]
Hyperion
Hyperion is the god of light, he is the son of Uranus and Gaea. Hyperion in turn is the father of the sun, Helios; the moon, Selene and the dawn, Eos. His wife was Thea, who was also a Titan and the goddess of sight and the blue of the sky.
Oceanus
A Legendary Early Greek Titan The ancient Greeks recounted many legends about the earliest rulers of the Earth, a number of gigantic proto-gods called “Titans”. The ancient Greeks believed Oceanus, one of the Titans, exercised control over the world’s first oceans and waterways. Many early works of art depict him as somewhat resembling a man. […]
Selene
Selene, goddess of the moon, truly represented the moon itself to the Greeks. Selene is a Titan goddess. Titan gods and goddesses were actually the divine beings that preceded the Olympian gods and goddesses. The first of these divine beings emerged from the primordial and originally called Gaea mother and Uranus father.
