Atlas (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Atlas (/ˈætləs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄτλας) was the primordial Titan who held up the celestial sphere. Although associated with various places, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa (Modern-day Morocco and Algeria). Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Klyménē (Κλυμένη):
Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled maid Clymene, daughter of Ocean, and went up with her into one bed. And she bare him a stout-hearted son, Atlas: also she bare very glorious Menoetius and clever Prometheus, full of various wiles, and scatter-brained Epimetheus. —Hesiod, Theogony 507–11In contexts where a Titan and a Titaness are assigned each of the seven planetary powers, Atlas is paired with Phoebe and governs the moon. He had three brothers: Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.
Hyginus emphasises the primordial nature of Atlas by making him the son of Aether and Gaia.
The first part of the term "Atlantic Ocean" refers to "Sea of Atlas", the term "Atlantis" refers to "island of Atlas".
Read more about Atlas (mythology): Etymology, Punishment, Encounter With Heracles, Etruscan Aril, Children, Cultural Influence
Famous quotes containing the word atlas:
“A big leather-bound volume makes an ideal razorstrap. A thin book is useful to stick under a table with a broken caster to steady it. A large, flat atlas can be used to cover a window with a broken pane. And a thick, old-fashioned heavy book with a clasp is the finest thing in the world to throw at a noisy cat.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)