Titans, those crazy old god-folks...

The Titans were among the first known generational gods in the Greek religion. Most of them have little to no iconography. They were, usually, intangible ideas rather than physical “things” like Zeus’ lightning or Hestia’s hearth. For many, all we have left of their traditions are simply the names with hardly any relating stories.

They were the third group of children born from the union of Gaia (earth) and Uranus (sky), which is a metaphor for the rain falling to the earth to make things grow. The first children from these two were the 3 Cyclopes, Brontes, Steropes, Arges; and the 3 Hecatoncheires (meaning “100 handed ones”), Cottus, Briareus, Gyes. Uranus hated and feared these children and had received a prophecy that a child of his would be the cause of his undoing so he kept them locked within Gaia’s womb (below the earth). After that, the first generation of Titans were born.

A male deity and first born titan. As expected, his name means “ocean.” However, Oceanus does not refer to any body of water on the earthly realm. He does not represent the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian or any other ocean that we know. He is the band of water that encircled the earth below and separated it from the Underworld (or Hades). He was a barrier that separated the living and dead, and thusly the known from the unknown. He was also one of the titans who did not take part the war between the Titans and the Olympians (Titanomachy) and was not thrown into Tartarus when the Titans lost (Some sources say that all were thrown down and some were eventually released. Other sources say only the male titans were captured and a couple released later.)

A male deity and the second born titan. The meaning of his name is “number.” His function is unknown and the stories surrounding him have disappeared. The only pieces of information we have left of him is that he was the husband of the titan Phoebe, father of the titans Leto and Asteria, and grandfather to the Olympians Apollo and Artemis, and supposedly Hekate. He was among the titans that were thrown into Tartarus.

A male deity and the third born titan. His name means “ram,” as in the animal. The ram is a symbol for impetuousness, or impulsiveness, violent/vehement movements, actions or passions. Besides that, not much is known about him. He fought against the Olympians in Titanomachy and was thrown into Tartarus as punishment.

A male deity and the fourth born titan. His name is the phrase “that which went before,” or the past in plain words. He later had connections with the sun. He was married to his sister, the titan Theia and together they had the titans Helios (the sun), Selene (the moon) and Eos (the dawn).

A male deity and the fifth born titan. His name means “to wound” or “to hurt.” He is husband to his niece Clymene (Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys) and their children are the titans Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus. He was spared from being sent to Tartarus after Titanomachy.

A female deity and the sixth born titan. Her name has several possible meanings: “divine,” “sight,” and “grandmother.” The last leads many to believe that she is the ancient mother goddess, an older version to gods like Demeter. She was married to Hyperion and bore Helios, Selene and Eos.

A female deity and the seventh born titan. The meaning of her name means “flowing” or “to flow.” The concept of “flow” is directly related to change and movement. She was married to the titan Cronus and they produced the original six Olympian gods (in order from oldest to youngest): Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus. As each child was born Cronus, fearing that he'd be overthrown by one of his children, swallowed them. When Rhea became pregnant with her 6th child she fled to her mother for help. Under her instruction, after she gave birth (This was Zeus) she wrapped a rock in swaddling clothes. When Cronos came to eat his child he swallowed the rock instead while baby Zeus was wisked away until he grew up enough to fight his father. Usually when one of her children or grandchildren were in trouble they would go to her for help. It was she (Under the name Cybele) who cured Dionysus of his madness and made him into a full-fledged immortal. She did not take part in Titanomachy and was not thrown into Tartarus afterwards.

A female deity and the eighth born titan. Her name means “that which is laid down.” What this means is she is in charge of things that have been established (law, order, etc.). The modern symbol for justice, the blindfolded woman with scales, is taken from Themis’ iconography. She was the second wife of Zeus (the first being Metis and the third, and last, being Hera) and they produced the Horae (the Hours) which were goddesses of the seasons, named Thallo (budding), Auxo (growth) and Carpo (ripening) which were later called Eunomia (“good order”), Dike (“justice”) and Eirene (“peace”). They also produced the most powerful goddesses (more powerful than even Zeus) in the Greek culture: The Moirae, or the three Fates. Clotho, the spinner; Lachesis, the apportioner; and Atropos, the inevitable; or the one who stretches the string out, the one who chooses how much time the person will live, then finally the one that cuts the string and ends your life. She stood on the side of the Olympians during Titanomachy and was not thrown into Tartarus.

A female deity and the ninth born titan. Her name means “memory” and has connections in the idea of inspiration. By Zeus (but not married to) she birthed the nine muses Calliope (muse of eloquence and epic poetry), Clio (muse of historical poetry), Erato (muse of lyric, love and erotic poetry), Euterpe (muse of music and lyric poetry), Melpomene (muse of tragedy), Polyhymnia (muse of sacred hymn, eloquence and dance), Terpsichore (muse of dancing and the chorus), Thalia (muse of comedy and pastoral poetry) and Urania (muse of astronomy and astrology). These were called “the younger muses” which gives the impression that Mnemosyne was part of an older muse group.

A female deity and the tenth born titan. Her name has many meanings including: “the shining one,” “moon,” “prophecy,” and “inspiration.” Phoebe was the goddess of the moon in the generation of the titans. As a goddess of prophecy she was the central deity worshiped in Delphi before Apollo took the job over. She is married to Coeus and together they bore Leto and Asteria, and is the grandmother of Apollo, Artemis and (supposedly) Hekate.

A female deity and the eleventh born titan. Her name means “old sea” in the sense of primordial soup, or fertile ocean. She is a goddess of fecundity (fertility, bearing offspring). Together with her husband Oceanus they created literally thousands of children over the earth, namely springs, rivers, lakes and any water source known to man, collectively called the Oceanids. She did not take part in Titanomachy and was free of being imprisoned in Tartarus.

A male deity and the twelfth born titan. He is the concept of “accomplishment” or “perfection.” He is the ‘runt’ of the litter and was the only titan to take up Gaia’s sickle and castrate and defeath his father. This is interestingly reflected when Zeus, the runt of his own litter, does the same and over throws him. During Cronus' rule over the earth, it was an age of prosperity and the people were free of wants and needs. However-- They did not enjoy any sort of free choice. In the Age of Zeus humans had their freedom but they were not taken care of as they had been before. It is the age old question of which is the best: happiness without freedom or freedom without happiness. CRONUS is different from CHRONUS who is the concept of time. He married his sister Rhea and they produced the first six Olympians: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. He was overthrown in Titanomachy and trapped in Tartarus.