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Atlas |
Atlas is the son of Iapetus and Clymene, two of the twelve Titans. One day Zeus raged a war against his father, Cronus, for the right to be ruler of the gods. Atlas joined the side of the Titans and Cronus. After ten years, Zeus defeated Cronus and imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus. He also punished Atlas by giving him the task of holding up the sky. There are many different myths that include Atlas and his punishment. One in particular is the story of Heracles and the Twelve Labors. It is said that Heracles wanted to be immortal, and so he had to perform the Twelve Labors. In one labor, Heracles had to pick golden apples from a tree guarded by the Hesperides and the serpent Ladon. Heracles, with the help of Athena, supported the sky while Atlas picked the apples. Atlas thought he would be free from his job, but Heracles tricked him.He returned and once again held up the heavens. The fruit represents immortality because it was picked from the Tree of Life. Today, atlas symbolizes a book of maps.
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Atlas is the son of Iapetus and Clymene, two of the Titans. One day Zeus raged a war against Cronus for the right to be ruler of the gods. Atlas joined the side of the Titans and Cronus. Zeus defeated Cronus and punished Atlas by giving him the task of holding up the sky. There are many different myths that include Atlas. One in particular is the story of Heracles and the Twelve Labors. It is said that Heracles wanted to be immortal, and so he had to perform the Twelve Labors. In one labor, Heracles had to pick golden apples from a tree guarded by the Hesperides and the serpent Ladon. Heracles, with the help of Athena, supported the sky while Atlas picked the apples. He returned and once again held up the heavens. Today, the term atlas is used to describe a book of maps.
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Atlas was the son of two Titans. Zeus attacked Cronus to take over as ruler of the gods. Atlas sided with Cronus. When Zeus won, he made Atlas hold up the sky as punishment. Atlas also helped Heracles. Heracles needed to pick some golden apples for one of his Twelve Labors. Atlas picked them while Heracles and Athena held up the sky. We now call a book of maps an atlas.
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Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team
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