Atlas

Atlas was forced by Jupiter to hold up the sky. Click on image for full size (73K JPG) Courtesy of the Nova Development and Corel Corporations

Jupiter was fighting against his father, the Titan Saturn, to gain control of the world. When the gods won the war, Jupiterseverely punished Atlas by making him carry the sky on his shoulders. A moon of the planet Saturn was named after the Titan Atlas for fighting with his brother Saturn.

Atlas was forced by Jupiter to hold up the sky. Click on image for full size (73K JPG) Courtesy of the Nova Development and Corel Corporations

A moon of the planet Saturn was named after the Titan Atlas for fighting with his brother Saturn.

Atlas was the father of the Pleiades, theHyades, and the Hesperides. The Hesperides were the guardians of a tree of golden apples. The earth goddess Gaea gave the tree to Juno, the wife of Jupiter, as a wedding present.

The tree was in a secret location. Nevertheless, an oracle told Atlas that a son of Jupiter would one day steal the golden apples guarded by his daughters. For this reason, Atlas refused to let anyone visit his home. One day, a famous hero, Perseus passed by where Atlas was living. When Atlas denied hospitality to him, Perseus, showed Atlas the head of the Gorgon Medusa, which had the ability to turn anything into stone. The giant Atlas was immediately transformed into the homonymous mountains in northwest Africa.

Atlas was forced by Jupiter to hold up the sky. Click on image for full size (73K JPG) Courtesy of the Nova Development and Corel Corporations

Jupiter imposed severe punishments on the Titans. Atlas, as the Titans' leader, received the exemplary punishment of carrying the vault of the sky on his shoulders. A moon of the planet Saturn was named after Atlas for fighting with his brother Saturn.

Atlas had a wife, the nymph Pleione, who bore the Pleiades and the Hyades. He also was the father of the Hesperides, whose mother was Hesperis. The Hesperides were the guardians of a tree of golden apples that the Earth goddess Gaea gave Juno, Jupiter' wife, as a wedding present. The tree had a secret location.

Nevertheless, Atlas was told by an oracle that a son of Jupiter would one day steal the golden apples guarded by his daughters, the Hesperides. For this reason, he refused hospitality to anyone. Because of Atlas' inhospitality, Perseus showed him the Gorgon Medusa's head, which turned Atlas to stone. This myth was considered the origin of the formation of the Atlas mountains in Morocco.

In a different version of the story, Hercules was ordered to fetch the golden apples as one of his twelve labors. Hercules persuaded Atlas to take them on his behalf, while Hercules would support the sky instead of him. Atlas accepted thinking to leave Hercules supporting the heavens forever. When he returned with the apples, Atlas told Heracles that he himself would deliver the apples to the king, Eurystheus. However, pretending to adjust the weight on his shoulders, Hercules tricked Atlas, who was left without the apples and with his duty resumed.