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

Ancient Romans Atlas was the leader of the giant Titans who fought a war against the gods. The head of the gods was Jupiter, who was fighting against his father, the Titan Saturn, to gain control of the world. When Jupiter won the war, he severely 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 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.

Learn about the Greek Atlas here!

Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team

The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). © The Regents of the University of Michigan. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of UCAR. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer

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

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