Titanomachy
The Titanomachy was a ten-year war fought in ancient Thessaly to decide who would rule the cosmos. The older gods, the Titans, held Mount Othrys; the younger Olympians would come to hold Mount Olympus. Among the forces involved were giants called the Hecatoncheires, beings with 50 heads and 100 arms each. Greeks of the classical age knew several poems about this war. Only one has survived. How did the universe arrive at this war? What did it cost to choose the wrong side? And what did the winner actually win?
Uranus, the sky god, provoked Gaia's fury by confining six of her children within her body. Three were the Hecatoncheires, the many-headed giants, and three were the Cyclopes, each with a single eye at the center of its forehead. Gaia approached twelve of her Titan children with a request to act against Uranus. Eleven refused. Cronus alone agreed.
Cronus struck his father and freed the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclopes. Then he promptly locked them away in Tartarus again. He had become the tyrant he had just overthrown. His father's parting warning followed him: Cronus's own children would rise against him someday, just as he had risen against Uranus. Uranus's blood, spilled across the earth, gave rise to three new kinds of beings: the Gigantes, the Erinyes, and the Meliae. Off the coast of Cyprus, where parts of the mutilated sky god fell into the sea, Aphrodite arose.
Cronus swallowed each child born from his sister-wife Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and then Poseidon. Rhea grew desperate. When her sixth child came, she wrapped a magnetite rock in a blanket and handed it to Cronus. He swallowed it, believing it to be the infant. The real child, Zeus, was carried to a cave in Crete.
Zeus slew Campe and freed the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires from Tartarus. The Cyclopes went to work at once. They forged thunderbolts for Zeus, a trident for Poseidon, and a helmet of darkness for Hades. The Hecatoncheires pledged to hurl stones at the enemy.
With Mount Olympus as his base, Zeus summoned every uncommitted god to declare allegiance. His terms were clear. Any god who sided with him would keep the honors already held. Any who had none under Cronus would receive them. The first to answer was Styx, who arrived with her four children: Nike, Zelus, Kratos, and Bia. Zeus honored the arrangement by naming Styx the great oath of the gods.
Among the Titans, most rallied behind Cronus. The notable exceptions were Themis and Prometheus, a son of Iapetus in Hesiod's account, who both crossed to the Olympian side. Atlas, another son of Iapetus, served as second in command after Cronus. Two messenger goddesses, the sisters Iris and Arke, initially joined the Olympians. Iris remained loyal. Arke changed sides and went over to the Titans. The war lasted ten years, and the punishment Atlas faced when it was over would be unlike anything the other defeated Titans received.
Atlas received a sentence no other Titan did: not confinement in Tartarus, but the permanent burden of holding up the vault of the sky. The rest of the defeated Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, with the Hecatoncheires serving as their wardens. Arke was stripped of her wings and cast into Tartarus as well. In some later accounts, Zeus eventually freed the Titans once his rule was secure.
The Iliad records how the three brothers divided the universe among themselves following the victory. Zeus received dominion over the sky and the air; with it came recognition as ruler of all the gods. Poseidon received the sea and every body of water. Hades was given the Underworld to govern, the realm of the dead. Each of the remaining gods received duties matched to their nature and inclinations.
Neither Zeus, Poseidon, nor Hades claimed the earth. It was left as common ground for all the gods to use as they pleased. Any god could act freely on it, unless the three brothers were called to intervene. Hyginus, a Roman mythographer, told the story of the same war with Hera as its driving force, not Zeus.
In his Fabulae, Hyginus gave a version of the war with Hera as the central figure. Epaphus, born of Zeus's concubine, ruled Egypt. Hera, angered by this, had him killed and then encouraged the Titans to depose Zeus and return power to Cronus. Zeus crushed the revolt with the help of Minerva, Apollo, and Diana. In Hesiod's version, Zeus was the conflict's instigator from the beginning. In Hyginus's, the war grew from Hera's anger over what Zeus had done.
A second ancient poem bore the title Titanomachy and told the war differently from Hesiod's Theogony. Written no earlier than the late 7th century BC, it was traditionally attributed to Eumelus of Corinth. Eumelus was described in ancient sources as a semi-legendary poet of the 8th century BC. Many authors cited the poem in antiquity without naming its author at all. The name of Eumelus was attached simply because it was the only name available.
The lost Titanomachy was divided into two books. The battle was preceded by a theogony, the poem's own account of the gods' origins. That framing made it a more ambitious work than a straightforward war narrative. The poem was cited by multiple ancient authors and then passed out of circulation, surviving only in fragments quoted by writers who had read it.
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Common questions
What was the Titanomachy in Greek mythology?
The Titanomachy was a ten-year war fought in ancient Thessaly between the Titans, the older generation of gods based on Mount Othrys, and the Olympians, who would come to reign on Mount Olympus. The war ended with an Olympian victory, allowing Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades to divide dominion over the sky, sea, and Underworld respectively.
What caused the Titanomachy to begin?
The Titanomachy grew from a cycle of usurpation. Cronus overthrew his father Uranus, who warned that Cronus's own children would one day do the same. When Cronus began swallowing each child born from his wife Rhea to forestall the prophecy, Rhea hid their youngest, Zeus, who eventually freed his siblings and launched the war.
What weapons did the Cyclopes forge during the Titanomachy?
The Cyclopes forged thunderbolts for Zeus, a trident for Poseidon, and a helmet of darkness for Hades. They were freed from Tartarus by Zeus, who slew their guardian, the she-monster Campe, before the war began in earnest.
What punishment did Atlas receive after the Titanomachy?
Atlas, who served as second in command of the Titan forces after Cronus, received a unique sentence: he was not imprisoned in Tartarus like the other defeated Titans, but was condemned to hold up the vault of the sky permanently.
Who was the first deity to ally with Zeus in the Titanomachy?
Styx was the first deity to ally with Zeus, arriving with her four children: Nike, Zelus, Kratos, and Bia. Zeus rewarded her by naming her the great oath of the gods.
What was the lost poem about the Titanomachy attributed to Eumelus of Corinth?
A now-lost poem also titled Titanomachy, distinct from Hesiod's Theogony, was traditionally attributed to Eumelus of Corinth, a semi-legendary 8th-century BC poet. The poem was divided into two books and opened with its own theogony before the battle narrative. Many ancient authors cited it without naming its author; the name of Eumelus was attached because it was the only name available.
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10 references cited across the entry
- 7BookClassical MythologyMark P.O. Morford — Oxford University Press — 2011
- 10Journal'Eumelos': A Corinthian Epic Cycle?M. L. West — 2002