You will recognize the Greek god Atlas as the heavily muscled middle-aged bearded man crouching under a globe that is balanced on his shoulders. Atlas is almost always depicted, at least in modern times, with the world globe on his shoulders, which, incidentally, makes it appear that the ancients did not believe that the world was flat. But the earliest references mention it as simply holding a “pillar” that is believed to prevent the sky from crushing the earth below.
The history of atlas
Atlas was born to the Titans and fought vigorously against Zeus, earning Zeus’s lasting wrath and the punishment of keeping heaven and earth apart. Eventually Zeus’s anger cooled and Atlas was freed when the centaur Chyron offered to go to the underworld in his place, for reasons that are unclear from the surviving myths.
Hercules briefly assumed the burden of the Heavens so that Atlas could go collect golden apples for him; Atlas almost escaped his fate, but Hercules tricked him into retaking the load by claiming that he had to adjust the strap of his sandal before permanently taking the load.
The Greek hero Perseus eventually turned the suffering Atlas to stone by showing him the head of Medusa.
Atlas strengths and weaknesses
Atlas is very strong but a bit credulous; Hercules easily tricked him into taking back the weight of the world. Unfortunately, he is trapped holding the world. In this, he shares some characteristics with Sisyphus, who must constantly seek to roll a rock uphill.
Family
The Parents of Atlas are Lapetus, a Titan and Climeno. The Titans were the previous generation of deities before the Olympians emerged. His brothers are Prometheus and Epimetheus. Prometheus was famous for bringing fire to mankind. His wife was Pleione, who was also persecuted by Orion.
The children of Atlas included the Pleiades (the 7 Star Maidens), of which Maia, the mother of Hermes, is probably the best known. Atlas is generally considered the father of the Hyade and the Hesperides as well. The Hesperides guarded the orchard where the golden apples grew.
Main temple sites
Atlas had no known temples of its own. In Italy, at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento, a row of Atlas-like figures supported the roof of the temple. (When “an atlas” is represented, rather than Atlas specifically, it is generally written in lower case). In modern times, it is widely depicted on monumental statues around the world, usually with the globe in place of the original pillar.
Interesting data
Due to the association of strength, protection and endurance, many companies have used “Atlas” in their names, although this has fallen out of favor in recent years. And of course, according to an etymology, this Greek god gave his name to one of the most common books in the world: the Atlas, which shows maps of that same globe balanced on his shoulders. But the original ‘Atlas’ for the map book appears to be the King Atlas of Mauritania, which was depicted in one of the earliest map books.
Atlas is also featured in the title of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” – shrugging, of course, would make the world roll off your back and relieve you of that responsibility.
Common misspellings include Atlis and Atlos.