Atlas — Titan God

Atlas was the Titan god who bore the sky aloft. He personified the quality of endurance (atlaô).

Atlas was a leader of the Titanes (Titans) in their war against Zeus and after their defeat he was condemned to carry the heavens upon his shoulders. According to others he was instead (or later) appointed guardian of the pillars which held the earth and sky asunder. Atlas was also the god who instructed mankind in the art of astronomy, a tool which was used by sailors in navigation and farmers in measuring the seasons. These roles were often combined and Atlas becomes the god who turns the heaven on their axis, causing the stars to revolve.

Name and Portrayal
Atlas’ name is of unsure – probably pre-Greek – origin, but the Ancient Greeks and Romans seem to have thought it had been derived from a similar-sounding Greek root with the meaning of “very enduring.”

This fully coincides with Atlas’ portrayal as an enormous, bearded man, always slightly bent and in pain under the weight of the heavens, usually represented as a globe sketched with the most famous constellations.

Family
According to Hesiod, Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene. However, some – disagreeing with him – say that his mother was another sea nymph named Asia. Either way, he had three brothers (Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius) and possibly as many wives.