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Atlas, a MythSource painting
Greek

Atlas

The Sky-Bearer · The Keeper of the Pillars · The Titan

01Identity

Atlas in Greek tradition

Condemned to hold the heavens after the Titans’ defeat, Atlas is the Greek Titan who bears the sky. He is associated with cosmic order, astronomy, the celestial sphere and the pillars of heaven, as well as the far western mountains and horizons. Atlas is also linked with the Hesperides and their golden apples, and traditions connect him with Mauritania.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Atlas?

    Atlas is a Greek deity associated with the heavens and cosmic order, astronomy and star-lore, the far western mountains and horizons, the Hesperides and their golden apples.
    Source

    Source

    • Classical Mythology a to Z
    • The Greek Myths
    • The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
    • Tales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome

  • What is Atlas the god of?

    the heavens and cosmic order, astronomy and star-lore, the far western mountains and horizons, the Hesperides and their golden apples
    Source

    Source

    • Classical Mythology a to Z
    • The Greek Myths
    • The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

  • What family links are recorded for Atlas?

    Father: Iapetos, Mother: Klymene, Spouse: Aethra, 18 children, 4 siblings.
02Family

Atlas’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

IapetosKlymene
AtlasEpimetheusEumelusMenoetiusPrometheus

with Aethra, Pleione

CalypsoHesperidesMaiaTaygeteHesperusElectraSteropeCelaeno
AlcyoneMeropeHyasAmbrosiaDionéMaeraCoronisDionePolyxoCleeia
03The names

The names Atlas answers to

The Titan Atlas

The Titan son of Iapetus and Clymene

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

Hesperian Atlas

Atlas associated with the far-western Hesperides

SourceTales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome

Atlas of Mauritania

The western king and mountain figure linked with Mauritania

SourceTales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome

Heaven-Bearing Atlas

Atlas who bears or supports the heavens

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

04The myths

The myths of Atlas

3 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.

Atlas Leads the Titans

Cronus swallowed each of his first five children as Rhea bore them. When Zeus was born, Rhea and Gaia concealed the child and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. He swallowed it, believing it was the baby. When Zeus grew up, he forced Cronus to disgorge the stone and the five children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.

Zeus then led his brothers and sisters in rebellion against Cronus. Atlas, son of the Titan Iapetus, led the Titans in the war against Zeus and the younger gods. The fighting continued for ten years. The conflict shook the universe. The sea was disturbed, the earth cried out, heaven groaned, and Olympus trembled beneath the clash of the immortal forces.

Zeus gained the support of powerful prisoners whom he released from confinement. The Hundred-handed Ones fought for him with irresistible weapons. The Titans were defeated, and Zeus took Cronus’s place as ruler of the universe. The defeated Titans were confined in Tartarus, while Atlas received a different punishment.

Zeus condemned Atlas to support the heavens on his shoulders for eternity. This burden was eased once, when Heracles agreed to carry it for a short time while Atlas assisted him in fetching the apples of the Hesperides.

Atlas Leads the Titans, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

2 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Hesiod, TheogonyT1

    Quote

    “Atlas, son of Iapetus, was assigned to hold the broad heavens upon his shoulders.”

    Hesiod, Theogony

Atlas and Pleione

Atlas married Pleione, daughter of Oceanus, and they had seven daughters at Cyllene in Arcadia. They were Alcyone, Merope, Celaino, Electra, Sterope, Taygete, and Maia. Together, they were called the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, and were nymphs.

The daughters became associated with other figures. Sterope married Oinomaos, while Merope married Sisyphos. Poseidon had relations with Celaino and Alcyone. Celaino bore him Lycos, whom he settled in the Isles of the Blessed. Alcyone bore him Aithousa, Hyrieus, and Hyperenor. Aithousa later bore Eleuther to Apollo. Hyrieus and the nymph Clonie had two sons, Nycteus and Lycos.

Orion pursued the Pleiades and their mother through Boeotia. The gods, or Zeus in another version, took pity on them. They transferred the sisters to the heavens, where they became the cluster of stars called the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus. The account preserves their earlier identity as the daughters of Atlas and Pleione while explaining their place among the stars.

The Pleiades also had related nymphs in some accounts. The Hyades were described as their siblings, together with Hyas, their only brother. Another tradition made the Hyades, like the Pleiades, children of Atlas and Pleione. The sources therefore differ over whether the Hyades belonged to the same group of offspring or were a separate sibling group.

Atlas and Pleione, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2Homer, OdysseyT1

    Quote

    “The Pleiades are listed among the stars that travellers used to mark their course across the night sky.”

    Homer, Odyssey

  3. 3The Greek MythsT1

Atlas and Hesperis

Atlas married Hesperis, daughter of Hesper, the evening star. Together they had the Hesperides, nymphs who tended the trees that bore golden apples. Atlas was a second-generation Titan and was said to live beside the garden of the Hesperides. He was also condemned by Zeus to support the heavens on his shoulders after leading the Titans in their struggle against the Olympian gods.

The earth goddess Ge gave Hera trees bearing golden fruit as a wedding present. Hera ordered them planted in the garden of the gods near Mount Atlas. The trees produced apples that were highly prized and were said to grant immortality. The Hesperides cared for the trees and helped guard their fruit. A hundred-headed serpent or dragon named Ladon also guarded the garden.

The garden was placed at the western edge of the river Oceanus, in Libya near the Atlas mountains, or in distant lands associated with the Hyperboreans. These locations were all imagined as lying at the ends of the earth. The Hesperides were linked with the garden because they tended its trees and watched over the golden apples. Their parentage was also recorded differently, but one account made Atlas and Hesperis their parents.

Atlas and Hesperis, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2Hesiod, TheogonyT1

    Quote

    “The Hesperides are daughters of Night, dwelling beyond Ocean and guarding the golden apples.”

    Hesiod, Theogony

  3. 3Greek Myths & TalesT1

Also appears in

The myths across MythSource where Atlas features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Atlas embeds here once it publishes.

Continue the road

More of Atlas’s family, sourced

ElectraChildPrometheusSibling