mother of goddesses

During the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age, the mother goddesses were very prominent in Crete, the Cyclades and on mainland Greece.

This page not only looks at Hellenic mother goddesses in the Greek mythology, but also looks briefly at a couple of mother goddesses, during the Bronze Age, where these are no literary accounts.

Background
What do we mean when we identify a female deity as a mother goddess? Does mother mean in the sense, a mother who nurture and protect the young? Is she goddess of childbirth? Is she a creator goddess or the earth goddess (usually known as Earth Mother)? Does it mean that she is fertility goddess or was she the goddess of nature? What does it mean by "fertility"? Mother goddess could mean fertility, but the term "fertility", is in itself rather vague, and could mean a number of different things. Fertility could mean the earth itself, eg. fertility of the land; or could be the growing of crops or other plant life. It could also mean fertility of the animals, as well as that of human, by the mean of mating or sexual intercourse. As you can see, fertility is not good definition to use. The mother goddess may also have many different roles. The mother goddess can be distinguished from the Earth Mother (earth goddess), but sometimes the two are confused and their roles tends to blur, as it is the case with Gaea. Gaea was both an Earth Mother and a mother goddess. The Earth Mother can be seen as the primal force and the source of all life. She does not necessarily have a maternal or nurturing nature. The mother goddess is often a protectress of the young. Sometimes, the mother goddess was the mother of ruling tribe of gods, as in the case with Rhea being the mother of Olympian deities. See also Gaea and her Daughters. The mother goddess is also seen with the divine consort of mortal or even divine ruler, whom she must periodically mate with, as in the case of Cybele and her consort Attis, so that the new year's season are renewed. The mother goddess may even have more than one attribute, as it was the case, with Demeter, the goddess of corn. Demeter was also the mother goddess and goddess of fertility. See also Demeter and Persephone. So far I have only mentioned goddesses what we know of, through literature and mythology after the Dorian invasion. I have not mentioned the goddesses of the Bronze Age Aegean civilisations. Most of the authors we read, set all mythological events before the arrival of the Dorians; thus in the Bronze Age. However, the only writings about the deities in Bronze Age had only mentioned their names on the Linear B tablets in Knossos and Pylos, and nothing else. There were no literature on mythology; there are no details about their cultures, beliefs and their history. See Linear B in the Greek World page (Facts and Figures). Only some of the names that appeared in these tablets survived in classical periods. The rest of the names were unrecognisable, or perhaps they were probably local deities. In Pylos, there are Linear B tablets, which mentioned the name, MA-TE-RE TE-I-JA, or Mater theia, which actually means "Mother Goddess". Who this goddess was, we can only guess. Since the Linear B tablets provided very little understanding about any deities during the Bronze Age, we have to rely mostly in artwork that has survived. However, none of these figures that appear in the artwork provide us with any names, so we can only relied on the interpretations of experts. But with many artworks, it is hard to determine if each female figure was portraying a goddess, a priestess or a female ruler. Judging by the number of icons that have survived, there is a strong belief that the female deities were more predominant than the male deities. It is generally believed now that the goddesses they worshipped were mostly the mother goddesses. Some experts believed that the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations worshipped not a number of goddesses, but one, powerful goddess, just like the Israelites worshipped the One God. The worship of the Mother Goddess has existed as far back as the Neolithic period. In Crete, the Minoan civilisation had only worshipped goddesses, judging by the number of arts dedicated to them. Though, the Linear B, in the palace of Knossos showed the names of some gods, such as Zeus, Poseidon and Ares, the dating of these writing showed that they were written after the Mycenaeans have invaded and occupied Crete, around 1450 BC. Until we one day deciphered the Linear A texts, which was clearly invented by the Cretans, we will never know if the Minoans had only worshipped goddesses or not, or if any of the male deities exist in the Minoan society. With the arrival of the Dorians and other Hellenic-speaking tribes, they brought with them their own pantheon of deities, where the gods were dominant, with Zeus ruling supreme over all. We can only speculate how many pre-Hellenic goddesses survived the transition from Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The new people have tried either to suppress the worship of the goddesses or to reduce their roles.

The Mistress (Potnia)
PO-TI-NI-JA or Potnia seemed more a title than a name. Potnia means either "Mistress" or "Lady". Potnia was a mother goddess or goddess of nature. There are many epithets to the name of Potnia, which indicated that either there is one goddess with many epithets or there are a number of different goddesses. Since there are no reliable sources during the Bronze Age, much of what we know about the various Potnias are mere speculations. In the Linear B inscriptions found in Knossos and Pylos, we have found that the name Potnia appeared several times, but with different attributes or epithets. On the Linear B tablets in Knossos, Crete, there are the following Mistresses: PO-TI-NI-JA Potnia "Mistress" or "Lady" A-TA-NA PO-TI-NI-JA Atana Potnia DA-PU-RI-TO-JO PO-TI-NI-JA "Lady of the Labyrinth" A-SI-WI-JA Aswia Potnia Aswia Below, are the following Potnias, found in the Linear B tablets in Pylos: PO-TI-NI-JA Potnia "Mistress" or "Lady" PO-TI-NI-JA I-QE-JA Potnia Hikkweia or Potnia Hippeia "Mistress of Horses" PA-KI-JA-NI-JA Sphagianeia? place name A-SI-WI-JA Aswia Potnia Aswia NE-WO-PE-O ? place name U-PO-JO ? (A full list of Minoan and Mycenaean names from the Linear B tablets can be found in The Greek World, Linear B (Facts and Figures).) Two pa-ki-ja-ni-ja (Sphagianeia) and ne-wo-pe-o are not epithets; these are names of place. As you would notice from two lists of names above, there is no mention of Potnia theron, "Mistress of Animals". This is because Potnia theron is a modern name to describe Aegean goddesses with animals, which frequently appeared in Minoan and Mycenaean arts. There is one goddess, whose name appeared in the tablets in Pylos, which doesn't have the name Potnia – Mater theia (MA-TE-RE TE-I-JA). MA-TE-RE TE-I-JA or Mater theia literally means "divine mother" – a mother goddess. There are two Potnias, which I would like to go into more details: Atana Potnia and Potnia theron.

Mistress of Animals (Potnia theron)
Potnia theron or "Mistress of Animals" is the figure found more commonly in Minoan and Mycnenaean arts than any other Potnias. She was also known as "Lady of Wild Things", "Mistress of Wild Beasts", and several other similar titles. It should be noted that this name, Potnia theron, have never been found in the Linear B tablets. The name is actually a modern invention to denote Bronze Age Aegean goddesses that frequently appeared with animals in icons. So it would be a mistake for anyone to say that any goddess have this name. Potnia theron was a goddess of nature, particularly over the wild and domesticated animals. She control nature and animals, either by her presence or by subdue by force. Influences of the Near East The Mistress of Animals was not confined to Minoan Crete or mainland Greece. Similar figures can be found in arts in the Near East, such as from ancient Syria and in Babylonia. The Bronze Age Near Eastern religions, as well as their iconoclastically artwork had probably influenced the Minoan civilisation, since Crete have prosperous trade links with the East. In the Eastern arts, the Mistress of Animals is often seen naked flanked on both sides by animals. Sometimes she forcibly holds them in both hands, by their ears, throats or by their hind legs. At other times, she was seen standing on the back of an animal. This showed the goddess have power over nature and the power to subdue wild animals. These influences can be seen on the Francois vase of the 4th century BC, where it depicted the goddess Artemis holding a lion and stag by their throats. However, Artemis appeared dressed in a long gown, unlike her Eastern counterpart. See the Olympians, Artemis, for the image of her as the Mistress of Animals. Artemis was the usual goddess whom people associate with the Mistress of Animals. Artemis was the goddess of hunting and the chase. She was also seen as the woodland goddess and the protectress of wild animals. Potnia theron may well be the Cretan huntress goddess Britomartis or Dictynna. Britomartis was clearly identified with the later virgin goddess Artemis. Artemis inherited some of the attributes of the Mistress of Animals. Differences Between the Mistress of Animals and Artemis Artemis is the closest Greek goddess to the Minoan Mistress of Animals (Potnia theron), because of Artemis involvement with wild animals. However, there are several notable differences between the two goddesses. We usually see Artemis as a virgin and a huntress. In arts, she is usually seen holding a bow in her hand. The Mistress of Animals, on the other hand, doesn't appear with a bow. She was goddess who controlled the natural world, such as wild animals or birds, not as a huntress of wild animals. Her power is expressed through holding the animals by their ears, throats or hind legs. Also, the motif of the Potnia theron is usually seen with wings; the Near Eastern icons of the Mistress of Animals don't have a pair of wings. As the Greek huntress Artemis, the goddess was normally seen with other women or nymphs, but the Mistress of Animals was more often seen with a male figure, usually mortal ruler or warrior (as in the case with Near Eastern goddess). This was because the Mistress of Animals was usually seen as patron of young warriors. The Greek Artemis was sometimes seen with sometimes worshipped by warriors, such as in Sparta, where she was patron of the initiation of boys into young warriors.

Atana Potnia
A-TA-NA PO-TI-NI-JA or Atana Potnia was the name listed in the Linear B tablets found in Knossos, Crete. Her name doesn't appear anywhere in the tablets in Pylos. Atana Potnia was probably The Mother Goddess. Atana Potnia was known as the Idaean Mother of Crete. She was the goddess of fertility of both plants and animals, and was perhaps a mountain mother, since her sanctuaries were sometimes found on the mountaintop. Atana Potnia may be related to other Potnia with different epithets. Another name found on the Linear B tablets in Pylos, MA-TE-RE TE-I-JA or Mater theia, which literally means Mother Goddess, could well be Atana's actual name. Later, Hellenic (Greek) goddesses, such as Rhea, Demeter and Artemis, and the Phrygian Cybele, inherited her attributes. However, it seemed that many people believed that Atana Potnia was equated with Athena, because of the resemblance of the name Athena with Atana. However, Athena was a virgin goddess.

Snake Goddess
In 1903, the archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, discovered figurines of women in what is possibly a temple within the palace of Knossos (Cnossus), in Crete. The figurines were not found whole, but they were carefully resembled and reconstructed. The figurines have been named the "Snake Goddess". The Snake Goddesses were created during the Middle Minoan period, perhaps in 1700 BC. Crete and their palaces had reached the height of their artistic level. There have been many speculations over the figurine of who this person was. Some have suggested that she was simply a snake charmer or snake handler, while others say she was a priestess. Most people believed her to be a goddess, and people these days, usually referred her as the Snake Goddess. There is no proof that the statuette depicts a goddess. With no literature to support that the statuette was indeed a goddess, we can only guess who she may be. The two figurines were similar, but have different arm gestures. One figurine shows a woman in unusual dress with overlapping flounces, but her breasts are bared. On her head, she wears a hat, with a sitting cat on top. She is also holding up two small snakes, one in each hand, which reminds us of the Bronze Age goddess known as the Mistress of Animals (Potnia theron), holding a wild animal in each hand, often lion, stag, and bird. If we see her as a goddess, than two types of animals, gives clues as to her attributes. However, what we know is really only speculation. The snakes she is holding up can have many different meanings. Because a snake can bring swift death with their poison, she can be seen as the goddess of death or of the dead. Snakes, as well as the cat, can also symbolise the afterlife. On the hand, snake can also symbolise life, because snakes are often associated with healing. Adding the cat with the snakes, the figurine may depict goddess of sexuality or fertility. Her sexual attributes were emphasized with the exposure of her full, rounded breasts. This may indicated that she is a mother goddess. There is another figurine of the Snake Goddess. This slightly taller figurine, wears a different type of dress, but like the first one I had mentioned before, her breasts is exposed. The 2nd figurine wears a very tall hat. Whereas the first figurine shows the goddess holding up two small snakes in her hand, the second figure have a very long snake, with its head in her right hand. The snake entwined up her right arm, over her shoulder, down one side of her back, then across her buttocks; then up the other side of her back, over her left shoulder, and entwined her around her left arm, with its tail in her left hand. The head of the second snake is found on top of her hat. Following its long body down the hat, in front of the woman's left ear, curving around the outside of her left breast, before continuing down until below her waist, across her belly, and back up the right side of woman's body. The snake's tail ends up looping around the woman's right ear. The statuettes depict either that there is a single goddess in two different types of costumes or the Minoans worshipped two snake goddesses. Did the Snake Goddess survive after the Dorian Invasion? People have wondered if one of the goddesses in Greek myths had inherited the role of Minoan snake goddess. Could she be Artemis, Athena, Rhea, Cybele, or even Demeter? Some Cretan goddesses such as the childbirth goddess Eleuthia and the war goddess Enyo survived to the classical period. As far as I can tell, there is no similarity between the Snake Goddess and that of the goddesses that survived in the Greek mythology and literature that we have today. In Archaic and Classical Greek arts, goddesses were rarely seen with serpents.		Snake Goddess Clay figurine, c. 1700 BC Iraklion, Crete

Βριτόμαρτις Britomartis (Dictynna)
Britomartis was a Cretan goddess of nature and hunting. Her name Britomartis means "Sweet Maiden". Britomartis was the daughter of Zeus and Carme, daughter of Eubulus. She was born at Caeno on the island of Crete. She was one of the Cretan nymphs. Britomartis was also a huntress and a companion of Artemis. Like the archer-goddess, Britomartis wanted to remain a virgin. But one day, Minos, king of Crete, saw and fell in love with her, but Britomartis didn't want to have anything to do with the king, particularly considering that he was her half-brother (Minos was the son of Zeus and Europa). So Minos pursued her. Britomartis was a swift runner, but Minos always managed to stay behind her. Minos thought that he had her trap, because she was standing on the cliff, overlooking the sea. But Britomartis rather died than be in the embrace of a man she loathed, so she desperately leaped off the cliff. She was saved when the fishermen caught her in their nets. Because of her dedication and desire to protect her chastity, Artemis awarded her with immortality. With her becoming a goddess, she was known by the name Dictynna, which means the "Lady of the Nets", because she was saved by the fisherman's nets. Though, according to Diodorus Sicilus, she had already received this name, because Britomartis had invented the nets for hunting, called dictya. It was this invention that she was named Dictynna. While other people believed that she was named after Mount Dicte, a mountain where she frequently hunted games with Artemis. Dictynna was also possibly the Minoan Mountain Mother, where her sanctuaries were situated on mountaintop. Pausanias says that the mythical inventor Daedalus had created a wooden idol for her shrine at Olous, in Crete. Britomartis was probably identical to or derived from the Bronze Age goddess Potnia theron, or the Mistress of Animals. It seemed likely that Dictynna was called in PI-PI-TU-NA, a name found in the Linear B tablets, found in Knossos. If this true then Dictynna is an ancient Minoan goddess. PI-PI-TU-NA, however, doesn't appear in the tablets located in Pylos. Britomartis has many of the attributes of Artemis. Britomartis became the goddess of hunting and of the earth, nature and wild animals. Britomartis was a patron goddess of hunters, sailors and fishermen. She may have originally being a Cretan moon goddess, as well. Though Artemis also used this name as well, as Artemis Diktynna in her sanctuaries at Chania bay and at Chersonesos; so some authors assumed that Dictynna was Artemis, not a separate goddess. Britomartis was not only worshipped in Crete; she was celebrated as one of the local goddesses on the island of Aegina, as the goddess Aphaea. On the island of Cephallenia, she was known by yet another name, Laphria.

Gaea and her Daughters
In Greek mythology, Gaea and her daughters – Rhea, Themis and Dione – were the earliest earth and mother goddesses. They goddesses played decisive roles in Hesiod's Theogony, where they make or remove rulers. Gaea Gaea was seen as the earth itself; there was no difference between the two. Her name was also spelt Ge and Gaia, but to the Roman she was known as Tellus or Terra. Gaea was not only the ultimate mother goddess; she was a creator goddess. Gaea was born with Eros (Love) and Tartarus from Chaos (primeval abyss). They were the first physical matters to come into existence. Through her womb, sprang many gigantic and powerful children. Either without a male partner or by Aether, Gaea became the mother of Uranus (Heaven), Pontus (Sea) and Ourea (Mountains). Through Uranus marriage to his own mother, he became the supreme ruler of the universe. Gaea and her husband/son represent the separation of heaven and earth. Gaea bore most of children to Uranus. There were Hundred-Handed (Hecatoncheires), the Cyclops, the Titans and the Gigantes or Giants. By her brother Tartarus, she bore the most powerful of her monstrous offspring, the Typhon. Uranus fell because he angered his mother, when he confined and hid their children, the Hundred-Handed and the Cyclops under the depth of the Earth (Gaea). This caused her great pain. Gaea sought help from her son, Cronus, the youngest and bravest of the Titans. It was she who gave her son the sickle to emasculate her son/husband. Cronus gained power and rulership over the universe, but he also enraged his mother, when he refused to release his confined brethren. Gaea was gifted with divination, and she was said to be the first hold the oracle of Delphi. So she foretold to her son Cronus that he will fall because of his son. Fearing that he would lose his power to his children, Cronus swallowed each child that his wife/sister Rhea bore to him. Gaea and Rhea helped Cronus' youngest son, Zeus, to overthrow Cronus and most of the other Titans. Although, Zeus released the Hundred-Handed and the Cyclops, most of the male Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus. So Gaea turned against her grandson, encouraging her other children, the Gigantes and the Typhon to fight against the Olympians. Yet, it was Gaea who foretold how the Gigantes could be defeat with the help of the mortal hero, Heracles. One of Gaea's interesting roles is her divination. She was said to have being the first to hold the oracle at Delphi. She passed this responsibility to another daughter of hers, Themis. Themis was also said to be earth goddess as well as the goddess of order and justice. Gaea was a primeval goddess of the earth, who could unleash power upon anyone foolish enough to anger her. She had the power to make or break a ruler. She was partly responsible for deposing her two sons (Uranus and Cronus), and almost succeeded against her grandson (Zeus). Gaea also bore some children to her other son, Pontus, the personification of the sea. Gaea was the mother of Nereus, Phorcys, Eurybia, Thaumas and the sea monster Ceto. She also bore the giant Antaeus to Poseidon. Antaeus usually challenged, wrestled and killed travellers. Most of Antaeus' power comes from his contact with the earth. Antaeus was virtually invincible until Heracles killed him. By Hephaestus, Gaea was the mother of Erichthonius, when the semen of the smith god landed on the ground. Rhea Rhea, or Ops or Magna Mater, was a mother goddess. She was sometimes identified with the Phrgyian mother goddess, Cybele. Rhea was one of the Titans, the children of Gaea and Uranus. She was the sister of Cronus and when he became the supreme ruler of heaven and earth, he married her, to be his consort. However the marriage was not a happy one. When Gaea foretold that Cronus would be overthrown by one of his children, Cronus cannibalizingly swallowed each child that Rhea bore to her brother. Five successive infants were swallowed. Fearing to lose all her children, Rhea hid her last child, a son named Zeus, in the cave of the mountain of Crete. She tricked her husband/brother by giving a stone wrapped in swaddling cloth, tricking him into swallowing the stone. With the help of his mother and grandmother, Zeus had Cronus spewed out his brothers and sisters. Eventually Zeus and his brothers defeated Cronus and most of the male Titans, confining them in Tartarus. Rhea was responsible for the reconciliation between her children, Zeus and Demeter, giving assurance that Persephone would spend two-third of a year with her mother Demeter, and only one third with her husband Hades in Erebus (Underworld). See Demeter and Persephone about the myth of Demeter. Themis Themis was also a Titaness and the daughter of Gaea. Themis was originally an earth goddess, before she became the goddess of order and justice. Themis was the second wife of Zeus, and bore daughters to him. She was the mother of three goddesses known as Horae or the Seasons. She was possibly the mother of Moerae or Fates. According to Aeschylus and a few other authors, Themis was the mother of the Titan, Prometheus, by her brother Iapetus. As an earth goddess, she was sometimes indistinguishable from her mother (Gaea). Like her mother, Themis also possessed the ability in divination, and held the oracle of Delphi, which her mother gave to her. It was Themis who told Deucalion, son of Prometheus, how he made repopulate the Earth, after the Deluge. She instructed Deucalion and Pyrrha to pick up the rocks from ground and throwing the stones backward, over their shoulders. Where the rocks landed, people would spring out of the ground. It was Themis who foretold that any son that the sea goddess Thetis bore would become greater and stronger than the father. Thetis had only told this prophecy to Prometheus. Prometheus refused to disclose this Zeus, which was a great bargaining chip. Prometheus was punished for revealing how to make fire to mankind. Prometheus had only told this prophecy to Zeus, after Heracles released him from being chained to the highest peak of the Caucasian Mountains. Zeus fearing that he would be deposed by his own son, hastily married Thetis to a mortal hero, Peleus. Thetis became the mother of Achilles. Clearly, Themis' prophecy was involved with Prometheus, which benefited Prometheus either directly or indirectly, thereby helping mankind. Themis would later relinquish the oracle to Apollo, when the young god became of age. Most myths indicated that Apollo won the oracle when he had slain the dragon or serpent Python. As the goddess of order, she was also represented the divine justice. She had not only represented justice on heaven and earth. Justice was met out in the Underworld. In Hades' domain, three men served Themis, as her attendants and judges in the Underworld: Aeacus son of Zeus and Aegina, Minos and Rhadamanthys sons of Zeus and Europa. They were responsible for judging each mortal who had died, whether they are to be rewarded or punished in their afterlife. I should perhaps also mention Dione. According to Homer, Dione was the mother of Aphrodite, who comforted the love goddess, when Diomedes wounded her daughter in Troy. Homer doesn't mention Dione's own parents, but Hesiod had called her the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. However, other authors, including Apollodorus and Hyginus, say that Dione was a Titaness, thus she was a daughter of Uranus and Gaea. Dione's attribute is rather obscure, but she was probably a mother goddess. Some believed that Dione was a moon or water goddess. Usually, Hera was seen as Zeus' wife and consort, but according to the Linear B tablets, Dione's name is a feminine counterpart of Zeus. This suggests that Dione was originally Zeus' consort, before Hera replaced Dione, when the Hellenic Greeks began suppressing the mother goddess.

Demeter and Persephone

There is already articles on Demeter and Persephone, but I had not told the whole story, which I will complete here. The myth explained how the origin of the changes in seasons and the introduction of a new agriculture religion. My main source for Demeter and Persephone come from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, however, I have supplemented some part from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Abduction of Persephone Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Persephone was the goddess of spring and flower. Persephone was playing with her own companions, the daughters of Oceanus, known as the Oceanids. They were playing and picking flowers. Hades, the brother of Zeus and Demeter, the god of the dead and the Lord of the Underworld, rarely left his dark domain. But that day, Hades saw Persephone he fell in love with the beautiful maiden. It was her great beauty that had moved the cold, emotionless god to love. Hades had Zeus' consent to take the girl, without Demeter's knowledge. Hades made a beautiful flower grow suddenly. When amazed maiden saw the flower bloomed before her eyes, she reached out to take the flower. Suddenly the earth yawned open before her, and Hades in his chariot drawn by immortal horses sprang out of the gaping hole. Hades took the reluctant maiden on his chariot, before driving back to his own domain. Of her companions, only one heard Persephone's cry for help. The only other people to hear her cry were Hecate and the sun god Helius. According to the Metamorphoses, one water nymph saw Hades (Pluto) carrying off Persephone (Prosperina) in his chariot. Her name was Cyane, and she dwelled in the spring near Syracuse, in Sicily. Cyane bravely barred Hades' path, hoping to rescue the distressed goddess. Hades was angry with the nymph, opening a path to the Underworld, by dropping his sceptre into the bottom of the pool. Hades escaped from the determined nymph. Cyane was distraught that she couldn't save the goddess, began to weep in sorrow and despair. Her weeping and lamentation continued unabated. She filled the spring with her tears, until she wasted away; her body dissolving into water. When Demeter came by this spring, one day, still searching for his daughter, Cyane could have told the corn goddess where her daughter had vanished, but couldn't speak since she had no mouth or tongue, but only water. Demeter was distraught over her daughter's disappearance. She began searching for her daughter, for nine days, without success. On the tenth day, Hecate taking pity on Demeter, told the distraught mother that she had heard Persephone's cry but hadn't seen what had occur. Hecate advised her that she should seek out Helius, who see everything during daytime. Together, Demeter and Hecate visited the sun god. Taking pity on Demeter, Helius told her he had seen her brother take the reluctant Persephone to his domain. Demeter learned of Hades' intention to make her daughter as his wife and consort. In Ovid's version, it was another water nymph, named Arethusa, who informed Demeter of her daughter's whereabouts. This news so distressed and angered the corn goddess that she refused to return to Olympus and began her long wandering. Demeter wandered the earth, in human form, visiting towns and villages of men. She allowed age marred and deformed her beauty. Sometimes during her wandering in Arcadia, Poseidon lusted after his sister, where he saaw her bathing on the river Ladon, which was the reason why she was known as the Washing Demeter. Poseidon pursued the distressed Demeter. Demeter tried to hide herself, by transforming into a mare. As a mare, Demeter mingled with a large herd of horses belonging to Oncius, hoping that her brother would not find her. Oncius was a son of Apollo, and founder of Oncion. and king of Thelpousa. However, Poseidon not only found his sister, he had changed into a stallion. Poseidon mounted Demeter and impregnated her. Demeter gave birth to a girl named Desponia, the goddess of horses. However, Desponia's name was so holy that no one must speak of it to any uninitiated. Demeter was also said to have given birth to an immortal horse, called Arion; the same divine horse that Heracles would give to Adrastus, king of Argos. Adrastus had used this horse to flee, after his forces were defeated at Thebes, during the Seven Against Thebes. Here, she was known as Demeter Erinyes or "Demeter the Fury". Demeter was now both angry after her rape and sorrowful over the loss of her daughter that she hid herself in a cave at Phigaleia, wearing only black dress, hence she became known as the "Black Demeter". Her solitude in the cave brought famine to Arcadia and elsewhere in Greece. Apparently she was so well-hidden in her cave that even the gods knew not where to find her, until the woodland god Pan spotted her near the cave. Zeus sent Fates to the angry goddess, until she relented to the urging of the Fates. The Arcadians, particularly the Thelpousans, worshipped her at Oncion, where she was called Demeter the Fury and the Washing Demeter, and at Phigaleia, Phigalians called her the Black Demeter. Demeter at Eleusis One day he reached the farm of Celeus, who was lord of Eleusis. Celeus' four daughters met Demeter. Demeter introduced herself as Doso and how she had escaped pirates, who would have sold her in slavery. She also told them how she sought work and would like to nurse a newborn child or do housekeeping chores. Moved by the old woman's story the daughters asked her to come to their home. Their father (Celeus) and mother, Metaneira, welcomed the ancient woman to their home. At first, Demeter was silence, because of her grief over her lost daughter, but a woman named Iambe made her laugh with her ready quips and jests. Iambe sat in front of Demeter, exposing her vulva to the goddess. Metaneira offered the old woman, her infant son (Demophon) to nurse. Demeter rewarded the mother, by giving Demophon a charm that would protect him from teething problem and witchcraft. Demeter did more than nurse Demophon. During the day, Demeter would anoint him with ambrosia, and at night she would burn away his mortal part in a flame, that would make him immortal. But one night, Metaneira interrupted the rite. She had thought the old woman was trying to burn her son to death. Angry at the interruption, Demeter threw Metaneira's child on the ground and revealed her true identity. (According to Apollodorus, Demeter allowed Demophon to be consumed by the fire.) Demeter told Metaneira that she would teach Celeus and the men of Eleusis the rites to honour her and her daughter Persephone, known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. Metaneira was stunned by the revelation. The daughters took care of their brother as well as trying to appease the angry goddess. Celeus and the men of Eleusis immediately began to build a temple to honour the goddess. Then Demeter was appeased. Demophon grew and became godlike. Forced to Compromise Demeter was still overcome with grief over Persephone's abduction, had not return to Olympus. Her anger over her brothers, Hades and Zeus, caused global famine. No crops whatsoever would grow. The race of man was facing extinction from starvation. It was only then that Zeus decided to intervene. Zeus sent Iris to fetch Demeter and bring the corn goddess to Olympus. Demeter was not moved. Then Zeus and the other gods pleaded with her to return to Olympus. No gifts or words would make her returned to Olympus. She threatened to let the whole world starve, unless her daughter was returned to her. Seeing no alternatives, Zeus sent Hermes to the Underworld, to fetch Persephone and return her to her mother. Hades had readily agreed to Zeus' command and told Persephone that she could return to her mother. Persephone was overjoyed that she will be reunited with her mother. However, Hades had secretly slipped some pomegranate seeds into mouth. When Demeter was finally reunited with her daughter, she realised something was wrong. When Demeter questioned her, Persephone admitted that Hades had forced her to eat the pomegranate seeds. For to eat any food in the Underworld then that person must returned to the Underworld. (There are variations of how Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds. According to Apollodorus, Persephone innocently ate the seeds given to her by Hades. Ascalapus witnessed this and told Demeter. Demeter punished Ascalapus by burying him under a heavy rock. According to Ovid, Ascalapus had witnessed Persephone walking through a garden, when seven pomegranate seeds fell near her feet. Persephone placed seven seeds in her mouth. When Demeter heard this, she transformed Ascalapus into a large owl, harbinger of doom and woe.) Zeus decreed that Persephone was to spend a third of a year with her new husband in the Underworld, while two-third of the year was to be spent with her mother either in Olympus or on earth. Zeus then sent his mother, Rhea, with this news. Rhea told her daughter, Demeter, of Zeus' decree. Demeter agreed to the compromise, so Persephone part of time with her mother and the other with her husband. Her living in the Underworld coincided with the changing of seasons. With this compromise and assurance from Zeus and her mother Rhea, Demeter restored the natural order of the world, allowing the crops to grow, ending the famine and starvation. From Persephone's marriage to Hades, she bore a son, named Plutus, who became the god of wealth. The wealth doesn't necessarily means gold and precious stones, but the crops that grow from the soil. (Note that in other sources, Plutus was the son of Demeter and Iasion, not of Hades and Persephone. Iasion was the son of Zeus and the Pleiad Electra, and brother of Dardanus.) Mother and Daughter, Life and Death Of all the myths in Greece and Rome, none of them portrayed immortal mother and daughter in such human fashion than in the myth about Demeter and Persephone. The goddesses, particularly Demeter, would react like any human mother would do if she loses her daughter. Demeter experienced loss, sorrow, despair, and even anger, just like any human woman would. Their names, Demeter and Kore mean "mother" and "daughter" (or "girl"). Demeter was known as the corn mother, while her daughter was the corn spirit. Much of the myths we know of, come from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which detailed the Persephone's abduction, Demeter's sorrow and wandering, and the compromise between Demeter and Hades before she was reunited with her daughter. The myth also explained the cycles of the seasons that are linked to agriculture. There is probably a deeper meaning in the myth that also explained the recycle of life in general, where all things experienced life, death and rebirth. In the beginning, Persephone was life itself, enjoying her days with companions. Here, she represented the spring, where not only flowers bloomed, but creatures usually mate in this season. When Hades abducted her and brought her to his domain, the World of the Dead, her absence upon the surface also signifies winter and death. Demeter allowed the crops to die and writhe. Persephone reunion with her mother signified spring and rebirth. However, the cycle the seasons and that cycle of life/death would now continue endlessly. Ironically, the seeds usually represented birth and a new life, but Persephone must experience death, in each cycle where she has to return to her husband in the Underworld, because she had eaten some pomegranate seeds. The pomegranates seeds have ensured that she stay in the Underworld for at least one third of a year. There are several version of how she came upon eating the seeds. Some say that Hades forced them upon her, while others say that she ate it voluntarily or she was duped into eating the seeds. Whatever causes her to eat the seeds, she was only grain maiden only for part of the year, and the rest of the year, and she was Queen of the Underworld. The separation from her mother, not only symbolised death, when she was living in the Underworld. It was also loss for Persephone, such as her innocence. Her marriage, though forced, Hades took away her virginity. Persephone, herself, becomes a mother. She was said to have bore a son, named Plutus, which means "wealth" from the earth. Though, most authors usually say that Plutus was the son of Demeter, by Iasion. In Eleusis, Demeter had not only disclosed the secret of the corn and agriculture to Celeus, whose family gave hospitality to her, Demeter had tried to bestow immortality to an infant, Demophon, the son of Celeus and Metaneira. Like Thetis trying to immortalize her son Achilles, Demeter anointed Demophon's body in ambrosia and used the fire to burn away the mortal parts. The mother's interruption had cost Demophon immortality, and in some versions, his life. Only then did, Demeter revealed her true identity. (In the case with Achilles, his body became invulnerable (except for his heels), not immortal, because Thetis was similarly interrupted by her husband.) Since we don't know the inner secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries, we can only speculate that part of practice and knowledge is that there mankind can hope for afterlife or that immortality can be bestow upon them, from the myths. The mystery religion in Eleusis was held in honour of Demeter and Persephone, or Kore, as she was often known. Basically, the ceremonies, rites and festivals held in Eleusis had to do with celebrating the changing seasons and agriculture. Special festivals were held for sowing and harvesting. In honour of the goddesses they would re-enact Demeter loss and reunion with her daughter. The Rape of Persephone (titled "Pluto abducting Proserpine") Bernini Statute, 17th century Artemis of Ephesus In Ephesus, Asia Minor, there was a great temple built to the goddess Artemis (Diana). This temple, known as Artemesium, was one of the Seven Great Wonders of the World. The temple was immense in size, and magnificently adorned with artwork and sculptures. The temple was the largest of its kind, built by Croesus, king of Lydia, around the mid 6th century BC. The temple was destroyed in 356 BC, by a madman named Herostratus, but it was rebuilt by Alexander the Great. The temple was destroyed again, this time by the Goths in AD 262. It was never rebuilt after the second destruction. Among the Greeks, Artemis was usually seen as the virgin huntress goddess, but in the East, she was a mother goddess. This attribute was emphasized by the statue, which featured the goddess with many breasts, a clear symbol of motherhood. The Greek Artemis is a goddess, full of contradictions and paradoxes. She was a virgin goddess, yet she was the goddess of childbirth and protectress of the young. There is no such contradiction with the Ephesian Artemis; she was clearly a mother goddess; and there was nothing virgin or chaste about her. Among the Amazons, she received the highest honour; they worshipped her as the goddess of the Amazonian tribes, and the protectress of their young women. Her warlike attribute contradicted her attributes as the mother goddess and goddess of childbirth. The Asiatic Artemis was also the goddess of nature and wild animals, therefore resembling the Mistress of Animals (Potnia theron). As daughter of the Titaness, Leto, Artemis was known by her epithet, Letona. Leto was most likely a mother goddess, through no authorities had clearly described her attributes. More about Artemis can be found in the Olympians page. Artemis of Ephesus Statue, 4th century BC Κυβέλη Cybele Mother goddess. Cybele (Kybele) was a Phrygian mother goddess, who was worshipped in Greece and Rome. She had often being equated with the two other Greek mother goddesses – Rhea and Demeter (Ceres). Cybele was so revered that she was often called "The Mother of All" or "The Great Mother of the Gods". Cybele was sometimes referred to as Dindymene or Dinymenian Mother because she was born on Mount Dindymus. Zeus had ejaculated on the ground somewhere around Mount Dindymus, where an offspring sprung out of the ground, with both male and female sex organs. The gods fearing this creature upon reaching adulthood had the hermaphrodite being castrated, thereby causing the creature to become a female being. The creature became the mother goddess, named Cybele, though in Pessinus she was named Agdistis, after Mount Agdos. The gods threw away the severed phallus, and instantly an almond tree grew on that spot. One day, Nana, the daughter of the river god Sangarius, was playing under the almond tree, when one of the almond seeds fell on her laps. The seed disappeared and Nana became pregnant. Nana gave birth to a son named Attis, whom she exposed in the wild. Attis was saved, because the infant suckled by a goat. Attis grew to be a very handsome youth, whom Cybele fell in love with. However, Attis' father had the youth betrothed to the daughter of King of Pessinus. Jealousy had caused Cybele to drive the king and Attis mad where they castrated themselves and died. Cybele regretted her part in causing Attis' death, so she had the body preserved. Attis was buried in Pessinus where a pine tree grew. In earlier legend, Attis was said to be gored and killed by a wild boar. The worship of Cybele was brought to Rome, in 204 BC, when they a sacred black stone to Cybele was transported to Rome and placed in the Temple of Victory at the Palantine Hill. To the Romans, Attis was worshipped as the god of vegetation and fertility and was seen as consort of Cybele. Her festival was celebrated on April 4. Cybele was a wife and consort of Attis, another Phrygian god, who may have being her son. Attis was the god of vegetation and fertility. Attis castrated himself on a pine tree and offered his genital to Cybele. Her attendants were the mythical youths, called Corybantes. Before her priests would serve in her temple, the galli would dance themselves into a frenzy before they castrate themselves in the memory of her consort Attis. According to one legend, Cybele coupled with a mortal king, named Gordius, the Phrygian king of Gordium, and became the mother of Midas, the founder of Ancyra and the famous king with the golden touch. According to Ovid, it was Cybele transformed the heroine Atalanta and her husband Hippomenes or Melanion into lions, because Aphrodite had caused the newly wedded couple to defile her temple. Cybele harnessed the lions to her golden chariot.

Titan

According to Hesiod, the word Titan (Τιτησι) seemed to be means "Strainer", because they strained and performed some presumptuous, fearful deed and the vengeance would come after it. Where the Olympians lived in Olympus, the home of the Titans was Othrys (Οθρυος), their stronghold.

The exact number of the Titans varied from author to author, and they often included some of the children of the Titans. So there are at least two generations of Titans can be considered.

For a generation, the Titans shared the world, with Cronus as their leader. It was the Titans who created mankind. A number of the male Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, when they chose to fight a war against the younger gods, known as the Olympians.

According to the Orphic myth, Zeus destroyed the Titans with his thunderbolts, because the Titans had murdered and devoured his son Zagreus (Dionysus). From the smouldering ashes, mankind were created.

See the Creation about the war between the Titans and the Olympians.

I have divided the Titans into two. The first group were the children of Gaea and Uranus. The other group of articles was about the second generation Titans.

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Children of Uranus & Gaea

The Titans can be used to strictly apply to the firstborn children of Gaea (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven).

According to Hesiod, Cronus was the youngest and boldest of the Titans, was their leader. Cronus became the supreme ruler of the universe, when he deposed his father Uranus. His own sons would later overthrow him and some of his brothers, confined in Tartarus. (See Creation)

According to Hesiod, the Titans were twelve in numbers, six sons and six daughters, though the numbers can vary from one author to another. In the Orphic cosmogony, there are 14 in number - 7 Titans and 7 Titanesses. These don't count the third or even second generation Titans.

	Hesiod	Apollodorus	Diodorus Siculus	Orphic	Hyginus
Titans	Cronus Oceanus Hyperion Iapetus Crius Coeus	Cronus Oceanus Hyperion Iapetus Crius Coeus	Cronus Oceanus Hyperion Iapetus Crius Coeus	Cronus Oceanus Hyperion Iapetus Crius Caus Phorcys	Saturn Ocean Hyperion Polus Atlas
Titaness	Rhea Tethys Theia Themis Phoebe Mnemosyne	Rhea Tethys Theia Themis Phoebe Mnemosyne Dione	Rhea Tethys Themis Phoebe Mnemosyne	Rhea Tethys Theia Themis Phoebe Mnemosyne Dione	Ops Themis Moneta Dione

Quite a few authors listed Dione among the Titanesses, though she was sometimes called an Oceanid.

According to the Orphic genealogy, Uranus and Gaea had seven sons and seven daughters, where they included Phorcys and Dione in the listing of the Titans.

Cronus Oceanus Hyperion Iapetus Coeüs Crius

Rhea Tethys Themis Mnemosyne Theia Phoebe Dione

Genealogy: Family Tree of the Greek Deities.

Related Page: Creation

Κρόνος Cronus (Saturn)
Ruler of the universe and the leader of the Titans. Cronus was the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea; though, according to Diodorus Siculus, he was the eldest child. Cronus married his sister Rhea and was the father of Hestia, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera and Zeus. Cronus was the sky god and the chief god of the universe, after overthrowing Uranus. Uranus became powerless when his son had castrated him. Cronus was also the god of agriculture and fertility. The Romans had identified as Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. In astronomy, Saturn is the 6th planet in the solar system. Before the telescope was invented, it was the last planet that can be seen with the naked eye, so in much of history Saturn was the outermost planet in the solar system. Saturn is classified as a large gas giant planet, best-known for its rings. When his father (Uranus) imprisoned his brethren, the Hundred-Handed and the Cyclops, within her Gaea's body, it caused his mother-wife great suffering. Gaea appealed to her youngest son, to help release them. Cronus being the strongest and most cunning of the Titans, agreed to help. Cronus severed his father's genitals with a sickle and threw them in the sea. (See War of the Gods) Overthrowing his father (Uranus), Cronus became supreme ruler of the universe. He shared the rule with other Titans. Cronus supplanted Uranus as the god of the sky. During his reign, Cronus created mankind, which was marked as an era of the Golden Age, the most peaceful time of mankind (See Five Ages of Man). Instead of releasing the Hundred-Handed and the Cyclops, he kept them imprisoned in Tartarus, the lowest region of the Underworld. Outraged that her son did not release her other children - the Hundred-Handed and the Cyclops - Gaea foretold a day would come when Cronus' own sons will overthrow him. Fearing he will suffer from the same fate as his father, Cronus tried to prevent it by swallowing each child after they were born. Rhea managed to trick her husband by giving him a large stone covered in swaddling cloth, instead of her last child, Zeus. Cronus swallowed the stone. Rhea then secretly sent her son to Crete, where he was brought up. When Zeus reached adulthood, Rhea tricked Cronus into drinking an emetic, that Cronus disgorged their other children. War broke between Cronus and the other Titans against the younger gods. The younger deities became known as the Olympians. Cronus and the other Titans were defeated when Zeus released the Hundred-Handed and the Cyclops from Tartarus. Most of the male Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus. Zeus then became supreme ruler of the universe. See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod.		Cronus Devouring One Of His Sons Goya Oil on canvas, 1820-23 Prado Museum, Madrid

Ῥεία Rhea (Ops)
Titaness and earth-goddess. Rhea was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. According to Diodorus Siculus, Rhea's other name was Pandora. Rhea was identified by the Roman as the goddess Ops and Magna Mater. Rhea married her brother, Cronus and was the mother of Olympians: Hestia, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera and Zeus. When it was prophesied that her children would overthrow her brother/husband, Cronus, he took steps to prevent it. As Rhea gave birth to each child, Cronus would take the infant and swallow the child. When her youngest son, Zeus was born, fearing that she would lose all her children, Rhea wrapped swaddling cloth around a stone and gave it to her husband. Cronus unwittingly swallowed the stone. Rhea secretly sends her son to Crete, where Zeus was brought up by mountain nymphs and the Curetes. She later helped Zeus to force her husband disgorged her other children. Rhea and her mother (Gaea) provided emetic to the Oceanid Metis, Zeus' first wife. Metis had served the emetic Cronus with his drink, so that Cronus had vomited out his five children. See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod. As Ops, she was the goddess of plenty or fertility. Ops was worshipped along with Consus, a god with an obscure function. She was sometimes identified as Cybele, a Phrgyian earth/mother goddess. Rhea was also associated with the Cretan goddess, Dictynna, who was previously known as Britomartis. According to the Orphic myth, after Zeus was born, her name was changed to Demeter. As Demeter, she was raped by her son Zeus, so that she gave birth to Persephone. In turn, Zeus would rape their daughter (Persephone) so that she became the mother of Dionysus, known to the Neoplatonists as Zagreus.		Rhea presents Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of the infant Zeus Marble relief, c. 400 BC

Ὠκανωός Oceanus
Titan and god of the river Oceanus (Ocean). Oceanus was the eldest son of Uranus and Gaea. The river Oceanus is said to flow in a circular stream about the earth, which was conceived as flat disk. Oceanus married his sister, Tethys. All of his sons became river-gods. Oceanus was said to have three thousand daughters, who were known as the Oceanids. Oceanus was the only son of Uranus (as a Titan) who did not join his brothers in the war against Zeus and his brothers (the Olympians). During the war, Hera was left in the care of Oceanus and his wife. See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod. According to Homer and Apollonius of Rhodes, Oceanus was older than the Titans. To Homer, the gods arose from primeval river Ocean. He was the oldest of all the gods, and has the distinction of being the father of the gods. See Homeric Creation. While according to Apollonius' Argonautica, the Creator goddess Eurynome sprang from the Ocean, very much like Hesiod's Aphrodite did. See also Eurynome and Ophion in the Creation page.		Oceanus mosaic in the villa of Materuo Carranque, near Madrid

Τηθύς Tethys
Titaness of the sea. Tethys was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She married her brother, Oceanus. She became the mother of all the river gods. She is said to have bore three thousand daughters, known as the Oceanids. The eldest daughter being Styx, who was the only female river goddess; while Amphitrite, who married Poseidon, and Doris, who married Nereus, became sea goddesses. During the war between the Titans and Olympians, Hera was left in the care of Oceanus and his wife. According to the Iliad, Oceanus and Tethys were going through a separation, and Hera wanted to reconcile them. Hera was concern for her foster parents, but this was actually a ploy by Hera to seduce Zeus, so that he would forget about the Trojans. According to various sources, Tethys and her husbands were the primeval parents of the gods. They were not Titans, but the eldest of the gods.		Tethys at Vulcan's forge Wall painting from the House of the Golden Cupids, Pompeii. 62-79 AD.

Ὑπερίων Hyperion
Titan of the sun. Hyperion was the son of Uranus and Gaea. Hyperion married his sister, the Titaness Theia, and was the father of Helius ("Sun"), Eos ("Dawn"), and Selene ("Moon"). He was sometimes confused with his son, Helius, who was also a sun god. Like his brothers who had fought against Zeus, he was imprisoned in Tartarus. According to Diodorus Siculus, Hyperion was a mortal consort of Basileia (Theia), who was murdered by his brothers (Titans). See Creation, Cosmogony of Diodorus Siculus.		,

Θεία Theia
Titaness of sorcery. Theia was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She was sometimes called, Euryphaëssa (Eurtphaessa). Theia was the goddess of light. She married her brother Hyperion, and was the mother of Eos ("Dawn"), Helius ("Sun"), and Selene ("Moon"). By her other brother Oceanus, she was mother of the Cercopes. According to Diodorus Siculus, she was named Basileia, another name for Theia, the queen who ruled after Uranus. Married to Hyperion, and had a son and daughter, Helius and Selene. She was a mortal queen who had been deified into a goddess. When the Titans murdered her husband and drowned her son, Basileia wandered through the land, until she vanished after a thunderstorm. See Creation, Cosmogony of Diodorus Siculus.

Θέμις Themis
Titaness of justice. Themis was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. Like her mother, she was known as the earth-goddess. She later became known as the goddess of order and justice. Themis was the second wife of Zeus. Themis became the mother of many children: the Seasons (Horae) - Eunomia ("Order"), Dike ("Justice") and Eirene ("Peace") - and the Fates (Moerae). According to Aeschylus, Themis had married her brother Iapetus (before she was wife of Zeus), and became the mother of the Titan Prometheus. She was also gifted with the prophecy or oracle, like her mother. Delphi originally belonged to Gaea, before Themis received it from her mother. Later she relinquished the oracle at Delphi to Apollo. Justice was not only found in Olympus and on Earth, for it will also be found in the Underworld. It was her judgement that was final, if the shade goes to the Elysian Fields or to Tartarus. Themis was seen as the seated goddess, wearing a blindfold over her eyes; the blindfold symbolised her impartiality in judgement and setting reward or penalty to the dead. The Erinyes or the Furies would take the guilty to Tartarus. Themis had three attendants, who also acted as judges over the souls of the dead in the Underworld. They were sons of Zeus - one of them was Aeacus, king of Aeacus and the son of Aegina, the other two were Rhadamanthys and Minos, whose mother was Europa. The three judges became minor gods of the Underworld. More details about her life, can be found in the new Mother Goddesses page.		Themis Marble statue from the temple of Nemesis in Ramnunta, 3rd century BC National Archaeologic Museum, Athens

Μνημοσύνη Mnemosyne
Titaness of memory. Mnemosyne ("Memory") was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She was the abstract personification of memory. In Roman myths, she was called Moneta. By Zeus, she was the mother of nine daughters, known as the Muses. Zeus had slept with Mnemosyne for nine nights, and one year later, she gave birth to the nine wondrous daughters. Mnemosyne had named them as Cleio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpischore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania and Calliope being her eldest daughter.

Ἀαπετός Iapetus
Titan. Iapetus was the son of Uranus and Gaea. He married the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, either Clymene or Asia. Iapetus was the father of the Titans, Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus. Some say that Iapetus married his own sister Themis, and became the father of Prometheus. His son, Prometheus, tried to persuade him to side with Zeus rather than fight him. Iapetus did not listen to his son's wise counsel. So when Zeus overthrew Cronus and other Titans, Iapetus was confined with them in Tartarus. Iapetus's sons didn't escape from Zeus' wrath. Atlas was punished for aiding the Titans in the war against the Olympians. Atlas bore the weight of heaven on his shoulders (see Atlas). Iapetus had another son, Menoetius, was struck down by his thunderbolt before the young Titan was sent down to Erebus (Underworld). Hesiod didn't say what cause other than mad presumption and exceeding pride. Though, Iapetus' other two sons supported Zeus and the Olympians in the war, Epimetheus married Pandora, the first woman who had released all the woes to mankind. Prometheus was chained to rock where the giant Caucasian Eagle fed on his liver. At night, the liver would grow back again, before the eagle would return in the morning, to feed upon his liver. Each new day, was a fresh torture. Zeus had punished Prometheus because the Titan had championed the cause of mankind. See Prometheus or the Creation.

Coeüs
Titan of intellect. Coeüs (Coeus) was the son of Uranus and Gaea. He married his sister Phoebe, became the father of Leto and Asteria. Coeüs seemed to be the god of intellect. When Zeus overthrew Cronus and other male Titans, Coeüs was confined with his brothers and nephews in Tartarus.

Crius
Titan. Crius was the son of Uranus and Gaea. Crius married his half-sister Eurybia, daughter of Gaea and Pontus, and became father of Perses, Pallas and Astraeus. When Zeus overthrew Cronus and other Titans, Crius was confined with them in Tartarus.

Φοίβη Phoebe
Titaness of the moon. Phoebe was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. Phoebe married her brother Coeüs (Coeus). Phoebe became the mother of Leto and Asteria, so Phoebe was the grandmother of Apollo, Artemis and Hecate. Her name means "light", and she seemed to be identified with the moon. According to the 5th century BC playwright Aeschylus, Phoebe gave the oracle of Delphi to her grandson Apollo (son of Leto), though most writers say that it was her sister Themis who relinquished Delphi to Apollo after he had slew the dragon Python. According to the Pelasgian Creation Myth, Phoebe was assigned by Eurynome, to rule the power of the moon, alongside the Titan Atlas.

Διώνη Dione
Dione was an obscure goddess. It was not certain whether she was either Titaness or Oceanid. None of the writers I had come across say anything about her attribute, but she is most likely to be the goddess of the sea, mainly because of Dione was also known by another name, Thalassa, who was a sea deity. Under this name, she was possibly the wife of the ancient sea god, Pontus. According to Hesiod, in Theogony, she was an Oceanid, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. According to Homer in the Iliad, Dione was mother of the love goddess, Aphrodite, by Zeus. Dione comforted her daughter, when the Greek hero Diomedes had wounded Aphrodite. Homer doesn't give any indication of who Dione's parents were, nor what her functions were. The Greek mythographer, Apollodorus, and the tragedian, Euripides in his play Helen, had also named her the mother of Aphrodite, except that they had listed her as the daughter of Uranus and Gaea, which therefore make her a Titaness. (Hesiod give a different account on the birth of Aphrodite, so the love goddess in the Olympians.) The Roman mythographer had likewise listed Dione as a Titaness and mother of Venus (Aphrodite). Dione shared with Zeus the sacred oracle of Dodona. Sources Titan Homer: Iliad ? Apollodorus: Library. Euripides: Helen. Hyginus: Fabulae. Pelasgian myth. Oceanid Hesiod: Theogony. In the Homeric Hymns (to Delian Apollo), she was one of goddesses to witness Leto giving birth to Apollo on the island of Delos. The importance of name is shown from the fact that it was a feminine form of Zeus. In the Linear B tablets, Dione's name was DI-WI-JA or Diwia, whereas Zeus' name was DI-WO, DI-WE or DI-WI-JE-U. She may have being an important goddess between before the Dorian migration and the time of Homer. It is believed when the Hellenic Greek migrated to Greece (1150-950 BC), they brought their gods with them. Originally Dione was the wife and consort of Zeus, their supreme god of heaven and earth. However, she was later displaced by another pre-Hellenic Argive goddess Hera, who became Zeus' consort in Olympus. According to the Pelasgian Creation Myth, Dione was assigned by Eurynome, to rule the power of the moon, alongside the Titan Atlas.

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Second Generation Titans

The second generation Titans or the Younger Titans were children of the elder Titans (children of Uranus and Gaea).

So what make the younger generation as Titans? Perhaps, if either his or her parents were Titans?

There are no given prerequisites would make them Titans, because not all the children of the elder Titans were known as Titans.

If the rule of both parents were Titans, then technically the children of Cronus and Rhea (ie the Olympians) were Titans. Also the Titans Oceanus and Tethys had thousands of children - 3000 river gods and 3000 Oceanid nymphs. The children of Oceanus could not be Titans. The Oceanids Styx and perhaps her sister Metis were the only exception - they were considered to be both Oceanids and Titans. Styx was the first to change side to Zeus, in the war between the Titans and Olympians, while Metis happened to be Zeus' first wife.

Some would say that Helius and his sisters were Titans, while other writers say they weren't. I am uncertain with Helius, Eos and Selene, which is why you will find them in Minor Greek Deities (under Sky Deities) instead of in this page.

Some even believe that the goddess Hecate was a Titaness. If this is true, then she would be a third generation Titaness.

Below are the names that I am sure they were Titans or Titanesses.

Atlas Prometheus Epimetheus Helius, see Minor Greek Deities, Helius Perses Astraeus Pallas

Leto Asteria Styx, see House of Hades, Styx Metis, see Minor Greek Deities, Metis

Ἄτλας Atlas
Titan. Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus by the Oceanid Clymene or Asia. He was the brother of Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus. When his brother, Prometheus tried to persuade him not to go to war against the Olympians, he did not listen. Zeus punished Atlas, by making the Titan carry the weight of the sky upon his shoulders. See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod. Atlas married Pleïone (Pleione), daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. He was the father of seven daughters known as the Pleiades: Electra, Taÿete (Tayete), Maia, Celaeno, Alcyone, Asterope (Sterope) and Merope. Only Merope had a mortal husband, Sisyphus, king of Corinth. Atlas was also possibly the father of the Hesperides (Daughters of the Evening Star), the guardian of the golden apples in the garden of Hesperides. By Hesperis, Atlas was the father of Aegle, Arethusa, Erytheia, Hespere (Hespera), Hespereia, Hesperusa and Hestia. Others say that the Hesperides may have been daughters of Erebus and Nyx, or of Phorcys and Ceto, or of Zeus and Themis. One story say that the hero Perseus who was returning home with the head of Gorgon Medusa, turned the Titan into stone, more out of pity than hostility. This tale would contradict of Atlas encountering another hero, Heracles, who was a great grandson of Perseus. Heracles was performing the eleventh labour which involved fetching the golden apples of Hesperides. Atlas failed to trick Heracles into shouldering the burden of the heaven. Read the Twelve Labour of Heracles.

Προμηθεός Prometheus
Titan of forethought. Prometheus ("Forethought") was the son of the Titan Iapetus and by Iapetus' sister Themis or by Clymene or Asia, both were Oceanids. Prometheus was the brother of Atlas, Menoetius and Epimetheus. He married Pronoea and was the father of Deucalion. During the war between the Titans and Olympians, Prometheus sided with Zeus, knowing that the war would end with the younger gods winning the war. Prometheus unsuccessfully tried to persuade his father Iapetus and his brother Atlas to change side. Iapetus was thrown into Tartarus, while Atlas would be forever burdened with the weight of heaven on his shoulder. When Athena was about to be born, it was either he or Hephaestus that split opened Zeus' head with an axe. Athena sprung out of Zeus' head, fully armed. Prometheus was champion of the race of men. He was also the most shrewdest and intelligent of all the gods. He stole fire and gave it to mortals, hiding in a hollow fennel-stalk, which he took to men. He tricked Zeus in accepting the worse part of the sacrifice to the gods, while mortals kept the best part for themselves. Prometheus probably had the power to see in the future. Prometheus managed to save his son and family, during the Deluge. See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod. Prometheus was later punished by Zeus, who had him bound in Cascausia. A giant Caucasian Eagle fed on his liver each day. When Prometheus met Io, who wandered the land in the form of a cow, he predicted her future that she would return to her human form in Egypt; she would give birth to her son to Zeus in Egypt. Prometheus also saw that Io's descendant would one day free him from his chain. Generations later, he was finally freed by Heracles, son of Zeus and descendant of Io, fulfilling his prediction. The Centaur named Cheiron gave up his immortality to Prometheus, so that the immortal Centaur may die, having suffered from torment from Heracles' arrow. Either he or Themis predicted that any son of the sea-goddess Thetis would become greater than the father. Zeus, who was about to seduce Thetis, wanted to avoid the same fate of his father and grandfather, so he quickly married Thetis off to a mortal hero named Peleus.

Ἐπιμηθεύα Epimetheus
Titan of afterthought. Epimetheus ("Afterthought") was the son of the Titan Iapetus by the Oceanid Clymene or Asia. Brother of Prometheus, Menoetius and Atlas. Epimetheus married the first mortal woman Pandora and was the father of Pyrrha. Unlike his brother, Prometheus, Epimetheus was not a very bright god, as his name suggest "afterthought". He was sometimes called Epimetheus the Scatter-brain (highly unflattering). See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod.

Λητώ Leto
Leto was the daughter of the Titans Coeüs (Coeus) and Phoebe. Leto was the sister of Asteria. It is uncertain what attribute that this goddess had, but she may have a mother goddess or goddess of fertility. Leto was also mother of two important Olympian gods, Apollo and Artemis, by Zeus. Of all the goddesses who suffered from Hera's jealously, none suffered more than Leto. Zeus had seduced Leto. And though she was a goddess, Leto was persecuted right throughout her pregnancy. Everyone feared to let Leto give birth on their land, fearing Hera's wrath. Leto was forced to wander until she arrived on the island of Ortygia (island near Delos?, the story is that her sister Asteria was changed into an island. See Asteria). Hera prevented her daughter Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth, from easing Leto's labour pain. According to, Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis, clinging to an olive tree. Other sources say that she gave birth to Artemis only on the island of Ortygia. Then the infant Artemis helped her mother with giving birth to Apollo on the island of Delos. Apollo and Artemis were often there to help her whenever she was in trouble. In Delphi, she was chased by giant Tityus (Tityos), who tried to rape her. Tityus was a giant he was the son of Zeus and Elare, the daughter of Orchomenus. To protect Elare and the unborn child from the wrath of Hera, Zeus hid Elare under the earth. Tityus grew rapidly. Leto was travelling to visit her son in Pythos (Delphi), when Tityus saw her and was overcome with lust for the Titaness. Tityus pursued Leto until her children arrived and killed the giant. But his punishment didn't stop with his death. Apollo and Artemis had Tityus bound in Tartarus, where vultures feed eternally from Tityus' heart (Homer says livers). When Niobe boasted that she had seven-times more children than Leto, who were strong and beautiful. Niobe foolishly told the Thebans to abandon the worship of Leto and worship her as a mother goddess. Apollo and Artemis answered the queen by kill all her children. See Wrath of Heaven, for more detail about Niobe and her children. Leto was sometimes seen hunting in the woods, with her daughter Artemis, and occasionally with her son. Her weapon used for hunting was the bow, of course.		Leto Vessel, late 6th century BC British Museum, London

Ἀστερία Asteria
Asteria was the daughter of the Titans Coeüs (Coeus) and Phoebe. She was the sister of Leto. Asteria married Perses and became mother of Hecate. Not long after her brother was imprisoned in Tartarus, Zeus fell in love with her. Zeus chased Phoebe, but she escaped him when she threw herself off the cliff and was turned into a quail. Some say that she was transformed into the island of Delos, which was originally named after her, Asteria or Ortygia (ortyx means "quail"). When her sister became pregnant by Zeus, Leto was persecuted by Hera. Asteria offered her sister a safe haven, to give birth to the twins, Apollo and Artemis.

Πήρσης Perses
Perses was the son of the Titans Crius and Eurybia. He was the brother of Astraeüs (Astraeus) and Pallas. He married Asteria and became father of Hecate. Perses was probably imprisoned with the other Titans, for participating in the war against Zeus and the Olympians.

Πάλλας Pallas
Pallas was the son of the Titans Crius and Eurybia. He was the brother of Perses and Astraeüs (Astraeus). He married the Oceanid Styx, and became father of Bia ("Violence"), Cratus ("Strength"), Nike ("Victory") and Zelus ("Emulation") .

Ἀστραίων Astraeüs

Son of the Titans Crius and Eurybia. He was the brother of Perses and Pallas. By the goddess Eos, he was the father of Boreas, Zephyrus and Notus - gods of winds (see also Aeolus, for more detail about the wind gods. His name means "Starry", because he was also father of the stars.