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	In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Titans''' (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτᾶνες) are among a series of gods who oppose [[Zeus]] and the Olympian gods in their ascent to power. Others who opposed the gods include the [[Gigantes]], [[Typhon]], and [[Ophioneus]].		In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Titans''' (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτᾶνες) are among a series of gods who oppose [[Zeus]] and the Olympian gods in their ascent to power. Others who opposed the gods include the [[Gigantes]], [[Typhon]], and [[Ophioneus]].

	~~{{Greek myth (Titan)}}~~
	Greeks of the Classical age knew of several poems about the war between the gods and Titans. The dominant one, and the only one that has survived, was the ''Theogony'' attributed to Hesiod. A lost epic ''Titanomachy'' attributed to the blind Thracian bard Thamyris, himself a legendary figure, was mentioned in passing in an essay ''On Music'' that was once attributed to Plutarch. And the Titans played a prominent role in the poems attributed to [[Orpheus]]. Although only scraps of the [[Orphic]] narratives survive, they show interesting differences with the Hesiodic tradition.		Greeks of the Classical age knew of several poems about the war between the gods and Titans. The dominant one, and the only one that has survived, was the ''Theogony'' attributed to Hesiod. A lost epic ''Titanomachy'' attributed to the blind Thracian bard Thamyris, himself a legendary figure, was mentioned in passing in an essay ''On Music'' that was once attributed to Plutarch. And the Titans played a prominent role in the poems attributed to [[Orpheus]]. Although only scraps of the [[Orphic]] narratives survive, they show interesting differences with the Hesiodic tradition.

Fr. Zabed at 19:09, 9 July 2005

2005-07-09T19:09:02Z

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{{greekgods}}
In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Titans''' (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτᾶνες) are among a series of gods who oppose [[Zeus]] and the Olympian gods in their ascent to power. Others who opposed the gods include the [[Gigantes]], [[Typhon]], and [[Ophioneus]].

{{Greek myth (Titan)}}
Greeks of the Classical age knew of several poems about the war between the gods and Titans. The dominant one, and the only one that has survived, was the ''Theogony'' attributed to Hesiod. A lost epic ''Titanomachy'' attributed to the blind Thracian bard Thamyris, himself a legendary figure, was mentioned in passing in an essay ''On Music'' that was once attributed to Plutarch. And the Titans played a prominent role in the poems attributed to [[Orpheus]]. Although only scraps of the [[Orphic]] narratives survive, they show interesting differences with the Hesiodic tradition.

These Greek myths of the ''titanomachy'' fall into a class of similar myths throughout Europe and the Near East, where one generation or group of gods opposes the dominant one. Sometimes the Elder Gods are supplanted. Sometimes the rebels lose, and are either cast out of power entirely or incorporated into the pantheon. Other examples might include the wars of the [[Æsir]] with the [[Vanir]] and [[Jotun]]s in [[Scandinavian mythology]], the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish, the Hittite "Kingship in Heaven" narrative, the obscure generational conflict in Ugaritic fragments. The Christian ''[[Revelation|Book of Revelation]]'' also describes a "War in Heaven."

==The Titans in Hesiod==
In Hesiod's ''Theogony'' the twelve Titans follow the
Hundred-handers and [[Cyclopes]] as children of [[Uranus (mythology)|Ouranos]], heaven, and [[Gaia]], the Earth:

:"afterwards she lay with Heaven and bore deep-swirling Oceanus, [[Coeus]] and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty sire."

Ouranos considers his offspring monstrous, and so imprisons them in the bowels of the Earth. But [[Cronus|Kronos]], encouraged by Gaia and aided by the [[Hecatonchires|Hundred-handers]] and [[Cyclopes]], sets upon his father, castrates him, and sets himself up as king of the gods, with Rhea as his wife and queen.

Rhea bears a new generation of gods to Cronus, but in fear that they will overthrow him, he swallows them all one by one. Only Zeus is saved: Rhea gives Kronos a stone in swaddling clothes in his place, and places him in Crete to be guarded by the Kouretes.

Once Zeus reaches adulthood, he subdues Kronos by force, and cuts open his father's belly to free his siblings. A war between the younger and older gods commences, in which Zeus is aided by the [[Hecatonchires|Hundred-handers]], [[Gigantes]], and [[Cyclopes]], who have once again been freed from [[Tartarus]]. Zeus wins after a long struggle, and casts the Titans down into Tartarus.

And yet the older gods leave their mark on the world. Some of them - like
Mnemosyne and Metis - had not fought the Olympians, and become key players in the new administration. The Titans also leave behind a number of offspring, some of whom may also be counted as Titans, most notably the sons of Iapetus - Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas, and Menoetius.

Many ancient sources follow Hesiod closely, with minor variations: Apollodorus adds [[Dione]] as a thirteenth Titan.

==The Titans in other Greek sources==
Hesiod is not, however, the last word on the Titans. Surviving fragments of [[Orpheus|Orphic]] poetry in particular preserve some variations on the myth.

In one Orphic text, Zeus does not simply set upon his father violently. Instead, Rhea spreads out a banquet for Kronos, so that he becomes drunk upon honey. Zeus chains him and castrates him. Rather than being consigned to [[Tartarus]], [[Cronus|Kronos]] is dragged – still drunk – to the cave of [[Nyx|Night]], where he continues to dream and prophesy throughout eternity.

Another myth concerning the Titans that is not in Hesiod revolves around [[Dionysus]]. At some point in his reign, [[Zeus]] decides to give up the throne in favor of the infant [[Dionysus]], who like the infant [[Zeus]] is guarded by the Kouretes. The Titans decide to slay the child and claim the throne for themselves; they paint their faces white with gypsum, distract Dionysus with toys, then dismember him and boil and roast his limbs. [[Zeus]], enraged, slays the Titans with his thunderbolt; [[Athena]] preserves the heart in a gypsum doll, out of which a new Dionysus is made. This story is told by the poets Callimachus and Nonnus, who call this [[Dionysus]] "Zagreus", and also in a number of [[Orphic]] texts, which do not.

One iteration of this story, reported by the [[Neoplatonist]] philosopher [[Olympiodorus]], writing in the Christian era, says that humanity sprung up out of the fatty smoke of the burning Titan corpses. Other earlier writers imply that humanity was born out of the blood shed by the Titans in their war against Zeus.

Pindar, [[Plato]] and Oppian refer offhandedly to man's "Titanic
nature". Whether or not this refers to a sort of "original sin" rooted in the murder of Dionysus is hotly debated by scholars.

==References==
*Wikipedia. (2005). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28mythology%29 Titan (mythology)]''. Retrieved on 07/07/2005.

[[Category: Greek Gods]]

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