Who Are the The Titans?
The elder gods who fought Zeus
The Titans are the older generation of gods in Greek mythology, born of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky). At their core are twelve: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronus.
Their father Ouranos called them "Titans" and said that one day they would pay for what they had done. After Cronus became king, the Titans took their stand on Mount Othrys and fought Zeus and his allies on Mount Olympus for ten years. This war is the Titanomachy. In the end they were beaten by Zeus's thunderbolts and the rocks of the Hundred-Handers, and locked away in Tartarus, deep beneath the earth.
The English words "titan" and "titanic" (meaning enormous) come from their name.
Episodes featuring this character6
NEWEpisode 1
The Universe Began with a CrackChaos and the Creation (Theogony)
On fog-wrapped Mount Helicon, Hesiod, a starving shepherd, gets roasted by the sharp-tongued Muses, then handed a laurel staff and a divine voice. A single "Gap" opens in the white void. Darkness and Night are born, then the light Hesiod's own song calls up, then Earth and the starry Sky. Twelve children stir deep inside Earth, and only the youngest glares through the ceiling at his father with golden eyes.
20 pages
NEWEpisode 2
Mother Forged a Blade. Who Will Take It?Cronus and Uranus
Ouranos, the starry Sky, has shoved his children deep inside the Earth. Their mother Gaia, groaning under the weight, forges a great gray sickle of adamant from her own body and asks which of them will take it up. The older brothers and sisters stay silent. Only the youngest and slightest of them, Cronus, steps forward.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
Love Was Born From a Wound in the SkyThe Birth of Aphrodite
From the drops that fell from the sky come warriors and nymphs, and from the sea foam steps Aphrodite, goddess of love. At the same dawn of the world, Night—joined with no one—gives birth to Death, Sleep, and even Affection.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 7
Victory Belongs to Those Who Show UpStyx and Nike
Zeus calls every god to his side, but no one wants to be the first to raise a hand. Then Nike, the youngest, asks one simple question. It pushes her mother Styx to act, and Styx brings her four children to Olympus ahead of everyone else. The young king has been standing alone until now, and he answers her by keeping every promise he makes.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 8
They Were Forgotten. They Never Forgot.Zeus and the Hundred-Handers (Hecatoncheires)
On a misty mountain, the shepherd Hesiod hears a song from the goddesses of song. Ten years into the war against Cronus, the father who swallowed his own children, the fighting still hasn't ended. Then Zeus hears the voice of Gaia, Mother Earth. He goes down to the depths of the earth and, with his own hands, brings three forgotten hundred-armed brothers back into the light. Cottus swears that now it's their turn to protect him, and Zeus raises his thunderbolt for the first time. But across the divide, in the darkness, a golden eye opens.
20 pages
NEWEpisode 9
The Day Zeus Stopped Holding BackTitanomachy
Cronus feared his children would take his throne. Zeus, the youngest, was the only one who escaped him, and he has fought his father for ten years. This is the war's last day. Zeus finally stops holding back and hurls lightning hot enough to set the world on fire. The three Hundred-Handers bury the sky under three hundred boulders. Together they drive the old gods down into Tartarus, which lies as far below the earth as heaven lies above it.
19 pages