Christian Tullos

The Titan War marks a great event in Greek mythology.  It, in many ways, is like the origin stories for our superheroes explaining how and why things came to be the way they are.  It shows how the gods came to be.  A story consistent with other Greek mythology depicts the gods with very humanlike qualities and flaws.  This war depicts the battle between the Titans, the older gods, and the Olympians, their children.

Some brief background information helps to better understand what’s going on and who’s on what side.  Gaia, one of the three original beings, who is the goddess of earth, and Uranus, her son, and who is the god of the heavens, had Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Lapetus, Theia, Rhea, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronus, who became the original Titans.  The other Titans, Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, Metis, Dione, Thea, and Themis, were sons and daughters of the original Titans.  In addition to the Titans, Gaia and Uranus also had three Cyclopes: Brontes, Stereopes, and Arges; and three Giants: Cottus, Briareos, and Gyes, who had fifty heads and one hundred arms each.  The Giants came to be known as the Hecatonchires because of this.

Uranus, fearing and despising the Cyclopes’ and Giants’ power, locks them up when they are born deep inside the earth.  Gaia, their mother, cannot stand to see such cruelty done to them, so she calls upon her first born, the Titans, to bring justice upon their father.  Accounts vary, but it is generally believed Cronos answers the call by defeating his father, casting him into the sea.  Cronos then takes the throne and marries Rhea.  Rhea gives birth to Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus: the first Olympians.

Here is where the conflict really begins.  A prophesy is spoken.  The prophesy reveals Cronos will be overthrown by his own children.  In an effort to prevent this from happening, Cronos swallows each of his children whole at their birth.  Despairing, Rhea asks her mother for help.  Taking pity on her, Gaia rescues her next child, Zeus, and hides him in a cave in Crete.  She gives Cronos a rock in Zeus’s place, which Cronos swallows whole assuming it to be his child (babies apparently taste like rocks).

Upon reaching maturity, Zeus seeks out vengeance upon his father.  He gets a potion from the Titan Metis that induces vomiting.  Rhea arranges for Zeus to become Cronos’ cupbearer.  Zeus pours some of the potion into the cup and serves it to his father, causing Cronos to vomit up his siblings, who had apparently just been waiting around.  Cronos then starts a war to destroy them all for good.

Cronos calls for the Titans to join him in his battle against the Olympians. None of the female Titans join him, and Prometheus and Epimetheus actually join the Olympians.  Of the remaining male Titans who join him, Atlas is elected their leader.

The following ten years ensue in a battle with neither side gaining any advantage.  Gaia, having secretly been supporting the Olympians, advises Zeus to free the Cyclopes and Giants.  So Zeus goes down into Tartarus, kills the monster standing guard, and frees the Cyclopes and Giants.  In return for their freedom, they pledge their support to Zeus.  The Cyclopes give Zeus the power over thunder and lightning, Poseidon a trident, and Hades a helm of darkness.

Later in an ambush against Cronos, Hades uses his cloak to steal Cronos’ weapons.  Poseidon charges Cronos to distract him, which allows Zeus to strike Cronos with a lightning bolt, subduing him.

With Cronos down and the Cyclopes and Giants having joined the fight, the Olympians subdue the Titans.  The Titans who participated in the war are sent to Tartarus.  For his particular role in the war, Zeus requires Atlas to hold up the sky.

As was the custom, Zeus ascends to the throne upon their victory.  He would later wage wars against the Giants and the Typhon to gain total control of the heavens and the earth.  For now, though, there is peace with the new king on the throne.

The Titan War marked Zeus’s ascension and a change in the world.  The Olympians’ victory also marks a change in ages in Greek mythology.  It signifies the passing of the Golden Age.  Seasons change, order and justice are still intact, but mercy is lacking.  Times are harder.  As with the real world, there are different ages.  “For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few are better than their fathers” (Homer).  Is it a change for the better or worse?  That question can only be answered by the reader.

Bibliography

KET Distance Learning, LLC, 2014. KET. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.

Rymer, Eric. History Link 101, LLC, 2000-2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.

Shmoop University, LLC, 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.