The+Titans


 * The Titans **
 * Summary **

The main titans were all born of mother Earth and their father Heaven. There were twelve total. Cronus was the leader of the titans and king of the universe. His sister Rhea (or Ops in Roman stories) ruled by him as queen. Some other Titans were Atlas and Prometheus. There was a prophecy of one of Cronus’ sons dethroning him. Because of this he ate all of his children as they were born. Rhea, however, didn’t like the fact that he was eating her children so when Zeus was born she replaced him with a rock and sent him to Crete. When he was old enough Zeus rose against Cronus. He convinced his grandmother to help him make Cronus throw up Zeus’ brothers, sisters, and the rock that had replaced him. After a long battle the Titans were severely punished when they lost. Atlas had to hold up the weight of the sky. Prometheus fought beside the gods but later brought fire to earth which the gods didn’t want so he was chained to a mountain and could never die and healed really fast. Everyday a bird came and ate his stomach out. Last but not least Cronus was chopped up and thrown into Tartarus.
 * Analysis **

There are many things that the myths about the titans that reveal things about the Greeks themselves. They really worshiped the gods with all their hearts. Supposedly, the rock that Rhea gave Cronus to swallow in place of Zeus was found and the people anointed the rock with oils and worshiped it. There are many cases where people go against the gods and are severely punished, too. For example, Prometheus gave man fire against Zeus’s will and he was chained to the side of a mountain and an eagle came and ripped out his stomach (or liver, depending on which version) every day and it would grow back overnight. We think this says that it was not acceptable to go against the gods or the social order. They also handled their problems mainly by going to war and through violence like the gods and the titans. Obviously, it was inappropriate to eat your kids like Cronus did in Greece. However, it seemed as though it was appropriate to give traitors and those who went against the law terrible punishments. There are some mixed messages, though. For instance, many gods cheated on their wives, but that is against lots of religions. And Rhea went behind her husband’s back, but women were supposed to obey their husbands.


 * Connections **
 * Cronus is like Kadafi
 * Rutheless leader
 * Hurt his own people


 * Rhea is like Rosa Parks
 * Stood up against what was wrong like Rhea stood up against Cronus [[image:reynoldsmythology/rhea_and_cronus.jpg caption="Rhea and Cronus http://web.me.com/tanea_london/History-Mythology/ZEUS.html"]]


 * Prometheus is like Steve Jobs
 * Changed world forever
 * Had the idea computer should be for everyone like Prometheus did with fire
 * Was fired from own company like Prometheus was punished by Zeus


 * Citations **

Hamilton, Edith. //Mythology//. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1942. Print.

Created by Maddy Roberts and Cory Hanes