Titanomachy

The Titanomachy, in Greek mythology, was the great war that occurred between the Titans, the old generation of Greek gods, and the Olympian gods, led by Zeus. In Hesiod’s Theogony the war lasted for ten full years, with the Titans fighting from Mount Othrys and the gods from Mount Olympus. It ended with the defeat of the Titans, who were bound in Tartarus, and the establishment of the new rule of the Olympians (Hesiod, Theogony 617–735).

Uranus the Ruler of the Universe

Uranus (Heaven) was the first ruler of the universe, and the Titans were his children by Gaia (Earth). However, he caused the wrath of his wife, Gaia, after hiding some of her children, the Hecatonchires, and binding the Cyclopes, in the depths of the earth, Tartarus (Hesiod, Theogony 154–160, 501–506; Apollodorus, Library 1.1.2–4). Gaia decided to take revenge, and made a great sickle of adamant; she then told her children to punish their father. Only Cronus agreed, and after he formed a plot with his mother, he ambushed his father and cut off his genitals with the sickle (Theogony 159–182). From the drops of blood that fell on the earth, Gaia bore the Erinyes, the Giants (Gigantes), and the Meliae, the ash-tree nymphs; while the genitals that fell into the sea made a white foam, from which the goddess Aphrodite was born (Theogony 183–206).

Cronus takes the Throne

Cronus took the throne from his father, but not before Gaia and Uranus told him that he was destined to be overcome by his own son (Theogony 463–465). Afraid that he would lose the reign, Cronus swallowed each of the children Rhea bore him as soon as they were born; he also bound the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires again in Tartarus, where, in Apollodorus, they were guarded by Campe (Theogony 453–460; Apollodorus, Library 1.1.5, 1.2.1). However, his wife Rhea, on the advice of her parents Gaia and Uranus, tricked him. When she was about to bear Zeus, her youngest child, she went to Crete, where he was born and hidden in a cave; she gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead (Theogony 468–491). In Apollodorus’ account, the child was brought up by the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, who fed him on the milk of Amalthea (Library 1.1.6–7).

Gods Rebellion

When Zeus grew up, Gaia’s craft and Zeus’ strength made Cronus bring up first the stone and then, one by one, the children he had swallowed (Theogony 492–500). In Apollodorus, Zeus took Metis, the Oceanid, as his helper, and she gave Cronus a drug that forced him to disgorge the stone and then the children (Library 1.2.1). When all of his brothers and sisters were freed, Zeus and the gods began the war against Cronus and the Titans.

Gods vs Titans

Thus started the Titanomachy. The Titans fought from lofty Othrys and the gods, the children of Rhea and Cronus, from Olympus; for ten full years the war hung evenly balanced (Theogony 629–638). Then, on the advice of Gaia, Zeus released the Hecatonchires, Cottus, Briareos and Gyes, from their bonds under the earth and gave them nectar and ambrosia (Theogony 617–653). Apollodorus adds that Gaia prophesied victory to Zeus if he had as allies those who had been hurled down to Tartarus. Zeus killed their jailer Campe and loosed their bonds (Library 1.2.1). The Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder, lightning and a thunderbolt, Hades a helmet and Poseidon a trident (Theogony 501–506; Library 1.2.1).

The Hecatonchires started hurling rocks against the Titans, three hundred at a time, while Zeus, with his thunderbolts, made the earth, sea and sky boil (Theogony 675–719). Not all of the older gods fought against Zeus. Styx, a daughter of Oceanus, was the first to come to Olympus with her children Zelus (Zeal), Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), and Zeus honored her by making her the great oath of the gods (Theogony 383–403). Themis and her son Prometheus, according to Aeschylus, sided with Zeus after Themis had foretold that the victory would go to guile and not to force; the Titans had despised this advice (Prometheus Bound 199–221).

Olympians win

When the War ended with the Olympians on the winning side, the defeated Titans were bound and sent beneath the earth to Tartarus and guarded by the Hecatonchires, who were given places beside the sea at the end of the earth (Theogony 717–735). Atlas, a son of Iapetus, was made to hold up the sky with his head and arms at the edge of the earth (Theogony 517–520), and his brother Menoetius was struck by Zeus with a thunderbolt and sent down to Tartarus (Theogony 514–516; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.3). In Hesiod, the gods then urged Zeus to rule, and he distributed their honors (Theogony 881–885).

The division among the three brothers is told by Poseidon in the Iliad: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades each drew a lot for his share, so Poseidon received the sea, Hades the murky darkness, and Zeus the broad heaven, while the earth and Olympus remained common to all (Iliad 15.187–193; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.1). There is no ancient source for the common claim that they drew straws; the sources speak of lots. This was the dawn of a new era in Greek mythology.

Titanomachy Sources

The main ancient source for the war is Hesiod’s Theogony: the castration of Uranus and the birth of Aphrodite (154–210), Rhea and the birth of Zeus (453–506), the Titans of the second generation (507–520), Styx (383–403) and the war itself (617–735, Theogony 617). Other ancient sources used: Apollodorus, Library 1.1.2–7, 1.2.1–3; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 199–221; Homer, Iliad 15.187–193.

See Also: Titans, Zeus, Uranus, Gaea, Cyclopes, Hecatonchires, Cronus, Gigantes, Erinyes, Meliae, Aphrodite, Rhea, Amalthea, Themis, Prometheus, Poseidon, Hades, Atlas, Styx