Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesPlacesPlanetsPopularAll Myths
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Olympians
Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesPlacesPlanetsPopularAll Myths
Plays
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Search

Figures in the ancient sources

Atlas in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Atlas

32 passages from 16 ancient authors that tell of Atlas, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Atlas was one of the Titans, son of Iapetus and Clymene, and brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius. During the Titanomachy, the War between ... For the story in one place, read our article on Atlas.

Hesiod (2)

  1. Hesiod, Theogony 505–534The sons of Iapetus: Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus (505-534)Iapetus and Clymene have four sons. Menoetius is struck down by Zeus for his arrogance, Atlas is made to hold up the sky, and the crafty Prometheus is bound, with an eagle sent to eat his liver, until Heracles kills it and frees him. Epimetheus, who took the first woman from Zeus, is introduced as a source of trouble for men.
  2. Hesiod, Theogony 740–779The house of Night, Sleep and Death; Hades and Styx (740-779)In the great gulf beyond Tartarus' gates stands the home of Night, where Atlas holds up the sky and Night and Day greet one another as they cross a bronze threshold. Sleep and Death, children of Night, live there, followed by the halls of Hades and Persephone, guarded by a fearful hound, and the house of Styx.

Apollodorus (1)

  1. Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.5.11–12The Labours of Heracles (11-12): the Golden Apples and CerberusBecause the hydra and the stables are not counted, two more labours are added. For the golden apples of the Hesperides Heracles seizes Nereus to learn the way, defeats Antaeus and Busiris, frees Prometheus from the eagle, and gets the apples by tricking Atlas into taking the sky back. He is initiated at Eleusis, goes down to Hades by Taenarum, raises Theseus (but not Pirithous), wrestles Menoetes, and carries Cerberus up to Eurystheus and back.

Aeschylus (2)

  1. Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 279–398First episode (cont.): Oceanus offers to intercedeOceanus arrives on a winged creature and offers to plead with Zeus for Prometheus. He advises him to know himself, to change his ways and not to speak so defiantly against the new ruler. Prometheus refuses, tells of the punishment of Atlas and of Typhon, says that Oceanus might suffer himself if he tried, and tells him to go home. Oceanus leaves.
  2. Aeschylus, Fragments 168–188Fragments of uncertain plays (2)This group begins with a man squinting like a tunny and a pig put in the oven, and goes on to the seven daughters of Atlas bewailing their father's labour. It continues with short sayings: God owes glory to him who toils, there is a seal upon the lips, and the happy man should stay at home. The last lines mention four fillies under yoke, purification with the blood of a slain swine, and Apollo the ivy-crowned.

Euripides (1)

  1. Euripides, Ion 1–81Prologue: Hermes at Delphi tells of Apollo, Creusa and the hidden childHermes, whose mother Maia was a daughter of Atlas, tells how Apollo took Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, in a cave under the cliffs of the Acropolis at Athens, and how she bore a son in secret and left him to die in the cave. At the god's request Hermes carried the child in his basket to Delphi, where the priestess reared him as a servant of the temple. He says that Creusa and her husband Xuthus are coming to consult the oracle about children, and that Apollo means to give Xuthus his own son, who will be called Ion.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

  1. Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.25.1–4.27.5Heracles: Hades, Orpheus and the HesperidesHeracles is initiated at Athens in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the historian digresses briefly on Orpheus. Heracles then descends to Hades, where Persephone welcomes him, and brings back Cerberus. For the last labour, the golden apples of the Hesperides, writers disagree about whether the prize was apples or golden-coloured sheep; the section also gives the story of Atlas and the Atlantides, whom Heracles rescues from pirates sent by Busiris, and Atlas's teaching him astronomy.

Ovid (2)

  1. Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.563–662Cadmus and Harmonia; Perseus and AtlasCadmus and Harmonia, grieving at their misfortunes, go away from Thebes, and Cadmus, remembering the serpent he killed, is turned into a serpent, and Harmonia follows him. Perseus, flying over Libya with the head of Medusa, comes at nightfall to the kingdom of Atlas, who has been told that a son of Zeus (Jupiter) would steal his golden apples, and who refuses him shelter. Perseus holds up the head of Medusa, and Atlas is turned into the mountain that holds up the sky.
  2. Ovid, Fasti 5.111–182Fasti 5: Amalthea's goat, the Lares Praestites and Bona Dea (1 May)On 1 May Ovid tells how the nymph Amalthea's goat nursed the infant Zeus (Jupiter) on Crete and was set among the stars, with her horn. He mentions the altar of the Guardian Lares and their dog images, and the Bona Dea temple, then the Hyades on 2 May and the hunter Hyas, killed by a lioness.

Pausanias (8)

  1. Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.33.1–8Attica: Brauron, Rhamnus and Phidias’ statue of NemesisAt Brauron Iphigenia is said to have left the image of Artemis. At Rhamnus stands the sanctuary of Nemesis, with Phidias’ statue made from the marble the Persians brought to set up as a trophy. Pausanias digresses on the Ethiopians shown on her bowl and on Ocean, Atlas and the sources of the Nile, notes that Nemesis was originally wingless, and explains the figures on the pedestal, where Leda brings Helen to Nemesis.
  2. Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.18.1–8Olympia: the Chest of Cypselus, second and third fieldsPausanias describes the second field of the chest, with Night nursing Death and Sleep, Justice and Injustice, Idas and Marpessa, Alcmena, Menelaus and Helen, Medea, the Muses, Atlas and Hercules, and Perseus pursued by the Gorgons. The third field shows armies meeting, which he reads as the migration of Melas to Corinth.
  3. Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.18.1–16Sparta to Amyclae: Ammon, Cnagian Artemis and the throne of ApolloPausanias lists images and shrines near the statues of Pausanias, including Athena Ophthalmitis, the sanctuary of Ammon and Cnagian Artemis, and then follows the road to Amyclae by the river Tiasa and the sanctuary of the Graces. At Amyclae he describes the tripods and dedications and Bathycles’ throne of the Amyclaean Apollo, listing its mythological reliefs on the front and underneath.
  4. Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.10.1–10Olympia: the temple of Zeus, its sculptures and the AltisPausanias describes the Altis and the temple of Zeus, built after the Elean conquest of Pisa, with its Doric style, dimensions, the architect Libon and the marble tiles said to have been devised by Byzes of Naxos. He lists the golden shield and gilt Victory on the roof, and describes the gable sculptures by Paeonius and Alcamenes and the reliefs of the labours of Hercules over the doors.
  5. Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.11.1–11Olympia: Phidias’ gold and ivory statue of Zeus and its thronePausanias describes the seated gold and ivory Zeus, its Victory, sceptre, sandals and robe, and the throne with its Victories, sphinxes, Niobids and painted barriers by Panaenus. He notes the reliefs on the footstool and pedestal, the unrecommended measurements, the thunderbolt that answered Phidias’ prayer, and the oil that preserves the ivory, comparing the water at Athens and the well under the Aesculapius at Epidaurus.
  6. Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.19.1–15Olympia: the treasuries on the terrace of Mount CroniusPausanias describes the terrace north of the Heraeum, where the treasuries stand. He names the treasuries of the Sicyonians, with its two bronze chambers and the offerings kept in it, the Carthaginians, the Epidamnians, the Byzantines, the Sybarites, the Cyrenians, the Selinuntians, the Metapontines, the Megarians and, beside the stadium, the Gelans. He lists their contents: the sword of Pelops, the horn of Amalthea, a boxwood image of Apollo, cedar figures of Atlas and the Hesperides, and the Megarian relief of Hercules fighting Achelous.
  7. Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.12.1–9Mantinea: the roads to Methydrium and Orchomenus, Penelope's grave and Anchises' tombPausanias notes the sanctuary of Zeus Charmon and the oaks of Arcadia, including the cork oak whose bark is used for floats. On the road to Methydrium he tells how Alcimedon exposed his daughter Phialo and her child by Hercules, and how a jay's imitation of the baby's cries led Hercules to them. On the roads to Orchomenus are the stadium of Ladas, the mound the Mantineans say is Penelope's grave, the ruins of old Mantinea and the tomb of Anchises on Mount Anchisia.
  8. Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.20.1–5Tanagra: Poemander, Corinna, the tomb of Orion, Hermes and the Triton of DionysusPausanias gives the Tanagrans' account of their founder Poemander and of the city's name, which came from Tanagra, also called Graea, a daughter of Aeolus or of Asopus. He mentions the tomb of Orion, Mount Cerycius, where Hermes was born, and the place called Polus. In the temple of Dionysus he describes the image by Calamis and the headless Triton, killed either in a fight with Dionysus or when he was lured by a bowl of wine.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

  1. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.241–390Book 2: Typhon's boast and the first assault on ZeusTyphoeus wakes shouting threats: he will overturn the heavens, bring up Cronos and the Titans, and take Hera for his bride. Zeus laughs, and the battle opens with the Giant hurling trees and rocks against the thunderbolt.

[Eratosthenes] (3)

  1. [Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 1–4The Bears, the Dragon and HeraclesCallisto, seduced by Zeus and turned into a bear, is set among the stars as the Great Bear, with the Little Bear beside her and a second account that makes its stars the nurse of Zeus. Close by lie the Dragon that guarded the golden apples and Heracles, who killed it, shown with his club raised.
  2. [Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 22–25Perseus, the Pleiad, the Lyre and the SwanPerseus's journey to the Gorgons and the genealogies of the seven Pleiades are told first. Then come Orpheus, whom the Maenads tore apart and the Muses buried, and the Swan that Zeus became to seduce Nemesis.
  3. [Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 30–33The Eagle, the Dolphin, Orion and the DogThe Eagle, Zeus's bird, and the Dolphin that found Amphitrite for Poseidon are honoured for services to the gods. Orion's blinding, healing and death by the Scorpion are told at length, and the Dog is the hound given to Europa, afterwards Cephalus's.

Heraclitus (paradoxographer) (1)

  1. Heraclitus (paradoxographer), On Unbelievable Tales 1–20Monsters and marvels, from Medusa to the golden applesHeraclitus explains away Medusa, Scylla, the Centaurs, the Minotaur, the Harpies, the Sirens, the Chimaera and the Hydra as courtesans, raiders, treacherous queens or mistaken counts of young animals. He turns Atlas into an astronomer, Perseus’ winged sandals into his speed in running, and the dragon of the Hesperides into a man named Drakon. Each marvel is traced to a figure of speech that a later age took literally.

Herodotus (1)

  1. Herodotus, Histories 4.181–185The salt hills and oases of LibyaAbove the wild-beast region of Libya runs a belt of sand with salt hills at ten days' journey, each with a spring. Named are the Ammonians, whose spring changes temperature through the day, Augila, the Garmantians and the Atarantians, who have no names. Near the Atlantians is a mountain named Atlas, called the pillar of the heaven, and one salt mine has houses built of salt.

Hyginus (4)

  1. Hyginus, Fabulae 155–167The children of the gods; Athena, Marsyas, Erichthonius and DionysusLists of the sons of Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes, Apollo and Heracles, with the names of the Amazons, introduce the group. Short stories follow: Athena's contest with Poseidon, Marsyas, Erichthonius and the birth of Dionysus.
  2. Hyginus, Fabulae 238–253Catalogues: killers of kin, suicides, nurslings and forbidden unionsA series of lists names fathers who killed daughters, mothers who killed sons, wives who killed husbands and the dead by suicide, by dogs and by boars. Further lists give those who came back from the dead, those nursed by wild animals and those who lay together against divine law.
  3. Hyginus, De astronomia 2.21.1–2.24.2Book 2: The Bull, the Twins, the Crab and the LionThe Bull brings in the Hyades and Pleiades with their fathers and lovers; the Twins are Castor and Pollux and others; the Crab and the Asses belong to Dionysus's madness and to the war on the Giants. The Lion is Heracles's first victim and also stands beside the hair of Berenice.
  4. Hyginus, De astronomia 2.0.1–2.3.2Book 2: The two Bears and the DragonAfter a preface listing the constellations to be treated, Hyginus begins with the Great Bear, whom Hesiod and others identify as Callisto, and the Little Bear, nurse of Zeus. The Dragon of the Hesperides follows. The stories turn on Hera's jealousy, Artemis's anger and the quarrel over how the Bears came to be called Wagon and Septentriones.

Lycophron (1)

  1. Lycophron, Alexandra 694–838Alexandra 694–838: The three singing maidens at the Tyrrhenian shore, the wanderer's homecoming, and a husband's search for his brideThe three daughters of Tethys' son, who imitated their mother's melodies, hurl themselves from the cliffs into the Tyrrhenian sea, and Parthenope, Leucosia and Ligeia come ashore at named places where they are buried and honoured. The wanderer shuts the winds in an oxhide, is burnt by the thunderbolt, clings to a fig-tree above Charybdis, and after a short time with the daughter of Atlas sails a badly made vessel that is smashed. At last he returns alone to find his house plundered by wife-stealers, bears blows and jeers from his own slaves, and dies in old age of a fish's spike after seeing his son called the butcher of his father. Another husband then searches land and sea for the bride snatched from him, visiting the watching-place of Typhon, the city of Myrrha and the towers of Cepheus.

Plato (1)

  1. Plato, Critias 113a–115eAtlantis: Poseidon and Cleito, the ten kings and the riches of the islandCritias says that Poseidon received the island of Atlantis as his allotment, where one of the earthborn inhabitants, Evenor, and his wife Leucippe had a daughter, Cleito. After the death of her parents, Poseidon fell in love with Cleito, and fashioned the hill on which she lived into rings of land and sea, and she bore him five pairs of twin sons. He divided the island into ten portions, and gave the first-born, Atlas, the largest, from whom the island and the Atlantic Sea were named, and the other nine kings each had a share. The island produced all metals, including the orichalcum which was the most precious after gold, and timber, animals such as elephants, and many fruits and scented plants.

Plutarch (1)

  1. Plutarch, Life of Agis 8.1–10.4Agis' land and debt bill, the oracles of Pasiphae, and Leonidas' objectionAgis has Lysander elected ephor and uses him to bring a bill to cancel debts and divide the land into 4,500 and 15,000 lots, with provincials and foreigners enrolled to fill up the Spartan body in fifteen public messes. When the senators are divided, Lysander, Mandrocleidas and Agesilaüs appeal to the assembly, citing old oracles and recent oracles from Pasiphae (Pasiphaë), whom some call a daughter of Atlas and mother of Ammon by Zeus, some Cassandra, and Phylarchus Daphne, who fled Apollo. Agis puts his estate and six hundred talents into the common stock, and when Leonidas asks whether Lycurgus ever abolished debts or admitted foreigners, Agis answers that Lycurgus banished debts and loans along with coined money.

Virgil (2)

  1. Virgil, Aeneid 8.102–183Evander and the ArcadiansEvander is honoring Heracles (Hercules) outside the town with his son Pallas when the Trojan ships appear. Pallas goes forward to ask their business, and Aeneas holds out an olive branch and asks to see Evander. He tells Evander that their families share descent from Atlas and asks for an alliance against the Latins. Evander recalls meeting Anchises in his youth, agrees to help, and invites the Trojans to join the feast.
  2. Virgil, Aeneid 4.173–278Rumour, Iarbas and the message of HermesRumour spreads news through Libya that Aeneas and Dido are living together, and it reaches King Iarbas, who angrily prays to Zeus (Jupiter). Zeus hears and orders Hermes (Mercury) to tell Aeneas to leave Carthage and remember Italy and his son's inheritance. Hermes flies down past Atlas and finds Aeneas building walls for the city. He delivers the command and vanishes into the air.