Who holds up the sky in Greek mythology?
Quick answer
In Greek mythology, the Titan Atlas was condemned to hold up the sky (the heavens) for eternity. Zeus gave him this punishment for fighting on the side of the Titans in their war against the Olympian gods. Atlas is often pictured carrying a globe, but in the original myths he holds the sky, not the Earth.
Why Atlas was punished
The Titans were the older generation of gods. When Zeus and his siblings, the Olympians, rebelled, a ten-year war called the Titanomachy followed. Atlas led the Titans in battle. After the Olympians won, Zeus imprisoned most Titans in Tartarus, but gave Atlas a special punishment: to stand at the western edge of the world and support the heavens on his shoulders.
Atlas and Heracles
For his eleventh labor, the hero Heracles (Hercules) had to fetch the golden apples of the Hesperides, nymphs said to be Atlas’s daughters.
- Heracles offered to hold up the sky while Atlas fetched the apples.
- Atlas returned with the apples but, enjoying his freedom, said he’d deliver them himself.
- Heracles pretended to agree but asked Atlas to take the sky back for a moment so he could adjust his cloak for padding.
- Atlas took the sky again, and Heracles walked away with the apples.
Sky or Earth?
Ancient art, like the famous Farnese Atlas statue, shows him carrying a celestial sphere covered in constellations. Later artists often turned it into a globe of the Earth, which is why many people think he holds up the world.
Atlas in everyday words
| Word | Connection |
|---|---|
| Atlas (book of maps) | Mapmaker Gerardus Mercator used a figure of Atlas on his 1595 collection of maps |
| Atlantic Ocean | “The sea of Atlas” |
| Atlas Mountains | In northwest Africa, where Atlas was said to have been turned to stone |
| Atlas (vertebra) | The top bone of the spine, which “holds up” the head |
For other Greek myths, see who defeated the Minotaur and the Greek goddess of wisdom.
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