►Greek Mythology: Atlas / Poem: “Atlas ♁”, by Eva Xanthopoulos.-

“Atlas holding up a celestial map”. Sculpture by Artus Quellinus. (17th century). Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

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Atlas (which means ‘very enduring’), was one of the Titans. He was son of  Iapetus (a Titan, son of Uranus and Gaia), and the Oceanid Clymene.

Atlas´ brothers were Prometheus (meaning ‘forethought’, the Titan who gave the human race the gift of fire and the skill of metalwork), Epimetheus (meaning ‘afterthought’. He was Pandora´s husband) and Menoetius (meaning “doomed might”).

Atlas was married to his sister, Phoebe (Titan and Goddess of Prophecy). 

He had numerous children, including  the Pleiades (the stars that announced good spring weather), the Hesperides (the maidens who guarded a tree bearing golden apples), the Hyades, (the stars that announced the rainy season), Hyas (Brother of the Hyades, and spirit of seasonal rains), the nymph Calypso, Dione (Goddess of the Oak and the personification of a more ancient Mother Goddess, and presumably, Aphrodite´s mother) and Maera. 

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“Clymene”, by John William Godward. (19th century). Clymene was Atlas´mother.

“Prometheus” by Gustave Moreau. (1868). Prometheus was Atlas´brother.

“Epimetheus Receiving Pandora”, by Henry Howard (1834). Epimetheus was Atlas´brother.

“The Pleiades” by Elihu Vedder (1885). The Pleiades were daughters of Atlas.

“Garden Of The Hesperides” by Edward Burne-Jones, (19th c). The Hesperides were the daughters of Atlas.

Detail from “Calypso receiving Telemachus and Mentor in the Grotto” by William Hamilton. (18th century). Calypso was daughter of Atlas.

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During the Titanomachy, the War between the Titans and  the Olympian gods for control of the heavens, Atlas and his brother Menoetius sided with the Titans, while Prometheus and Epimetheus helped the Olympian gods.

Atlas was the leader in the batttle; however, being on the losing side, Zeus condemned him to eternally stand on the western side of Gaia (the earth) holding Uranus (the sky) on his shoulders.

Homer describes Atlas in his “Odyssey” as ‘deadly-minded’ and as holding the pillars which hold the heavens and earth apart.

Hesiod  in his “Theogony” also describes Atlas as holding up the heavens and locates him in the land of the Hesperides (female deities famed for their singing), which was far to the west, at the edge of the world.

Later tradition, including Herodotus, associates the god with the Atlas Mountains where the Titan was transformed from a shepherd into a huge rock mountain by Perseus (who had behead Medusa), using the head of the Gorgon Medusa with her deadly stare. (Note: the Gorgon Medusa was one of three ugly monsters who had snakes for hair, staring eyes, and huge wings).

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On the Left: “Medusa”, by Carvaggio (1595). On the Right: Statue of Perseus, holding Medusa´s head. Piazza della Signoria, Florence. Italy.

Both sides of The Titan. NYC, St. Patrick’s Cathedral/Rockefeller Center.

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Atlas was considered a source of great wisdom and founder of astronomy, and, according to Plato, in his dialogue “Critias”, he was the original king of Atlantis.

Atlas had been required to fetch the golden apples from the fabled gardens of the Hesperides which were sacred to Zeus´wife, Hera, and guarded by the fearsome hundred-headed dragon Ladon.  

Following the advice of Prometheus, Heracles (the grandson of Perseus) asked Atlas to get him the apples because he was the father of the Hesperides, who guarded the Golden Apples´Garden…

He was also requested to take the world onto his shoulders for a while, with the help of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.

But, Hercules tricked Atlas into taking the load back by asking Atlas to hold it while he shifted the load.

Hercules then took the apples and Atlas again shouldered the weight of the heavens.

Because the place where Atlas stood to perform his task was the westernmost end of the world known to the ancient Greeks, the ocean near him was called the Atlantic, meaning the “Sea of Atlas” in his honor.

Atlas’ best-known cultural association is in cartography / maps. The first publisher to associate the Titan Atlas with a group of maps was Antonio Lafreri, on an engraved title-page in 1572. However, he did not use the word “atlas” in the title of his work. The mapmaker Gerardus Mercator was the first to put a picture of Atlas holding up the world – not the heavens – on the title page of his book.

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On the Left: Atlas bears the world and the cosmos on his shoulders – from a 16th century English woodcut. On The Right: Atlas holding up the world on his back. Drawing by Danckerts, Justus.

“Atlas turned to stone” (The Perseus´Series), by Edward Burne Jones (1878).

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►Gallery: Atlas:

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►Links Post

http://atlascider.com/atlasmythology.html

http://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Atlas/atlas.html

https://mitologiahelenica.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/perseu-e-atlas/

http://www.mapforum.com/03/lafrscho.htm

http://www.ancient.eu/Atlas/

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I want to be your Atlas, so I can
chisel away at “alas,” and grant you
relief from worries of the past.

I want to create a globe out
of those woes
to carry on my shoulders—
just for a moment.

Just so you can exhale the words:

“At last”.

© 2015 – Eva PoeteX

Originally published on Eva PoeteX.-

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About Eva Xanthopoulos: She is a Greco-American Artist and Mystic Poet. She is also a  Supporter of various causes and Promoter of artists worldwide.

Learn More about Eva here 

Check out her Poetry blog!. Also make sure to follow Eva on Twitter and  Facebook.

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Eva Xanthopoulos AKA Eva Poetex.

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►Greek Mythology: “The Pleiades”.

“The Pleiades” by Elihu Vedder (1885).

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The Pleiades were seven sisters: Maia, Electra, Alcyone, Taygete, Asterope, Celaeno and Merope.

Their parents were Atlas, a Titan who held up the sky, and the Oceanid Pleione, the protectress of sailing.

They were the sisters of the Hyades (a sisterhood of Nymphs that bring rain) and they were all together known as Atlantides . 

As it was already said, they were seven in number, six of whom are described as visible, and the seventh as invisible.

Some call the seventh Merope and relate that she became invisible from shame, because she alone among her sisters had had intercourse with a mortal man; Sisyphus, the King of Corinth.

Another explanation for the ‘lost’ star related to the myth of the Electra, an ancestress of the royal house of Troy. After the Trojan War and the destruction of that city, the grief stricken Electra abandoned her sisters and was transformed into a comet, everafter to be a sign of impending doom.

The word Pleiades was derived from the Greek word pleiôn, meaning “plenty “. Another suggested derivations include: from πλεῖν plein, “to sail,” making the Pleiades the “sailing ones”; from πλέος pleos, “full, many”; or from πελειάδες  Peleiades, “flock of doves.”

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The Seven Pleiades, plus Atlas and Pleione.

The Six visible Pleiades and Merope, the Seventh and invisible one.

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They Pleaides were  the virgin companions of Artemis, the Goddess of hunting and the Moon.

Whilst stalking a hind, the  hunter Orion crept into a sunlit glade, disturbing the sisters.

He then began to pursue them relentlessly. 

In frustration, Artemis pleaded with Zeus to for his intervention.

Therefore, Zeus transformed the sisters into a flock of doves, and soon after, into stars.

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The Seven Pleiades. Metamorphosis, from doves to stars.

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Artemis was angry because she no longer could see her companions and asked her brother, Apollo, to kill Orion. 

Apollo, Artemis´ brother, having been affronted by the mortal hunter’s prowess, was persuaded to set a monstrous Scorpion to attack Orion.

Finally, Zeus set the dead hunter in the sky in a vain pursuit of the Pleiades through the night sky for eternity, with the constellation Scorpio ever chasing after Orion, the hunter.

In many accounts, Apollo directed the scorpion to go after Orion. As he wanted to protect Artemis´chastity vows. He placed Orion´s constellation in the skies, along with Scorpio. Thus, at night, when Scorpio comes, Orion simultaneously begins to drop away to the opposite side, forever hightailing it away from the scorpion.

These two opponents, Orion and the Scorpion, were placed amongst the stars as their namesake constellations. But, they are positioned on opposite sides of the sky, one sets as the other rises.

The Scorpion rises as Orion starts to sink into the other side of the sky, and this was seen as Orion running away from the attacker, and still in fear of him.

Thus, Scorpius rule the northern hemisphere’s summer while Orion rules the winter skies.

From an astronomic point of view, Orion is known as the “mighty hunter” and is one of the most recognizable constellations in the sky.

The three stars in the Belt of Orion show up clearly in northern winter sky and align with the celestial equator; halfway between the North and South Poles.

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Constellations of Orion and Scorpio.

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When it comes to astronomy, the Nine bright stars of the Pleiades are named for the Seven Sisters, along with their parents Atlas and Pleion.

The Pleiades is an open star cluster, containing middle-aged stars, located in the constellation of Taurus.

Taurus is composed of two main groups of stars: the Pleaides and the Hyades, both  of them called Atlantides in Greek Mythology. 

The Pleiades, as mentioned, were placed in the sky by Zeus, as Artemis asked the Ruler of Gods to keep them safe from the lusty Orion.

The Seven Hyades lie 10° southeast of the Pleaides.

Mythologically, the Pleiades were daughters of Atlas and Aethra, and hence half-sisters of the Pleaides, with whom they made up the Fourteen Atlantides.

The Hyades were placed among the stars as a reward for their sisterly love, which was evinced by their sorrow at the death of their brother Hyas who was drowned in a well, or, in another version of the myth, he was killed by a wild beast in Libya).

The face of Taurus is marked by the V-shaped group of stars called the Hyades. It is among the nearest stars cluster to Earth and is the easily visible to in the night sky.

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Constellation of Taurus, including the Pleaides and the Hyades (Atlantides). And Constellation of Orion, alongside it.

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Annex: There is a similar Greek Myth which involves Stars and Constellations.

Specifically, the greek story featuring Zeus and his lover Callisto, in which Arcas and Callisto are transformed to stars, The Ursa Minor and Major, respectively. And after that, Callisto is transformed to a bear.

According to a different version of the myth of Zeus and Callisto, Zeus transformed himself to his sister Goddess Artemis, the Goddess of Nature and Hunting, in order to mate with Callisto.

Again, Hera, used to her husband’s cheating methods, figured out what was going on and tried to catch them on action, but then Zeus-Artemis changed Callisto back in to a bear and made her the largest constellation in the northern sky.

Located at the top of the heavens, these two stars of the two bear-constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, never set, meaning, they are always visible in the night sky, all night, every night, throughout the year.

One version of the myth explains why they were positioned so… Zeus placed Callisto in the sky as the constellation Ursa Major, or “Great Bear”, and her son, Arcas who was also Zeus’ son, as Ursa Minor, as “Little Bear”.

Finally, a further point on the subject of the Pleiades.

When, it comes to Native American Mythology, probably the most famous legend of the Pleiades, is the story behind Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, a volcanic rock which the local Kiowa Indians call Mateo Tepe. According to that account, once seven maidens camped near the river in a region known to have many bears.

One of the bears began to chase the maidens, who knelt to pray for help, calling upon the gods. The ground was raised into the sky. The bear tried to follow in vain and clawed the side of the rock, the marks of which are seen on the Tower.

To protect the maidens, the Great Spirit allowed them to remain in the sky as the seven sisters, the Pleiades.

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The Seven Pleiades.

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►Gallery: The Pleiades … and Stuff featured in this post:

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►Links Post:

http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphaiPleiades.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(Greek_mythology)

http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/pleiades_myth.html

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Orion.html

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/hyades.html

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/UrsaMajor.html

http://mysteryoftheiniquity.com/2011/05/31/close-encounters-of-the-pleiades-kind/

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 ⭐ Last but not Least: “Three Awards” ⭐

I would like to thank  bloggers from Shehanne Moore, My Green Nook and Aromas and Flavours for nominating my blog for a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, a One Lovely Blog Award and a Dragons Loyalty Award, respectively.

I suggest you to check out these blogs and follow them, if you haven’t still done so…

•Rules for the One Lovely Blog Award and the Dragons Loyalty Award. ♠Thank the person who nominated you. ♠Add the logo to your post. ♠Nominate ten (10) bloggers of your choice and tell them about the nomination. 

•Rules for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. ♠Thank the person who nominated you. ♠Add the logo to your post. ♠Nominate ten (10) bloggers of your choice and tell them about the nomination. ♠Answer these questions, as per Shehanne Moore. When bestowing other bloggers with this award, You shall set your own 10 questions, if you wish

1. Do you like hamsters?. I do…

2. If you had  a hamster what would you call it? Tangerine or Haruki.

3. Seriously, if you did have to sum up your life in ten words, what would they be?  I try to enjoy life and its little things… 

4. Have you ever broken the law? Yes… Minor charges…

5 .What would be your ideal day? A sunny saturday, I guess… 

6. Favourite colour? Blue… Black?

7. Favourite recipe? Lemon Pie…

8. Favourite place close to where you live? Tigre, Buenos Aires.

9. Best thing that’s happened to you this year so far? Feeling blessed to have certain wonderful people in my Life. 

10. And the worst? …. Disclaimer:  I´d rather keep that one for myself!… 

•Notes:

-If you have been nominated and want to follow the Nomination Process, just click on the award for which you have been nominated for. That way you’ll be able to grab in regular size!.~☀ 🌟★🌟 ☀ ~☀ 🌟★🌟 ☀ ~☀ 🌟★🌟

I. Nominees: 1. Solveig Werner 2. Bottled Memos 3. Gator Woman 4. Of Opinions 5. A Writer of History 6. My Berkeley Bowl 7. Sundown 8. Claremary P. Sweeney 9. Breathing Space 10. Traveling Rockhopper.

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II. Nominees: 1. Being Southern Somewhere Else 2. Thefeatheredsleep 3. Fashionable Librarian 4. Storyshucker 5. Jane Eyre Gets Real 6. Charlotte Hoaks 7. Aromas and Flavours 8. Course of Mirrors 9. Jennifer´s Journal 10. Journey into Poetry.

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III. Nominees: 1. Shehanne Moore 2. Quoth The Wordsmith 3. My Green Nook 4. Rami Ungar, the Writer 5. Scribble and Scrawl 6. The Metropolis Marvel 7. Minuscule Moments 8. Living the Dream 9. Great Indie Authors 10. Touch my Sound.

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August 2015.

August 2015.

August 2015.

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