Atlas in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Atlas

17 passages from 9 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)

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.
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)

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 (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.

Euripides (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)

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 (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.

Pausanias (8)

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)

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.

Lycophron (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.