Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re
going to discuss all 12 of the elder Titans, the 12 first-generation Titans born to Gaia and Uranus
Let’s get into it.
Starting us off is Cronus
In Hesiod’s theogony, the 12 first-generation Titans are the eldest children of Gaia,
the personification of the earth, and of Uranus, the personification of the sky. After them were
born the trio of Uranian cyclopes, god-like except for having a single eye, and the trio
of Hecatonchires, monstrous behemoths with 100 arms and 50 heads. Uranus tolerated the Titans,
but he despised his younger children, especially the Hecatonchires, whom he thought abominations
and kept imprisoned within the earth. They were unsurpassed in size and unassailable in strength,
and having them trapped inside of her subjected Gaia to constant anguish. Cronus,
who detested his lusty father, rose up to be his mother’s champion. He ambushed his father
and castrated him with a sickle of adamant, this act separating earth and sky, two planes
previously conjoined, and marking his ascendancy to the throne, deposing his emasculated father.
Cronus learnt of a prophecy that told of his usurpation by one of his children.
He endeavored to preempt prophecy by swallowing each of his children the moment they were born,
but he was deceived by Rhea, his wife, who gave him a stone to swallow in Zeus’
stead. Zeus was raised in secret, and when he was a man grown, he came out of hiding,
freed his siblings, and waged war against the Titans; and the result of this cataclysmic
conflict was the imprisonment of Cronus and many of the other Titans in the depths of Tartarus.
At number 2 we have Rhea
Rhea is a Titan who can be categorized by the earth-mother archetype. Life and fertility
certainly constituted the majority of her purview, but, less intuitively,
so was death, in implicit and secondary fashion, within her sphere of influence,
because, while antithetical, it was also complementary,
punctuating the end of the life cycle so that subsequent new life could begin.
With Cronus Rhea had six children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.
watching her children be devoured one at a time, birth after birth, made life for Rhea a living
hell, so she went to her parents to ask for advice about what she could do to prevent her
soon-to-be-born-son from sharing the same fate as her other children, all five of them imprisoned in
their father’s belly at this time. Following her parents advice, Rhea went to the island of Crete,
where she hid Zeus in a cave; she then swaddled a stone in baby’s wrappings and proffered
this stone in Zeus’ stead to Cronus, who, not suspecting any deceit on the part of his wife,
promptly swallowed the stone without conducting even a cursory inspection - this sealing his fate,
for Zeus would return years later to free his siblings and challenge his father.
Up next is Phoebe
Phoebe, her name meaning “Shining One” or “Prophetic One”, is an obscure figure of
Greek mythology. By her brother Coeus, she had two children, Asteria and Leto.
At one time, Asteria was pursued by Zeus, but she escaped him by transforming herself into a quail
and jumping into the ocean, where she then became an island. Asteria was the mother of Hecate,
an extremely powerful goddess best known today for her association with magic.
Unlike Asteria, Zeus managed to copulate with Leto, and born to them were the twins Artemis
and Apollo, two of the Olympian gods. Though Phoebe is best known for the gods that came
of her and of her children, by some accounts, she was one of the stewards of the Oracle of Delphi,
it passing from Gaia, to Themis, to Phoebe, who then gave it to her grandson Apollo.
At number 4 we have Coeus
Very little is known about Coeus beyond the children he sired by Phoebe. According to
some sources, all of the male Titans, with the exception of Oceanus, assisted Cronus in
castrating Uranus. How exactly they assisted Cronus I haven’t seen elaborated on in any
reliable source, but I have heard it said that that Coeus and three of his his brothers (Iapetus,
Crius, and Hyperion) each stood at one of the four corners of the world where they grabbed hold of
Uranus and restrained him, thus incapacitating their father so that Cronus could castrate him.
Coeus was imprisoned in Tartarus after the defeat of the Titans, as were all
of the male first-generation Titans with the exception of Oceanus, the eldest of the 12.
Up next is Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne, her name meaning memory, was the personification of memory. She shared nine
nights of passion with Zeus, and sometime later, she gave birth to the nine muses, patron goddesses
of the arts - nine goddesses who filled humanity with artistic inspiration. Near the oracle of
Trophonius, there existed two springs from which people who consulted the oracle had to drink:
one was the spring of forgetfulness, “Lethe”, and the other was the spring of memory, “Mnemosyne”.
At number 6 we have Iapetus
According to Hesiod, Iapetus married Clymene, one of the daughters of Oceanus,
his eldest brother. Many second-generation titans were born to them, including Menoetius, whom Zeus
smote with a thunderbolt, Epimetheus, whose name means ‘hindsight’ or ‘afterthought’, Prometheus,
whose name means ‘foresight’ or ‘forethought’, and Atlas, who is best known for being condemned
to bear the heavens upon his shoulders by Zeus after the Titans were defeated. Both Prometheus
and Epimetheus sided with Zeus and the gods, so they weren’t cast into the depths of Tartarus
like their father was, nor were they saddled with a bespoke punishment like their brother Atlas.
Up next is Themis
Themis, her name meaning ‘sacred law’ or ‘custom’, personified order, especially as established by
nature or by the gods. She was Zeus’ second wife, and together, they had many children,
including: Eunomia (Good Order), Eirene (Peace), the Moirae (Fates), the Horae (Seasons), and Dike
(Justice). In effect, all of these children were almost like extensions of Hestia herself,
for each of them represented an aspect of the world that promoted orderliness,
meaning all of them reinforced their own mother’s sphere of influence and locus of power.
Themis worked closely with Zeus in his capacity as the guarantor of governance and righteousness,
and according to the poet Pindar, she even sat on a throne next to his.
At number 8 is Crius
Perhaps the most obscure of all 12 first-generation Titans, almost nothing
is known about Crius. His consort was Eurybia, a sea goddess who was the daughter of Pontus,
the primordial deity who personified the sea. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, they
had three children together: Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses. By Eos, the personification of the dawn,
Astraeus sired the Anemoi, the four winds, and all the stars of heaven, including Eosphorus,
Lucifer to the Romans, the morning star; in a union with Styx, the personification of the
principal river of the underworld, Pallas sired Zelus (“Emulation”), Nike (“Victory”), Cratos
(“Strength”), and Bia (“Force”); and from a union with Asteria, whom we briefly discussed earlier,
Perses sired Hecate. Crius was imprisoned in Tartarus after the defeat of the Titans.
Up next is Hyperion
Called “The One on High” and “He Who Walks above”, Hyperion was a
solar deity and thus was identified with his son, Helios, and later with Apollo.
His consort was Theia, called “Far-Shining”, another of the 12 first-generation Titans,
and together, they had three children” Selene (the “Moon”), Helios (the “Sun”), and Eos (the “Dawn”).
One thought is that Hyperion’s original role was to oversee the cycle in which his children shined,
orchestrating the continuous cycle of morning, day, and night through the rotation of the dawn,
the sun, and the moon. Hyperion was imprisoned in Tartarus after the defeat of the Titans.
At number 10 we have Theia
Known as “The One Who Sees’, Theia was also called Euryphaessa, meaning “Far-Shinning”.
Like many of the 12 first-generation Titans, almost nothing is known about Theia.
Though she’s a goddess, she seems to almost exclusively exist as the
mechanism of creation for children more important to Greek mythology than herself.
Up next is Oceanus
Oceanus was the eldest of the 12 first-generation Titans. He personified the river Oceanus,
which was the great river that encircled the world. Tethys, his sister and another
of the 12 first-generation Titans, was his consort, and by her he sired the Oceanids,
a group of 3,000 water nymphs. Also born to them were all the rivers of the world, which,
with the exception of the river Styx, were exclusively male, and it was thought that
Oceanus was the source from which all the rivers of the world fed and flowed. In appearance,
Oceanus is depicted as bearded and mature, with more fantastical versions including horns and
a fish tail. Oceanus remained neutral in the war between the gods and the Titans, and consequently,
of all his brothers, he was the only one not cast down into Tartarus after the Titans were defeated.
Wrapping up our list at number 12 is Tethys
The wife of Oceanus, Tethys is sometimes said to be a sea goddess and sometimes said to personify
the font of freshwater that is the ultimate source of Oceanus’ sweet waters. While the war between
the gods and the Titans raged, neither Oceanus or Tethys allied themselves with either side,
remaining neutral, and during this time, at the behest of Rhea, they took Hera in,
keeping her safe. According to one source, this kindness was later repaid when Hera helped Oceanus
and Tethys work through some marital issues, allowing them to reconcile and remain together.
And that’s it for this video. If you enjoy the content,
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