Wholesale Atlas Carrying the World

Atlas was one of the Titans, a group of pre-Olympian gods birthed by the primordial deities Uranus and Gaia. The Titans fought and lost the ten-year war against Zeus and the Olympians, those who sided with Cronus were banished to the depths of Tartarus. Atlas, however, was condemned to hold up the universe at the edge of the earth for eternity. The tale of Atlas ends with two of the Greek’s most famous heroes, Heracles and Perseus. In one version the Hero Heracles was tasked to fetch the golden apples from Hera’s garden tended by Atlas’s daughters, Heracles went to Atlas and offered to carry his load while Atlas retrieved the apples from his daughters. When Atlas returns with the apple he has no intention to continue his labor but was outwitted by Heracles into carrying the universe again. In some versions, Heracles instead built the famous Pillars of Hercules to free Atlas from his eternal punishment.