Greek Titans List
All Titans Explained
Every Titan from Greek mythology — the twelve original Titans, their children, and their role in the cosmic war.
The Complete Guide
Greek mythology features hundreds of named figures — each with their own stories, symbols, and significance. This comprehensive guide organizes every major figure for quick reference, whether you're studying for a class, writing a paper, or simply exploring the myths.
The Major Figures
At the top of the mythological hierarchy sit the twelve Olympian gods, who ruled from Mount Olympus after overthrowing the Titans. Below them are the minor gods, primordial deities, Titans, heroes, and the countless nymphs, spirits, and monsters that populated the ancient Greek imagination.
Origins and Genealogy
Nearly every figure in Greek mythology can trace their lineage back to the primordial beings — Chaos, Gaia, and Uranus. Understanding these family connections is essential to understanding why certain gods allied with or against each other, and why specific heroes were destined for greatness or tragedy.
Symbols and Domains
Each deity and mythological figure is associated with specific symbols, animals, plants, and domains of influence. These symbols were not merely decorative — they represented the fundamental powers and responsibilities of each figure, and were used in worship, art, and storytelling throughout the ancient world.
Cultural Significance
These figures were not merely characters in stories — they were the foundation of ancient Greek religion, philosophy, and identity. Temples were built in their honor, festivals celebrated their deeds, and their names were invoked in everything from marriage ceremonies to battle cries. Understanding these figures means understanding the civilization that gave birth to Western culture.
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The twelve Titans of Hesiod
Hesiod's Theogony names twelve children of Gaia and Uranus, six sons and six daughters, with Cronus as the youngest. Most later lists follow him, though Apollodorus adds Dione, and some writers count others.
- Oceanus — the great river encircling the earth. With Tethys he fathered the three thousand Oceanid nymphs and all the rivers. He did not fight against Zeus; in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound he visits the chained Prometheus urging compromise.
- Tethys — wife of Oceanus and mother of rivers and springs. In the Iliad Hera says she was raised in their house during the war with Cronus.
- Hyperion — "the one above," a Titan of light. With Theia he fathered Helios, Selene and Eos. Homer sometimes uses Hyperion as a name for the sun itself.
- Theia — "the divine," mother of the three lights of the sky. Pindar praises her as the source of the value of gold.
- Coeus — paired with Phoebe; a shadowy figure later linked with intellect and the celestial axis.
- Phoebe — mother of Leto and Asteria, and so grandmother of Apollo, Artemis and Hecate. In Aeschylus' Eumenides she held the Delphic oracle before giving it to Apollo, who took his epithet Phoebus from her.
- Crius — husband of Eurybia and father of Astraeus, Pallas and Perses. Through Astraeus and Eos he is grandfather of the winds and stars.
- Iapetus — father, by the Oceanid Clymene, of Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus, the troublemakers of the next generation.
- Themis — divine law and right order. She became Zeus's second wife and bore the Horae (Seasons) and, in one of Hesiod's two accounts, the Fates.
- Mnemosyne — Memory, who lay with Zeus for nine nights at Pieria and bore the nine Muses.
- Rhea — wife of Cronus and mother of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. She saved Zeus by giving Cronus a swaddled stone to swallow.
- Cronus — the youngest, who castrated Uranus with the sickle Gaia made and ruled until overthrown by his son.
The second generation
The word Titan is often extended to their children. The most important are Atlas, condemned to hold up the sky at the edge of the world; Prometheus, who tricked Zeus over the sacrificial meat at Mecone and stole fire; Epimetheus, who accepted Pandora; and Menoetius, whom Hesiod says Zeus struck down with a thunderbolt and sent to Erebus for his arrogance. Also counted are Leto and Asteria; Helios, Selene and Eos; and the sons of Crius. Hesiod gives a special place to Styx, an Oceanid, who brought her children Zelos, Nike, Kratos and Bia to Zeus first, earning them a permanent place beside him and making her name the oath of the gods.
Who fought, and what happened to them
The Titans were not a unified army. In the ten-year Titanomachy, fought from Mount Othrys against the Olympians on Olympus, several stayed out or switched sides. Oceanus and Tethys remained neutral; Themis and, in Aeschylus, Prometheus advised Zeus; Styx joined him early. After victory, won with the help of the Hundred-Handers and the Cyclopes, the defeated Titans were chained in Tartarus behind bronze gates guarded by the Hundred-Handers.
That was not always the end. Pindar's second Olympian places Cronus as ruler of the Isles of the Blessed, and a line found in some manuscripts of the Works and Days says Zeus released him. Aeschylus wrote a lost play, Prometheus Unbound, whose chorus was made up of Titans freed by Zeus. Several Titanesses, meanwhile, became mothers of Olympian gods: Leto bore Apollo and Artemis, Themis the Seasons, Mnemosyne the Muses, and in some accounts Dione bore Aphrodite.
Hesiod offers a pun on the name: Uranus called them Titans because they "strained" (titainontes) to commit a terrible deed, for which vengeance (tisis) would follow. Modern linguists do not regard this as the real origin, which remains uncertain.
Ancient sources
- Hesiod, Theogony — the canonical list of twelve, their marriages and children, the castration of Uranus, Styx's alliance with Zeus and the war ending in Tartarus.
- Apollodorus, Library 1.1–1.2 — a tidy prose catalogue of the Titans (adding Dione) and their offspring, and the war against Cronus.
- Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound — Prometheus as the Titan who sided with Zeus and then defied him; Oceanus' visit; Themis as Prometheus's mother in this version.
- Homer, Iliad 14 — Hera's references to Oceanus and Tethys and to Cronus beneath the earth.
- Pindar, Olympian 2 — Cronus ruling the Isles of the Blessed.
Frequently asked questions
How many Titans are there?
Hesiod names twelve children of Uranus and Gaia. Counting their children, including Atlas, Prometheus, Helios and Leto, the number rises past twenty, and ancient lists never fully agree.
Who was the strongest Titan?
Cronus was their king and the only one who dared attack Uranus. In terms of raw strength, Atlas is the figure later writers single out, since he alone holds up the heavens.
Are the Titans evil?
Not as a group. Several, such as Themis, Mnemosyne and Oceanus, are honoured figures with no quarrel with Zeus, and Prometheus was worshipped at Athens as a benefactor of humanity.
Is Kronos the same as Chronos, god of time?
They were originally separate. Cronus is the Titan king; Chronos is Time personified in Orphic and philosophical writings. The similar names led ancient and modern writers alike to merge them, which is why Cronus is often pictured with an hourglass or scythe.