Titans

In Hesiod's account the Titans are the twelve children of the primordial pair Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). Cronus, a Titan, overthrew Uranus; later the Titans fought the Olympian gods in a ten-year war called the Titanomachy. After their defeat most were banished from the upper world and imprisoned under guard in Tartarus. Other traditions vary: Homeric hints and some later authors present alternative genealogies (e.g., Oceanus and Tethys as earlier progenitors), Apollodorus adds figures like Dione to Titan lists, and certain Titans (for example Oceanus or Helios in some accounts) are sometimes left free rather than imprisoned.

Classical sources emphasize genealogy, function, and fate rather than consistent physical description for the group as a whole. The Titans are treated as a kin-group of divine personifications—individuals like Oceanus or Hyperion signify particular cosmic domains (the ocean, celestial light). Ancient epic and theogony therefore portray them through roles, names, and relationships rather than through a single, uniform iconography or bodily description.

Members of the generation are linked to major cosmic domains and exercise roles as progenitors and personifications: Oceanus fathers river gods and Oceanids; Hyperion is parent to Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon), and Eos (Dawn); Cronus and Rhea produce the principal Olympians. Mythic actions attributed to them include Cronus' usurpation of Uranus and the collective resistance in the Titanomachy. After defeat most are confined to Tartarus, which curtails their active rule in the upper world, though some sources allow particular Titans to remain free in certain traditions.