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Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
  1. Classical Mythology
    Pantheon Heroic Age Royal Houses Geographia Facts & Figures Genealogy Bibliography About Classical Myths
  2. Pantheon
    Creation Primeval Deities Titans Olympians Mother Goddesses House of Hades Thracian Deities Anatolian Deities Nymphs Minor Greek Deities Etruscan Deities Roman Deities The Wrath of Heaven Mysteries
  3. Titans

Titans

According to Hesiod, the word Titan (Τιτησι) seemed to mean "Strainer", because they strained and performed some presumptuous, fearful deeds and vengeance would come after it. Whereas the Olympians lived on Olympus, the home of the Titans was Othrys (Οθρυος), their stronghold.

The exact number of the Titans varied from author to author, and they often included some of the children of the Titans. So there were at least two generations of Titans to be considered.

For a generation, the Titans shared the world with Cronus as their leader. It was the Titans who created mankind. A number of the male Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus when they chose to fight a war against the younger gods, known as the Olympians.

According to Orphic myth, Zeus destroyed the Titans with his thunderbolts because the Titans had murdered and devoured his son Zagreus (Dionysus). From the smouldering ashes, mankind was created.

See the Creation about the war between the Titans and the Olympians.

I have divided the Titans into two groups. The first group were the children of Gaea and Uranus. The other group of articles is about the second generation of Titans.

  • Children of Uranus & Gaea

  • Second Generation Titans

Children of Uranus & Gaea

The Titans can be used to strictly apply to the firstborn children of Gaea (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven).

According to Hesiod, Cronus was the youngest and boldest of the Titans, and was their leader. Cronus became the supreme ruler of the universe when he deposed his father Uranus. His own sons would later overthrow him and some of his brothers, confining them in Tartarus. (See Creation.)

According to Hesiod, the Titans were twelve in number, six sons and six daughters, though the numbers may vary from one author to another. In the Orphic cosmogony, there are 14 in number - 7 Titans and 7 Titanesses. These don't count the third or even second generation Titans.

 

Hesiod

Apollodorus

Diodorus Siculus

Orphic

Hyginus

Titans

Cronus
Oceanus
Hyperion
Iapetus
Crius
Coeus

Cronus
Oceanus
Hyperion
Iapetus
Crius
Coeus

Cronus
Oceanus
Hyperion
Iapetus
Crius
Coeus

Cronus
Oceanus
Hyperion
Iapetus
Crius
Caus
Phorcys

Saturn
Ocean
Hyperion
Polus
Atlas

Titaness

Rhea
Tethys
Theia
Themis
Phoebe
Mnemosyne

Rhea
Tethys
Theia
Themis
Phoebe
Mnemosyne
Dione

Rhea
Tethys
Themis
Phoebe
Mnemosyne

Rhea
Tethys
Theia
Themis
Phoebe
Mnemosyne
Dione

Ops
Themis
Moneta
Dione

Quite a few authors listed Dione among the Titanesses, though she was sometimes called an Oceanid.

According to the Orphic genealogy, Uranus and Gaea had seven sons and seven daughters, where they included Phorcys and Dione in the listing of the Titans.

Cronus

Cronus

Oceanus

Oceanus

Hyperion

Hyperion

Iapetus

Iapetus

Coeüs

Coeüs

Crius

Crius

Rhea

Rhea

Tethys

Tethys

Themis

Themis

Mnemosyne

Mnemosyne

Theia

Theia

Phoebe

Phoebe

Dione

Dione

Second Generation Titans

The second generation Titans or the Younger Titans were children of the elder Titans (children of Uranus and Gaea).

So what made the younger generation, Titans? Perhaps if either his or her parents were Titans?

There are no given prerequisites which would make them Titans, because not all of the children of the elder Titans were also known as Titans.

If the rule of both parents being Titans held, then technically the children of Cronus and Rhea (ie the Olympians) were also Titans. Also the Titans Oceanus and Tethys had thousands of children - 3000 river gods and 3000 Oceanid nymphs. The children of Oceanus could not be Titans. The Oceanids Styx and perhaps her sister Metis were the only exception - they were considered to be both Oceanids and Titans. Styx was the first to change sides to Zeus in the war between the Titans and Olympians, while Metis happened to be Zeus' first wife.

Some would say that Helius and his sisters were Titans, while other writers said they weren't. I am uncertain with Helius, Eos and Selene, which is why you will find them in Minor Greek Deities (under Sky Deities) instead of on this page.

Some even believed that the goddess Hecate was a Titaness. If this was true, then she would be a third generation Titaness.

Below are the names of the second generation that I am sure were themselves Titans or Titanesses.

Atlas

Atlas

Prometheus

Prometheus

Epimetheus

Epimetheus

Helius (minor Greek deity)

Helius (minor Greek deity)

Perses

Perses

Astraeus

Astraeus

Pallas

Pallas

Leto

Leto

Asteria

Asteria

Styx (House of Hades)

Styx (House of Hades)

Metis (minor Greek deity)

Metis (minor Greek deity)

Genealogy

Greek Deities

Related Pages

  • Creation

  • Olympians

Jimmy Joe. "Titans." https://timelessmyths.com/classical/pantheon/titans. Accessed May 10, 2025.
Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Pantheon:

  • • Creation
  • • Primeval Deities
  • • Titans
  • • Olympians
  • • Mother Goddesses
  • • House of Hades
  • • Thracian Deities
  • • Anatolian Deities
  • • Nymphs
  • • Minor Greek Deities
  • • Etruscan Deities
  • • Roman Deities
  • • The Wrath of Heaven
  • • Mysteries
Uranus (Sky)

Uranus (Sky)

The sky and the god of the sky. Uranus was the son of Gaea and possibly of Aether . Uranus married his mother and became the first supreme ruler of the world. (According to the Orphic myth, Gaea and Uranus were not mother and son. Rather they were...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Cronus (Saturn)

Cronus (Saturn)

Ruler of the universe and the leader of the Titans. Cronus was the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea ; according to Diodorus Siculus however, he was the eldest child. Cronus married his sister Rhea and was the father of Hestia , Poseidon , Hades , D...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Cronus

Cronus

Cronus: Carnivore King of the Titans In modern culture, Cronus, the Titan of time, is recognized through artistic renderings of the old man dining on his children. However, the story of Cronus is more detailed and contains a healthy measure of bou...

April 2nd, 2002 • Timeless Myths
Oceanus

Oceanus

Titan and god of the river Oceanus (Ocean). Oceanus was the eldest son of Uranus and Gaea . The river Oceanus was said to flow in a circular stream around the earth, which was conceived of as a flat disk. Oceanus married his sister Tethys . All of...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Primeval Deities

Primeval Deities

The Ancient Deities found on this page consist of the primeval beings that came into existence since the beginning of time, and who were involved with the creation of the universe. These are deities who came before the time of the Titans and the O...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Tethys

Tethys

Titaness of the sea. Tethys was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea . She married her brother Oceanus . She became the mother of all the river gods. She is said to have borne three thousand daughters, known as the Oceanids . The eldest daughter was St...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Giants (Gigantes)

Giants (Gigantes)

The Giants or Gigantes were offspring of Uranus and Gaea . When Cronus severed his father's genitals and threw them into the sea, some of the blood landed on earth, and the giants sprang out of the earth. The Gigantes were more than just giants. T...

June 1st, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Olympians

Olympians

The Olympians (´Ολυμπιαδεσσιν) were a group of twelve gods that ruled the world after the Titans . They lived in a palace on Mount Olympus (´Ολυμπου), built by the Cyclopes or possibly by Hephaestus. Six of them were children of Cronus and Rhea . ...

April 19th, 1999 • Timeless Myths
Iapetus

Iapetus

Titan. Iapetus was the son of Uranus and Gaea . He married the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, either Clymene or Asia. Iapetus was the father of the Titans, Atlas , Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus . Some said that Iapetus married his own sist...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Tartarus

Tartarus

Tartarus was born together with Nyx , Erebus , Gaea, and Eros ("Love"), out of Chaos . Tartarus was the personification of the darkest and deepest region of the Underworld. This was the region where Uranus had thrown the Hundred-Handed giant and t...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe

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