ATLAS

Real Name: Atlas

Identity/Class: Titan/Olympian god

Occupation: Mountain god

Group Membership: Olympian gods, Titans

Affiliations: Amazons (Artume, others), Olympian gods, Titans

Enemies: Athena, Dark Gods, Hercules, Namora, Perseus, (former) Olympian gods

Known Relatives: Japet (father), Clymene (mother), Prometheus, Eprimetheus, Menoeceus (brothers), Pleione (wife), Hyas (son), The Hesperides ( Aegle, Eythia, Hesperia and Arethusa - daughters), The Hyades (Coronis, Cleeia, Phaea, Eudora - daughters), The Pleiades ( Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno, Alcyone, Sterope and Merope - daughters), Hermes (grandson), Jasion, Dardanus, Lacedamon, Lycus, Nycteus, Hyrieus, Hyperenor, Aethusa, Oenomaus (grandsons, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Olympus, formerly the Atlas Mountains in modern Morocco

First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery I#124 (January, 1966)

Powers/Abilities: Atlas possesses greater strength (Class 100 perhaps), stamina, endurance and resistance to injury than any other Titan or Olympian god except for perhaps Hercules. It is unrevealed if he has any mystical potential.

History: (Greek-Roman Myth)- Atlas is a member of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Titans who predated the Olympians as gods of Ancient Greece. He was the son of the Titan Japet and Clymene, a minor goddess. Atlas also took a lesser goddess named Pleione as his wife and she bore him a son, Hyas, and numerous daughters known as the Hesperides, the Hyades and the Pleiades. The Titans ruled the Earth for millennia until Cronus overthrew their father Ouranus. The dying Ouranus prophesied that a son of his own would overthrow Cronus. Cronus then began imprisoning his children in Tartarus as soon as they were born. Cronus' wife, Rhea, concealed her sixth pregnancy and gave her son to Gaea to raise. Zeus eventually grew to adulthood and freed his siblings into helping him conquer Olympus.

While some of the Titans sided with Zeus, Atlas sided with Cronus because Zeus had seduced three of his daughters. He commanded the Titans against Zeus and the Olympians, but was defeated as Cronus fled Olympus. Defeated, Atlas was imprisoned on Earth in the area of the Atlas Mountains of what would later become modern Morocco. Given the arduous task of holding up the heavens, he was situated somewhere in the area where the Hesperides protected the garden of Hera where grew the golden apples of the gods. The Titaness Themis meanwhile warned him to beware of a son of Zeus who would come to steal some of the apples.

During his imprisonment, Atlas's daughter, Maia conceived Hermes, who was later accepted into the Olympian Pantheon. Electra conceived Zeus Jasion, who became a lover of Demeter, and Dardanus who conquered the Dardanian tribes and founded the great city of Troy. Taygete gave birth to Lacedamon who founded the city of Sparta. Poseidon seduced Celaeno and Alcyone. Celaeno's sons, Lycus and Nycteus became co-regents of Thebes and Alcyone's sons, Hyreius and Hyperenor, also became eponymous rulers while little is known of her daughter Aethusa. Sterope bore Ares, Oenomaus, a King of Elis while Merope became wife of the wily King Sisyphus of Corinth and mother of his son Glaucus.

Several centuries later, Perseus, the son of Zeus, was traveling through the area after slaying Medusa the Gorgon. The Hesperides offered him lodging before his long journey home, but Perseus also wanted to take some apples as a gift for his mother. Atlas saw him and called out to warn him, but Perseus used Medusa's head to turn him to stone.

(Thor I#356 (fb) - BTS) - Atlas was restored to normal.

(Thor I#356 (fb)/Greek-Roman Myth)- Two generations later, Hercules came to the Hesperides to fetch some Golden Apples on his Eleventh Labor. After slaying the dragon Ladon that protected the garden, he learned that no mortal man was allowed to touch them. Atlas promised to pick them for him and even reminded Hercules that Prometheus was his brother and that Hercules could trust him as much as he trusted his brother. Believing Atlas to have served his sentence, Hercules freed him and supported the heavens on his shoulders for a while, but then rather than return to his sentence, Atlas opted to return the apples to Mycenae himself. Realizing he had been tricked, Hercules shook the heavens as a few fragments fell to earth. Adequately gaining the Titan's attention, Hercules then asked Atlas to hold the heavens a second so that he could get a better hold on them, but as Atlas took his place once more, Hercules collected the apples and quickly left the area.

(Incredible Hercules#124) - The Axis Mundi shiften to Washington DC and with it Atlas holding up the heavens. On September 18, 1793 Atlas appeared to George Washington when he set the Southeast Cornerstone of of the US capital.

(Journey Into Mystery I#124 (fb) - BTS)- In events as yet unrevealed, Atlas was relieved of his burden of holding up the heavens and admitted into Olympus. Once bald and clean-shaven, his hair and beard started growing back.

(Journey Into Mystery I#124) - Zeus interrupted a sparring match between Hercules and Atlas, proclaiming that it was time to get involved with Earth once again.

(Thor II#7 (fb))- Atlas was among the Olympians as they fought back against the Dark Gods impersonating the Asgardians. Overwhelmed by their number, the Olympians fought back for several days until Olympus was ravaged. The imposters then vanished as mysteriously as they had attacked.

(Thor II#7)- Beheld by the image of war torn Olympus, Thor and Hercules were attacked in turn by Hermes, Ares and Atlas. Atlas was struck by Thor's errant acting Mjolnir as it returned to his hand just as Pluto and then Zeus appeared to convince Hercules that they had been attacked without warning by Thor's kinsman, the Asgardians. As Atlas watched, Thor refused to accept Zeus' accusations as Hercules accused him of dishonoring his father. When Hercules decided to take Thor's word on the honor of the Asgardians, Zeus became slighted and banished them both to Earth.

(Incredible Hercules#124 (fb) - BTS) - Under unknown circumstances Atlas was returned to his old position and once again had the burden of holding up the heavens.

(Incredible Hercules#124) - Artume used the Omphalus to release Atlas from his burden once again. In return she only offered him a chance at revenge on Hercules. Atlas hit Hercules with the Washington Monument, but in the end Hercules was able to knock out Atlas with Namora's help.

Comments: Adapted by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Vincent Colletta.

Some sources claim that Atlas was the son of the Giant Eurymedon, but since Eurymedon was not born until millennia after Zeus conquered Olympus, this has to be erroneous. However, an argument could be made for Eurymedon being an alternate name of Japet.

Knowing what we know of meteorology and astronomy, it is difficult to comprehend what sort of burden that Atlas could have held that would have been construed as holding up a planet (or even the heavens) especially considering that his brother Prometheus was merely restrained to a mountain to have an eagle peck away at him. Conceivably, Atlas could have been imprisoned to holding up a mountain or an inevitable avalanche that threatened his daughters tending the Garden of the Hesperides, but it just stands to reason that if he was holding up one or the other, he would have to in a location that the still mortal Hercules could still reach from the area of the Atlas Mountains.

The circumstances of Atlas being relieved of his burden of supporting the world are unrevealed. Logically, after allowing worship of the Olympian Gods to die out, Zeus would have been concerned with leaving Atlas on Earth as human civilization began exploring every part of the Earth and the risk of Atlas being released by a mortal became inevitable. Since Prometheus, Atlas's brother, had earned a prominent place among the gods, it is possible a like circumstance was established for Atlas.

For that matter, it is unknown as to how Atlas survived being turned to stone by the head of Medusa enough to aid Hercules in his Eleventh Labor. Possibly, he managed to live through the results or his godly stamina allowed him to resist them completely after several years.

It is also unrevealed why he suddenly had to carry the weight of all heavens again. Maybe the Atlas seen in Journey into Mystery and Thor II#7 was not the Titan Atlas?
--Markus Raymond

by Will U

CLARIFICATIONS:
Atlas is not to be confused with:

• Atla, The Witch-Woman of Dagon Moor, @ Savage Sword of Conan #17
• Atlan, member of the Conspiracy, dolphin mystic, @ Rampaging Hulk I#1
• Atlan, dimensional counterpart of Atlantis on Counter Earth-Franklin, @ Fantastic Four II#2
• Dr. Theron Atlanta, scientist who received Nobel Prize for psyche imprint procedure, @ Iron Man I#198
• Atlantean Dream-Wave, mystical item used to probe dreams of others, @ Midnight Sons Unlimited #6
• Atlanteans, Pre-Cataclysmic race that founded Atlantis, Pangea and the Savage Land, @ Kull the Conqueor I#1
• Atlanteans, Homo mermani race which inhabits undersea Atlantis, @ Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly #1
• Atlanteans of Earth-2099, followers of Attuma in alternate future of 21st Century, @ X-Nation #3
• Atlantis, Pre-Cataclysmic continent sunk in part by energy released by Second Celestial Host when attacked by Deviants, @ Kull the Conqueror I#1
• Atlantis, Post-Cataclysm now undersea discovered and colonized by Homo mermani, @ Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly #1
• Atlantis, dimensional counterpart of Atlantis of the Amalgam-Earth reality, @ JLX #1
• Atlas, Original King of Atlantis according to Greek Mythology, son of Poseidon, grandson of Evenor, (Not seen in the MU)
• Atlas, Cyclops, son of Poseidon and brother of Polyphemus, (Not seen in the Marvel Universe)
• Atlas, Steve Rand, Hollywood stuntman who became insane after disfigurement and battled the Werewolf (Jack Russell), @ Werewolf by Night I#22
• Atlas, Erik Stephen Josten, member of the Thunderbolts, former agent of Baron Heinrich Zemo, @ Avengers I#9
• Atlez, one of a line of cosmic beings who anchor all reality to prevent it from tumbling into the cosmic abyss, @ Infinity Abyss #1
• Atleza, Atleza Langunn, human girl chosen as a toddler to replace Atlez, @ Infinity Abyss #3
• Atlo, Eternal who challenged Ikaris to wrestling match, @ Thor I#287
• Atola of Aesgaard in the Hyborian era, brief partner of Kamala and Zar-Zak, @ Savage Sword of Conan #46

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