The Titan War

In the last three years, I've gained a real appreciation for Greek mythology, particularly the story of the War of the Titans.  This is only a summation of it, but I strongly encourage you to seek out a formal translation of the tale.


When Uranus and Gaia had many children, Uranus attempted to hide and imprison his children, incurring the wrath of his wife.  She fashioned a scythe and, enlisting the help of her son Cronus, castrated the great Titan, setting her son up as King of the Titans (from Uranus' genitals came Aphrodite, The Furies, and the Giants).

The Titans - Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Iapetus, Tethys, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Eos, Helios, Selene, Leto, Asteria, Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius, Metis, Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses - ruled and reigned, having for themselves many children. 

Cronus himself, marrying Rhea, had many children.  Fearing that they would overthrow him, he devoured them until only Zeus remained.  Rhea hid Zeus, and together they hatched a plot to rescue Zeus' siblings.  Zeus, along with his brothers Hades and Poseidon,  rallied the other gods and goddesses together, and launched a ten-year war against the Titans. 

In the end, Zeus cast his father Cronus into the Abyss of Tartarus, Prometheus was chained to a mountain where his liver was eaten away each day, and Atlas was forced to hold the heavens upon his shoulders.  Of the three siblings, Zeus ascended the throne of Olympus and established the Greek Pantheon.


Almost every culture in the world has an ancient belief in the overthrow of giants.  Seriously.  The Norse myths tell of their gods constantly overthrowing the Frost Giants, the Bible tells us of great violence in the world between man and a race of giants prior to the Flood, Southeast Asian literature tells us of violent giants that terrorized early  mankind, Welsh and Celtic literature tell us that the world was inhabited by giants early on.  The list goes on. 

So when we read that the Titan Cronus, with the aid of his mother, took revenge on his father, only to be slain himself by his own son later, there seems to be an odd harmony with the rest of the world.  Am I saying the Greek Titans, goddesses, and gods were real?  Of course not.  Am I saying they may be based on real people?  Yes.

Particularly when we find the Norse myth that tells us the same story.  Get this:  Ymir, the Giant, was the Father of all Frost Giants.  But a man named Bor emerged, and Bor had three sons.  These three siblings fought against Ymir, killed him, and took leadership of Asgard, setting up the Norse Pantheon.  Oh, and like Zeus, Odin was the only one of the three declared to be the All-Father.  Sound familiar?  Three siblings defeat a giant, and one of the siblings becomes King of the gods.

Is it possible - I'm not asking if we believe this entirely - but is it possible that an early king of men defeated a giant with the help of his brothers?  Is it possible that this happened so long ago that the story has had time to change and evolve into culture-specific versions?  And if it is possible, then wouldn't the Bible's narrative of an early history of giants, a world of violence, and a tower that produced different cultures also be possible? 
 
As a shameless plug, if you're interested in seeing more connections between giant stories from around the world, you can pre-order Giants:  Legends and Lore of Goliaths, here!