Atlas the Titan: ~Return to Glory~

None but he could justly blame my work. Now drive the adamantine wedge's stubborn edge straight through his chest with your full force. Alas, Prometheus, I groan for your sufferings. Shrinking again and groaning over the enemies of Zeus? Take care, so that the day does not come when you shall grieve for yourself. You see a spectacle grievous for eyes to behold. I see this man getting his deserts. Come, cast the girths about his sides. I must do this; spare me your needless ordering. Indeed, I'll order you, yes and more--I'll hound you on.

Get down below, and ring his legs by force. The work's done and without much labor. Now hammer the piercing fetters with your full force; for the appraiser of our work is severe. The utterance of your tongue matches your looks. Be softhearted then, but do not attack my stubborn will and my harsh mood. Let us be gone, since he has got the fetters on his limbs. There now, indulge your insolence, keep on wresting from the gods their honors to give them to creatures of a day. Are mortals able to lighten your load of sorrow?

Falsely the gods call you Prometheus, for you yourself need forethought to free yourself from this handiwork. O you bright sky of heaven, you swift-winged breezes, you river-waters, and infinite laughter of the waves of sea, O universal mother Earth, and you, all-seeing orb of the sun, to you I call! See what I, a god, endure from the gods. Look, with what shameful torture I am racked and must wrestle throughout the countless years of time apportioned me. Such is the ignominious bondage the new commander of the blessed [Zeus] has devised against me. For present misery and misery to come I groan, not knowing where it is fated that deliverance from these sorrows shall arise.

And yet, what am I saying? All that is to be I know full well and in advance, nor shall any affliction come upon me unforeseen. Yet I am not able to speak nor be silent about my fate. For it is because I bestowed good gifts on mortals that this miserable yoke of constraint has been bound upon me. Such is the offence for which I pay the penalty, riveted in fetters beneath the open sky. Behold me, an ill-fated god, chained, the foe of Zeus, hated of all who enter the court of Zeus, because of my very great love for mankind. What murmur, what scent wings to me, its source invisible, heavenly or human, or both?

Has someone come to this crag at the edge of the world to stare at my sufferings--or with what motive? What may be this rustling stir of birds I hear again nearby? The air whirs with the light rush of wings. Whatever approaches causes me alarm [i. For our group has come in swift rivalry of wings to this crag as friend to you, having won our father's [Okeanos' Oceanus' ] consent as best we might.

The swift-coursing breezes bore me on; for the reverberation of the clang of iron pierced the depths of our caves and drove my grave modesty away in fright; unsandalled I have hastened in a winged car. Offspring of fruitful Tethys and of him who with his sleepless current encircles the whole earth, children of your father Okeanos, behold, see with what fetters, upon the summit crag of this ravine, I am to hold my unenviable watch.

I see, Prometheus; and over my eyes a mist of tears and fear spread as I saw your body withering ignominiously upon this rock in these bonds of adamant. For there are new rulers in heaven, and Zeus governs with lawless customs; that which was mighty before he now brings to nothing. Oh if only he had hurled me below the earth, yes beneath Haides, the entertainer of the dead, into impassable Tartaros Tartarus [like the other Titanes], and had ruthlessly fastened me in fetters no hand can loose, so that neither god nor any other might have gloated over this agony I feel!

But, now, a miserable plaything of the winds, I suffer pains to delight my enemies. One day his [Zeus'] judgement will soften, when he has been crushed in the way that I know. Then, calming down his stubborn wrath, he shall at last [release the Titan and] bond with me in union and friendship, as eager as I am to welcome him. Then it was on a charge like this [the theft of fire] that Zeus-- Prometheus: And is there no end assigned to your ordeal? No, none except when it seems good to him. But how will it seem good to him? What hope is there? Of my own will, yes, of my own will I erred--I will not deny it.

By helping mortals I found suffering for myself; nevertheless I did not think I would be punished in this way--wasting away upon cliffs in mid-air, my portion this desolate and dreary crag. And now, bewail no more my present woes; alight on the ground and listen to my oncoming fortunes so that you may be told them from end to end. I see, Prometheus; and I want to give you the best advice, although you yourself are wily. Learn to know yourself and adapt yourself to new ways; for new also is the ruler among the gods.

If you hurl forth words so harsh and of such whetted edge, perhaps Zeus may hear you, though throned far off, high in the heavens, and then your present multitude of sorrows shall seem but childish sport. Put away your wrathful mood and try to find release from these miseries. Perhaps this advice may seem to you old and dull; but your plight, Prometheus, is only the wages of too boastful speech. You still have not learned humility, nor do you bend before misfortune, but would rather add even more miseries to those you have. Therefore take me as your teacher and do not add insult to injury, seeing that a harsh monarch now rules who is accountable to no one.

So now I will depart and see whether I can release you from these sufferings. And may you hold your peace and be not too blustering of speech. Or, can it be that for all your exceeding wisdom, you do not know that chastisement is inflicted on a wagging tongue? I envy you because you have escaped blame for having dared to share with me in my troubles. So now leave me alone and let it not concern you.

Do what you want, you cannot persuade him [Zeus]; for he is not easy to persuade. Beware that you do not do yourself harm by the mission you take. I mourn your unfortunate fate, Prometheus. Shedding from my eyes a coursing flood of tears I wet my tender cheeks with their moist streams. For Zeus, holding this unenviable power by self-appointed laws, displays towards the gods of old an overweening spirit.

Now the whole earth cries aloud in lamentation [missing text]. The waves of the sea pontos utter a cry as they fall, the deep laments, the black abyss of Aides [Haides] rumbles in response, and the streams of pure-flowing rivers lament your piteous pain. Not in this way is Moira Fate , who brings all to fulfillment, destined to complete this course [i. Zeus will not relent and release Prometheus prematurely]. Only when I have been bent by pangs and tortures infinite am I to escape my bondage.

Why, what is fated for Zeus except to hold eternal sway? Think of some other subject, for it is not the proper time to speak of this. No matter what, this must be kept concealed; for it is by safeguarding it that I am to escape my dishonorable bonds and outrage.

Atlas The TITAN Return to Glory by Khary K Williams | eBay

Zeus will be forced to release Prometheus in return for knowledge of a secret prophesy revealing which the goddess destined to bear a son greater than his father--a child which, if sired by Zeus, would threaten his throne. Prometheus suffers for his gifts mankind, but mankind can do nothing to help him in his plight.

Did you not see the helpless infirmity, no better than a dream, in which the blind generation of men is shackled? Never shall the counsels of mortal men transgress the ordering of Zeus. Tell me who has bound you fast in this ravine. Zeus by his will, Hephaistos Hephaestus by his hand. Ah, you would hardly bear my agonies to whom it is not foredoomed to die; for death would have freed me from my sufferings. But now no limit to my tribulations has been appointed until Zeus is hurled from his sovereignty. Shall Zeus one day be hurled from his dominion? By whom shall he [Zeus] be despoiled of the sceptre of his sovereignty?

By himself and his own empty-headed purposes. Oh tell me, if there be no harm in telling. He shall make a marriage that shall one day cause him distress. With a divinity or with a mortal? If it may be told, speak out. Why ask with whom? I may not speak of this. Is it by his consort that he shall be dethroned? Yes, since she shall bear a son mightier than his father. And has he no means to avert this doom? No, none--except me, if I were released from bondage.

Who then is to release you against the will of Zeus? It is to be one of your own grandchildren [i. What did you say? A child of mine will release you from your misery? The third in descent after ten generations. Such is the oracle recounted to me by my mother, Titan Themis, born long ago. Yes, truly, the day will come when Zeus, although stubborn of soul, shall be humbled, seeing that he plans a marriage [i. Deliverance from such ruin no one of the gods can show him clearly except me.

I know the fact and the means. So let him sit there in his assurance, putting his trust in the crash reverberating on high and brandishing his fire-breathing bolt in his hands. For these shall not protect him from falling in ignominious and unendurable ruin. Such an adversary is he now preparing despite himself, a prodigy irresistible, even one who shall discover a flame mightier than the lightning and a deafening crash to outroar the thunder; a prodigy who shall shiver the trident, Poseidon's spear, that scourge of the sea and shaker of the land.

Then, wrecked upon this evil, Zeus shall learn how different it is to be a sovereign and a slave. Chorus [of Okeanides Oceanids ]: Surely, it is only your own desire that you utter as a curse against Zeus. I speak what shall be brought to pass and, moreover, my own desire. Must we really look for one to gain mastery over Zeus? Yes, and he shall bear upon his neck pangs more galling than these of mine. How is it that you are not afraid to utter such taunts? Why should I fear since I am fated not to die? But he might inflict on you an ordeal even more bitter than this.

Let him, for all I care! I am prepared for anything. Wise are they who do homage to Adrasteia the inescapable. Worship, adore, and fawn upon whoever is your lord. But for Zeus I care less than nothing. Let him do his will, let him hold his power for his little day — since he will not bear sway over the gods for long. To you, the clever and crafty. The Father [Zeus] commands that you [Prometheus] tell what marriage you boast of, whereby he is to be hurled from power--and this, mark well, set forth in no riddling fashion, but point by point, as the case exactly stands; and do not impose upon me a double journey, Prometheus--you see Zeus is not appeased by dealings such as yours.

You shall learn nothing about which you question me. There is no torment or device by which Zeus shall induce me to utter thisuntil these injurious fetters are loosed. So then, let his blazing lightning be hurled, and with the white wings of the snow and thunders of earthquake let him confound the reeling world. For nothing of this shall bend my will even to tell at whose hands he is fated to be hurled from his sovereignty.

Atlas the Titan: Return to Glory

Look now whether this course seems to profit you. Long ago has this my course been foreseen and resolved. Bend your will, perverse fool, oh bend your will at last to wisdom in face of your present sufferings. In vain you trouble me, as though it were a wave you try to persuade. Never think that, through terror at the will of Zeus, I shall become womanish and, with hands upturned, aping woman's ways, shall importune my greatly hated enemy to release me from these bonds.

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I am far, far from that. I think that by speaking much I will only speak in vain; for you are not soothed nor are you softened by my entreaties. But if you will not be won to belief by my words, think of what a tempest and a towering wave of woe shall break upon you past escape. First, the Father will shatter this jagged cliff with thunder and lightning-flame, and will entomb your frame, while the rock shall still hold you clasped in its embrace.

But when you have completed a long stretch of time, you shall come back again to the light. Then indeed the winged hound of Zeus, the ravening eagle, coming an unbidden banqueter the whole day long, with savage appetite shall tear your body piecemeal into great rents and feast his fill upon your liver until it is black with gnawing. Look for no term of this your agony until some god shall appear to take upon himself your woes and of his own free will descend into the sunless realm of Haides and the dark deeps of Tartaros.

Therefore be advised, since this is no counterfeited vaunting but utter truth; for the mouth of Zeus does not know how to utter falsehood, but will bring to pass every word. May you consider warily and reflect, and never deem stubbornness better than wise counsel. To us, at least, Hermes seems not to speak untimely; for he bids you to lay aside your stubbornness and seek the good counsel of wisdom. It is shameful for the wise to persist in error. No news to me, in truth, is the message this fellow has proclaimed so noisily.

Yet for enemy to suffer ill from enemy is no disgrace. Therefore let the lightning's forked curl be cast upon my head and let the sky be convulsed with thunder and the wrack of savage winds; let the hurricane shake the earth from its rooted base, and let the waves of the sea mingle with their savage surge the courses of the stars in heaven; and let him lift me on high and hurl me down to black Tartaros with the swirling floods of stern Necessity: Such indeed are the thoughts and the words one hears from men deranged.

Where does his prayer fall short of raving? Where does he abate his frenzy? Use some other strain and urge me to some other course in which you are likely to convince me. This utterance in your flood of speech is, I think, past all endurance. How do you charge me to practise baseness? With him I am content to suffer any fate; for I have learned to detest traitors, and there is no pest I abhor more than this. Well then, bear my warning in memory and do not blame your fortune when you are caught in the toils of calamity; nor ever say that it was Zeus who cast you into suffering unforeseen.

Not so, but blame yourselves. For well forewarned, and not suddenly or secretly shall you be entangled in the inextricable net of calamity by reason of your folly. Indeed, now it has passed from word to deed--the earth rocks, the echoing thunder-peal from the depths rolls roaring past me; the fiery wreathed lightning-flashes flare forth, and whirlwinds toss the swirling dust; the blasts of all the winds leap forth and set in hostile array their embattled strife; the sky is confounded with the deep.

Behold, this stormy turmoil advances against me visibly, sent by Zeus to frighten me. O holy mother mine, O you firmament that revolves the common light of all, you see the wrongs I suffer! Aeschylus, Prometheus Unbound lost play: To them Prometheus describes his tortures and his benefits to man.

In his search for the golden apples of the Hesperides, Herakles Heracles , having come to the Kaukasos Caucasus , where Prometheus is confined, receives from him directions concerning his course through the land of the peoples in the farthest north and the perils to be encountered on his homeward march after slaying Geryon in the farthest west. Herakles' shooting of the eagle that fed on the vitals of the Titan [is then described]. Behold me fettered, clamped to these rough rocks, even as a ship is moored fast by timid sailors, fearful of night because of the roaring sea.

Thus hath Zeus, the son of Kronos Cronus , fastened me, and to the will of Zeus hath Hephaistos Hephaestus lent his hand. With cruel art hath he riven my limbs by driving in these bolts. Ah, unhappy that I am! By his skill transfixed, I tenant this stronghold of the Erinyes Furies. And now, each third woeful day, with dreadful swoop, the minister of Zeus with his hooked talons rends me asunder by his cruel repast.

Then, crammed and glutted to the full on my fat liver, the utters a prodigious scream and, soaring aloft, with winged tail fawns upon my gore. But when my gnawed liver swells, renewed in growth, greedily doth he return anew to his fell repast. Thus do I feed this guardian of my awful torture, who mutilates me living with never-ending pain. For fettered, as ye see, by the bonds of Zeus, I have no power to drive from my vitals the accursed bird. Thus, robbed of self-defence, I endure woes fraught with torment: And this my ancient dolorous agony, intensified by the dreadful centuries, is fastened upon my body, from which there fall, melted by the blazing sun, drops that unceasingly pour upon the rocks of Kaukasos Caucasus.

Aeschylus, Fragment Sphinx from Athenaeus, Deipnosophists Melanippides, Fragment from Scholiast on Homer's Iliad trans. When Zeus found out, he ordered Hephaistos Hephaestus to rivet the body of Prometheus to Mount Kaukasos Caucasus , a Skythian Scythian mountain, where he was kept fastened and bound for many years.

Each day an eagle would fly to him and munch on the lobes of his liver, which would then grow back at night. That was the price that Prometheus paid for stealing fire, until Herakles set him free later on. Then he selected for himself a restraining bond of olive, and released Prometheus; and he offered Zeus Kheiron Chiron , who was willing to die in Herakles' place. Prometheus advised Herakles not to go after the apples himself, but rather to relive Atlas of the celestial sphere and dispatch him.

So when Herakles reached Atlas among the Hyperboreans, he remembered Prometheus' advise and took over the sphere. Herakles Heracles let loose an arrow at the Kentaroi as they huddled round Kheiron, which penetrated the arm of Elatos Elatus and landed in Kheiron's knee. In horror Herakles ran to him, pulled out the arrow and dressed the wound with a salve that Kheiron handed him. The festering wound was incurable, however, and Kheiron moved into his cave, where he yearned for death, but could not die because he was immortal.

Prometheus thereupon proposed Herakles to Zeus, to become immortal in place of Kheiron: Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. The bird kept eagerly returning to its feed. They saw it in the afternoon flying high above the ship with a strident whirr. It was near the clouds, yet it made all their canvas quiver to its wings as it beat by. For its form was not that of an ordinary bird: Soon after the eagle had passed, they heard Prometheus shriek in agony as it pecked at his liver. The air rang with his screams till at length they saw the flesh-devouring bird fly back from the mountain by the same way as it came.

Callimachus, Fragment trans. But when Herakles saw him suffering such punishment because of the benefit which he had conferred upon men, he killed the eagle with an arrow, and then persuading Zeus to cease from his anger he rescued him who had been the benefactor of all. Jones Greek geographer C1st B. Prometheus Unbound ], in detailing to Herakles Heracles the route of the roads from the Kaukasos Caucasus to the Hesperides says: And the expedition of Dionysos and Herakles Heracles to the country of the Indians looks like a mythical story of later date, because Herakles is said to have released Prometheus one thousand years later.

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. Among them is Atlas, supporting heaven and earth, by whose side stands Herakles ready to receive the load of Atlas. For among the stories told about Herakles is one that he killed the eagle which tormented Prometheus in the Kaukasos Caucasus , and set free Prometheus himself from his chains.

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However, once again, Hera drove Heracles mad and he threw Iphitus over the city wall to his death. Once again, Heracles purified himself through three years of servitude—this time to Queen Omphale of Lydia. Omphale was a queen or princess of Lydia. As penalty for a murder, imposed by Xenoclea , the Delphic Oracle , Heracles was to serve as her slave for a year. He was forced to do women's work and to wear women's clothes, while she wore the skin of the Nemean Lion and carried his olive-wood club. After some time, Omphale freed Heracles and married him. Some sources mention a son born to them who is variously named.

It was at that time that the cercopes , mischievous wood spirits, stole Heracles' weapons. He punished them by tying them to a stick with their faces pointing downward. While walking through the wilderness, Heracles was set upon by the Dryopes. In Apollonius of Rhodes ' Argonautica it is recalled that Heracles had mercilessly slain their king, Theiodamas , over one of the latter's bulls, and made war upon the Dryopes "because they gave no heed to justice in their lives".

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He took the youth on as his weapons bearer and beloved. Years later, Heracles and Hylas joined the crew of the Argo. As Argonauts, they only participated in part of the journey. In Mysia , Hylas was kidnapped by the nymphs of a local spring. Heracles, heartbroken, searched for a long time but Hylas had fallen in love with the nymphs and never showed up again. In other versions, he simply drowned. Either way, the Argo set sail without them. Hesiod 's Theogony and Aeschylus ' Prometheus Unbound both tell that Heracles shot and killed the eagle that tortured Prometheus which was his punishment by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortals.

Heracles freed the Titan from his chains and his torments. Prometheus then made predictions regarding further deeds of Heracles.

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On his way back to Mycenae from Iberia , having obtained the Cattle of Geryon as his tenth labour , Heracles came to Liguria in North-Western Italy where he engaged in battle with two giants, Albion and Bergion or Dercynus, sons of Poseidon. The opponents were strong; Hercules was in a difficult position so he prayed to his father Zeus for help.

Under the aegis of Zeus, Heracles won the battle. The story, among others, is described by Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Previously, Poseidon had sent a sea monster to attack Troy. The story is related in several digressions in the Iliad 7. This expedition became the theme of the Eastern pediment of the Temple of Aphaea. Laomedon planned on sacrificing his daughter Hesione to Poseidon in the hope of appeasing him. Heracles happened to arrive along with Telamon and Oicles and agreed to kill the monster if Laomedon would give him the horses received from Zeus as compensation for Zeus' kidnapping Ganymede.

Heracles killed the monster, but Laomedon went back on his word. Accordingly, in a later expedition, Heracles and his followers attacked Troy and sacked it. Then they slew all Laomedon's sons present there save Podarces , who was renamed Priam, who saved his own life by giving Heracles a golden veil Hesione had made. Telamon took Hesione as a war prize and they had a son, Teucer.

Having wrestled and defeated Achelous , god of the Acheloos river, Heracles takes Deianira as his wife. Travelling to Tiryns , a centaur , Nessus , offers to help Deianira across a fast flowing river while Heracles swims it. However, Nessus is true to the archetype of the mischievous centaur and tries to steal Deianira away while Heracles is still in the water. Angry, Heracles shoots him with his arrows dipped in the poisonous blood of the Lernaean Hydra.

Thinking of revenge, Nessus gives Deianira his blood-soaked tunic before he dies, telling her it will "excite the love of her husband". Several years later, rumor tells Deianira that she has a rival for the love of Heracles. Deianira, remembering Nessus' words, gives Heracles the bloodstained shirt. Lichas, the herald, delivers the shirt to Heracles. However, it is still covered in the Hydra's blood from Heracles' arrows, and this poisons him, tearing his skin and exposing his bones. Before he dies, Heracles throws Lichas into the sea, thinking he was the one who poisoned him according to several versions, Lichas turns to stone, becoming a rock standing in the sea, named for him.

Heracles then uproots several trees and builds a funeral pyre on Mount Oeta , which Poeas , father of Philoctetes , lights. As his body burns, only his immortal side is left. Through Zeus' apotheosis , Heracles rises to Olympus as he dies. No one but Heracles' friend Philoctetes Poeas in some versions would light his funeral pyre in an alternate version, it is Iolaus who lights the pyre.

For this action, Philoctetes or Poeas received Heracles' bow and arrows, which were later needed by the Greeks to defeat Troy in the Trojan War. Philoctetes confronted Paris and shot a poisoned arrow at him. The Hydra poison subsequently led to the death of Paris. According to Herodotus , Heracles lived years before Herodotus' own time c. An episode of his female affairs that stands out was his stay at the palace of Thespius , king of Thespiae , who wished him to kill the Lion of Cithaeron.

As a reward, the king offered him the chance to perform sexual intercourse with all fifty of his daughters in one night. Heracles complied and they all became pregnant and all bore sons. This is sometimes referred to as his Thirteenth Labour. Many of the kings of ancient Greece traced their lines to one or another of these, notably the kings of Sparta and Macedon. Yet another episode of his female affairs that stands out was when he carried away the oxen of Geryon , he also visited the country of the Scythians.

Once there, while asleep, his horses suddenly disappeared. When he woke and wandered about in search of them, he came into the country of Hylaea. He then found the dracaena of Scythia sometimes identified as Echidna in a cave. When he asked whether she knew anything about his horses, she answered, that they were in her own possession, but that she would not give them up, unless he would consent to stay with her for a time. Heracles accepted the request, and became by her the father of Agathyrsus , Gelonus , and Scythes.

The last of them became king of the Scythians, according to his father's arrangement, because he was the only one among the three brothers that was able to manage the bow which Heracles had left behind and to use his father's girdle. As a symbol of masculinity and warriorship, Heracles also had a number of male lovers.

Plutarch , in his Eroticos, maintains that Heracles' male lovers were beyond counting. Of these, the one most closely linked to Heracles is the Theban Iolaus. According to a myth thought to be of ancient origins, Iolaus was Heracles' charioteer and squire. Heracles in the end helped Iolaus find a wife. Plutarch reports that down to his own time, male couples would go to Iolaus's tomb in Thebes to swear an oath of loyalty to the hero and to each other. One of Heracles' male lovers, and one represented in ancient as well as modern art, is Hylas.

Though it is of more recent vintage dated to the 3rd century than that with Iolaus, it had themes of mentoring in the ways of a warrior and help finding a wife in the end. There is nothing in Apollonius's account that suggests that Hylas was a sexual lover as opposed to a companion and servant. Another reputed male lover of Heracles is Elacatas, who was honored in Sparta with a sanctuary and yearly games, Elacatea.

The myth of their love is an ancient one. Abdera 's eponymous hero, Abderus , was another of Heracles' lovers. He was said to have been entrusted with—and slain by—the carnivorous mares of Thracian Diomedes. Heracles founded the city of Abdera in Thrace in his memory, where he was honored with athletic games. Another myth is that of Iphitus. Another story is the one of his love for Nireus , who was "the most beautiful man who came beneath Ilion" Iliad , But Ptolemy adds that certain authors made Nireus out to be a son of Heracles.