The gods of Mount Olympus did not always reign supreme and it was only after they had managed to defeat the Titans before them that they were able to assume the mantle of heaven, and rule over all. Atlas, one of the surviving titans was given the humiliating and painful task of ensuring that he upheld the very canopy of heaven, and this is in direct contradiction of common belief, that holds that Atlas was forced to hold up the world. The reason for his unusual and rather specific punishment went beyond merely exacting a “pound of flesh” but rather, was intended to prevent Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky) from ever being joined together again.

Another myth that is often (wrongly it must be noted) attributed to Atlas is that the goddess Athena took pity upon his plight and thus exposed the Medusa’s head upon him with the specific intention of turning him to stone so that he would not feel anything, being immortal he could not die but this was a close to a reprieve as could be managed. However, there is no real historical basis for this tale, primarily due to the fact that there is an overwhelming number of other accounts which specifically contradict this particular version of events, in particular, the stories which concern Heracles and his 11th task. During his 11th task, Heracles asked Atlas to acquire the Golden apples of Hera for him, and when the titan refused to take the sky back onto his back, Heracles tricked the titan by asking if he could let him rest for a moment, merely to fix his cloak. Agreeing to such a seemingly reasonable request, Heracles then bade a hasty retreat when Atlas took over the duties once again.

More charitable accounts claim that Heracles took pity upon the Titan and thus erected two pillars to take his place, again however, these accounts whilst poetic and touching, have little in the way of historical evidence or justification and thus must be interpreted with extreme caution as well as skepticism.

Atlas has persevered even to this day, and is invariably used as a symbol of stoic endurance, of manfully enduring pain and an onerous task and in a homage that seems better suited to Heracles rather than Atlas himself, in many weight lifting and professional body builder competitions, a segment of the contest is the so called “Atlas round”. as the name suggests, the competitors will be required to carry a small boulder on their back!