Talk:Atlas (mythology)

message: The mention that "while "Atlantis" (the Richat Structure in Mauritania) means "island of Atlas"." is opinion not fact. There is no conclusive proof that Atlantis exists, let alone that it is Proterozoic Richat structure dome, so I've removed this.
86.93.208.34 (talk) 01:48, 14 October 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Richat structure 

message: ok, in most of the greek mythology i've read, it says nothing of Perseus turning Atlas to stone with Medusa's head. Could someone please tell me where it says that happened?? marie16
:um, in Ovid's Metamorphoses", the supreme authority on mythological change. Erik the Red 2 (talk) 01:20, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Perseus turning Atlas to stone

message: Svdb is correct: Atlas was doomed to hold up the sky. But the heavens, even more than the earth, were classically conceived as a sphere or spheres, and in works of art it was common to depict him holding a globe marked with constellations, not continents -- which were mostly unknown to the artists in any case.
There may always have been a degree of ambiguity as to whether Atlas stood somewhere on earth and held up the sky from inside, or whether he somehow stood outside and carried the universe on his back -- or picturing him the second way may just have made for better iconography. But it was the star chart that first started to be called an atlas after him, and later that name was extended to almost any collection of maps.Atlas in the Greek mythology is said 2 hold up the sky(Now Zeus's territory).
People have the idea that Atlas holds up the earth from seeing him depicted with a globe on his shoulders without realizing that it was originally the celestial sphere. And eventually that confusion and the extension of the common noun led to him being depicted with the now more familiar terrestrial globe on his shoulders. --Americist 22:19, 2005 Jan 13 (UTC)
:what? --161.97.96.12
::Well, if you ask most people what Atlas was made to hold up, they will say the earth, as most images show him holding the globe, however, he was really forced to hold up the sky, and classical art showed him holding a sphere of constellations. Eventually people started showing him holding a globe, leading to the misconception. -Unsigned
***** EDIT **************************************************************************
The MISCONCEPTION is still in place; please note that Atlas's head itself was the world on his shoulders. There is a new video that you can search on youtube called "Atlas's mind game", which identifies a 5000 years old statue from Hamangia holding the head in hands as the original Atlas.
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.11.219.4 (talk) 06:44, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Atlas Holds up the Sky

message: Examples of Atlas-like figures keep creeping into the article, but none of them seem to be missing from the much fuller list at Atlas (disambiguation). Most recently, the architectural feature "atlas" popped up in this article's "Etymology" section. Pending some good criteria for determining which and how many examples should be included in this article, and where they should be placed, I've removed the following:
*Because of Atlas' typical pose, Atlantes are the male counterparts of the more familiar female Caryatids. (Both are sculpted columns which support an architrave beam).
*The comic book superhero Captain Marvel was granted the stamina of Atlas as part of his powers.
*The image of Atlas bearing a great burden serves as an important metaphor throughout Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.
*The size-changer of Marvel Comics' "Thunderbolts" is also known as Atlas. He was recently shown on a cover holding up a building, a pose reminiscent of the mythological Atlas.
I think it actually makes sense to include some examples. I just don't have any strong feelings at the moment about how they should be handled — except that the way they were presented seems wrong.--Americist 17:49, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Examples of the Atlas Motif

message: I originally changed "Phoibe" to "Phoebe" because on Wikipedia all but two references were spelled "Phoebe." "Phoibe" appeared to be a typo. Now someone has changed it back without any explanation other than the spelling is "intentional." To avoid a revert war I will leave it that way as long as there can be some explanation with supporting citations for "Phoibe." Educate us. :)  Anon Y. Mouse 16:34, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Both spellings are correct, but Phoibe is perhaps a better representation of Greek Φοιβη. Phoebe is probably the more common spelling, however, and WP guidelines tell us to use the more common form... --Akhilleus (talk) 23:10, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The relevent guidelines deal specifically with article names — the intent being to help readers find articles by means of more familiar forms. Regardless, the current consensus seems to be that ancient Greek terms should be transcribed using Latin tradition, even when the associated entities are being discussed in primarily ancient Greek-speaking contexts (as opposed to more generally Classical or European contexts). So I've just adjusted the remaining non-conforming spellings to conform. The one exception to perfect conformity with WP:GREEK is Menoetius (Gk Μενοιτιος) which the convention would render as Menoetios. I went with Menoetius to harmonize with the current title of the relevent article, which I assume reflects someone's familiarity at some point. The overall result is that the only piped names in Atlas (mythology) now are those which (like Atlas) have articles titled with disambiguation tags, as in "(mythology)". --Americist 23:19, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Spelling of Phoibe/Phoebe

message: User:Wahabijaz jjjjjjjjjjjjrecently added a link to the UR (Urdu?) version of this article, but without the necessary double brackets. However, when I add the brackets, the link displays with different characters than jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjwere input, and one fewer characters than were input, despite the originals still being held "in back." Admittedly, I don't know what conventions might be coming into play, and the station I'm at right now has spotty Unicode support. But I'd appreciate it if someone more knowledgeable or bettejjjjjjjjr equipped would check my work. (I'll check myself when I'm better equipped, too.) --Americist 23:41, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Link to UR-language version

message: There are at least three instances of Atlas in Greek mythology, each with separate parentages and stories.  The best known is Atlas, the Titan son of Iapetus, brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius, who bore the heavens on his shoulders.  A second instance is Atlas the King, who was a noted astronomer.  And a third instance is Atlas, the eldest of 10 sons of Poseidon, who ruled over Atlantis.  It is this latter that I am most interested in because there is the least amount of information about him.  The only primary source of information is from Plato's two dialogues, "Timaeus" and the "Critias."  Plato seems to have created a new Atlas for his own purposes - which many authors of the time did, as evidenced by so many unreconcilable versions of various lineages.  I was wondering if anyone had any secondary sources of this Atlas, King of Atlantis, especially historic secondary sources (i.e. prior to the last few centuries). Detailed accounts of Atlantis by secondary sources would do, if they discuss its leadership.  Did this Atlas have consorts and children?  Are there stories of wars among the 10 brothers?  Does legend tell us what happened to Atlas and his nine brothers when Atlantis was sunk by the gods?  Do they still rule today, under the depths of the Atlantic ocean?  Any information is welcome. 82.171.128.100 10:07, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Reconciliation of Atlas the Titan and Atlas, son of Poseidon

message: I have merged Atlas (King) into this article. The triva section still needs to be removed. Bballoakie 17:05, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Merged From [[Atlas (King)]]

message: :"But in another version of the myth, she fled from his advances to Atlas,[13] at the farthest ends of the sea; there the dolphin of Poseidon sought her through the islands of the sea, and finding her, spoke persuasively on behalf of Poseidon, if we may believe Hyginus[14] and was rewarded by being placed among the stars as the constellation Delphinus. [15]" Source: Paragraph Four lists as source [13] something called "ad Atlante, in Hyginus' words". I don't know how to research this source. If this is a verifiable source then probably some mention of this event should be made in the Atlas article as well, and link back to Amphitrite. If it's not then the mention should be removed from Amphitrite. Anyone know what this ad Atlante Hyginus reference is and how good of a source it is for things pertaining to Atlas?
[14] says ""...qui pervagatus insulas, aliquando ad virginem pervenit, eique persuasit ut nuberet Neptuno..." Oppian's Halieutica I.383-92 is a parallel passage." and [15] links to Catasterismi, 31; Hyginus, Poetical Astronomy, ii.17, .132. I'm wondering if looking into these latter two references will lead to [13] since they should all be part of the same continuous tale. Tyciol (talk) 13:58, 14 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Atlas and Amphitrite

message: I don't understand how this myth persists that ancient people did not know Earth was a sphere. Eratosthenes of Cyrene is specifically one of the first known men to prove that it was using geometry and a few rational assumptions. To call the understanding that Earth is a sphere a "modern understanding" is just plain ridiculous and ignorant. --68.255.2.73 (talk) 03:40, 30 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dubious 

message: In this article The following is stated "this account cannot be reconciled with the far more common stories of Atlas' dealings with Heracles, who was Perseus' great-grandson."
I can find no reference to this Great-grandson portion. Based on family trees I looked at, this is not even remotely close to true. Is this a typo, or am I missing something. Request for Correction, or Clarification.
24.12.50.10 (talk) 03:44, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  reference check 

message: Does Atlas have an equivalent character in Roman mythology?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.71.165.19 (talk) 00:04, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Only in poetry.--Wetman (talk) 10:38, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Roman equivalent? 

message: The article claims that Atlas is paired with Phoebe in governing the Moon and cites several sources. I checked the citations for  the Iliad, Hesiod, and Aristophanes, and they contain nothing on the subject. It turns out that the citations are simply lifted from 1.d of Robert Graves' The Greek Myths. They were faulty in that book and faulty here, too. Unless a good source is found, mention of  Atlas' alleged regency of the moon should be deleted.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Asiaj (talk • contribs) 12:05, 8 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Would be good to get another source to verify elements of Graves' Pelasgian creation myth. If not, this may still merit inclusion in passing (as the article currently does) if a good secondary source on Graves account can be found. MajoranaF (talk) 17:46, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Atlas and the moon

message: Isn't Atlas also  a characters name in Portal 2?--User:SmartyPantsKid 14:28, 16 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Portal 

message: I was wondering why when Heracles is first mentioned is it not immediately followed by something like, "(Hercules in Latin)." Everyone knows who Hercules is but I suspect many casual readers wouldn't realize that Heracles is the same person. Is there some bizarre Wikipedia requirement that forbids this? There must be since its inclusion is so obvious I can't understand why it's not there. __209.179.86.123 (talk) 20:40, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  On the use of Latin in the article 

message: "One of the Twelve Labors of the hero Heracles was to fetch some of the golden apples which grow in Hera's garden, tended by Atlas' daughters, the Hesperides and guarded by the dragon Ladon. Heracles went to Atlas and offered to hold up the heavens while Atlas got the apples from his daughters."
The section does not have a source and the article on the Hesperides says they were daughters of Atlas only according to Petrus Apianus.
ICE77 (talk) 01:38, 25 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hesperides as daughters of Atlas 

message: Atlas appears in only one set of literary works as a character, those of Fred Saberhagen.  Here, he's depicted as being encased within a mountain with only his head sticking out and is said to look more treelike than human.  He's picking up radio signals from all over thr world.Glammazon (talk) 04:45, 25 May 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Are you making a suggestion that's relevant to this article? -- Fyrael (talk) 05:55, 25 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Atlas In Literature

message: I am puzzled by the expression "celestial heavens". It strikes me as a tautology, akin to "rural countryside", which I came across in our local newspaper some years ago now. Surely "heavens" is sufficient. Can anyone supply a justification for "celestial heavens"? LynwoodF (talk) 22:00, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Nobody has got back to me on this, so I have removed the adjective celestial. LynwoodF (talk) 09:19, 7 August 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Celestial heavens? 

message: Hercules is also part of the altas story too. 147.148.97.255 (talk) 08:27, 4 September 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Hercules is mentioned prominently even in the lead of the article. Regards, Thinker78 (talk) 04:24, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hercules