Atlas.. an underestimated hero.. Not because he fought against Zeus as a leader of giants, on the side of Cronus.
Anyway he lost the battle.. But because of the punishment Zeus condemned him.
Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of Earth and hold up the sky on his shoulders to prevent earth and sky from resuming their primordial embrace, chaos..
Atlas is the bracket that keeps world in his form.. Ancient Greeks believed that the world is a flat construction where earth is the floor and sky is the ceiling.. Atlas for them was the column that kept the sky above their heads, avoiding their world to collapse into chaos.. A symbol that keeps world into order..
Based on his story, numerous places and objects were named . Some of them is the mount Atlas in Africa, that is believed that there was the place the Titan was standing and hold the sky. And, Atlantic ocean which was the sea beyond this point. Atlas has given his name to the map that portray the world and also to the superior bone of the spine that holds the globe of the head.
In Tassos' Boulmetis movie "Notias" there is a scene referring to Atlas with a twist on his punishment. They discussing the idea that the load of Atlas might was unbearable because of the human's stories rather than the heavy weight.
This is an interesting approach given that every human around the globe has a story that feels like a weight in his soul.
Whatever the truth is, Atlas deserves a seat in the pantheon of Gods. Without him the world might wasn't in the form we enjoy it today.
Photo project: "Atlas"
Copyright: d.i.S is Art & d.i Stefanos Stathopoulos