The battle of the Titans and Olympians is vitally important in explaining the Olmypians’ rise to power and the nature of the world.  Also known as the Titanomachy, this war is a story of multiple generations of immortals clashing over control of the cosmos.  

1) Uranos’ Curse

The story of the Titanomachy begins long before the actual fighting began.  It starts when the Titan Cronus injures and overthrows his father Uranos, the personification of the sky.  By usurping his father, Cronus becomes the king of land, sea, and sky.  As Uranos is defeated, he curses Cronus, dooming the Titan to be overthrown by his children just as Uranos was overthrown by Cronus.

2) The Golden Age

Cronus made his fellow Titans submit to his will, resulting in no contest for his rule.  His era of rule was known as the Golden Age, in which mortals lived long, peaceful lives.  It is said that mortals experienced no pain or sorrow during these times, instead living perfect lives.

3) Cronus’ Children

Cronus eventually grew fearful for the potential end of his reign and became paranoid of Uranos’ curse.  His queen, the Titaness Rhea, started to give birth to their children. To counter the curse, Cronus would swallow the newborn god or goddess whole.

4) Rhea’s Revenge

After her first five children had been eaten, Rhea grew angry and bitter with Cronus.  When her sixth child was born, she hid him away.  She presented Cronus with a stone swaddled in a blanket, which he swallowed instead of the baby.

5) The Hidden Child

Rhea’s sixth baby was the god Zeus.  Rhea sent Zeus to a cave in Crete.  There, he was raised by Amalthea.  Amalthea is sometimes described as a goat-herding nymph, and sometimes as an actual goat.  In either case, Zeus grew up under her nurture, fed on goat’s milk. 

6) Mustard and Wine

Once Zeus had grown up, he disguised himself as a cupbearer in Cronus’ court.  Zeus eventually tricked his father into drinking a mixture of wine and mustard, causing Cronus to vomit out the rest of his children.  These gods, like Zeus, were now fully grown.

7) Zeus’ Team

Zeus then freed two groups of prisoners that Cronus had kept locked away in Tartarus: the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheries.  Zeus’ supporting cast now consisted of three Cyclopes, three Hecatoncheries, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia.  The war for the cosmos had finally begun.

8) The Cyclopes

The three elder Cyclopes were giants with a single eye in the middle of their foreheads.  These Cyclopes aided the gods by crafting their weapons: the trident of Poseidon, the helm of Hades, and most importantly, the lightning bolts of Zeus.

9) The Hecatoncheries 

The three Hecatoncheries were giant beings like the Cyclopes, but they had 100 arms and 50 heads.  The Hundred-Handers all took a boulder in each hand, pelting the enormous stones at the Titans.  The three hundred boulders were said to have blocked out the sun, casting the Titans in shadows.

10) The Titans

Most of the Titans sided with Cronus in this decade-long war.  Atlas was a major leader on the Titans’ side.  In some accounts, none of the female Titans took part in the battle.  Notably, Themis and Prometheus aligned themselves with Zeus.  

11) The End of the War

Eventually, the Titans lost the war.  In some versions, the battle was ended by the brothers Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.  Hades equipped his helm of darkness to become invisible, allowing him to sneak into the Titan’s base and destroy their weapon supply.  Poseidon then attacked Cronus with his trident, allowing Zeus the opportunity to hurl his lightning bolts and finally beat the Titan Lord.

12) Losers of the War

Most of the offending Titans were punished by being imprisoned in Tartarus.  Tartarus was a deep, dark pit in the Underworld, known to be equally as vast as the sky.  For being a commander of Titans, Atlas was given special punishment.  He was forced to the western edge of the world to hold the sky (the injured body of Uranos) for the rest of time.

13) Cronus’ Fate

Cronus’ fate is changed between different accounts.  He is often said to have been sent to Tartarus with his fellow Titans.  Sometimes, Zeus wounds Cronus, preventing him from ever having  another child.  In other versions, Cronus becomes the king of Elysium, the paradise in the Underworld meant for heroes and good souls.

14) Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades

The three Olympian brothers, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, drew lots to determine the realm each god would rule.  Hades was given the Underworld, the land of the dead.  Poseidon recieved the oceans and seas.  Zeus claimed the heavens, the skies, and the paradise Mount Olympus.  The land of the Earth was seen as neutral ground where any god could roam freely.

15) The Aftermath

Gaea, the mother of the Titans, grew enraged when she learned of her children’s fate.  She gave birth to the vicious monster Typhon, who would challenge Zeus for control of the universe.  She would also give birth to a race of snake-like giants, the Gigantes.  The Gigantes would then challenge the Olypians, leading to a new war known as the Gigantomachy.

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