Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss a question of apocalyptic proportions: what would happen if Atlas stopped holding up the sky? In the primordial past, the world existed in different configurations, so with these as precedents, we’re given some good insight into what might happen if Atlas abandoned his post. Would the sky simply stay where it is, would it fall, flatten the earth, and eradicate life, would the gods be driven underground, would the gods die?

Let’s get into it.

We’re going to start this video off by diving into the primordial past, back to a time when the sky didn’t even exist. First there was nothing, truly nothing, not even empty space, then Chaos, the great void, emerged, and then, now that there was space for other things to exist, the first-generation primordial deities emerged. There were five of them: Gaia, the earth, Tartarus, the great chasm beneath the earth, Eros, love, Erebus, darkness, and Nyx, night. Gaia independently produced three children, three second-generation primordial deities. These were Uranus, the sky, Pontus, the sea, and Ourea, mountains. She took Uranus, whom she created to envelop her and be a celestial abode for the gods, as her consort, and here is where our story really begins.

Together, Gaia and Uranus had many children. To them were born the 12 first-generation Titans, the trio of Uranian Cyclopes, who were godlike, but only had one eye, and the Hecatonchires, powerful hundred-armed behemoths with unparalleled size and strength. Uranus hated his children, so he kept them trapped deep within the earth. He was able to imprison them because there wasn’t, at this time, a divide between the earth and the sky. Uranus was wrapped tightly around Gaia, smothering her in a constant embrace. Consequently, there wasn’t any space between the earth and the sky, so though the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatonchires were grown, there wasn’t space for them to emerge, keeping them imprisoned within Gaia.

Watch the video for the rest!

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