ATLAS : the Titan of Astronomy and Navigation

 

In Greek mythology, Atlas (/ˈætləs/; Ancient Greek:Ἄτλας) was the son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene. Atlas also had a wife, the nymph Pleione,  had 3 brothers : Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus and 7 children : Hyades, Pleiades, Dione, Hesperides, Hyas, Calyspo and Maera !

 

He personified the quality of endurance (atlaô). The career of Atlas included ruling as king of Arcadia.

 

In one tradition, Atlas led the Titanes in a rebellion against Zeus and was condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders.

 

In another, he was said to have been appointed guardian of the pillars which held earth and sky asunder. He was also the god who instructed mankind in the art of astronomy, a tool which was used by sailors in navigation and farmers in measuring the seasons. These roles were often combined and Atlas becomes the god who turns the heaven on their axis, causing the stars to revolve.

 

Atlas and his brother Menoetius sided with the Titans in their war against the Olympians, the Titanomachy. When the Titans were defeated, many of them (including Menoetius) were confined to Tartarus, but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of Gaia (the Earth) and hold up Uranus on his shoulders, to prevent the two from resuming their primordial embrace. 

 

In a late myth, Atlas was transformed into the stony Atlas mountain by Perseus using the Gorgon's head.  Nowdays Atlas' best-known cultural association is incartography.

 

In Rockefeller Center, in New York City, there is a giant 2-ton statue of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders, made in 1936, by Lee Lawrie and Rene Chambellan. 

 

T-O-L-I-S inspired by greek mythology but also credit crunch and both eternal/constant wars and xenophobia. His idea was that if anyone ever changes the world map according to a non-sense order, the outcome may be the"ideal" Atlas !  Imagine if u live in Sydney and it's a 2 hours boat trip to Nyc !...what if Tokyo was walking distance from Paris ?...! America and its neighbour USSR !!!!!!... and last but not least imagine Palestine thousands miles away from Israel.

 

Let's put some fun on this, lots of colors and who knows: maybe our dreams can become true !