Hyperion - The Titan God Of Heavenly Light

It is believed that heaven is held above earth by four great pillars. Each pillar is ruled by a primordial giant, known as a Titan. The titan Hyperion, is the ruler of the pillar of east and the first to be touched by light in every morning. He was the fourth son of the twelve Titan children of Gaia, the goddess of earth, and Uranus, the god of Sky. He played a central role in overthrowing Uranus. For Cronus to cut off Uranus’s testicles, four titan children held his limbs from four directions.

Hyperion held him from the east. As reward, Cronus made them rulers of the four pillars of the respective directions, on which the heaven rest upon. He is considered to be the third most powerful titan among the twelve titan children, Cronus and Atlas being the first two.

He is said to have a breathtakingly beautiful appearance and a very strong build and is considered the titan god of heavenly light. Hyperion’s name has the meaning, “the one who watches from above.” He is said to be the first to understand the cycles of the sun, the stars, the moon and the dawn and to even have ordered them in the first place. Through his influence, the seasons began to change and brought order into the heavenly light.

He took his sister Theia, the titan goddess of sight and the blue of the sky, as his wife. Together they gave birth to Helios, Selene and Eos. He distributed his might in heavenly light, among his 3 children. So Helios became the god of the Sun, Selene, became the god of the Moon, and Eos, became the god of the Dawn.

In early texts, Helios and Hyperion are mentioned as the same and rules over sun. However, in later texts, including Homer's and Hesiod's writings, Hyperion and Helios are two different deities. Writings such as Homer's Odyssey, Hesiod's Theogony, and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the Sun is called Hyperionides, which means the “son of Hyperion”. The later literature clearly specify each god’s role. Hyperion was regarded with the characteristics of the "God of Watchfulness, Wisdom and the Light", while Helios became the physical incarnation of the Sun.

It is said titans played a role in creating humans as well. Each titan gave specific gifts to humans and Hyperion gave humans the gift of eyes and sight, allowing man to see.

Eventually, the Olympians overthrew the Titans in a terrible, decade long war called the “Titanomachy”. In some stories, Hyperion does not seem to have played much of a role in this war, though he supported the Titans who fought against their nieces and nephews. But there are other stories that highlights Hyperion as a skilled warrior and with his siblings took a leading part in the war. They even had the upper hand in the war, only until the Olympian gods taught themselves the skills of warfare. Even after the fall of Cronus, Hyperion continued leading the war against Olympian gods, but ultimately they were defeated.

Hyperion was chained up by the Elder Cyclopes, after which the Hekatonkheires forced him to kneel before Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. He was locked in Tartarus along with his other titan siblings. Some also say that Zeus later pitied the Titan and released them from their prison.

Because Olympian god’s popularity, not many literature could be found on the reign of the titans. But being before the Olympians, it was them who laid the foundation to all of creation. Hyperion evidently took a major role in this, since he ruled over heavenly light and gifted humans with sight.