Iapetus - The Titan God Of Mortality

In my last video, we discussed the titan Hyperion, who guards the east pillar the heaven rest upon. Just as the eastern pillar there is believed to be a powerful titan, named Iapetus, to guard the western pillar. He is the last to be touched by sun light. He is the fifth son to be born to Gaia and Uranus, the respective personifications of the earth and sky. In the act of dethroning their father, Iapetus assisted Cronus to cut off Uranus’s testicles, by holding his limb from the west. Iapetus is said to have a calm nature, just as the setting sun. But will show a great deal of anger and how skilled he is in combat, if the circumstances ask for it. So he is considered to be a sleeping lion.

After decapitating and dethroning their father Uranus, Iapetus stood by his brother Cronus, who became the new ruler of the Cosmos. Just as his other titan brothers, Iapetus is said to be beautiful, and to have a strong built. He then married Clymene, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Together they had four sons, Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius, who played a pivotal role in the creation of humankind.

Some legends equate Iapetus’s powers to that of Cronus. But he remained loyal to his brother and served well in his army with the powers. When man was created, just as other titans, Iapetus bestowed a gift. He gave the humans mortality and separate humans from gods. Some refer to this as a curse than a gift. It is because of this gift, that human lifes reach an end. So he is sometimes referred to as the titan god of death. Iapetus said to carry a spear and it is with this, he bring violent death upon humans. Unlike his brother Hyperion, Iapetus did not look kindly upon mankind.

During the war between Titans and Olympian gods, which is called the Titanomachy, he sided with his brother Cronus. But as for his children, Atlas and Menoetius sided with the Titans, while Prometheus and Epimetheus chose Olympians. Ultimately the titans were defeated, and Olympian gods gained power. Zeus cast out all the titans who battle against him during the war. It is believed that Iapetus is much powerful than Zeus, and he went to a face to face combat with Iapetus.

It is after defeating the titan, Zeus were accepted as the rightful ruler. In Tartarus, Iapetus were chained in the same way Cronus was, since both the titans share great power. But after sometime Zeus released the titans out of pity. Iapetus is one of the titans that were feared by most. But his calm nature refrained him from becoming some like his brother Cronus. Even though the gift of mortality is not exactly a gift to humans, it is a gift for gods. He made a clear rift between humans and gods. It is especially because of human’s mortality, gods’ carryout their supremacy.