Key Info

- Titan most known for fathering Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius

- These sons are blamed for giving humanity it's worst qualities 

Brief Bio

Iapetus, a Titan of Greek mythology, was one of the children of Uranus and Gaia.  He personified the human condition – a mixture of strength, ambition, and ultimately, fallibility.  He was renowned for his strength and skill, particularly in running and wrestling.  

A complex figure, Iapetus is often associated with the concept of the inevitable human struggle, and his children, Prometheus, Atlas, Epimetheus, and Menoetius, further embody this struggle through their own actions and destinies. 

Hesiod and other Greek scholars regarded the sons of Iapetus as mankind's ancestors and as such, some of humanity's worst qualities were said to have been inherited from these four gods, each of whom was punished by Zeus for a particular moral fault. "High-towering Menoetius, the embodiment of arrogance, insolence and overweening pride, he hurls to the nethermost of Tartarus. Prometheus, who uses his high intelligence for purposes of deception, he makes the victim of an ever growing conscience symbolized by the onsets of a voracious vulture. To Epimetheus, the personification of stupidity that refuses to be instructed, he presents all the ills of Pandora's box. To Atlas, patient, enduring Atlas who is devoid of self-assertion, he assigns the task of holding up the heavens, on the outskirts of the world, -- the zero of occupations."

He is less frequently depicted as a major figure than some of his Titan siblings, but his influence is felt through the actions and consequences of his children.