On Theoi.com and a couple of other Greek myth sites, they say that four of the male Titans (Koios, Hyperion, Krios and Iapetos) symbolized the four corners of the Earth. Does anyone have a source for this or know more about it?
3 Answers
I gave an answer on this subject;
They held the corners of the earth originally, before Atlas did.
There are no primary sources from Theoi about his subject, which means, that, there are none.
They give a little about its origin...
The cosmic story of five Titanes--four holding the corners of heaven--may be Phoenician in origin.
The six Titans, 4 directions + 1 ocean + 1 time,
Hyperion in the west, Iapetos (Iapetus) in the east, Koios (Coeus) in the north and Krios (Crius) in the south. The fifth Kronos (Cronus, Time) stood in the centre, and the sixth, Okeanos (Oceanus), circled the world in the form of the river Ocean.
But the fact remains, that, there are no sources for you. :(
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Yeah, I figured it was something like that. Thanks for your help, though, and the link. Jul 3, 2016 at 22:13
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Related question: What Phoenician story could be the inspiration of the cosmic story of five Titanes?– yannis ♦Dec 19, 2016 at 15:15
My answer is that Hyperion got the west, Lapetos got the east, Koios got the north and Krios got the south.
Kronos (lord of time) offered each of these brothers a corner of the earth in extange of helping him capture their father, who was the king of the sky. They do this and earn their prizes of the four corners of the earth, as show above.
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3Hi. First, I think you mean Iapetos. Also, adding sources and some commentary will go a long way in making this a good answer.– cmwDec 14, 2016 at 21:34
Hyperion East, Iapetus West, Coeus[Koios] North and Crius[Krios] South
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Hi Jeffrey, this answer would be greatly improved if you could provide some sources. Feb 4, 2019 at 15:51