In Greek mythology, Atlas ("he who dares" or "he who suffers") was the son of the TitanIapetus and the nymphClymene, and brother of Prometheus. He was the father of the Hesperides, Maera, the Hyades, Calypso and the Pleiades. Because Atlas fought on the side of the Titans in the war with the gods of Mount Olympus, Zeus punished him with the burden of carrying the heavens and Earth upon his shoulders. Atlas was turned to stone by Perseus using Medusa's head in the place where the Atlas mountains now stand, after he threatened Perseus when wanting to speak to his father Zeus about the punishment that had fallen upon him. He is also known as one of the king of Atlantis.
As part of his Twelve Labors, the hero Heracles tricked Atlas into retrieving some of the golden apples of the Hesperides for him by offering to hold the heavens for a little while. Upon his return with the apples, Atlas decided not to take the heavens back from Heracles. Heracles tricked him again by agreeing to take his place if he would only take the sky again for a few minutes so Heracles could rearrange his cloak as padding on his shoulders. Atlas agreed and Heracles left.
Since the middle of the sixtenth century, he is often shown in cartographic atlases. However it was not he but rather the mythical King Atlas that was depicted by Mercator in the first book to bear the name "atlas" and who gave his name to that type of book. Atlas continues to be a commonly used icon in western culture (and advertising), as a symbol of strength or stoic endurance. In such contemporary depictions, he is often shown kneeling over on one knee while supporting an enormous round globe on his back and shoulders.
"Atlas" is also the presently used name of many objects and places (see Atlas (disambiguation).
Sources
Origin of "Atlas" for a collection of maps (http://www.mapforum.com/01/atlas.htm)
Titan was a family of U.S. expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005.
The Titan II was a hypergolicly-fueled two-stage ICBM that was used by the U.S. Air Force from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s.
The current owners of the Titan line (Lockheed-Martin) decided to extend their Atlas family of rockets instead of the more expensive Titans, along with joint ventures to sell launches on the Proton and the new Delta IV class of medium and heavy-lift launch vehicles.
Atlas (at'-ləs, IPA /ˈætləs/, Greek Άτλας) is a moon of Saturn.
Atlas seems to be a shepherd satellite of the A ring.
Atlas is significantly perturbed by Prometheus and to a lesser degree by Pandora, leading to excursions in longitude of up to 600 km (~0.25°) away from the precessing keplerian orbit with a rough period of about 3 years.
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