In Greek mythology the minor figure of Tityas (more commonly Tityus), a Titan-like figure of unbridled lust, was the son of Elara, who was a "daughter of Orchomenus" (Apollodorus) and one of Zeus' many conquests. "Orchomenos" in this case might refer to a king of the name or merely to the city of Orchomenus in Euboea, which was one of the early centers of power and cult in archaic Greece, with many mythic connections to the older chthonic gods. In the later interpretations of Hellenic mythographers who were reinforcing the supremacy of Zeus— Hesiod, for instance— the sky god is said to have "hidden" Elara in the Earth "for fear of Hera" (Apollodorus), and there Elara gave birth to Tityas; thus a mythic inversion explained the alternative (and surely older) tradition that earthborn Tityas was the offspring of Gaia herself. In Homer's Odyssey (vii.372) Odysseus' host, the deep-cultured king Alcinous, calls Tityus "son of Mother Earth:" his people, the ancient Phaeacians, had manned the galleys that took Rhadamanthys, legendary king of Crete, to visit Tityas in "Euboea, off at the edge of the world"— at least from Alcinous' perspective. Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods and goddesses and ancient heroes and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Elara is a moon of Jupiter. ... A king in Greek mythology, Orchomenus was the father of Elara. ... Apollodorus of Athens (born c. ... Euboea, or Negropont (Greek: Εύβοια, modern transliteration: Evvoia, Evvia or Evia), is the largest island of the Greek archipelago. ... In mythology chthonic (from Greek χθονιος-pertaining to the earth; earthy) designates, or pertains to, gods or spirits of the underworld, especially in Greek mythology. ... Hesiod (Hesiodos) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, believed to have lived around the year 700 BC. From the 5th century BC literary historians have debated the priority of Hesiod or of Homer. ... Gaia, also spelled as Gaea, Gaïa, or Ge, can refer to any one of the following: Gaia is a Greek and Roman goddess, also known as the Earth Mother. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... The Odyssey (ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first being the Iliad. ... Rhadamanthus (also transliterated as Rhadamanthys or Rhadamanthos) in Greek mythology was a son of Zeus and Europa and brother of Minos, king of Crete and Sarpedon. ... Euboea, or Negropont (Greek: Εύβοια, modern transliteration: Evvoia, Evvia or Evia), is the largest island of the Greek archipelago. ...

Tityas (from the same root that gives "Titan") was said to be a giant: This page is about the moon of Saturn. ...

"I saw Tityus too,

son of the mighty goddess Earth— sprawling there

on the ground, spread over nine acres—two vultures

hunched on either side of him, digging into his liver,

beaking deep in the blood-sac, and he with his frantic hands

could never beat them off" — Robert Fagles, translator, The Odyssey 1996)

The crime for which Tityas was forever punished was the attempted rape of Leto. When Leto was performing some secret rite at Delphi, Tityas came tearing up and tried to rape her. Her screams brought her twins, Apollo and Artemis, who put an end to the chthonic monster with their arrows. "Saturos is the usual Greek word for satyr, but among the Sicilians they were called Tituros. Remove the rho and you have Tituos, or Tityus," Robert Rouselle has suggested (see link). Tityas, being immortal, was confined to Tartarus, spread-eagled on the ground, where two vultures forever ate his liver, which Antiquity identified as the seat of the passions: a myth element more familiar in connection with the Earth-born Titan Prometheus. Apollodorus, Bibliotheke i.4.i, gives these details, but see also Homer, Odyssey xi.660—668; Pausanias, ii.30.3 and x.6.5; Plutarch, Greek Questions 12; Hyginus, Fabula 55; Pindar, Pythian Odes (iv.90ff). Robert Fagles is a Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University. ... For a place in the Oio Region in Guinea-Bissau, see Leto, Guinea-Bissau In Greek mythology Lētō (Greek: Λητώ, Lato in Dorian Greek, the hidden one) is known to be a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and in the Olympian scheme of things, Zeus is the father... The Temple of Apollo, seen from below The amphitheater, seen from above Delphi (Greek Δελφοί Delphoi) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece. ... Worship Apollo is considered to have dominion over the plague, light, healing, colonists, medicine, archery, poetry, prophecy, dance, reason, intellectualism and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. ... This article is about the Greek goddess. ... In Greek mythology, Tartarus, or Tartaros, is both a deity and a place in the underworld - even lower than Hades. ... This article is about the mythological figure. ... The Bibliotheke was renowned as the chief work of Greek historian and scholar. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... The Odyssey (ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first being the Iliad. ... Pausanias was Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Mestrius Plutarch (c. ... Hyginus can refer to: Gaius Julius Hyginus (c. ... Pindar (or Pindarus) (522 BC – 443 BC), the greatest lyric poet of ancient Greece, was born at Cynoscephalae, a village in Thebes. ...

Pindar, who was extremely well-read in mythography, mentioned Thasus as a son of Tityas (Pythian Ode iv.46). Thasus is more usually accounted a brother of Europa and of Cadmus. This article is not about the daughter of Tityus and mother of Euphemus (by Poseidon), who was also named Europa. ... Cadmus Sowing the Dragons teeth, by Maxfield Parrish, 1908 Cadmus, or Kadmos (Greek: Κάδμος), in Greek mythology, was the son of the king of Phoenicia and brother of Europa. ...

A similarly-named Titias. whom Robert Graves suggested was a doublet of Tityas (Graves 1955, 131.10), was beaten by Heracles in a boxing match during funeral games for the brother of King Lycus the Paphlagonian, at Mariandyne in Mysia, details that place Titias firmly in the "outlands" of Anatolia, where worship of the Great Goddess remained strong. Heracles' feats always represent the hero as the champion of the new, Olympian order, overcoming archaic chthonic earth-forces(Ruck and Staples 1994). In this case Hercules killed Titias by a blow to the temple, held to have been an accident, but for which Heracles made amends (Apollonius Rhodius, ii, 776ff.), another aspect of the mythic theme of killings for the sake of the new order (cf. Apollo's necessary purification after killing Pytho). Portrait of Robert Graves (circa 1974) by Rab Shiell Robert von Ranke Graves (July 24, 1895–December 7, 1985) was an English scholar, best remembered for his work as a poet and novelist. ... Paphlagonia was an ancient area on the northern central Black Sea coast of Anatolia, situated between Bithynia and Pontus, separated from Galatia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus. ... Mysia is a region in the northwest of Asia Minor. ... A Mother Goddess is a goddess portrayed as the Earth Mother who serves as a general fertility deity, the bountiful embodiment of the earth. ... The Twelve Olympians, in Greek mythology, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. ... Apollonius of Rhodes (Apollonius Rhodius), librarian at Alexandria, was a poet, the author of Argonautica, a literary epic retelling of ancient material concerning Jason and the Argonauts quest for the Golden Fleece in the mythic land of Colchis. ... In Greek mythology, Python was the oracular serpent of Delphi. ...

The scarab beetle Dynastes tityas bears his earthbound name [1] (http://www2.msstate.edu/~macbug1/scarabpicturepages/Dynastes%20tityas.html). Genera not a complete list Agestrata Augosoma Canthon Chalcosoma Chelorrhina Cheirolasia Cheirotonus Cotinis Dynastes Eudicella Goliathus Megsoma Onthophagus Pachnoda Phanaeus Plusiotis Ranzania Rhomborrhina Stephanorrhina Xylotrupes The scarab is a type of beetle noted for rolling dung into spherical balls and pushing it, as well as its habit of laying its...

External links

• Robert Rouselle, "Women's Dreams in Ancient Greece," (http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/ja/womens.htm) The Journal of Psychohistory vol 26.2, Fall 1998 (e-text)

References

• Robert Graves, The Greek Myths 1955.
• Carl A.P. Ruck and Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth 1994.