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 Atlas was the son of Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene and brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius. Atlas was married to the titaness Pleione who bore the seven sea deities with the name "Pleiades" ("the sailing") and special nymphs with the name "Hesperides", also known as the "Daughters of Evening".
Contrary to his brothers, Atlas sided with the Titans during their War with the Olympian Gods and acted as their leader, threatening the Olympians constantly.
However, the Olympian Gods managed to dethrone the titans and cast all titans into Tartarus, the depths of the Underworld. Only Atlas became singled out and received the harshest punishment by King Zeus: he was doomed to hold up the heavens with bare hands and bear their weight on his shoulders forever. This way, Atlas became the first to know that the earth was spherical in shape.
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