Nowadays most people would think of the DC tv show also called Titans but i’m not talking about that show. I’m talking about the original Titans, the primordial Gods of the ancient Greeks. Despite the name, some seem to hink that they aren’t Gods. I’m hereto tell you that they are Gods and worthy of worship and praise just as much as the Olympian, Khthonian Gods or the Protogenoi.
Their names were Okeanos, Hyperion, Theia, Krios, Thetys, Japetos, Kronos, Rheia. Kronos andRheia gave birth tot he Olympians who wouldreplacet hem.The names I mentioned earlier werethe first generation, but there were also second generation of Titans, where the Olympians also belong to. Among the second generation of Titans that aren’t Olympians are Helios, Selene,Hekate,Prometheos, and many others.
The Titans were the deities in Greek mythology that preceded the Olympians. They were the children of the primordial deities Ouranos(heaven) and Gaia (earth). The Titans included Okeanos, Tethys, Hyperion, Theia, Koios, Phoebe, Kronos, Rhea, Mnemosyne, Themis, Krios and Iapetos. Kronos was the leader of the Titans, after he managed to overthrow his tyrant father Uranus from the throne. Kronos later learned of a prophecy that said his son would eventually overthrow him and did everything he could to prevent it. However, the prophecy came true and Zeus managed to dethrone him and end the age of the Titans, after the Titanomachy, the great war between Titans and Olympians.
in most polytheistic traditions the current ruling Gods overthrew an older race of Gods that preceded them. In Hellenic polytheistic theology we have three large groups of gods: Protogenoi, Titans & Olympian gods. The younger Gods overthrew the older ones. The first ruler was Ouranos, he was in mythology replaced and castrated by his youngest son Kronos (not to be confused with Khronos). From that castration came forth the Erinyes, Aphrodite (by some traditions). Kronos became the ruler of the Titans and this was during the golden age of men where there was no misery, no sickness, no pain. That race of men was also replaced when the Titans were usurped by the Olympian Gods under command of Zeus.
One can make the case that Ouranos-Kronos-Zeus are a triad and that Zeus is the current version of the God Ouranos or that the God first came forth as Ouranos, only to evolve into Kronos and then into Zeus, who he was all along. Its something that one can think about. I prefer to see Ouranos, Kronos & Zeus as individual deities, Gods in their own right, and worthy of respect and worship. and they were worshipped at one time in ancient Hellas. Not all Titans received cultus, but some did.
Interestingly enough, not all Gods were called Titans. The Olympians were never thought of as Titans, while some other Gods as Helios, Eos, Atlas were considered to be Titans.
I think the confusion comes from the name of their group: Titans. Most would take of gian beings. While they are being depicted like that, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t Gods. Gods can come in all sizes and shapes. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians prove that.
When I first come to Hellenic polytheism, I started with venerating the Titans. I still have admiration and respect for them and the Protogenoi.
I’m a hard polytheist. I don’t view the Titans as aspects of the Olympian Gods. First came the Protogenoi, than the Titans and then the Olympians.
My UPG is that they are distinct beings, worthy of respect and worship.
I’m searching on how to include them in my daily worship. I want to worship them, because without them, we wouldn’t be here. They made it all possible. I do already include Kronos and Rheia when I pray to Aidoneos, Poseidon or Zeus since they are the sons of Kronos and Rheia.
The Titans are Gods, their domains were more closely related to nature than the Olympians are. The domains of the Olympian Gods are related to human society than anything else. Especially the second generation of Olympian Gods. The first generation of Olympians:Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera and Hestia have more ties to nature than Ares or Apollon.
LIST OF ELDER TITANS
ADANOS (Adanus) An alternative name for one of the Titanes.
ANDES An alternative name for one of the Titanes, perhaps Hyperion.
HYPERION The Titan god of light and the cycles of day and night, sun and moon. He was cast into Tartaros by the gods at the end of the Titan-War.
IAPETOS (Iapetus) The Titan god of mortality and life-span. He was cast into Tartaros at the end of the Titan-War along with his brothers.
KOIOS (Coeus) The Titan god of intelligence and the axis of heaven He was also known as Polos. Koios was one of the Titanes cast into Tartaros at the end of the Titan-War. He was sometimes described as a leader of the Gigantes (Giants).
KRIOS (Crius) The Titan god of the heavenly constellations, also known as Megamedes. He was cast into Tartaros at the end of the Titan-War. Krios was sometimes called a leader of the Gigantes (Giants).
KRONOS (Cronus) The King of the Titanes, and the god of destructive time. He led his brothers in the castration of Ouranos (Uranus), and was himself deposed by Zeus. Kronos was cast into the pit of Tartaros after his defeat. Some say he was later released by Zeus and made King of Islands of the Blessed (home of the blessed dead).
MYLINOS (Mylinus) A Gigante (Giant) or Titan of the island of Krete (Crete), destroyed by Zeus. He was probably identified with Olympos or Kronos.
OKEANOS (Oceanus) The Titan god of the earth-encircling river Okeanos, the place of rising and setting of the heavenly bodies. He was the only one of the Titanes not to participate in the castration of Ouranos (Uranus), and in the Titan-Wars remained neutral.
OLYMBROS (Olymbrus) An alternative name for one of the Titanes. He may be the same as Olympos the Kretan (Cretan) mentor of Zeus.
OLYMPOS (Olympus) The Titan or Gigante (Giant) mentor of Zeus. He later roused his kin in an uprisal against the god and was destroyed. He was probably identified with the Kouretes (Curetes), Kronos or Olymbros.
OPHION The eldest of the Titanes who was wrestled by Kronos (Cronus) for the throne of heaven and cast into the Ocean-stream. He was identified with both Ouranos (Uranus) and Okeanos (Oceanus).
OSTASOS (Ostasus) An alternative name for one of the Titanes.
POLOS (Polus) The Titan god of the axis of heaven (polos). He was usually named Koios (Coeus).
LIST OF YOUNGER TITANS
ANYTOS (Anytus) One of the Titanes, Anytos was the foster-parent of Demeter\”s daughter Despoine. He was probably a Kourete (Curete).
ASTRAIOS (Astraeus) The Titan god of the stars, winds, astrology and astronomy.
ATLAS The Titan god of daring, endurance, and the art of astronomy. Zeus forced him to bear the heavens upon his shoulders. He was later released from this torment and made the guardian of the pillars of heaven.
AZEIOS (Azeus) A Gigante (Giant) or Titan who fought in the Titan-Wars. He was an ancestor of the kings of Arkadia (Arcadia).
EPIMETHEUS They Titan god of afterthought. He was the god who created the animals of the earth, while his brother Prometheus was busy with the crafting of man. Later Zeus tricked him into receiving Pandora with her box of evils.
HELIOS (Helius) The Titan god of the sun who rode across the skies in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. He was an ally of Zeus in the Titan-War.
HOPLODAMOS (Hoplodamus) A Titan, Kourete (Curete) or Gigante (Giant) who led his brothers in the protection of Rhea after Kronos (Cronus) learned of her deception over the birth of Zeus.
KOURETES, THE (Curetes) The shield-clashing attendants of Rhea, and protectors of the infant Zeus. They were sometimes numbered amongst the Titanes.
LELANTOS (Lelantus) The Titan god of the breezes of the air and movement unseen.
MELISSEUS The Titan or Kourete (Curete) god of honey.
MENOITIOS (Menoetius) The Titan god of violent anger, rash action and mortality. Zeus blasted him into Erebos (Erebus) with a thunderbolt. He was probably the same as Menoites, the bondsman of Haides.
PALLAS The Titan god of warcraft and the campaign season. Some say Athena made her aegis (aigis) from his goatish skin.
PERSES The Titan god of destruction, sack, burning, and summer drought.
PROMETHEUS The Titan god of forethought. He molded mankind out of clay and later stole fire from heaven on their behalf. Zeus had him chained to Mount Kaukasos where an eagle was set to gnaw out his liver as punishment. He was later released by Herakles.
SYKEUS (Syceus) A Titan or Gigante (Giant) who fled from Zeus and was hidden in the earth by Gaia (Gaea) in the shape of a fig-seed.
TITAN The Titan god of the agricultural calendar, established through the observation of the heavens.
Thé Titans deserve as much to be worshipped as the Olympians or Khthonians. They represent nature or kosmos. While the more better known Titans did receive cults, most of them did not or was done more privately. There is always a distinction between public and private religion. And it differs from city to city. There was no unified religion like we know with Judaism or Christianity. Which allows for more freedom to worship who they want.
What makes them so appealing is that they are different. They represent elements of nature, of our universe. They are the embodiment of nature. And while it deserve our respect, they aren’t just the embodiment. They were the ones who made it happen. Without Them, our universe wouldn’t exist. While the Protogenoi made the universe and are more or less the embodiment of it, it were the Titans who gave form to it. In that sense, I tend to think of them as more hypercosmic. I think that the Titans came from outside the universe and come in it to shape it to as it is now.
Source
The Theoi Project
Aidonian's blog 
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