Editing Iapetus

{{Short description|Titan in Greek mythology}}
{{about|the Greek Titan god|the moon of Saturn|Iapetus (moon)|other uses}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Iapetus
| deity_of =
| member_of = the Titans
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| abode = [[Tartarus]]
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| battles = [[Titanomachy]]
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| consort = [[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]] or [[Clymene (wife of Iapetus)|Clymene]]
| parents = [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] and [[Gaia]]
| siblings = {{Collapsible list
 | title =[[Titans]]
 | bullets = on
 | [[Coeus]]
 | [[Crius]]
 | [[Cronus]]
 | [[Hyperion (Titan)|Hyperion]]
 | [[Oceanus]]
 | [[Mnemosyne]]
 | [[Phoebe (Titaness)|Phoebe]]
 | [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]
 | [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]
 | [[Theia]]
 | [[Themis]]
}}
{{Collapsible list
 | title=[[Hekatonkheires]]
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 | Briareos
 | Cottus
 | Gyges
}}
{{Collapsible list
 | title=[[Cyclopes]]
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 | [[Arges (Cyclops)|Arges]]
 | Brontes
 | Steropes
}}
{{Collapsible list
| title= Other siblings
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| [[Gigantes]]
| [[Erinyes]] (the Furies)
| [[Meliae]]
}}
| offspring = [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], [[Prometheus]], [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]], [[Menoetius (Greek mythology)|Menoetius]], [[Anchiale (mythology)|Anchiale]], [[Buphagus (mythology)|Buphagus]]
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}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Iapetus''' ({{IPAc-en|aɪ|ˈ|æ|p|ɪ|t|ə|s}}; {{respell|eye|AP|ih|təs}};<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/04/iapetus-and-tonotopy.html|title=Iapetus and tonotopy|last=Wells|first=John|author-link=John C. Wells|date=14 April 2010|access-date=21 April 2010|work=John Wells's phonetic blog}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Ἰαπετός|Iapetós}}),<ref>Of uncertain etymology; [[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]] has suggested a pre-Greek origin (''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, pp. 573–4).</ref> also '''Japetus''', is a [[Titans|Titan]], the son of [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] and [[Gaia]]<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D104 135]; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#66.3 5.66.3]; [[Clement of Alexandria]], ''Recognitions'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ClementRecognitions.html#31 31]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D3 1.1.3]</ref> and father of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], [[Prometheus]], [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]], and [[Menoetius (mythology)|Menoetius]]. He was also called the father of [[Buphagus (mythology)|Buphagus]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D8%3Achapter%3D27%3Asection%3D17 8.27.17]</ref> and [[Anchiale (mythology)|Anchiale]]<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], s.v. ''[https://topostext.org/work/241#A23.21 Anchiale]''</ref> in other sources.

Iapetus was linked to [[Japheth]] ({{langx|he|יֶפֶת}}), one of the [[sons of Noah]] and a progenitor of mankind in biblical accounts. The practice by early historians and biblical scholars of identifying various historical nations and ethnic groups as descendants of Japheth, together with the similarity of their names, led to a fusion of their identities, from the [[early modern period]] to the present.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Philip |editor1-last=Carson |editor1-first=D. A. |editor2-last=Williamson |editor2-first=H. G. M. |title=It is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture: Essays in Honour of Barnabas Lindars |date=1988 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521323475 |pages=99–121 |chapter=Retelling the Old Testament}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Haaland |first1=Gunnar |editor1-last=Pastor |editor1-first=Jack |editor2-last=Stern |editor2-first=Pnina |editor3-last=Mor |editor3-first=Menahem |title=Flavius Josephus: Interpretation and history |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-19126-6 |pages=163–175 |chapter=Convenient Fiction Or Causal Factor? The Questioning Of Jewish Antiquity According To Against Apion 1.2}}</ref>

==Mythology==
Iapetus is the one [[Titans|Titan]] mentioned by [[Homer]] in the ''[[Iliad]]'' as being in [[Tartarus]] with [[Cronus]]. He is a brother of Cronus, who ruled the world during the Golden Age but is now locked up in [[Tartarus]] along with Iapetus, where neither breeze nor light of the sun reaches them.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+8.478&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134:book=8&highlight=Iapetus 8.478–481]</ref>

Iapetus' wife is usually described as a daughter of [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]] named either [[Clymene (wife of Iapetus)|Clymene]] (according to Hesiod<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D507 507]</ref> and Hyginus) or [[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]] (according to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]]).

In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Works and Days]]'', Prometheus is addressed as "son of Iapetus", and no mother is named. However, in Hesiod's ''[[Theogony]]'', Clymene is listed as Iapetus' wife and the mother of Prometheus. In [[Aeschylus]]'s play ''Prometheus Bound'', Prometheus is son of the goddess [[Themis]] with no father named (but still with at least Atlas as a brother). However, in [[Horace]]'s Odes, in Ode 1.3 Horace writes "audax Iapeti genus ... Ignem fraude mala gentibus intulit" ("The bold offspring of Iapetus [i.e. Prometheus] ... brought fire to peoples by wicked deceit").

Hesiod and other Greek scholars regarded the sons of Iapetus as mankind's ancestors and as such, some of humanity's worst qualities were said to have been inherited from these four gods, each of whom were described with a particular moral fault that often led to their own downfall. For instance, sly and clever Prometheus could perhaps represent crafty scheming; the inept and guileless Epimetheus, foolish stupidity; the enduring, strongest and powerful Atlas, excessive daring; and the arrogant Menoetius, rash violence.<ref>Smiley, Charles N. "Hesiod as an Ethical and Religious Teacher", ''The Classical Journal'', vol. XVII, 1922; pg. 514</ref>

Iapetus as the progenitor of mankind has been equated with [[Japheth]] ({{lang|he|יֶפֶת}}), the [[Generations of Noah|son of Noah]], based on the similarity of their names and the tradition, reported by  [[Josephus]] (''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]''), which made Japheth the ancestor of the "[[Japhetites]]", i.e. the peoples of Europe. Iapetus was linked to Japheth by 17th-century theologian [[Matthew Poole]]<ref name="Poole Commentary">[[Matthew Poole]], ''Commentary on the Holy Bible'' (1685), vol.1, 26</ref> (and more recently by [[Robert Graves]])<ref>Robert Graves, ''The Greek Myths'' vol. 1 p. 146</ref> and by John Pairman Brown.<ref name="Brown Israel and Hellas">John Pairman Brown, ''Israel and Hellas'' (1995), 82</ref>

==Genealogy==
{{chart top|Iapetus's family tree<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+132 132&ndash;138], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 337&ndash;411], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+453 453&ndash;520], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+901 901&ndash;906, 915&ndash;920]; Caldwell, pp. 8&ndash;11, tables 11&ndash;14.</ref>|collapsed=no}}
{{chart/start}}
{{chart|}}
{{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |URA |y|GAI |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|y|PON|URA=[[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]]|GAI=[[Gaia]]|PON=[[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]]}}
{{chart|,|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | |!}}
{{chart|!|OCE |y|TET | | | |HYP |y|THE | | | | |CRI |y|EUR|OCE=[[Oceanus]]|TET=[[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]|HYP=[[Hyperion (Titan)|Hyperion]]|THE=[[Theia]]|CRI=[[Crius]]|EUR=[[Eurybia (mythology)|Eurybia]]}}
{{chart|!| |,|-|^|-|.| | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | |,|-|-|^|v|-|-|-|.}}
{{chart|!|RIV | |OCE | |HEL | |SEL | |EOS | |AST | |PAL | |PER |RIV=<small>The&nbsp;[[River gods (Greek mythology)|Rivers]]</small>|OCE=<small>The&nbsp;[[Oceanids]]</small>|HEL=[[Helios]]|SEL=[[Selene]]<ref>Although usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as in [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+371 371&ndash;374], in the ''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn]] to Hermes'' (4), [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=HH+4+99&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138 99&ndash;100], Selene is instead made the daughter of Pallas the son of Megamedes.</ref>|EOS=[[Eos]]|AST=[[Astraeus]]|PAL=[[Pallas (Titan)|Pallas]]|PER=[[Perses (Titan)|Perses]]}}
{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{chart|)|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | |}}
{{chart|!| | | | |CRO |y|RHE | | | | | | | |COE |y|PHO | | |COE=[[Coeus]]|PHO=[[Phoebe (Titaness)|Phoebe]]|CRO=[[Cronus]]|RHE=[[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]}}
{{chart|!| |,|-|v|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|v|-|.| | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | }}
{{chart|!|HES |!|HER | |HAD |!|ZEU | | | |LET | |AST | |HES=[[Hestia]]|HER=[[Hera]]|HAD=[[Hades]]|ZEU=[[Zeus]]|LET=[[Leto]]|AST=[[Asteria]]}}
{{chart|!| | | |!| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{chart|!| | |DEM | | | | | |POS | | | | | | | | | | | | | |DEM=[[Demeter]]|POS=[[Poseidon]]}}
{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{chart|`|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.}}
{{chart| | | | |IAP |y|CLY | | | | | |MNE |~|y|~|ZEU |~|y|~|THE |IAP='''IAPETUS'''|CLY=[[Clymene (wife of Iapetus)|Clymene]]&nbsp;(or&nbsp;[[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]])<ref>According to [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+507 507&ndash;511], Clymene, one of the [[Oceanids]], the daughters of [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]], at [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+351 351], was the mother by Iapetus of Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus, while according to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D3 1.2.3], another Oceanid, Asia was their mother by Iapetus.</ref>|MNE=[[Mnemosyne]]|ZEU=(Zeus)|THE=[[Themis]]}}
{{chart| |,|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | | | | |!| | | | | |!}}
{{chart|ATL | |MEN | |PRO | |EPI | | | | |MUS | | | |HOR |ATL=[[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]]<ref>According to [[Plato]], ''[[Critias (dialogue)|Critias]]'', [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg032.perseus-eng1:113d 113d&ndash;114a], Atlas was the son of [[Poseidon]] and the mortal [[Cleito]].</ref>|MEN=[[Menoetius]]|PRO=[[Prometheus]]<ref>In [[Aeschylus]], ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' 18, 211, 873 (Sommerstein, pp. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.445.xml 444&ndash;445 n. 2], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.467.xml 446&ndash;447 n. 24], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.539.xml 538&ndash;539 n. 113]) Prometheus is made to be the son of [[Themis]].</ref>|EPI=[[Epimetheus]]|MUS=<small>The&nbsp;[[Muses]]</small>|HOR=<small>The&nbsp;[[Horae]]</small>}}
{{chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Caldwell, Richard, ''Hesiod's Theogony'', Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). {{ISBN|978-0-941051-00-2}}.
*[[Clement of Alexandria]], ''Recognitions'' from [[Ante-Nicene Period|Ante-Nicene]] Library Volume 8'','' translated by Smith, Rev. Thomas. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. 1867. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ClementRecognitions.html Online version at theoi.com]
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Hesiod]], ''Works and Days'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0128 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0131 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Homer]], [[Iliad|''The Iliad'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
*[[Homer]]. ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0133 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Homeric Hymns|''Homeric Hymn to Hermes (4)'']], in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg004.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. [https://topostext.org/work/241 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

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{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

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[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Children of Gaia]]
[[Category:Titans (mythology)]]
[[Category:Condemned souls in Tartarus]]
[[Category:Japheth]]