The (usually) twelve Titans are the children of a pair from a yet earlier layer of divinities - Gaia and Ouranos, the Earth and the Cosmos or time. They and their associates are sometimes referred to as the "primordial" deities - the others are Chaos, Aether, Hemera, Eros, Erebus, Nyx, Ophion, and Tartarus. These are the "grandparents" of the Olympians.
The Titans
Oceanus (Oceanos): God of the oceansCoeus (Koios): An obscure Titan who mated with his sister Phoebe and fathered the goddesses Leto and Asteria.
Crius, Crios, Kreios: Possibly associated with flocks of animals on Crete, but information on him is very limited. Father with Eurybia of Astraios, Pallas and Perses. He is mainly noted as a divine ancestor.
Hyperion: Associated with light, both physical and that of wisdom. His children were all light-related: Eos (Dawn goddess) , Helios (Sun god), and Selene (Moon goddess).
Iapetos, Iapetus: Associated with the westernmost of the four pillars holding apart earth and sky. He had four sons: Atlas,Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius.
Theia, Thia, Thyia: Ancient goddess whose name means divine.
Rhea Ancient mother goddess, similar in some ways to her own mother Gaia.
Themis: Goddess of Law, similar to Dike, who may in turn reflect something of the ancient Minoan goddess Dicte or Dictynna.
Mnemosyne: Goddess of Memory, later a Muse.
Phoebe: Goddess of Light
Tethys: Goddess of the Sea
Kronos (Cronus, Cronos)God of time, but not quite as "universal" as his father. With his brothers Coeus, Crius, Hyperion and Iapetos, he captured his father Ouranos and castrated him to allow the Titans to burst forth from Gaia, the earth where they were held captive in their mother's belly.
Dione or Dion:, who was the wife of Zeus at the ancient site of Dodona, is sometimes added or substitued for Theia.
Another female Titan, Asteria, presided over divination and dreams.
While some of the Titans became parents to the major Olympian deities, many of their offspring were not so illustrious. Family squabbles were the norm; the Titanomachy is the name given to the eleven-year war between the Titans and their offspring, the Olympians, led by Zeus.
The Titans are enjoying the attention of a new generation in the remake of the classic film "The Clash of the Titans". More on the Clash of the Titans "Greek" Movie Locations.
The Kraken also appears in "Clash of the Titans", but it is not a Titan.
The Titans also are featured in the "Percy Jackson" books, and some of them appear or are mentioned in "The Lightning Thief".
More Fast Facts on Greek Gods and Goddesses:
The 12 Olympians - Gods and Goddesses - Greek Gods and Goddesses - Temple Sites - The Titans - Aphrodite - Apollo - Ares - Artemis - Atalanta - Athena - Centaurs - Cyclopes - Demeter- Dionysos - Eros - Gaia - Hades - Helios - Hephaestus - Hera - Hercules - Hermes - Kronos - Medusa - Nike - Pan- Pandora - Pegasus - Persephone - Rhea - Selene - Zeus.
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