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Description

Wikipedia-attack for good measure!

Atlas was a Titan condemned to hold up the celestial heavens or sky for eternity after the Titanomachy .

Atlas and his brother Menoetius sided with the Titans in their war against the Olympians , the Titanomachy . When the Titans were defeated, many of them (including Menoetius) were confined to Tartarus , but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of Gaia (the Earth) and hold up the sky on his shoulders.[1] Thus, he was Atlas Telamon, "enduring Atlas," and became a doublet of Coeus , the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve.[13]
A common misconception today is that Atlas was forced to hold the Earth on his shoulders, but Classical art shows Atlas holding the celestial spheres , not the terrestrial globe

Wikipedia: Atlas (mythology)

Description

Wikipedia-attack for good measure!

Atlas was a Titan condemned to hold up the celestial heavens or sky for eternity after the Titanomachy .

Atlas and his brother Menoetius sided with the Titans in their war against the Olympians , the Titanomachy . When the Titans were defeated, many of them (including Menoetius) were confined to Tartarus , but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of Gaia (the Earth) and hold up the sky on his shoulders.[1] Thus, he was Atlas Telamon, "enduring Atlas," and became a doublet of Coeus , the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve.[13]
A common misconception today is that Atlas was forced to hold the Earth on his shoulders, but Classical art shows Atlas holding the celestial spheres , not the terrestrial globe

Wikipedia: Atlas (mythology)