0256NOTAtlas_Coldplay

ogcma@byu

ClCv241

Mastery

MythMatters

Hesiod Theogony. 507 - 17
Apollodorus Libr. 1.2.3
Apollodorus Libr. 2.5.1

Coldplay, "Atlas," song from soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2013

click image at right, or visit youtube: http://music-mix.ew.com/2013/09/06/
coldplay-atlas-video/

In the Titanomachy, Atlas opposed Zeus and the Olympians. Punishing Atlas was one of first acts of "Justice" in the new regime. Atlas' eternal punishment is to guard the pillars of heaven — and the Atlas mountains are named for this role — or to hold up the vault of the sky.

This song articulates the role of Atlas as one who willingly incurred divine wrath for the sake of humanity. Katniss' role in the Hunger Games closely resembles the role of the willing pariah whose self-sacrifice rescues civilization from the brink. (Cf. Prometheus, Atlas' brother.)

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300 - 1990's, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.