Iapetus


In Greek mythology, Iapetus was a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. He was also called the father of Buphagus and Anchiale in other sources.
Iapetus has been equated with Japheth the son of Noah as the progenitor of mankind based on the similarity of their names and the tradition. Iapetus was linked to Japheth by 17th-century theologian Matthew Poole, Robert Graves, and John Pairman Brown.

Mythology

Iapetus is the one 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.
Iapetus' wife is usually described as a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys named either Clymene or Asia.
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. However, in Horace's Odes, in Ode 1.3 Horace writes "audax Iapeti genus... Ignem fraude mala gentibus intulit".
The sons of Iapetus were sometimes regarded 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.

Genealogy