Galaxy/The codex of Coeus

In Greek mythology, Coeus (also Koios; Latinized Polus) is one of the Titans, son of Uranus and Gaia. With his sister Phoebe he fathers Leto and Asteria, and through them he is grandfather of Apollo, Artemis, and — via Asteria's daughter — Hecate. He is an obscure figure who appears chiefly in Titan lists and genealogies. This entry is the Titan — not later astronomical or popular-culture namesakes.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Coeus" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Family

Hesiod and Apollodorus place Coeus among the male Titans born to Uranus and Gaia. His consort is the Titaness Phoebe; their daughters are Leto (mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus) and Asteria (mother of Hecate by Perses). Ovid can joke that Latona is "that Titaness whom Coeus sired, whoever he may be," underscoring how thin his own myth was.

M. L. West suggested that Coeus, Phoebe, and Themis may have been archaic Delphic figures folded into Hesiod's Titan roster to complete a set of twelve matching the Olympians — Coeus mattering chiefly as ancestor of the Delian/Delphic divine line.

II.Titanomachy and later notices

With the other Titans (Oceanus usually excepted), Coeus is overthrown in the Titanomachy and imprisoned in Tartarus. Valerius Flaccus preserves a vivid sequel: overcome with madness, Coeus breaks his bonds and tries to escape, only to be driven back by Cerberus. Pindar and the lost Prometheus Unbound tradition speak of Titans later freed by Zeus, presumably including Coeus.

Beyond genealogy and that Tartarus anecdote, he has no sustained narrative. Hyginus also lists him among the Titans; the Homeric Hymn to Apollo and the Orphic Hymn to Leto remember him as Leto's father (Leto Koiantis).

III.Scope

This atlas node is the Titan father of Leto and Asteria. It is not a personification of the celestial pole as a separate deity, nor any modern body or character merely named Coeus.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameKoios (Κοῖος)
Typetitan
Domainsthe Titan generation · ancestry of Leto and Asteria
ParentageUranus · Gaia
SymbolsTitan generation / Delphic ancestral line · Ancestry of Leto and Asteria
EtymologyAncient Greek Koîos (Κοῖος). The meaning is uncertain; the name is sometimes connected with notions of questioning or the celestial axis in later allegorizing (hence Latin Polus), but Coeus has little independent cult personality in early sources. Tacitus links a modified form Kōios with the island of Kos, claimed as Leto's birthplace.
READ MOREWikipedia