Hyperion

Hyperion was one of the mighty Titans, the Titan of the Sun and Light and master of the sun before his son Helios. Eldest and wisest among the sons of Ouranos and Gaia, he carried the cosmic energy of the Primordial Fire from which the Power of the Sun was born, and ruled the heavens beside his wife Theia. When the Titans fell to Zeus, that power passed from him to Helios, and Hyperion was cast down into Tartarus.

The eldest Titan#

Hyperion was the eldest and wisest of the sons of Ouranos and Gaia, and brother to Cronos, the Titan of Time and the Harvest. When Ouranos imprisoned the Hecatonchires within Tartarus, Gaia turned to Hyperion to find a way to free her children. In that age the Underworld and the living world were separate realms, and so long as they remained apart the imprisoned could never be reached. Hyperion counseled that only a powerful channeling of energy could destroy the barrier between them and unite the realm of the dead with the world of gods and mortals.

Taking that counsel to heart, Gaia bestowed upon Hyperion the cosmic energy of the Primordial Fire, a power that had come out of Chaos itself and had spawned every other fire at the beginning of the universe. From this the Power of the Sun was born. With his wife Theia and their children Selene, Eos, and Helios, Hyperion held great power over the heavens above the Earth, and he was numbered among the few Titans who conspired with Cronos against their father.

Master of the Sun#

Hyperion ruled the cosmic order of light after the overthrow of Ouranos. He embodied the sun itself before Helios did, and within the burning core of his domain he forged a mighty spear, a weapon said to bear the weight of the cosmos. His pride in his own radiance was fierce. When the Phoenix burned brighter than he did, his anger drove him to strike the creature down, but the Sisters of Fate revived the Phoenix to show that their will was greater than that of the Titans, and that his defiance of the Fates could not stand.

Fall and legacy#

When the Titans were defeated by Zeus, the Primordial Fire left Hyperion and became one with his son Helios, who had defected to the Olympians along with Eos. The fire infused Helios with the same power his father once held, so that he might radiate life-giving light over the world below and ward off the ancient gods that dwelt in shadow. Hyperion himself was chained in the depths of Tartarus, and there, ages later, Kratos climbed up and around the weary Titan on his way out of the pit, loosening the chains that bound him without the Titan even seeming to notice.

Though Hyperion fell, his name endured across the world. The Hyperion Gates that span great distances took their name from him, for it was his merging of the Underworld and the Earth in ages past that made such crossings possible. One such gate stood in the realm of Hades and could be opened only by the soul of a god, while another linked the chamber of Aphrodite to the forge of Hephaestus.