# Atlas — Metamorphoses character guide

> Atlas in Metamorphoses by Ovid.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0040-atlas-transformed-to-a-mountain

## Snapshot

A Titan condemned to hold the sky on his shoulders, he refuses hospitality to Perseus and is frozen into a mountain range.

## Who they are

Atlas stands at the western edge of the world, bearing the heavens as punishment and guarding a garden of golden apples. When Perseus asks for shelter, Atlas refuses, fearing a prophecy about a son of Jupiter, and is shown the Medusa's head in reply. His transformation into stone ridges that still hold up the sky turns a cosmic laborer into landscape, one of Ovid's sharpest images of power and permanence undone.

## In the story

### [Atlas Transformed to a Mountain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/atlas-transformed-to-a-mountain)

The giant king who refuses Perseus hospitality due to a prophecy, and is turned into a mountain supporting the heavens.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/atlas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters