Hercules, Atlas, Akupara & The Snowman Earth Theory
- Faith
- Dec 22, 2025
- 6 min read
December 22, 2025
By: Faith A. Gold
Listen along as you read!
Hey all! Have you every heard of the myth and story of Atlas? He is always depicted as the Titan holding the entire Earth on his shoulders.
As I’ve studied more into Greek mythology, and the war of the gods and titans, I've wondered – could there really be an extremely giant humanoid creature that holds up our celestial sphere or Earth?
Battle of the Gods & Titans: Atlas' Punishment
The story of Atlas centers around the Titanomachy -- the war between the Titans and the Olympian gods, led by Zeus. Atlas stood as one of the leaders among the Titans, fighting for their cause.
After the Titans lost to the Olympian gods...Zeus punished Atlas, condemning him to eternal servitude. Atlas' specific punishment involved holding up the celestial sphere on his shoulders. (See photos below).
You have probably seen depictions of Atlas before like this one...
Hercules, Atlas & The 12 Labors of Hercules
If you don't know the story of Hercules, Hercules was the son of Zeus & Alcmene (a mortal woman). Hera, was the wife of Zeus and harbored deep resentment toward Heracles because he was an illegitimate son of Zeus.
Hera, angered at Zeus' infidelity, decided she would drive Hercules into a state of madness. This led Hercules to murder his wife and their children. (It's said Hercules didn't know what he was doing and was under Hera's spell and/or trance when he murdered his family).
Once his sanity returned, Heracles was filled with guilt (obviously) and sought ways of purification and guidance from the Oracle of Delphi. The oracle decreed that he must serve King Eurystheus of Tiryns (a relative to Hera), for 12 years and perform whatever tasks / labors the King assigned him...Hercules' completion and suffering through these 12 tasks would serve as a path to redemption and atonement after murdering his family. The labors themselves were deliberately designed to be humiliating, dangerous, and pretty much impossible.
For instance, Hercules' second labor was to fight the Hydra...a multi-headed, dragon-serpentine like creature who lived in the lake said to be the entrance to the Underworld. Hera specifically raised Hydra to kill Hercules. Hydra's multiple heads, when cut off, would continue to regenerate and re-grow.
In fact, it is said that after Hercules slew Hydra, as a memorial, Hera created the Hydra constellation HYDRA that lies between Cancer and Libra. (See below).
Hercules' 10th labor:
Hercules traveled to the edge of the known world to steal the cattle of the three-bodied (and three-headed) giant Geryon. [Geryon was said to be the grandson to Medusa & the nephew of Pegasus.] Hercules slew Geryon with a poisoned arrow.
Geryon, The Giant with 3-Heads & 3-Bodies (see below).
Hercules, Atlas & The Golden Apples (The 11th Labor):
King Eurystheus commanded Hercules to bring him golden apples, which belonged to Zeus, king of the gods. Hera had given these apples to Zeus as a wedding gift. These apples were kept in a garden at the northern edge of the world. The apples were guarded, not only by a hundred-headed dragon, but also by the Nymphs who were daughters of Atlas, and the titan, Atlas, who had been eternally punished by Zeus (Hercules' father), to hold up the entire celestial sphere...Hercules sets out to find Atlas.
Hercules finds Atlas holding the celestial sphere on his back...
Hercules v. Atlas
Hercules asked Atlas to get him golden apples, to which Atlas replied:
"I will do you the favor then. Come, take my place, and soon I will bring you the golden apples."
So, Hercules took Atlas's place, bearing the immense weight of the celestial sphere on his shoulders...and Atlas set out to get the Golden Apples.
Once Atlas came back with the golden apples, Atlas tells Hercules that he would be the one to deliver the apples to the King... rather than Hercules, and that Hercules would be stuck holding up the celestial sphere for eternity. Atlas mentioned, that it was Zeus, Hercules father, who gave Atlas this eternal punishment to begin with...so surely Hercules could work it out with his father and not have to be stuck bearing the celestial sphere on his shoulders for eternity...
Hercules, thinking on his feet, cleverly says to Atlas:
“As you wish. Only grant me one kindness before you go. The weight sits ill on my neck—hold the heavens for a moment while I place a pad upon my shoulders, so I may bear it more securely."
Atlas, knowing the burden of holding weight of the celestial sphere...obliged and took the sky back, which gave Hercules the opportunity to grab the golden apples and flee the scene.
"Clever for a mortal..." Atlas tells Hercules.
Atlas was forced to return to his spot, bearing the weight of the earth on his shoulders…
"Clever enough to know when a burden is not mine to keep..." Hercules replied & departs with the apples.
SNOWMAN EARTH THEORY
(Audio Starts at 6:00 minutes)
I recently came across this theory called "Snowman Earth..." Hear me out...
What if Earth was shaped like a snowman? Where Earth (our world) would be located at the very top of the snowman - the head....And the bottom half of the snowman included other lands and worlds beyond our own?
Check this out: I came across illustrations of "Snowman Earth" and find it interesting that the model depicts Earth as the top head of the snowman... with the middle section of the snowman (under Earth), depicted & named "ATLAS." (Like the story above - when Atlas was given eternal punishment to hold up earth or the celestial sphere...).
Now, the very bottom section of the Snowman Earth is a world named "AKUPARA," - which translates to "the TURTLE who HOLDS THE WORLD," or "the turtle that carries the world on its back." (See below).
Further explanation of this "Snowman Earth" Model:
Essentially, the theory is, the more dense the aether or ether is, the more "normal" the fabric of reality of that world will be. So, Earth, in this model...would be the world with the least magical properties or phenomena occuring -- because the aether is so dense.
Whereas, Atlas and Akupara have a higher rate of magical events and phenomena because the aether density decreases - making the laws of physics entirely differnet from Earth.
"Aether" & its affects on Snowman Earth:
Aether is what causes the laws of physics. It's caused by stars, which produce Aether Light and Elevation -- the higher up you get - the more Aether you find.
This is what causes Earth to have less magic than Atlas, and so on. Depending on the amount of Aether, different phenomena form, the amount of Aether affects the histories and evolution of entire ecosystems.
P.S.: THIS IS JUST A THEORY! NOT FAX -- REMEMBER!
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/CuratedTumblr/comments/17tmlaq/the_lore_dump_beyond_the_ice_wall/
Mythology & Cosmology Overlaps
Hindu Mythology of a World Turtle:
Have you ever seen or heard of the Hindu depictions of the way our universe is set up?
Well, Hindu's depict and illustrate the universe with a massive turtle at the bottom (World Turtle), holding up the rest of the worlds on it’s back (typically looks like one world layered on top of the other).
So, the very bottom foundation is the turtle, then above that is a layer world (sometimes depicted as elephants), and above that is a another world...and so on and so forth. (See below):
Chinese Mythology of a World Turtle:
In the Chinese mythology, the creator goddess Nuwa cut the legs off the giant sea turtle Ao, and used them to prop up the sky after Gong Gong damaged Mount Buzhou, which had previously supported the heavens.
Also, the word "TERRA" meaning LAND / EARTH - and isn't the word "TERRA-PIN" used for TURTLES??
Which also makes me wonder...why do we call an ATLAS…an ATLAS?
Conclusion
In closing, I have no idea what this world or Earth is shaped like, I don't subscribe choosing one or the other: ITS A GLOBE or IT'S FLAT.
To me, that just restricts our minds from thinking about or wanting to discover the many infinite possibilities there could be...why limit them? There could be so many possibilities...perhaps the globe model and the flat Earth model are both nonsense.
Is it just a coincidence the world under ours in the Snowman Earth Model is called "Atlas," and the world under Atlas is called "Akupara" - which seems to have its foundtion in many different cultures and is not a new idea...
As "off the wall" this Snowman Earth Model may seem - it may have some legitimate truth hidden within it...still waiting to be dechiphered...
What do you think about all of this?
Thanks for reading! Positivity to you all!
Faith
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