Atlas

"You have advanced to the Mythic Age through the Daring of Atlas."
Age up text

Atlas is a Mythic Age minor god for the Atlanteans in Age of Mythology. He is available to Gaia and Kronos.

Attributes

God Power

Name	Description
Implode	Creates a black hole that sucks in nearby non-flying units, distorting nearby buildings and objects, and then explodes.

Technology

Name	Description
Titan Shield	Destroyers have -50% pierce vulnerability.
Guardian of Io	Upgrades the Argus to the Guardian of Io, increasing its Line of Sight by +5 and decreasing its special attack recharge time by -25%.
Devotees of Atlas	Increases the attack and speed of Fanatics by +0.2% for every 1% missing hit points.

Myth Unit

Name	Description
Argus	Myth units that can spray acid which forms a temporary acidic pool that continuously damages enemies that linger over it.

Gameplay

Atlas improves the two Palace soldiers, the Destroyer and Fanatic. His Titan Shield technology reduces Destroyers' pierce vulnerability, making them even more effective against buildings. Titan Shield synergizes quite nicely with Hyperion's Heroic Renewal technology, making Hero Destroyers very hard to kill. Devotees of Atlas allows Fanatics to become stronger and faster the closer they are to death, thus becoming useful for either giving Fanatics the last bit of extra damage needed to finish off an enemy army before dying or allowing them to quickly retreat to safety where they can be rejuvenated by a healer unit.

Atlas provides the Argus, a myth unit capable of covering a small area in acid which repeatedly damages enemy units that linger on it, making it useful for area denial. Guardian of Io grants the Argus improved Line of Sight and a faster recharge time for its special ability, allowing it to engulf its opponents in acid even more often. Atlas also grants the Implode god power, which becomes much more destructive when targeted in an area swarming with enemy units and buildings. A Caladria may be used to scout the enemy main town in order to cast the Implode god power. The resulting destruction may leave an opponent scrambling to recover, buying the player time to better defend themselves or to end the game with an army or Titan.

Mythology

"The son of the Titan Iapetus and the nymph Clymene, Atlas fought for Kronos in the Titanomachy. This led to his being condemned to forever carry the heavens upon his shoulders, but due to a misconception he is usually portrayed bearing a globe on his shoulders. Atlas was temporarily relieved of his burden by Heracles during one of that hero's twelve labors, but was then tricked into taking the heavens back onto his shoulders. According to some, the hero Perseus later turned him to stone with Medusa's head, creating the Atlas Mountains. Atlas' name has come to mean 'bearer' or 'endurer'."
In-game compendium

Trivia

The in-game help section claimed his father is named "Lapetus", instead of the correct name "Iapetus". It has been corrected in Retold.
Atlas is shown holding up the Earth in both the original and Retold artworks, which is a common misconception in modern media. According to Greek mythology, he holds up the sky-dome, and is shown in classical sculpture to be holding a celestial sphere marked with the constellations of the sky, rather than the Earth or its features.