WHERE ARE THE TITANS?
 From the world of Greek mythology, there are two representative deities -- Pelops and Cronus -- who are featured in "Stargate SG-1." They were first introduced in "Brief Candle" and "Fair Game," respectively. According to historical documentation, the former deity is an important figure in Hesiod's "Theogany," an epic poem detailing the birth of the gods. The latter is from Ovid's "Metamorphoses."
By looking at the family tree, these two figures are related. Pelops' father was Tantalus, who is the grandson to Zeus (Cronus' offspring). Thus, Cronus is the great-great-grandfather of Pelops. For these distantly related figures, they were detailed in mythic tales of cruelty.
Stargate's version of Cronus makes very little reference to the myth. His is simply described by Daniel Jackson as the Titan who ate his children. Further information from Hesiod's "Theogany" reveals that this giant is the son of Uranus, a god representing the sky, and Gaea, the goddess representing the Earth. The two created the Titans and the one-eyed Cyclops.
Upon their emergence from their mother's womb, most of these Titans were immediately locked away in a secret place -- and all of them hated their father.
With Gaea's encouragement, Cronus was the only Titan courageous enough to challenge his father. Armed with a sickle and hidden from view, he waited for Uranus to come mate with Gaea. With the weapon, he would seize Uranus' genitals and castrate him. He threw the severed member into the sea, and from the foaming ocean where it fell the divine Aphrodite was born. And from the foam that neared land, other deities were created: Eros, Cyperian and Cytherea.
During what came to be known as the Golden Age, Cronus and his wife (also his sister), Rhea ruled. It was a time where people lived without greed or violence. They didn't have to toil laboriously, and there wasn't a need for laws. Together, they gave birth to the core group of Olympians: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and others. However, much like his father, Cronus feared an uprising from his own children.
 Upon their birth, he immediately swallowed them whole. Zeus survived because Rhea disguised a rock and said to Cronus, "This is your son." The epic story reaches its climax with Zeus inducing Cronus to vomit out his kin and throwing Cronus into the depths of Tartarus, the lowest realm of the Underworld. This heralded the next age, where the Olympians ruled. Thus ends the "Theogany."
For Pelops, his role was a quiet one. He was only referred to by name, and to identify the statue that stood in the inner courtyard, next to the Stargate, looking triumphantly away. The way he was framed with the Stargate in the background signified that he ascended to godhood and he was "worshipped" as such by the Argosians. However, no history is told of this Goa'uld false god. In Ovid's "Metamorphoses," his tale is told.
According to legend Pelops suffered a cruel fate at the hands of his father, Tantalus -- during his childhood, he was chopped up, cooked and served as a feast for the Olympian gods. But they were suspicious of Tantalus' motives, and upon realizing that they were about to eat young Pelops, it was too late. The goddess Demeter took a bite from what was Pelops' left shoulder. They restored Pelops to life, and the missing should was replaced with a piece of ivory.
The remade Pelops was even more beautiful than ever, and the ocean god, Poseidon, fell in love with him. He decided to take him to Mt. Olympus and he was made immortal, a god. In later years, Pelops would return to the mortal realm. His life on Earth was filled with political maneuvering and backstabbing. He would befriend his allies and then kill them later, after he has acquired what he wanted.
For example, he loved Hippodameia, a daughter of a king, and wanted to marry her. However, there was a challenge involved that was decreed by King Oenomaus: a suitor would have to "best" him in a chariot race. Any suitor that the king can overtake would be killed. A dozen had tried and had failed. Through nefarious means on Pelop's part, the race ended with the king's death and he won Hippodemeia's hand.
For these two deities, both tales speak of rivalry and cruelty amongst the gods. Their traits are characteristic of typical Goa'uld, thus making them ideal choices to put into the "Stargate SG-1" universe. There are numerous episodes that detail their cruelty towards fellow "gods," if not to other lesser beings.
With that in mind, the suggestion that Dr. Jackson makes about Cronus and Sokar being related ("Fair Game") is not too surprising; the two share similar traits. Sokar is the most brutal, and can be considered a Titan himself. He took the right eye of
Apophis and of Bynar's, making them a Cyclops of sorts ("Jolinar's Memories"). With a moon to send his enemies to, they are literally secreted away. Netu is taken from mythical texts, borrowing from many cultures to make the ideal Hell.
For Cronus, his cruelty is unlimited. He will even kill one of his own subordinates if it suits his need. For example, he crushed the Goa'uld symbiote from the pouch of Teal'c's father ("Crossroads"), and he saw it a fitting sentence to Teal'c as well ("Double Jeopardy").
 A question that is raised in "Double Jeopardy" regards the identity of the blonde woman in the service of Cronus. Who is she? A likely answer is Rhea, his sister and wife. Her role in mythology is that of an earth goddess. More specifically, in one particular kingdom, she was regarded as the goddess of the forest and wild animals. In the episode "Double Jeopardy," she was more than just that. She was a technician, and that is appropriate in the sense that she has many attributes and was worshipped under many names.
With Rhea in the series, she is no doubt another Goa'uld queen and she gave birth to a new breed of Goa'uld gods who have borrowed Grecian names and are either trapped somewhere or are in hiding -- possibly waiting to be released from Zeus, the only living survivor, just like in the "Theogeny." Should the series' writers choose to do so, there is more to come from the Greek mythological world.
With Zeus free to rule in Cronus' place, a new age within this particular System Lord Empire can begin.
On the other side of the universe, on a lone planet, Pelops' mythic role is never revealed in the Stargate series. Seen only as an ivory white statue, that was perhaps a symbolic gesture to his mythical origins. But he was not the only quasi-historical figure turned divine.
 Another known Goa'uld is Yu. Historically, he was a Chinese emperor, the ruler of the first dynasty who was not worshipped until after his death. He was revered as the great engineer of flood control and a myth was created to describe how he did so. One result was the creation of the various provinces in China.
These two Goa'uld are examples of beautiful, selected, human specimens who, by Stargate definition, were given a mature Goa'uld symbiote to insure their immortality. In the episode "Brief Candle," Pelops was king-like, a statue that was worshipped by the Argosians. This group of people, from Greco descent, was brought to this world and experimented on. (As for why Pelops chose nanotechnolgy for his experiments, it was the only convenient plot device that the writers could invent to describe why the Argosians acted the way they did.) For this tribe, they only lived for a hundred days, without care until the SG-1 team arrived.
 Much like the story of Pelops and the "Theogany," there are comparable moments in this episode. Because Jack took a bite of the food, he himself became a victim to a fate -- to suddenly grow old. This is where the tale takes on a different spin. SG-1 discovers there is something wrong, but they can do very little to help except to make life easier for Jack.
Story elements from the "Theogany" enter into the episode, such that Jack has to retaliate against the statue-god. Jack is like Zeus. He had the titanic statue of Pelops pulled off its foundation. It came crashing down, revealing a secret under the statue's base. A solution is found to the Argosians' curse and they live normal lifes. For Jack, his ivory shoulder is his youth restored, just like in Pelops' tale.
SG-1 returns to Earth, under Mt. Cheyanne, the Olympus of the human empire of space exploration.
FOOTNOTES
1. www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/p/pelops.html
2. Hseoid, Theogany, 176-206
3. Stargate SG-1: "Crossroads" and "Double Jeopardy"
4. Turner, Patricia and Coulter, Charles. Dictionary of Ancient Deities, p.403
5. Stargate SG-1: "The Curse"
6. Stargate SG-1: "Fair Game"
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