Since they were the only children of Uranus and Gaia that were not deformed, their father didn't throw them into Tartarus like their other siblings, the Hekatoncheires and the Cyclopes. Encouraged by Gaia and led by Cronus, the Titans set their siblings in Tartarus free and warred against Uranus (then the ruler of the universe), overthrowing him and setting themselves up as the supreme deities.

Cronus thus usurped the throne of supreme ruler from his father. However, the Fates decreed that he, too, would be overthrown by one of his children. Knowing this, he swallowed his children whole when they were born; these children were the Olympians: Demeter, Hera, Posiedon, Hades, and Hestia. However, when Zeus, the youngest was born, Rhea (the mother) substituted a giant rock for him, and Cronus swallowed the rock thinking it to be his son. Rhea then sent Zeus away, where he was raised by Amalthea and several nymphs. Later, he rescued his brothers and sisters, freed the Hekatoncheires and Cyclopes from Tartarus (where they had been thrown back in by Cronus after the war), and waged war against the Titans. During the war, the Cyclopes forged lightning bolts for Zeus and the Hekatoncheires used their many hands to sling rocks at the Titans. The Olympians and their allies won, stripping the Titans of their powers and dooming them to roam in the pits of Tartarus until the end of time. Rhea, who had aided the Olympians, was spared, along with a few of the Titans.