Atlas and Talus

This article explores the history of the terms atlas and talus and discusses the unexpected implications of their use in human anatomy. Renaissance anatomists decided to call the first cervical vertebra the atlas. But the name atlas was first used by the ancient Romans for the seventh cervical vertebra. The most common explanation why the first cervical vertebra is called atlas is that the vertebra holds up the globe of the cranium the way Atlas holds up the globe of the heavens. However, an important part of the myth of Atlas is that the Titan was being punished. The seventh cervical vertebra was so named due to its suitability for supporting burdens. (Pollux, 1900) Switching the designation atlas from the seventh to the first cervical vertebra in human anatomy implies that the point of man's burden has shifted from his shoulders to his head. What an anatomist is saying by making, or accepting, this change is that man's true burden is not a physical load, but rather, it is his mind. We explore the implications of this switch, and how it is represented in Renaissance anatomy diagrams. Long before the first cervical vertebra was called atlas it was known as the astragalus, the same term used for the talus, or ankle bone. We examine the many different terms that were used for the ankle bone during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as the connection of the term talus with Greek mythology.