No figure encapsulates the classical legacy in Gandharan art better than the winged Atlas. In Greek mythology, Atlas is a titan condemned to hold the weight of the heavens on his shoulders as punishment for his role in the Titanomachy. In the Hellenistic model, most commonly depicted on Greek vase painting, but sculpturally exemplified by the Farnese Atlas, a second century Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic sculpture, Atlas is depicted as a large, powerful figure crumbling under the weight of the earth on his shoulders. In the Gandharan context, the figure is almost always represented stout and crouched. He most often has brilliantly feathered wings framing a pair of broad shoulders. It is a figure less recognizable as a Greek titan, if not for its role supporting great weight. These figures were often placed at the base of great stupas or monumental figures of Buddha or the bodhisattvas. While their placement can be considered more ornamental than structurally integral, Atlanad figures are considered to at least metaphorically embody the concept of carrying the heavens, as Atlas was condemned.