Iapetus, also known as Japetus, was one of the original twelve Greco-Roman Titan-children of Gaia (Terra) and Ouranos (Caelus). Iapetus is the Titan of Mortality and presides over the lifespan of a mortal before deciding on whether or not their time on Earth has reached its end.
Iapetus is also the father of several other powerful Titans such as Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. He sided with his brother Cronus (Saturn) during the Titanomachy, and was thus condemned to Tartarus by Zeus (Jove) and the other Titans. It is said by Homer that Iapetus took the seat of Tartarus next to Cronus himself indicating that Zeus saw Iapetus in the same light as his father Cronus.
Later Christian scholars have attempted to conflate the ancient Titan with the biblical figure of Japheth, one of three sons of Noah, Japheth was said to be the ancestor of the Europeans.