in ancient times, the titans are defeated by their children, the gods, who subsequently divide the universe among themselves: zeus (liam neeson) rules the sky, poseidon (danny huston) rules the ocean and hades (ralph fiennes), having been tricked by zeus, rules the underworld. the gods created humans, and their prayers fueled their immortality. but, as time goes by, mankind eventually questions and begins to resist against their creators, to the ire of the olympians.