The Giants were born of Gaia (the Earth) when Ouranos was mutilated by Cronos and His blood fell upon the ground.The Giants were intimidating and supernatural beings.They resembled humans in form,their hair was thick and they had beards; but that's where the resemblance to humans ended. Their height and strength were immense,and their bodies were covered in scales and ended in a lizard tail. Their main weapons were long spears. Although they were of divine origin,the Giants could still be killed under specific circumstances- that is, if they were struck simultaneously by a God and a mortal. Other traditions mention that some of the Giants remained immortal as long as they walked the ground from which they had been born.
The Giants were considered to be about one hundred in number. They lived on the western shores of the ocean, where the Gods often visited them and took part in their banquets. Before the Gigantomachy, the relationship between Gods and Giants seems to have been a peaceful one- the two sides respected each other.However, things took a turn for the worst.
Gaia was angry because of the fate of the Titans after the Titanomachy. Although She had helped her grandson,Zeus, to prevail in battle, She could not stand seeing Her sons and daughters imprisoned in Tartarus. So, She saw the martial potential of the Giants and rallied them in a war against the Olympians. Zeus, His siblings and some of His children were about to go through an epic ordeal; the battle which became known as the Gigantomachy.
The Giants attacked Mount Olympus without any warning. Suddenly, the Gods faced a cascade of huge rocks and flaming trees. The Giants uprooted mountains and stacked them in order to climb to the highest peak of Olympus, where the Divine Dwellings are. The Earth and the Heavens were shaken. The entire world almost came to an end,as lands were violently submerged and rivers had their course changed. Entire mountain ranges were shaking like leaves during the treacherous attack of the Giants.
The Gods of Olympus prepared to fight back. The leader of the Divine camp was Zeus, armed not only with lightning and thunder, but also with the aegis- the goatskin with the head of Medusa. Her head kept its deadly properties intact- whoever gazed at it would be turned into stone in an instant.
Next to Zeus was His daughter Athena, the Goddess of battle, who had just been born fully armed from Her father's head. Wearing her armor,She fought bravely, and with the gorgoneion on her chest she fought even better than a man. This is the reason why Zeus is often called γιγαντολέτωρ ( Slayer of Giants ) and Athena is often called by the same epithet.
Goddess Nike and Her formidable mother, Styx, also stood by Zeus' side. Leading warriors were Poseidon,Apollo and Hephaestus, who, at one point of the battle, saw Helios Himself being exhausted and took him on His own chariot.
All the Gods and Goddesses took part in the battle in every way They could. Hera, Aphrodite and Artemis joined the fight- even the Titaness Hecate and the Fates themselves. The only Goddess who was not involved in the battle was Demeter. As the Protector of all fruits that come from the Earth, she felt that She could not attack Gaia's children.
Each God and Goddess managed to kill one or more Giants- the most notorious among them were Porphyrios, Alcioneus, Encelados, Ephialtes, Evritos, Klytias, Polybotis, Pallantas, Hippolytos, Agrios, Gratios and Theon.
The war was raging for a long time, and the Gods could not find a way to secure victory against the terrible creatures. Then, Athena discovered an ancient oracle which stated that the Giants would be defeated only if some mortals fought alongside the Gods.Upon hearing this, Zeus sent Athena to summon two of his mortal sons, Heracles, his son from Alcmene,and Dionysos, his son from Semele.
In order to stop Zeus' plan, Gaia immediately began looking for a magic herb that would make the Giants invulnerable against the weapons of mortals. For that reason, Zeus forbade the Sun, Moon and Dawn from rising- the entire world was kept in darkness for many days until Zeus managed to find the magic herb, before Gaia did, and He destroyed it. This action finally set the path towards victory for the Olympians.
Heracles, who proved to be Athena's most valuable companion in this fight, arrived and killed numerous Giants with his arrows. In fact, because He is the son of Zeus, He could climb on His divine Father's chariot when he was tired of the long struggle. Dionysos came with his entourage, the Satyrs and the Korybantes, riding on donkeys that often frightened the Giants with their screams and shouts . Dionysos' emblem and most efficient weapon is His thyrsus, a long stick adorned with ivy. These two sons of Zeus showed immense bravery and courage throughout the Gigantomachy.
Crucial Parts of the Gigantomachy
The first Giant who got hit by Heracles' bow was Alcioneus,the biggest of the Giants. Alcioneus fell on the ground and as Heracles was cheering about His quick success, He saw the terrible Giant standing up again. Alceoneus was about to through a huge rock on Heracles ,but Athena managed to stop him. She then explained toHeracles, who still could not believe His eyes, that Alcioneus couldn't be killed as long as he stepped on the ground which gave birth to him.The hero then managed to lift the Giant on His shoulders, carrying him out of the field of Flegra, where he was born. Having lost his strength,Alcioneus fell under Heracles' arrows.
Upon seing his brother die,Porphyrion rushed to kill Heracles. Yet Zeus ordered Aphrodite to fill the Giant's mind with an uncontrollable lust for Hera, who was near the area. Eros was sent against the Giant and the trick worked- Porphyrion ignored Heracles completely and started chasing Hera. The moment he grabbed Her, Heracles killed him with His arrows.
Aphrodite played a similar role during the battle.When 15 Giants surrounded Heracles, She used Her divine power to transport Him into a cave - when Heracles was safe in there, Aphrodite exposed Her gorgeous body in front of the Giants- and drove them mad with lust. They started chasing Her, and She led them into Heracles' hideout. She walked into the cave and the Giants had to follow Her one at a time, since they could not enter all together. After that, it was extremely easy for the hero to slay them all.
Athena,as a Warrior Goddess, fought with bravery and excellent martial skill. These skills helped Her slay Pallantas,after a battle that lasted for many hours. She then skinned him and and created Her own aegis.
Enceladus was terrified by that sight and tried to run- but Athena hunted him down. She grabbed the huge rock that was to become the island of Sicily and threw it upon Enceladus, burying him forever underneath it.
Poseidon fought against the giant Polybotis and the sea battle that ensued was epic. The waves which arose almost reached the Heavens- Poseidon had the advantage of fighting on His own terrain. He crushed Polybotis with a part from the island of Kos and finished him off with His mighty trident.
Apollo, the son of Zeus from Leto, also took part in the Gigantomachy. His best known battle is the one against Ephialtes. Apollo's arrows rained on the giant,who seemed invulnerable, until Heracles joined the battle. Ephialtes was one of those giants who could be killed by both a God and a mortal. Apollo and Heracles hit Ephialtes' eyes at the same time, killing him.
Dionysos and the Satyrs hunted the Giant Evritos. Dionysos killed the giant with a single blow of His thyrsus- yet His rage was so strong, that He asked Zeus to transform Him into a lion. Zeus fulfilled His son's wish and soon Dionysos, in the form of a lion, devoured the dead body of Evritos. Pelloreus, who saw the death of his brother, grabbed and entire mountain and tried to throw it upon Dionysos and His companions.Luckily,Ares grabbed the mountain in mid-air and saved His brother along with His entourage. Poseidon chased Peloreus and killed him.
According to tradition,Eurimedon was this leader of the Giants. Zeus fought against him in one of the most difficult battles of the Gigantomachy. Gaia covered Her son's body with thousands of venomous snakes, in order for him to gain some leverage against Zeus. Eurimedon struck Zeus full-force, but the Leader of the Gods was protected by His aegis. At some point, Zeus turned Medusa's head in front of the giant's eyes- and he froze with terror. Zeus burnt him to death with His thunderbolt.
Hephaestos used all the various materials he had in his Divine Workshop during the Gigantomachy.He melted metals in the fire of His forge and threw them against the giants. In this way, Hephaestos succeeded in killing a very dangerous Giant, Mimandas. The Giant was battling Zeus and Athena, and he seemed to have the upper hand- at that moment, Hephaestos threw iron missiles at him. Mimandas fell down and Zeus managed to drop an entire mountain on top of him.
Hermes used all his ingenuity in the war. He went to the Underworld and asked His uncle, Hades, to give Him a helmet that would make Him invisible. Hermes then returned immediately to the battlefield and got near the giant Hippolytos. He suddenly saw huge rocks rising from the ground all by themselves and hitting them. As if that wasn't enough, Hippolytos started to feel stings, kicks and punches all over his body without any visible cause. Hippolytos was certain that he had gone mad and fled- after that, it was easy for Hermes to slay him.
Apart from the Main Gods, other Goddesses fought bravely in the Gigantomachy. Hecate managed to kill Klytias by throwing countless lit torches upon him, burning him alive. Also, Artemis, the Goddess of hunting,killed Gration with Her arrows throwing Her divine arrows at him. Finally, the Fates, stood by Zeus' side with their bronze bats. They killed the Giants Agrio and Theon.
Seeing his brothers fall one after the other, the giant Adamastor grabbed the entire mountain range of Rhodope and threw it at the Gods. Helios himself, as he was crossing the sky with His chariot, managed to change the course of the mountain and save the Gods. Adamastor was an enemy that could be defeated only by joined effort; so, Zeus, Ares, Apollo, Hephaestos along with Heracles and Dionysos charged against him. After a long fight, they eliminated Adamastor.
All the other Giants were killed by Zeus' thunderbolt and Heracles' arrows. When the threat was eliminated, the Gods rejoiced and the entire cosmos along with them. After celebrating Their victory, the Divine Family started to restore all the damages done by the Giants. Gaia buried some of the bodies of her beloved children deep into the ground, while She turned others into mountains.
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