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1.0 INTRODUCTION:^[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_(Greek_mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes (jye-GAHN-tees or gee-GAHN-tees; Greek: Γίγαντες, Gigantes, singular Γίγας, Gigas) were a race of great strength and aggression, though not necessarily of great size, known for the Gigantomachy (Gigantomachia), their battle with the Olympian gods.^[2]Hansen, pp. 177–179; Gantz, pp. 445–454. According to Hesiod, the Giants were the offspring of Gaia (Earth), born from the blood that fell when Uranus (Sky) was castrated by his Titan son Cronus.^[3]Hesiod, Theogony 185. Hyginus, Fabulae Preface givesTartarus as the father of the Giants. A parallel to the Giants’ birth is the birth of Aphrodite from the similarly fertilized sea.

Archaic and Classical representations show Gigantes as man-sized hoplites (heavily-armed ancient Greek foot soldiers) fully human in form.^[4]Gantz, pp. 446, 447. Later representations (after c. 380 BC) show Gigantes with snakes for legs.^[5]Gantz, p. 453; Hammond, “Giants”; Frazer 1898b, note to 8.29.3 “That the giants have serpents instead of feet” pp. 315–316 In later traditions, the Giants were often confused with other opponents of the Olympians, particularly the Titans, an earlier generation of large and powerful children of Gaia and Uranus.

The vanquished Giants were said to be buried under volcanos, and to be the cause of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

2.0 Origins:

The name “Gigantes” is usually taken to imply “earthborn”,^[6]Hard, p. 86; Gantz, p. 16; Merry, Homer’s Odyssey 7.59; Douglas Harper mentions that a Pre-Greek origin has also been proposed (“giant”. Online Etymology Dictionary). and Hesiod‘s Theogony makes this explicit by having the Giants be the offspring of Gaia (Earth). According to Hesiod, Gaia mating with Uranus bore many children: the first generation of Titans, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handers.^[7]Hesiod, Theogony 132–153 But Uranus hated his children and, as soon as they were born, he imprisoned them inside of Gaia, causing her much distress. And so Gaia made a sickle of adamant which she gave to Cronus, the youngest of her Titan sons, and hid him (presumably still inside Gaia’s body) to wait in ambush.^[8]Hesiod, Theogony 154–175; Gantz, p. 10. And when Uranus came to lie with Gaia, Cronus castrated his father, and “the bloody drops that gushed forth [Gaia] received, and as the seasons moved round she bore … the great Giants.”^[9]Hesiod, Theogony 176 ff From these same drops of blood also came the Erinyes (Furies) and the Meliai (ash tree nymphs), while the severed genitals of Uranus falling into the sea resulted in a white foam from which Aphrodite grew. The mythographer Apollodorus also has the Giants being the offspring of Gaia and Uranus, though he makes no connection with Uranus’ castration, saying simply that Gaia “vexed on account of the Titans, brought forth the Giants”.X^[10]Apollodorus, 1.6.1; Hansen, p. 178.

There are three brief mentions of Gigantes in Homer‘s Odyssey, though it’s not entirely clear that Homer and Hesiod understood the term to mean the same thing.^[11]Gantz, p. 446. Ogden, p. 82 n. 74 says that the “Odyssey‘s Giants stand a little outside the remainder of the tradition, in so far as they are ethnologized into a wild, arrogant, and … Continue reading Homer has Giants among the ancestors of the Phaiakians, a race of men encountered by Odysseus, their ruler Alcinous being the son of Nausithous, who was the son of Poseidon and Periboea, the daughter of the Giant king Eurymedon.^[12]Homer, Odyssey 7.56–63. Alcaeus and Acusilaus make the Phaiakians, like the Giants, offspring of the castration of Uranus, Gantz, p. 16. Elsewhere in the Odyssey, Alcinous says that the Phaiakians, like the Cyclopes and the Giants, are “near kin” to the gods.^[13] Homer, Odyssey 7.199–207 And Odysseus describes the Laestrygonians (another race encountered by Odysseus in his travels) as more like Giants than men.^[14]Homer, Odyssey 10.119–120 Pausanias, the 2nd century AD geographer, read these lines of the Odyssey to mean that, for Homer, the Giants were a race of mortal men.^[15]Pausanias, 8.29.1–4. Smith, William, “Gigantes” and Hammond, “Giants”, following Pausanias, both assert that, for Homer, the Giants were a “savage race of men”. … Continue reading

The 6th–5th century lyric poet Bacchylides calls the Giants “sons of the Earth”.^[16]Bacchylides, 15.63; Castriota, pp. 233–234 Later the term “gegeneis” (“earthborn”) became a common epithet of the Giants.^[17]“Gegeneis”, Brills New Pauly; Crusius, p.93;Batrachomyomachia 7 (pp. 542–543); Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1058; Euripides, The Phoenician Women 1131;Lycophron, Alexandra 127 (pp. … Continue reading Hyginus has the Giants being the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus, another primordial Greek deity.^[18]Hyginus, Fabulae Preface. Latin

3.0 Confusion with Titans and others:

Though distinct in early traditions,^[19]Gantz, p. 450. Hellenistic and later writers often confused or conflated the Giants and their Gigantomachy, with an earlier set of offspring of Gaia and Uranus, the Titans and their war with the Olympian gods, the Titanomachy.^[20]Smith, William, “Gigantes”; Gantz, p. 447; Hansen p. 178, Grimal, p. 171; Tripp, p. 250; Morford, pp. 82–83. A probable early confusion, (or at least a possible cause of later … Continue reading This confusion extended to other opponents of the Olympians, including the huge monster Typhon, the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus, whom Zeus finally defeated with his thunderbolt, and the Aloadae, the large, strong and aggressive brothers Otus and Ephialtes, who piled Pelion on top of Ossa in order to scale the heavens and attack the Olympians (though in the case of Ephialtes there was probably a Giant with the same name).^[21]Gantz, pp. 450–451. For example, the first century Latin writer Hyginus, includes the names of three Titans: Coeus, Iapetus, and Astraeus, along with Typhon and the Aloadae, in his list of Giants,^[22]Hyginus, Fabulae Preface. and Ovid, seems to conflate the Gigantomachy with the later siege of Olympus by the Aloadae.^[23]Hansen, p. 178; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.151–162. See also Horace, Odes 3.4.42 ff., with Lyne p. 51. Plato had already associated the Aloadae with the Giants, Symposium 190b–c.

3.1 Descriptions:

Homer describes the Giant king Eurymedon as “great-hearted” (μεγαλήτορος), and his people as “insolent” (ὑπερθύμοισι) and “froward” (ἀτάσθαλος).^[24]Homer, Odyssey 7.58–60. The translations given are A.T. Murray’s. Richard Lattimore translates ὑπερθύμοισι as “high-hearted” and ἀτάσθαλος as … Continue reading Hesiod calls the Giants “strong” (κρατερῶν) and “great” (μεγάλους) which may or may not be a reference to their size.^[25] Hesiod, Theogony 50, 185; Liddell and Scott κρατερός,μέγας; Hansen, p. 177. Though a possible later addition, the Theogony also has the Giants born “with gleaming armour, holding long spears in their hands”.^[26]Gantz, p. 446.

Other early sources characterize the Giants by their excesses. Pindar describes the excessive violence of the Giant Porphyrion as having provoked “beyond all measure”.^[27] Pindar, Pythian 8.12–18. Bacchylides calls the Giants arrogant, saying that they were destroyed by hubris (excessive pride).^[28] Pindar, Pythian 8.12–18. The earlier seventh century BC poet Alcman perhaps had already used the Giants as an example of hubris, with the phrases “vengeance of the gods” and “they suffered unforgettable punishments for the evil they did” being possible references to the Gigantomachy.^[29]Alcman fragment 1 Poetarum melicorum Graecorum fragmenta, see Cairns, p. 310; Wilkinson, p. 142; Ferrari, pp. 28, 109,151 ff.; Hanfmann, pp. 475–476.

Homer’s comparison of the Giants to the Laestrygonians is suggestive of similarities between the two races. The Laestrygonians, who “hurled … rocks huge as a man could lift”, certainly possessed great strength, and possibly great size, as their king’s wife is described as being as big as a mountain.^[30]According to Gantz, p 446: “In all, the account rather suggests that the huge bulk of Antiphates’ wife is not typical of the Laistrygones as a whole. But they are clearly thought of as … Continue reading

Over time, descriptions of the Giants make them less human, more monstrous and more “gigantic”. According to Apollodorus the Giants had great size and strength, a frightening appearance, with long hair and beards and scaly feet.^[31] Apollodorus, 1.6.1. Ovid makes them “serpent-footed” with a “hundred arms”,^[32]Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.182 ff.; Newlands, p. 81. Here Ovid has apparently conflated the Giants with the Hundred-Handers: Anderson, p. 170, note to line 184 “centum with bracchia“. Compare … Continue reading and Nonnus has them “serpent-haired”.^[33]Nonnus, Dionysiaca 1.18 (I, pp. 4–5).

4.0 The Gigantomachy:

The most important divine struggle in Greek mythology was the Gigantomachy, the battle fought between the Giants and the Olympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos.^[34]Moore 1985, p. 21. It is primarily for this battle that the Giants are known, and its importance to Greek culture is attested by the frequent depiction of the Gigantomachy in Greek art.

4.1 Early sources:

The references to the Gigantomachy, in archaic sources are sparse.^[35]Gantz, p. 15. For a survey of literary sources see Gantz, pp. 445–450, Vian and Moore 1988, pp. 191–196. Neither Homer nor Hesiod mention anything about the Giants battling the gods.^[36]Gantz, p. 446. Homer’s remark that Eurymedon “brought destruction on his froward people” might possibly be a reference to the Gigantomachy^[37]A scholion to Odyssey 7.59 asserts that Homer does not know that the Giants fought against the gods, Gantz, p. 447. and Hesiod’s remark that Heracles performed a “great work among the immortals”^[38]Hesiod, Theogony 954; for the translation used here see Most 2006, p. 79. is probably a reference to Heracles’ crucial role in the gods’ victory over the Giants.^[39]Gantz, p. 446. The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women (or the Ehoia) following mentions of his sacks of Troy and of Kos, refers to Heracles having slain “presumptious Giants”.^[40]Hesiod fragment 43a.65 MW, see Most 2007, p. 143. Gantz, p. 446, says that this line “with no link to what precedes or follows, might easily be an interpolation”. And another probable reference to the Gigantomachy in the Catalogue has Zeus produce Heracles to be “a protector against ruin for gods and men”.^[41]Hesiod fragment 195.28–29 MW, Most 2007, p. 5; Gantz, p. 446.

There are indications that there might have been a lost epic poem, a Gigantomachia, which gave an account of the war: Hesiod’s Theogony says that the Muses sing of the Giants,^[42] Hesiod, Theogony 50–52. and the sixth century BC poet Xenophanes mentions the Gigantomachy as a subject to be avoided at table.^[43]Xenophanes, 1.21 (Lesher, pp. 12, 13); Gantz, p. 446. The Apollonius scholia refers to a “Gigantomachia” in which the Titan Cronus (as a horse) sires the centaur Chiron by mating with Philyra (the daughter of two Titans), but the scholiast may be confusing the Titans and Giants.^[44]Since Chiron did apparently figure in a lost poem about the Titanomachy, and there is no obvious role for the centaur in a poem about the Gigantomachy, see Gantz, p. 447. Other possible archaic sources include the lyric poets Alcman (mentioned above) and the sixth-century Ibycus.^[45]Wilkinson pp. 141–142; Gantz p. 447.

The late sixth early fifth century BC lyric poet Pindar provides some of the earliest details of the battle between the Giants and the Olympians. He locates it “on the plain of Phlegra” and has Teiresias foretell Heracles killing Giants “beneath [his] rushing arrows”.^[46]Pindar, Nemean 1.67–69. He calls Heracles “you who subdued the Giants”,^[47]Pindar, Nemean 7.90. and has Porphyrion, who he calls “the king of the Giants”, being overcome by the bow of Apollo.^[48]Pindar, Pythian 8.12–18. Euripides‘ Heracles has its hero shooting Giants with arrows,^[49]Euripides, Heracles 177–180; Gantz, p. 448. and his Ion has the chorus describe seeing a depiction of the Gigantomachy on the late sixth century Temple of Apollo at Delphi, with Athena fighting the Giant Enceladus with her “gorgon shield”, Zeus burning the Giant Mimas with his “mighty thunderbolt, blazing at both ends”, and Dionysus killing an unnamed Giant with his “ivy staff”.^[50]Euripides, Ion 205–218.

4.2 Apollodorus:

The most detailed account of the Gigantomachy^[51]Tripp, p. 252. is that of the (first century or second century AD) mythographer Apollodorus.^[52]Apollodorus, 1.6.1–2. None of the early sources give any reasons for the war. Scholia to the Iliad mention the rape of Hera by the Giant Eurymedon^[53]Gantz, pp. 16, 57, 448–449; Hard p.88. According to Gantz, p. 449, it is possible but unlikely, that this is the incident being referred to in Odyssey 7, noting that the story of the rape of Hera … Continue reading and according to scholia to Pindar‘s Isthmian 6, it was the theft of the cattle of Helios by the Giant Alcyoneus that started the war.^[54]Gantz, pp. 419, 448–449. But Apollodorus, who also mentions the theft of Helios’ cattle by Alcyoneus,^[55]According to Apollodorus, Alcyoneus stole Helios’ cattle from Erytheia, where the cattle of Geryon are usually found. suggests a mother’s revenge as the motive for the war, saying that Gaia bore the Giants because of her anger over the Titans (who had been vanquished and imprisoned by the Olympians).^[56]Gantz, p. 449; Grimal, p. 171; Tripp, p. 251. The late 4th century AD Latin poet Claudian expands on this notion in his Gigantomachia1–35 (pp. 280–283) with Gaia, “jealous of the heavenly … Continue reading) And seemingly, as soon as the Giants are born they begin hurling “rocks and burning oaks at the sky”.^[57]Compare with Hesiod, Theogony 185–186 which seems to have the Giants born, like Athena and the Spartoi, fully grown and armed for battle (Apollodorus, 1.3.6, 1.3.6). Also compare with Plato,Sophist … Continue reading

There was a prophecy that the Giants could not be killed by the gods alone, but they could be killed with the help of a mortal.^[58]Compare with Pindar, Nemean 1.67–69 (mentioned above) where Teiresias prophesies that Heracles will aid the gods in their battle with the Giants. Hearing this, Gaia sought for a certain plant (pharmakon) that would protect the Giants. But before Gaia or anyone else could find this plant, Zeus forbade Eos (Dawn), Selene (Moon) and Helios (Sun) to shine, and harvested all of the plant himself, then he had Athena summon Heracles.

According to Apollodorus, Alcyoneus and Porphyrion were the two strongest Giants. Heracles shot Alcyoneus, who fell to the ground but then revived, for Alcyoneus was immortal within his native land. So Heracles, with Athena‘s advice, dragged him beyond the borders of that land, where Alcyoneus then died (compare with Antaeus).^[59]Antaeus, another offspring of Gaia who was an opponent of Heracles, was immortal as long as he was in contact with the earth. Heracles killed Antaeus by crushing him while holding him off the ground. … Continue reading Porphyrion attacked Heracles and Hera, but Zeus caused Porphyrion to become enamoured of Hera, whom Porphyrion then tried to rape, but Zeus struck Porphyrion with his thunderbolt and Heracles killed him with an arrow.^[60]As noted above Pindar has Apollo kill Porphyrion.

Other Giants and their fates are mentioned by Apollodorus. Ephialtes was blinded by an arrow from Apollo in his left eye, and another arrow from Heracles in his right. Eurytus was killed by Dionysus with his thyrsus, Clytius by Hecate with her torches, and Mimas, by Hephaestus with “missiles of red-hot metal” from his forge.^[61]As noted above, Euripides has Zeus kill Mimas; other accounts have Mimas killed by Ares: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica3.1225–7 (pp. 276–277); Claudian, Gigantomachia 85–91 (pp. 286–287). Athena crushed Enceladus under the Island of Sicily and flayed Pallas, using his skin as a shield. Poseidon broke off a piece of the island of Kos called Nisyros, and threw it on top of Polybotes. (Strabo also relates the story of Polybotes buried under Nisyros, but adds that some say Polybotes lies under Kos instead.)^[62]Strabo, 10.5.16. The mention of a millstone, in the poem fragment by Alcman (mentioned above) may be an early reference to the island of Nisyros, see Hanfmann, pp. 476; Vian and Moore 1988, p. 192. Hermes, wearing Hades‘ helmet, killed Hippolytus, Artemis killed Gration, and the Moirai (Fates) killed Agrius and Thoas with bronze clubs. All the rest were “destroyed” by thunderbolts thrown by Zeus, with each Giant being shot with arrows by Heracles (as the prophecy seemingly required).

4.3 Ovid:

The Latin poet Ovid gives a brief account of the Gigantomachy in his poem Metamorphoses.^[63]Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.151–162. Ovid, apparently including the Aloadae‘s attack upon Olympus as part of the Gigantomachy, has the Giants attempt to seize “the throne of Heaven” by piling “mountain on mountain to the lofty stars”. But Jove (i.e. Jupiter, the Roman Zeus) overwhelms the Giants with his thunderbolts, overturning “from Ossa huge, enormous Pelion“.^[64]Ovid also refers to Giants piling up Pelion on top of Ossa elsewhere, see Amores 2.1.11–18, Fasti 1.307–308, 3.437–442; Green, p. 143. Ovid tells that (as “fame reports”) from the blood of the Giants came a new race of beings in human form.^[65]Compare with Lycophron, Alexandra 1356–1358 (pp. 606–607), who has the Pelasgian race born from the “blood of the Sithonian giants”, Sithonia being the middle spur of Chalcidice just … Continue reading According to Ovid, Earth [Gaia] did not want the Giants to perish without a trace, so “reeking with the copious blood of her gigantic sons”, she gave life to the “steaming gore” of the blood soaked battleground. These new offspring, like their fathers the Giants, also hated the gods and possessed a bloodthirsty desire for “savage slaughter”.

Later in the Metamorphoses, Ovid refers to the Gigantomachy as “the time when serpent footed giants strove / to fix their hundred arms on captive Heaven”.^[66]Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.182 ff.. Here Ovid apparently conflates the Giants with the Hundred-Handers,^[67]Anderson, p. 170, note to line 184 “centum with bracchia“. Ovid’s Amores 2.1.11–18 (Knox, p. 209), likewise associates the Gigantomachy with the Hundred-Hander Gyas, while in … Continue reading who, though in Hesiod fought alongside Zeus and the Olympians, in some traditions fought against them.^[68]Hesiod, Theogony 617–736, 815–819. For the Hundred-Handers as opponents of Zeus, see for example Virgil, Aeneid10.565–568; O’Hara, p. 99.

4.4 Location:

Various places have been associated with the Giants and the Gigantomachy. As noted above Pindar has the battle occur at Phlegra (“the place of burning”),^[69]Singleton, p. 235. as do other early sources.^[70]Aeschylus, Eumenides 294; Euripides, Heracles 1192–1194;Ion 987–997; Aristophanes, The Birds 824; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.232–234 (pp. 210–211), 3.1225–7 (pp. 276–277). See … Continue reading Phlegra was said to be an ancient name for Pallene (modern Kassandra),^[71]Herodotus, 7.123.1; Strabo, 7 Fragment 25, 27;Philostratus, On Heroes 8.16 (p. 14); Stephanus Byzantius, s.v.Παλλήνη (Hunter p. 81), Φλέγρα; Liddell and Scott, Φλέγρα; and Phlegra/Pallene was the usual birthplace of the Giants and site of the battle.^[72]Gantz, p. 419; Frazer 1898b, note to Pausanias 8.29.1 “the legendary battle of the gods and the giants” pp. 314–315;Lycophron, Alexandra 115–127 (pp. 504–505), 1356–1358 (pp. … Continue reading Apollodorus, who placed the battle at Pallene, says the Giants were born “as some say, in Phlegrae, but according to others in Pallene”. But the name Phlegra and the Gigantomachy were also often associated, by later writers, with a volcanic plain in Italy, west of Naples and east of Cumae, called the Phlegraean Fields.^[73]Strabo, 5.4.4, 5.4.6, 6.3.5; Diodorus Siculus, 4.21.5–7,5.71.4. And the third century BC poet Lycophron, apparently locates a battle of gods and Giants in the vicinity of the volcanic island of Ischia the largest of the Phlegraean Islands off the coast of Naples, where he says the Giants (along with Typhon) were “crushed” under the island.^[74]Lycophron, Alexandra 688–693 (pp. 550–551). At least one tradition placed Phlegra in Thessaly.^[75]Servius, Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil 3.578; Leigh, p. 122.

According to the geographer Pausanias, the Arcadians claimed that battle took place “not at Pellene in Thrace”, but in the plain of Megalopolis where “rises up fire”.^[76]Pausanias, 8.29.1. Another tradition apparently placed the battle at Tartessus in Spain.^[77]Scholiast A on Iliad 8.479 (Brown, p. 125). Diodorus Siculus presents a war with multiple battles, with one at Pallene, one on the Phlegraean Fields, and one on Crete.^[78]Diodorus Siculus, 4.15.1, 4.21.5–7, 5.71.2–6. Strabo mentions an account of Heracles battling Giants at Phanagoria a Greek colony on the shores of the Black Sea.^[79]Strabo, 11.2.10. Even when, as in Apollodorus, the battle starts at one place, Individual battles between Giant and god might range farther afield, with Enceladus buried beneath Sicily, and Polybotes under the island of Nisyros (or Kos). Other locals associated with Giants include Attica, Corinth, Cyzicus, Lipara, Lycia, Lydia, Miletus, and Rhodes.^[80]Hanfmann, p. 475 n. 52.

The presence of volcanic phenomena, and the frequent unearthing of the fossilized bones of large prehistoric animals throughout these locations may explain why such sites became associated with the Giants.^[81]Mayor, p. 197 ff.; Apollodorus 1.6.1 n. 3; Frazer 1898b, note to Pausanias 8.29.1 “the legendary battle of the gods and the giants”pp. 314–315; Pausanias, 8.32.5; Philostratus, Life of … Continue reading

5.0 In art:

5.1 Sixth century BC:

From the sixth century BC onwards, the Gigantomachy was a popular and important theme in Greek art, with over six hundred representations cataloged in the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC).^[82]Vian and Moore 1988; Schefold, p. 51, p. 64; Ogden, p. 82; See also Vian 1951; 1952; Morford, p. 72.

The Gigantomachy was depicted on the new peplos (robe) presented to Athena on the Acropolis of Athens as part of the Panathenaic festival celebrating her victory over the Giants, a practice dating from perhaps as early as the second millennium BC.^[83]Barber 1992, pp. 103–104, 112, 117; Barber 1991, pp. 361–362,380–381; Simon, p. 23; Euripides, Hecuba, 466–474,Iphigenia in Tauris 222–224; Aristophanes, The Birds 823–831,The Knights … Continue reading The earliest extant indisputable representations of Gigantes are found on votive pinakes from Corinth and Eleusis, and Attic black-figure pots, dating from the second quarter of the sixth century BC (this excludes early depictions of Zeus battling single snake-footed creatures, which probably represent his battle with Typhon, as well as Zeus’ opponent on the west pediment of the Temple of Artemis on Kerkyra (modern Corfu) which is probably not a Giant).^[84]Gantz, p. 450; Moore 1985, p. 21; Schefold, pp. 51–52; Robertson, Martin, pp. 16–17.

Though all these early Attic vases^[85]Akropolis 607 (Beazley Archive 310147, LIMC Gigantes 105); Akropolis 1632 (Beazley Archive 15673, LIMC Gigantes 110); Akropolis 2134 (Beazley Archive 9922, LIMC Gigantes 106); Akropolis 2211 (Beazley … Continue reading are fragmentary, the many common features in their depictions of the Gigantomachy suggest that a common model or template was used as a prototype, possibly Athena’s peplos.^[86]Moore 1985, p. 21; Schefold, p. 55, 57; Neils, p. 228. These vases depict large battles, including most of the Olympians, and contain a central group which appears to consist of Zeus, Heracles, Athena, and sometimes Gaia.^[87]Gantz, p. 451; Moore 1979, pp. 81–84, ILL. 1. & 2.; Moore 1985, p. 21; Schefold, 57; Beazley, pp. 38–39; Day, p. 163. Several examples from later in the sixth century BC depict a similar … Continue reading Zeus, Heracles and Athena are attacking Giants to the right.^[88]Rightward was conventionally the “direction of victory”, see Schefold, p. 62; Stewart, p. 128. Zeus mounts a chariot brandishing his thunderbolt in his right hand, Heracles, in the chariot, bends forward with drawn bow and left foot on the chariot pole, Athena, beside the chariot, strides forward toward one or two Giants, and the four chariot horses trample a fallen Giant. When present Gaia, shielded behind Herakles, is apparently pleading with Zeus to spare her children.

On either side of the central group are found the rest of the gods engaged in combat with particular Giants. While the gods can be identified by characteristic features, for example Hermes with his hat (petasos) and Dionysus his ivy crown, the Giants are not individually characterized and can only be identified by inscriptions which sometimes name the Giant.^[89]Schefold, pp. 56–57; Gantz p. 451; Moore 1985, p. 21 The fragments of one vase from this same period (Getty 81.AE.211)^[90]Beazley Archive 10047, LIMC Gigantes 171. name five Giants: Pankrates against Heracles,^[91]Moore 1985, p. 28. Polybotes against Zeus,^[92]Moore 1985, pp. 30–31. Oranion against Dionysus,^[93]Moore 1985, p. 32. Euboios and Euphorbos fallen^[94]Moore 1985, pp. 34–36. and Ephialtes.^[95]Moore 1985, pp. 34–35. Also named, on two other of these early vases, are Aristaeus battling Hephaestus (Akropolis 607), Eurymedon and (again) Ephialtes (Akropolis 2134). An amphora from Caere from later in the sixth century, gives the names of more Giants: Hyperbios and Agasthenes (along with Ephialtes) fighting Zeus, Harpolykos against Hera, Enceladus against Athena and (again) Polybotes, who in this case battles Poseidon (with trident) holding the island of Nisyros on his shoulder (Louvre E732).^[96]Gantz, p. 451; Arafat, p. 16; Beazley Archive 14590, LIMC Gigantes 170. This motif of Poseidon holding the island of Nisyros, ready to hurl it at his opponent, is another frequent feature of these early Gigantomachies.^[97]Gantz, p. 453; Moore 1985, p. 32; Cook, pp. 14–18; Frazer 1898a, note to Pausanias 1.2.4 “Poseidon on horseback hurling a spear at the giant Polybotes” pp. 48–49.

The Gigantomachy was also a popular theme in late sixth century sculpture. The most comprehensive treatment is found on the north frieze of the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi (c. 525 BC), with more than thirty figures, named by inscription.^[98]Gantz, pp. 451–452; Stewart, pp. 128–129, plates 195–198; Schefold, pp. 59–62; Morford, p. 73; Drawing: J.Boardman, Greek Sculpture Archaic Period fig.212.1; Perseus: Delphi, Siphnian … Continue reading From left to right, these include Hephaestus (with bellows), two females fighting two Giants; Dionysus striding toward an advancing Giant; Themis^[99]Brinkmann, N17 p. 101. According to Schefold, p. 62, Themis “appears here in the guise of Kybele“. in a chariot drawn by a team of lions which are attacking a fleeing Giant; the archers Apollo and Artemis; another fleeing Giant (Tharos or possibly Kantharos);^[100]Brinkmann, N5 p. 92, reads only Tharos. the Giant Ephialtes lying on the ground;^[101]Brinkmann, N7 p. 94. and a group of three Giants, which include Hyperphas^[102]Brinkmann, N6 p. 92, others have read Hypertas. and Alektos,^[103]Brinkmann, N8 p. 94. opposing Apollo and Artemis. Next comes a missing central section presumably containing Zeus, and possibly Heracles, with chariot (only parts of a team of horses remain). To the right of this comes a female stabbing her spear^[104]Possibly Aphrodite, has been identified as Hera, but Brinkmann, p. 94 finds no trace of that name. at a fallen Giant (probably Porphyrion);^[105]Brinkmann, N22 p. 103, only the thew last four letters: ριον can be read. Athena fighting Eriktypos^[106]Brinkmann, N10 p. 96; others have read Berektas. and a second Giant; a male stepping over the fallen Astarias^[107]Brinkmann, N12 p. 103; others have read Astartas. to attack Biatas^[108]Brinkmann, N11 p. 96. and another Giant; and Hermes against two Giants. Then follows a gap which probably contained Poseidon; and finally on the far right, a male fighting two Giants, one fallen, the other the Giant Mimon (possibly the same as the Giant Mimas mentioned by Apollodorus).^[109]Brinkmann, N14 pp. 98, 124–125. The fallen Giant Mimon against Ares is also named on a late fifth century BC cup from Vulci (Berlin F2531): Beazley Archive 220533: detail showing Mimon and Ares; … Continue reading

The Gigantomachy also appeared on several other late sixth century buildings, including the west pediment of the Alkmeonid Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the pediment of the Megarian Treasury at Olympia, the east pediment of the Old Temple of Athena on the Acropolis of Athens, and the metopes of Temple F at Selinous.^[110]Gantz, p. 452. For the Temple of Apollo see: Schefold, p 64; Shapiro, p. 247; Stewart, pp. 86–87; Euripides, Ion 205–218; LIMC Gigantes 3. For the Megarian Treasury see: Pollitt 1990, pp. … Continue reading

5.2 Fifth century BC:

The theme continued to be popular in the fifth century BC. A particularly fine example is found on a red-figure cup (c. 490–485 BC) by the Brygos Painter (Berlin F2293). On one side of the cup is the same central group of gods (minus Gaia) as described above: Zeus wielding his thunderbolt, stepping into a quadriga, Heracles with lion skin (behind the chariot rather than in it) drawing his (unseen) bow, and ahead Athena thrusting her spear into a fallen Giant. On the other side are Hephaestus flinging flaming missiles of red-hot metal from two pairs of tongs, Poseidon, with Nisyros on his shoulder, stabbing a fallen Giant with his trident, and Hermes with his petasos hanging in back of his head, attacking another fallen Giant. None of the Giants are named.^[111]Arafat, pp 12–15; Cohen, pp. 177–178; Gantz p. 452; Beazley Archive 203909; LIMC Gigantes 303.

Phidias used the theme for the metopes of the east facade of the Parthenon (c. 445 BC) and for the interior of the shield of Athena Parthenos.^[112]For the Parthenon Gigantomachy metopes see Schwab, pp. 168–173, for the statue of Athena see Lapatin, pp. 262–263, for both see Kleiner, pp. 136—137. Phidias’ work perhaps marks the beginning of a change in the way the Giants are presented. While previously the Giants had been portrayed as typical hoplite warriors armed with the usual helmets, shields, spears and swords, in the fifth century the Giants begin to be depicted as less handsome in appearance, primitive and wild, clothed in animal skins or naked, often without armor, and using boulders as weapons.^[113]Dwyer, p. 295; Gantz, pp. 446, 447, 452–453; Hard, p. 90. For an example of a particularly “handsome” Giant see Schefold, p. 67: British Museum E 8 (Beazley Archive 302261, … Continue reading A series of red-figure pots from c. 400 BC, which may have used Phidas’ shield of Athena Parthenos as their model, show the Olympians fighting from above and the Giants fighting with large stones from below.^[114]Robertson, Martin, pp. 106–107; Dwyer, p. 295; Cook, p. 56; Arafat, p. 25; Lourve MNB810 (Beazley Archive 217568, LIMC Gigantes 322); Naples 81521 (Beazley Archive 217517, LIMC Gigantes 316

5.3 Fourth century BC and later:

With the beginning of the fourth century BC probably comes the first portrayal of the Giants in Greek art as anything other than fully human in form, with legs that become coiled serpents having snake heads at the ends in place of feet.^[115]Ogden, pp. 82–83, Gantz, p. 453; Berlin V.I. 3375 (Beazley Archive 6987, LIMC Gigantes 389). Snake-legged Giants may exist in earlier Etruscan art, for example a winged and snake-footed monster … Continue reading Such depictions were perhaps borrowed from Typhon, the monstrous son of Gaia and Tartarus, described by Hesiod as having a hundred snake heads growing from his shoulders.^[116]Pollitt 1986, p. 109; Ogden, p. 83; Hesiod, Theogony 820 ff.. The similarities between Typhon and the Giants are several, both “monstrous children produced by Earth in a spirit of revenge, with … Continue reading This snake-legged motif becomes the standard for the rest of antiquity, culminating in the monumental Gigantomachy frieze of the second century BC Pergamon Altar. Measuring nearly 400 feet long and over seven feet high, here the Gigantomachy receives its most extensive treatment, with over one hundred figures.^[117]Kleiner, pp. 155–156; Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, p. 33; Smith, R. R. R. 1991, p. 159; Queyrel, p. 49; Pergamon Altar (LIMC Gigantes 24).

Although fragmentary, much of the Gigantomachy frieze has been restored. The general sequence of the figures and the identifications of most of the approximately sixty gods and goddesses have been more or less established.^[118]Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2005. The names of the gods and goddesses were inscribed on the upper molding of the frieze, with the exception of Gaia whose name was inscribed on the background next to … Continue reading The names and positions of most Giants remain uncertain. Some of the names of the Giants have been determined by inscription,^[119]The names of the Giants were inscribed on the lower molding or, for the walls flanking the stairs where the moulding was omitted, on the background of the frieze between the figures, see Brunilde … Continue reading while their positions are often conjectured on the basis of which gods fought which Giants in Apollodorus‘ account.^[120]Pollitt 1986, p. 109.

The same central group of Zeus, Athena, Heracles and Gaia, found on many early Attic vases, also featured prominently on the Pergamon Altar. On the right side of the East frieze, the first encountered by a visitor, a winged Giant, usually identified as Alcyoneus, fights Athena.^[121]Cunningham, p. 113; Kleiner, p. 156 FIG. 5-79; Queyrel, pp. 52–53; Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, p. 39, pp. 59–60 n. 59. Supporting the identification of this Giant as Alcyoneus, is the … Continue reading Below and to the right of Athena, Gaia rises from the ground, touching Athena’s robe in supplication. Flying above Gaia, a winged Nike crowns the victorious Athena. To the left of this grouping a snake-legged Porphyrion battles Zeus.^[122]Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, p. 54 n. 35; Queyrel, pp. 53–54. And to the left of Zeus stood Heracles.^[123]Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2005. Though virtually nothing of Heracles remains, only part of a linonskin, and a left hand holding a bow, the location of the hero is identified by inscription, see … Continue reading

On the far left side of the East frieze, a triple Hecate with torch battles a snake-legged Giant usually identified (following Apollodorus) as Clytius.^[124]Queyrel, pp. 56–58; Ling, p. 50; Apollodorus 1.6.2. To the right, the fallen Udaeus has been shot in his left eye by an arrow from Apollo,^[125]Queyrel, pp. 55–56. This figure, now identified by inscription as Udaeus, was previously supposed to be Ephialtes, who Apollodorus,1.6.2 has Apollo shoot in the left eye. Udaeus (earthy) was also … Continue reading and Demeter wields a pair of torches against Erysichthon.^[126]Queyrel, p. 55; Moore 1977, p. 324 n. 70; McKay, p. 93;Callimachus, Hymn 6 (to Demeter) 25 ff. (pp. 126 ff.).

The Giants are depicted in a variety of ways. Some Giants are fully human in form, while others are a combination of human and animal forms. Some are snake-legged; some have wings; one has bird claws; one is lion-headed; another is bull-headed. Some Giants wear helmets, carry shields, and fight with swords, others are naked or clothed in animal skins, and fight with clubs or rocks.^[127]Pollitt 1986, p. 109; Smith, R. R. R. p. 162.

The large size of the frieze probably necessitated the addition of many more Giants than had been previously known. Some, like Typhon and Tityus, who were not strictly speaking Giants, were perhaps included. Others were probably invented.^[128]Pollitt 1986, p. 109. The partial inscription “Mim” may mean that the Giant Mimas was also depicted. Other less familiar, or otherwise unknown Giant names include: Allektos, Chthonophylos, Eurybias, Molodros, Obrimos, Ochthaios and Olyktor.^[129]Queyrel, p. 52.

6.0 In post-classical art:

The subject was revived in the Renaissance, most famously in the frescos of the Sala dei Giganti in the Palazzo del Te, Mantua. These were painted around 1530 by Giulio Romano and his workshop, and aimed to give the viewer the unsettling idea that the large hall was in the process of collapsing. The subject was also popular in Northern Mannerism around 1600, especially among the Haarlem Mannerists, and continued to be painted into the 18th century.^[130]Hall, James, Hall’s Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, p. 140, 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray, ISBN 0719541476

6.1 Symbolism, meaning and interpretations:

Historically, the myth of the Gigantomachy (and the Titanomachy) may reflect the “triumph” of the new imported gods of the invading Greek speaking peoples from the north (c. 2000 BC) over the old gods of the existing peoples of the Greek peninsula.^[131]Morford, pp. 82–83. For the Greeks, the Gigantomachy represented a victory for order over chaos—the victory of the divine order and rationalism of the Olympian gods over the discord and excessive violence of the earth-born chthonic Giants. More specifically, for sixth and fifth century BC Greeks, it represented a victory for civilization over barbarism, and as such was used by Phidias on the metopes of the Parthenon and the shield of Athena Parthenos to symbolize the victory of the Athenians over the Persians. Later the Attalids similarly used the Gigantomachy on the Pergamon Altar to symbolize their victory over the Galatians of Asia Minor.^[132]Morford, p. 72; Schefold, p. 50; Kleiner, p. 118, p. 136, p. 156; Lyne, p. 50; Castriota, p. 139; Dwyer, p. 295.

The attempt of the Giants to overthrow the Olympians also represented the ultimate example of hubris, with the gods themselves punishing the Giants for their arrogant challenge to the gods’ divine authority.^[133]Castriota, p. 139; Dwyer, p. 295; Gale, p. 121; Wilkinson, p. 142; Cairns, p. 310; Commager, pp. 119, 199. The Gigantomachy can also be seen as a continuation of the struggle between Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Sky), and thus as part of the primal opposition between female and male.^[134]Schefold, p. 51. Plato compares the Gigantomachy to a philosophical dispute about existence, wherein the materialist philosophers, who believe that only physical things exist, like the Giants, wish to “drag down everything from heaven and the invisible to earth”.^[135]Plato, Sophist 246a–c; Chaudhuri, pp.60–61.

In Latin literature, in which the Giants, the Titans, Typhon, and the Aloadae, are all often conflated, Gigantomachy imagery is a frequent occurrence.^[136]Lovatt, pp. 115 ff.. Cicero, while urging the acceptance of aging and death as natural and inevitable, allegorizes the Gigantomachy as “fighting against Nature”.^[137]Cicero, De Senectute 5; Powell, p. 110 “Gigantum modo bellare”; Chaudhuri, p. 7 n. 22. The rationalist Epicurean poet Lucretius, for whom such things as lightning, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions had natural rather than divine causes, used the Gigantomachy to celebrate the victory of philosophy over mythology and superstition. In the triumph of science and reason over traditional religious belief, the Gigantomachy symbolized for him Epicurus storming heaven. In a reversal of their usual meaning, he represents the Giants as heroic rebels against the tyranny of Olympus.^[138]Chaudhuri, pp. 58–63; Hardie 2007, p. 116; Gale, pp. 120–121, p. 140; Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 1.62–79, 5.110–125. Virgil—reversing Lucretius’ reversal— restores the conventional meaning, making the Giants once again enemies of order and civilization.^[139]Gale, pp. 140–141; Gee, pp. 56–57.  Horace makes use of this same meaning to symbolize the victory of Augustus at the Battle of Actium as a victory for the civilized West over the barbaric East.^[140]Lyne, pp. 52–54, pp. 167–168; Commager, p. 199; Horace,Odes 3.4.42 ff..

Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, describes mankind’s moral decline through the ages of gold, silver, bronze and iron, and presents the Gigantomachy as a part of that same descent from natural order into chaos.^[141]Wheeler, pp. 23–26; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.151–162. Lucan, in his Pharsalia, which contains many Gigantomachy references,^[142]Hardie 2014, p. 101. makes the Gorgon‘s gaze turn the Giants into mountains.^[143]Dinter, p. 296; Lucan, Pharsalia 9.654–658. Valerius Flaccus, in his Argonautica, makes frequent use of Gigantomachy imagery, with the Argo (the world’s first ship) constituting a Gigantomachy-like offense against natural law, and example of hubristic excess.^[144]Zissos, pp. 79 ff.; For more on the use of Gigantomachy imagery in the Argonautica see Stover, pp. 5–6, 71–73, 79–150.

Claudian, the fourth-century AD court poet of emperor Honorius, composed a Gigantomachia that viewed the battle as a metaphor for vast geomorphic change: “The puissant company of the giants confounds all differences between things; islands abandon the deep; mountains lie hidden in the sea. Many a river is left dry or has altered its ancient course….robbed of her mountains Earth sank into level plains, parted among her own sons.”^[145]Mayor, p. 195; Claudian, Gigantomachia 62–73 (pp. 284–287).

6.2 Association with volcanoes and earthquakes:

Various locations associated with the Giants and the Gigantomachy were areas of volcanic and seismic activity (e.g. the Phlegraean Fields west of Naples), and the vanquished Gigantes (along with other “giants”) were said to be buried under volcanos, and their subterranean movements were said to be the cause of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.^[146]It has been common for cultures (including the ancient Greeks) to attribute earthquakes and volcanoes to the movements of buried “giants”, see Andrews, “Earthquakes” pp. … Continue reading

The Giant Enceladus was thought to lay buried under Mount Etna, the volcano’s eruptions being the breath of Enceladus, and its tremors caused by the Giant rolling over from side to side beneath the mountain.^[147]Callimachus, fragment 117 (382) (pp. 342–343); Statius,Thebaid 11.8 (pp. 390–391); Aetna (perhaps written by Lucilius Junior), 71–73 (pp. 8–9); Apollodorus, 1.6.2; Virgil, Aeneid 3.578 ff. … Continue reading (The monster Typhon^[148]Pindar, Pythian 1.15–29, Olympian 4.6–7; Aeschylus (?),Prometheus Bound 353–374; Nicander, apud Antoninus Liberalis28; Ovid, Fasti 4.491–492 (pp. 224–225), Metamorphoses5.346 ff. (which has … Continue reading and the Hundred-hander Briareus^[149]Callimachus, Hymn 4 (to Delos) 141–146 (pp. 96–97); Mineur. p. 153. were also said to be buried under Etna.) The Giant Alcyoneus along with “many giants” were said to lie under Mount Vesuvius,^[150] Philostratus, On Heroes 8.15–16 (p. 14); Claudian, Rape of Proserpine 3.183–184 (pp. 358–359). and Prochyte (modern Procida), one of the volcanic Phlegraean Islands was supposed to sit atop the Giant Mimas.^[151] Silius Italicus, Punica 12.143–151 (II pp. 156–159), which also has the Titan Iapetus buried under Inarime.

Describing the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which buried the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Cassius Dio relates accounts of the appearance of many Giant-like creatures on the mountain and in the surrounding area followed by violent earthquakes and the final cataclysmic eruption, saying “some thought that the Giants were rising again in revolt (for at this time also many of their forms could be discerned in the smoke and, moreover, a sound as of trumpets was heard)”^[152]Cassius Dio 66.22–23.

7.0 Named Giants:

Names for the Giants can be found in ancient literary sources and inscriptions. Vian and Moore provide a list with over seventy entries, some of which are based upon inscriptions which are only partially preserved.^[153]Vian and Moore 1988, pp. 268–269. Some of the Giants identified by name are:

Gigantes

The Gigantes were the offspring of Gaia (Earth), born from the blood that fell when Uranus (Sky) was castrated by their Titan son Cronus, who fought the Gigantomachy, their war with the Olympian gods for Supremacy of the cosmos, they include:

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7.1 Gigantes List: here

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7.2 Giants List : here

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8.0 See also:

1.0 Amazonomachy

2.0 Centauromachy

3.0 Giant (mythology)

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_(Greek_mythology)