Giants (Greek mythology)
gigatos | June 12, 2022
Summary
The giants (ancient Greek Γίγαντες Gígantes) are figures of Greek mythology. They attempted to overthrow the Olympian gods in the most common myth, the Gigantomachy.
According to the oldest tradition, the Theogony of Hesiod, the giants as well as the Erinyes and the Meliads were created from the drops of blood that fell to earth when Kronos emasculated his father Uranos. The mother of the giants is the goddess Gaia, the personified earth in Greek mythology. In the library of Apollodor Gaia gives birth to the giants out of anger against the Titans, the paternity of Uranos is only mentioned.
In Bakchylides, and Nonnos only their mother is called Gaia. On the one hand because Gaia can bear her children also without a father from herself, on the other hand because the giants in the Gigantomachy are supported by their mother, but their father does not occur any more. In the description of Greece by Pausanias only their father Uranos is mentioned to clarify the kinship relation of the giants to the Titans and the Olympic gods. Hyginus gives the name Ge for Gaia as the mother of the giants, but Tartaros as their father.
According to Hesiod, the giants were “brightly flashed with weapons, long-bearing spears” in their hands.” describes them as unsurpassed in size and strength, of fearsome appearance and with serpent scales on their lower legs. According to Claudian they were armed with clubs, tree trunks and boulders and according to Ovid they could even pile mountains on top of each other with their strength, Diodorus only mention their monstrous size. As king and leader of the giants Homer names Eurymedon.
A motif often depicted in the visual arts were giants with legs ending in serpentine bodies, as also described by Ovid. The most famous depiction is the frieze of giants on the Pergamon Altar, which shows the battle of the giants against the Olympian gods during the Gigantomachy. Pausanias, on the other hand, considers the idea of snakes instead of feet absurd. Nonnos, in turn, describes them as having snake hair and two hundred hands.
In particular, they were considered sons of their mother Gaia (Gäa), who supported them in their fight against the Olympians. This fight between giants and Olympians is called Gigantomachy. The victory should be possible for the Olympians only by the help of mortal beings, because giants cannot die by the hand of gods. This help came to the Olympians through Dionysus and Heracles, both sons of Zeus, whom he had fathered with mortal mothers, Heracles in particular being instrumental in the victory against the giants.A miracle herb that Gaia made grow, however, was supposed to help the giants against the gods, since it would prevent them from being killed even by mortals. When Zeus learned of this, he forbade Eos, the morning light, Selene, the moon, and Helios, the sun, the children of the Titan couple Hyperion and Theia, to shine until he had found this himself.
The names of the giants are mentioned in several sources. The oldest is the Odyssey, where the leader of the giants Eurymedon is mentioned. Some names are also preserved on Attic vases of the 6th century BC. Virgil is the first writer after Homer to mention giants by name. The first source that contains a list of names is the library of Apollodorus. In his travels in Greece, Pausanias mentions isolated names, some of which can be traced back to local adoptions of the myth of the giants. In addition, the lists of names in Hyginus have survived.
The giants were already confused with the Titans by some late antique authors. Hyginus accordingly also lists Titans among the giants, namely Astraios, Iapetos, Koios and Pallas. The Gigantomachy seems to have been understood here as a mere imitation of the Titanomachy. The aloid Otos is also counted among the giants by Hyginus. The name of his brother Ephialtes is the same as that of the giant Ephialtes already mentioned by Hesiod. In addition in older narrations the attack of the Aloids on the Olymp directly follows the Gigantomachy, so that here a confusion can be assumed. Also the monster Typhon, which Hesiod still describes as an independent figure, is added to the giants by Hyginus. Nonnos describes the Typhon of the older authors, but includes the name additionally in the listing of the giants.
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Epithet
The giants were given the epithet counter-ice (Γηγενεῖς Gēgeneís) by some authors, meaning earth-born. Used as a noun, the epithet was also used as the sole name for the giants.
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List of names (incomplete)
Sources
