Mythical Creatures: The Giants of Greece and Rome - Part Two

Today we are going to learn about the second generation of Titans and look at some of the myths in which they appear.  According to Hesiod’s Theogony:

Iapetos led the daughter of Okeanos, beautiful-ankled

Klymene and went with her up to the same bed.

She gave birth to Atlas and produced

The exceedingly glorious Menoitios and Prometheus,

Changeful, slippery-counseled, and erring minded Epimetheus

Who proved an evil for men who each what the soil yields.

 

Prometheus Creating Man from Clay by Constantin Hansen

Prometheus

Prometheus is probably the most well-known second generation Titan, first appearing in Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, and is credited by Apollodorus for the creation of man from clay.  As the Theogony tells us, Prometheus, meaning ‘forethought’, was born of Iapetos and Klymene, also spelled Clymene, or Themis.  Unlike most of the Titans, he fought with the gods and was rewarded for his part in the war.  Hesiod tells us that Prometheus helped to establish sacrifice amongst mankind by tricking Zeus: 

For when gods and mortal men were making a settlement

at Mekone, at that time Prometheus divided with eager spirit
a great ox and set it before him, seeking to beguile the mind of Zeus.

For him, Prometheus covered flesh and innards rich in fat
with the ox’s stomach and set them down wrapped in the hide.
For them, he covered the ox’s white bones with shining fat
and, well arranging them for his cunning trick, set them down.
Then the father of men and gods addressed him:
‘Son of Iapetos, most conspicuous of all lords,
dear sir, how partially you divide the portions.’
Thus spoke Zeus who knows imperishable counsels, chiding him.
Again, Prometheus of crooked counsel addressed him,
smiling slightly, and he did not forget his cunning trick:
‘Very noble Zeus, greatest of the gods who are for always,
choose whichever of these the spirit in your breast bids you.’
He spoke, planning cunning.  Zeus who knows imperishable counsels
recognized and was not ignorant of the cunning, but he eyed evils
with his mind for mortal men, that he intended to fulfil.
With both hands, he took the white fat,
and grew angry around his breast, and bitter bile entered his mind
when he saw the ox’s white bones in a cunning trick.
From then on, for the immortals the tribes of men on earth
burn white bones on fragrant altars.

Prometheus by Jean Delville

Zeus is infuriated by Prometheus’ trickery, but does not punish him until Prometheus steals fire for humans.

From this time, always mindful of his wrath,

He would not give the strength of weariless fire
To the ash trees for mortal men who dwell on earth.
But good son of Iapetos deceived him,
Stealing the far-seen beam of weariless fire
In a hollow fennel stalk.  It stung anew Zeus
High thunderer in his spirit, and he raged in his heart
When he saw among men the far-seen beam of fire.

The theft of fire was a wrong that Zeus could not ignore and he sought to punish Prometheus, who was chained and repeatedly attacked by an eagle, which pecked out his liver.  Being immortal, Prometheus' liver regrew, allowing the eagle to remove it again and again.

…  He bound
The changeful-planning Prometheus with unbreakable fetters,
Painful bonds, and drove them through the middle of a pillar.
And he sent a long-winged eagle upon him.  Further, it ate
His deathless liver, but there grew back all over during the night
As much as the bird of long wings had eater during the whole day.

The Liberation of Prometheus by Carl Bloch

Prometheus is later granted his freedom when he helps Heracles in his eleventh labour:

The stout son of Alkmene of the beautiful ankles,

Heracles, slew it, and warded off the evil sickness
For Iapetos’s son and released him from troubles,
Not against Olympian Zeus’s will, who was contriving on high
In order that the renown of Theban-born Heracles
Might be more than before over the much-nourishing earth.
So respecting him, he honoured his conspicuous son.
Although angry, he let off the wrath he had before against
Prometheus because he rivalled the very mighty Kronios in designs.

The following myth tells us of Prometheus’ theft of fire.

Prometheus and the Theft of Fire

There once lived a race of huge giants called Titans.  These giants were fierce, turbulent, and lawless – always fighting among themselves and against Jupiter, the king of the gods.

One of the Titans, whose name was Prometheus, was wiser than the rest.  He often thought about what would be likely to happen in the future.

The Battle Between the Gods and the Titans 1600 - Joachim Wtewael

One day, Prometheus said to his brother Titans: ‘What is the use of wasting so much strength?  In the end, wisdom and forethought will win.  If we are going to fight against the gods, let us choose a leader and stop quarrelling among ourselves.’
The Titans answered him by a shower of great rocks and uprooted trees.
Prometheus, after escaping unhurt, said to his youngest brother: ‘Come, Epimetheus, we can do nothing among these Titans.  If they keep on, they will tear the earth to pieces.  Let us go and help Jupiter overcome them.’
Epimetheus agreed to this, and the two brothers went over to Jupiter, who called the gods together and began a terrible battle.  The Titans tore up enormous boulders and cast them at the gods, while Jupiter hurled his thunderbolts and his lightnings in all directions.  Soon the sky was a sheet of flame, the sea boiled, the earth trembled, and the forests took fire and began to burn.
At last the gods – partly by the help of the wise counsel of Prometheus – conquered the Titans, took them to the ends of the earth, and imprisoned them in a deep underground cavern.  Neptune, the sea-god, made strong bronze gates with heavy bolts and bars, to keep the giants down, while Jupiter sent Briareus and his brothers, three giants with fifty heads and a hundred hands each, to stand guard over them.
All but one of the Titans who had fought against the gods were imprisoned in this cavern.  This one who was not shut in with the others was Atlas, whose enormous strength was greater than that of his brothers, while his disposition was less quarrelsome.  He was made to stand and hold up the sky on his head and hands.
As the Titans could now make no more trouble, there was comparative peace and quiet on the earth.  Nevertheless, Jupiter said that, although the men who remained on the earth were not so strong as the Titans, they were a foolish and wicked race.  He declared that he would destroy them - sweep them away, and have done with them, forever.
When their king said this, none of the gods dared to say a word defence of mankind.  But Prometheus, the Titan, who was earth-born himself, and loved these men of the earth, begged Jupiter so earnestly to spare them, that Jupiter consented to do so.

Gift of the Titans by alprz

At this time, men lived in dark, gloomy caves.  Their friend, Prometheus, taught them to build simple houses, which were much more comfortable than the caves had been.  This was a great step forward, but men needed more help yet from the Titan.  The beasts of the forest, and the great birds that built their nests on the rocks, were strong but men were weak.  The lion had sharp claws and teeth; the eagle had wings; the turtle had a hard shell; but man, although he stood upright with his face towards the stars, had no weapon with which he could defend himself.
Prometheus said that man should have Jupiter’s wonderful flower of fire, which shone so brightly in the sky.  So he took a hollow reed, went up to Olympus, stole the red flower of fire, and brought it down to earth in his reed.
After this, all the other creatures were afraid of man, for this red flower had made him stronger than they.  Man dug iron out of the earth, and by the help of his new fire made weapons that were sharper than the lion’s teeth; he tamed the wild cattle by the fear of it, yoked them together, and taught them how to draw the plough; he sharpened strong stakes, hardening them in its heat, and set them around his house as a defence from his enemies; he did many other things besides with the red flower that Prometheus had made to blossom at the end of the reed.


Prometheus by midoriharada

Jupiter, sitting on his throne, saw with alarm how strong man was becoming.  One day he discovered the theft of his shining red flower, and knew that Prometheus was the thief.  He was greatly displeased at this act.
‘Prometheus loves man too well,’ said he.  ‘He shall be punished.’  Then he called his two slaves, Strength and Force, and told them to take Prometheus and bind him fast to a great rock in the lonely Caucasian Mountains.  At the same time he ordered Vulcan, the lame smith-god, to rivet the Titan’s chains – in a cunning way that only Vulcan knew.
There Prometheus hung on the rock for hundreds of years.  The sun shone on him pitilessly, by day – only the kindly night gave him shade.  He heard the rushing wings of the sea-gulls, as they came to feed their young who cried from the rocks below.  The sea-nymphs floated up to his rock to give him their pity.  A vulture, cruel as the king of the gods, came daily and tore him with its claws and beak.
But this frightful punishment did not last forever.  Prometheus himself knew that some day he should be set free, and this knowledge made him strong to endure.
At last the time came when Jupiter’s throne was in danger, and Prometheus, pitying his enemy, told him a secret which helped him to make everything safe again.  After this, Jupiter sent Hercules to shoot the vulture and to break the Titan’s chains.  So Prometheus was set free.

The Burden of Atlas by Alexeei

Atlas

 

Atlas, meaning ‘the Bearer’ or ‘Daring’ or ‘Sufferer’, was the son of Iapetus and Clymene and himself fathered the Pleiades, Hyades, and Hesperides by Aethra, a daughter of Oceanos.  During the war between the Titans and the gods, Atlas was the ruler of Atlantis, which was flooded and destroyed by the newly emerging gods.  In vengeance, Atlas fought against the gods and, when the Titans lost, Zeus punished Atlas by ordering him to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Atlas holds wide Heaven beneath powerful necessity,

Standing on the boundaries of the Gaia before the clear-toned
Hesperides, on his head and weariless arms.  This portion
Counsellor Zeus distributed to him.

While Atlas was punished for his role in the war, he does gain brief freedom from his duties when he appears in the eleventh labour of Heracles, in which Heracles is given the task of obtaining the golden apples of the Herperides.

Heracles by Jumbod

Eleventh Labour: the apples of the Hesperides

The eleventh task imposed by Eurystheus was to bring him the golden apples of the Hesperides, which grew on a tree presented by Gaea to Hera, on the occasion of her marriage with Zeus.  This sacred tree was guarded by four maidens, daughters of Night, called the Herperides, who were assisted in their task by a terrible hundred-headed dragon.  This dragon never slept, and out of his hundred throats came a constant hissing sound, which effectually warned off all intruders.  But what rendered the undertaking still more difficult was the complete ignorance of the hero as to the locality of the garden, and he was forced, in consequence, to make many fruitless journeys and to undergo many trials before he could find it.

Apples of Hesperides by RavenclawRadiance

He first travelled through Thessaly and arrived at the river Echedorus, when he met the giant Cycnus, the son of Ares and Pyrene, who challenged him to single combat.  In this encounter Heracles completely vanquished his opponent, who was killed in the contest; but now mightier adversary appeared on the scene, for the war-god himself came to avenge his son.  A terrible struggle ensued, which had lasted some time, when Zeus interfered between the brothers, and put an end to the strife by hurling a thunderbolt between them.  Heracles proceeded on his journey, and reached the banks of the river Eridanus, where dwelt the Nymphs, daughters of Zeus and Themis.  On seeking advice from them as to his route, they directed him to the old sea-god Nereus, who alone knew the way to the Garden of the Hesperides.  Heracles found him asleep, and seizing the opportunity, held him so firmly in his powerful grasp that he could not possibly escape, so that notwithstanding his various metamorphoses he was at last compelled to give the information required.  The hero then crossed over to Libya, where he engaged in a wrestling-match with king Anteos, son of Poseidon and Gaea, which terminated fatally for his antagonist.


Hercules.2 by LauraTolton

From thence he proceeded to Egypt, where reigned Busiris, another son of Poseidon, who (acting on the advice given by an oracle during a time of great scarcity) sacrificed all strangers to Zeus.  When Heracles arrived he was seized and dragged to the altar, but the powerful demi-god burst asunder his bonds, and then slew Busiris and his son.
Resuming his journey he now wandered on through Arabia until he arrived at Mount Caucasus, where Prometheus groaned in unceasing agony.  It was at this time that Heracles… shot the eagle which had so long tortured the noble and devoted friend of mankind.  Full of gratitude for his deliverance, Prometheus instructed him how to find his way to that remote region in the far West where Atlas supported the heavens on his shoulders, near which lay the Garden of the Hesperides.  He also warned Heracles not to attempt to secure the precious fruit himself, but to assume for a time the duties of Atlas and to despatch him for the apples.
On arriving at his destination Heracles followed the advice of Prometheus.  Atlas, who willingly entered into the arrangement, contrived to put the dragon to sleep, and then, having cunningly outwitted the

The Golden Apples of the Hesperides by Jun-Pierre Shiozawa

Herperides, carried off three of the golden apples, which he brought to Heracles.  But when the latter was prepared to relinquish his burden, Atlas, having once tasted the delights of freedom, declined to resume his post, and announced his intention of being himself the bearer of the apples to Eurystheus, leaving Heracles to fill his place.  To this proposal the hero feigned assent, merely begging that Atlas would be kind enough to support the heavens for a few moments whilst he contrived a pad for his head.  Atlas good-naturedly threw down the apples and once more resumed his load, upon which Heracles bade him adieu, and departed.
When Heracles conveyed the golden appled to Eurystheus the latter presented them to the hero, whereupon Heracles placed the sacred fruit on the altar of Pallas-Athene, who restored them to the garden of the Hesperides.

Menoitius, during the War of the Titans - artist unknown

Menoitios

Like Atlas, Menoitios fought against the gods in the war against the Titans.  This titan is somewhat obscure.  Very little is known about him and the little that is known comes from Hesiod's Theogony.  The Theogony tells us that Zeus punishes him for his role in the war, by sending condemning him to the eternal darkness of Erebus.  Most scholars tend to assume that Menoitios' imprisonment was due to his part in the war between the gods and the Titans.  Unfortunately later authors haven't provided any further information.

…  Wide-seeing Zeus sent insolent Menoitios down
Into Erebos, striking him with smoldering lightning,
Because of his rashness and excessive manliness.

Epimetheus

Epimetheus is credited with having endowed the creatures of the earth with certain attributes, such as speed and strength.  He also helped his brother Prometheus with forming the attributes of humans, as well as encouraging Prometheus to steal fire from the gods.  Epimetheus was married to Pandora and, according to Hesiod, was in part responsible for the damage wrought by Pandora's curiosity.

 

...changeful, slippery-counselled, and erring-minder Epimetheus

who proved an evil for men who eat what the soil yields.

He was first to receive under his roof Zeus's molded woman

virgin.

Epimetheus Receiving Pandora by Henry Howard

Epimetheus can be found in the following myth of Pandora and the box of troubles.

How Troubles Came into the World

A very long time ago, in the Golden Age, everyone was good and happy.  It was always spring; the earth was covered with flowers and only gentle winds blew to set the flowers dancing.

No one had any work to do.  People lived on mountain strawberries, which were always to be had for the gathering, and on wild grapes, blackberries, and sweet acorns, which grew plentifully in the oak forests.  Rivers flowed with milk and nectar.  Even the bees did not need to lay up honey, for it fell in tiny drops from the trees.  There was abundance everywhere.
In all the whole world, there was not a sword, nor any weapon by means of which men might fight with one another.  No one had ever heard of any such thing.  All the iron and the gold were buried deep underground.

Hermes bears Pandora to Epimetheus by Jean Alaux

Besides, people were never ill; they had no troubles of any kind; and never grew old.
The two brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus, lived in those wonderful days.  After stealing the fire for man, Prometheus knowing that Jupiter would be angry, decided to go away for a time on a distant journey; but before he went, he warned Epimetheus not to receive any gifts from the gods.
One day, after Prometheus had been gone for some time, Mercury came to the cottage of Epimetheus, leading by the hand a beautiful young woman, whose name was Pandora.  She had a wreath of partly opened rosebuds on her head, a number of delicate gold chains twisted lightly around her neck, and wore a filmy veil which fell nearly to the hem of her tunic.  Mercury presented her to Epimetheus, saying the gods had sent this gift that he might not be lonesome.
Pandora had such a lovely face that Epimetheus could not help believing that the gods had sent her to him in good faith.  So he paid no heed to the warning of Prometheus, but took Pandora into his cottage, and found that the days passed much more quickly and pleasantly when she was with him.
Soon, the gods sent Epimetheus another gift.  This was a heavy box, which the satyrs brought to the cottage, with directions that it was not to be opened.  Epimetheus let it stand in a corner of his cottage; for by this time he had begun to think that the caution of Prometheus about receiving gifts from the gods was altogether unnecessary.

Pandora's Box by LMessecar

Often, Epimetheus was away all day, hunting or fishing or gathering grapes from the wild vines that grew along the river banks.  On such days, Pandora had nothing to do but to wonder what was in the mysterious box.  One day her curiosity was so great that she lifted the lid a very little and peeped in.  The result was similar to what would have happened had she lifted the cover of a beehive.  Out rushed a great swarm of little winged creatures, and before Pandora knew what had happened, she was stung.  She dropped the lid and ran out of the cottage, screaming.  Epimetheus, who was just coming in at the door, was well stung, too.
The little winged creatures that Pandora had let out of the box were Troubles, the first that had ever been seen in the world.  They soon flew about and spread themselves everywhere, pinching and stinging whenever they got the chance.
After this, people began to have headaches, rheumatism, and other illnesses; and instead of being always kind and pleasant to one another, as they had been before the Troubles were let out of the box, they became unfriendly and quarrelsome.  They began to grow old, too.
Nor was it always spring any longer.  The fresh young grasses that had clothed all the hillsides and the gay-coloured flowers that had given Epimetheus and Pandora so much pleasure, were scorched by hot summer suns, and bitten by the frosts of autumn.  Oh, it was a sad thing for the world, when all those wicked little Troubles were let loose!


Pandora's Hope by BloodMoonEquinox

All the Troubles escaped from the box, but when Pandora let the lid fall so hastily, she shut in one little winged creature, a kind of good fairy whose name was Hope.  This little Hope persuaded Pandora to let her out.  As soon as she was free, she flew about the world, undoing all the evil that the Troubles had done, that is, as fast as one good fairy could undo the evil work of such a swarm.  No matter what evil thing had happened to poor mortals, she always found some way to comfort them.  She fanned aching heads with her gossamer wings; she brought back the colour to pale cheeks; and, best of all, she whispered to those who were growing old that they should one day be young again.
So this is the way that Troubles came into the world, but we must not forget that Hope came with them.

That's all for today.  In the next post, we will look at the last of the giants of Greek mythology.

Useful Resources

Favorite Greek Myths by Lilian Stoughton Hyde

Yetis, Sasquatch & Hairy Giants by David Hatcher Childress
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E.M. Berens
Theogony by Hesoid
Ancient Greek Beliefs by Perry L. Westmoreland
Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose

Mythical Creatures: The Giants of Greece and Rome - Part One

 

Today we are going to learn about the giants of Greek and Roman mythology.  Let us begin with the Titans rebellion against the tyranny of their father, Ouranos, or Uranus and then the rebellion of the gods against their father, Cronus.  This myth gives us a good starting point when exploring the giants of ancient Greece, including the hundred-handed giants, the Titans and the Cyclopes.  I first touched on these mythical beings in Greek Creation Mythology.  Here I will cover them in more detail.

Gaia and Uranus by esurio08

The Rebellious Titans and Gods

Before the beginning of time, there was nothing but emptiness called Chaos.  Out of the darkness emerged three beings who became known as Gaea, Tartarus and Eros.

Gaea, the earth goddess wished for some company, so she gave birth to Uranus, the god of the sky, and he surrounded her on all sides.  Next, the mountains and the sea sprang from Gaea, shaping the landscape of the world.
Soon, Gaea and Uranus created three children together – giants, each with fifty heads and one hundred arms!  Shortly after, three more children were born to them – again giants.  But this time, they each had just one eye in the middle of their forehead.  They came to be known as the Cyclopes.
With such immense strength and power, Uranus became fearful that the children would eventually try to overthrow him and take control of the universe themselves.  So one by one, Uranus seized them, throwing them down into the depths of Tartarus, the underworld, from where they could not possibly threaten him.
Furious and devastated, Gaea began to hate Uranus for him cold-hearted, ruthless actions.  With time, she gave birth to thirteen more children – the immortal Titans.  Among them were the god of the sun Helios, the goddess of the moon Selene, the god of the waters Oceanus, the goddess of prophecy Themis, the strongest Titan Atlas, and finally Prometheus – the most intelligent Titan, who created the human race out of soft clay.
Yet Gaea’s bitterness towards Uranus only increased with time.  The day came when she put a mighty, curved sickle into the hands of her youngest Titan son, Cronus.  ‘I want to punish your cruel father and free your brothers and sisters from their underground banishment,’ she explained.  ‘If you kill your father, you can rule in his place.’
His eyes gleaming greedily, Cronus did what he was told.  Across the universe echoed his father’s cries of agony.  Rivers of blood flowed from his wounds, and from this stream of wickedness sprang forth three evil creatures, the Furies, and a race of terrifying warrior giants.
Being immortal, Uranus couldn’t die, so Cronus threw his father’s body into the ocean.  ‘Now I reign over all things!’ Cronus roared.
To Gaea’s despair, Cronus proved to be just as much a tyrant as her husband.  Relishing his control over the universe, he refused to free the hundred-handed giants and the Cyclopes from Tartarus.
Outraged, Gaea warned, ‘Your cruelty will come full circle!  The day will come when your children will destroy you, just as you have destroyed your own father.’
Cronus simply sneered.  In his arrogance, he thought that he could cheat the prophecy.  He would make sure that he had no children.  If he had none, then how could they vanquish him?


Cronus devouring one of his children by Peter Paul Rubens

Cronus was married to his sister, Rhea.  In due course, a baby daughter Hestia was born.  Cronus didn’t hesitate in swallowing her whole.  To Rhea’s horror and misery, Cronus did exactly the same with the next four babies – Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.  By the time Rhea was due to give birth to the fifth child, her heart was breaking with grief.  She went to Gaea and begged for help.  ‘Mother,’ she sobbed, ‘how can I fool Cronus so I can keep my baby?  I can’t stand to lose another!’
Gaea eagerly came up with a plan.  She hid Rhea away in a mountainside cave on the island of Crete.  There, unseen, Rhea gave birth to a baby boy called Zeus.  Rhea left Zeus in Gaea’s care, and hurried home.  Then she wrapped a rock in a blue blanket and presented it to Cronus.  ‘Here is your new born son!’ she proclaimed.  Cronus didn’t spare a second look at the infant.  He simply opened his jaws and gulped the bundle down.  Smirking with satisfaction, he thought of how he had defeated his destiny once again…
And so, unknown to his father, Zeus grew up safely into a strong, courageous god.  When he came of age, he disguised himself as one of Cronus’ servants and waited.  Then, when one day Cronus called for a drink to be brought to him, the disguised Zeus carefully took him a chalice of sweet-tasting poison instead.
In one gulp, Cronus drained the drink – and immediately realized that something was wrong.  Clutching and clawing at his stomach, cramps and spasms stabbed inside him.  Suddenly, up came the rock he had swallowed, followed by Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia – who were all fully grown – and furious!
‘Behold your son, Zeus, and all your other children!’ Rhea said proudly.  ‘They are ready to rule in your place, with justice and wisdom, instead of cruelty and tyranny.  Your fate has come!’
‘You will regret this because this means war!’ bellowed Cronus, striding away to prepare for battle.
While Cronus was rousing all the other Titans to fight at his side, Zeus sped down to Tartarus with his brothers and sisters to release the hundred-handed giants and the Cyclopes.  Of course, the monsters were so grateful that they immediately pledged their allegiance to the gods and goddesses and vowed to fight for them.  Then the Cyclopes presented Zeus and his brothers with special gifts to help them in their mighty task.  To Zeus, they gave the weapons of thunder and lightning.  To Poseidon, they gave a magic trident for stirring up sea-storms and creating earthquakes.  To Hades, they gave a helmet of invisibility.
It was now time for the gods and goddesses to return to the upper world and begin the battle for the universe.

Zeus VS Kronos by ZollZwerg

Enraged, the Titans were ready and waiting, forming a formidable flank behind Cronus.  With blood-curdling war cries, they flung themselves forwards across the heavens into the attack.
As the Titans advanced, the hundred-handed giants tore great chunks of rock off the mountains and hurled them at the enemy.  The two sides clashed together, in an embroiled mass of arrows, spears, and swords.  The blows of the mighty warriors made the earth tremble and shake until the awful rumblings were heard down in the depths of Tartarus itself.  The cries and groans of the injured echoed around the mountains and across the heavens.  And still the Titans and the gods fought, inflicting terrible wounds on each other.  As immortals, none of them could die.

The Olympian Big Three - Zeus, Poseidon, Hades by tomzj1

When Zeus unleashed his ear-splitting thunderclaps and blinding lightning bolts, the stench of smouldering flesh filled the air as the Titans were set alight.  While the Titans threw themselves into the sea, trying to quench the burning flames, the hundred-handed giants saw their chance.  Seizing the howling Titans one by one, the giants dragged them below the earth down to the underworld.  There, they bound them in the strongest of chains and left them for all eternity.
How the victorious gods and goddesses rejoiced!  At last, tyranny had been overthrown and they would rule together, spreading fairness and heroism throughout the universe.  The gods decided upon their kingdoms – Hades won the underworld and became the king of the dead.  Poseidon won the sea and became the lord of the oceans.  And Zeus won the sky, and became ruler of the world.  All three leaders determined not only to keep peace and harmony among immortal beings, but also to teach humans how to live prosperous lives – to respect their fellow people, all other living creatures, and above all, the gods themselves.
Contented, the gods and goddesses made their own home on Mount Olympus.  And here they have ruled ever since.

Hecatoncheire by SolidSnakeVian

The Hundred-Handed Giants

The Hundred-Handed Giants were the three original sons of Gaia and Ouranos or Uranus.  Also known as Hecatoncheires in Greek and Centimanes in Roman, both meaning ‘having a hundred hands’, these beings were vast in size and were described as having fifty heads and a hundred arms and hands.  According to Hesiod’s Theogony, the original three hundred-handed giants were called Kottus (Cottus) and Briareos (Briareus) and Gyges, and they were ‘exceedingly arrogant children’.  The Theogony further says:

A hundred arms shot forth from their shoulders,

not to be molded into an image, and on each fifty heads
grew upon the fifty shoulders on sturdy limbs. 
Strong, immense, powerful in their shape.

At their birth, the Hundred-Handed Giants were imprisoned by their father, who they hated:

As soon as one of them was born,

Ouranos would conceal them all in hiding place in Gaia and
did not sent them back into the light, and he delighted in his
evil deed.



Hecatoncheires:Cottus by mad1ba

Despite their imprisonment, the Hundred-Handed Giants played a key part in the later defeat and imprisonment of the Titans, where they:

settled themselves against the Titans in the dire fray,

holding huge rocks in their sturdy hands.

As the battle commenced:

Three hundred rocks from their sturdy hands

they were hurling, one on another, and they cast shadows
over the Titans with missiles. 

Upon the defeat of the Titans, the Hundred-Handed Giants helped to imprison them in Tartaros, the Greek underworld. 

They sent them beneath

broad-wayed earth and bound them in painful bonds,
having conquered them by hands, though they were bold,
as far beneath the earth as Ouranos is above Gaia
so far from earth to murky Tartaros.

Once they helped to defeat and imprison the Titans, the Hecatoncheines were given the task of guarding Tartaros, where they are said to remain.




Coeus by chamakoso

The Titans and Titanides

The first generation of Titans, also the children of Gaia and Ouranos, or Uranus, were twelve in number, with six being male and six being female.  The sons, known as Titans, were named Coeus/Koios, Crius/Kreios, Cronus, Hyperion, Japetus/Iapetus, and Okeanus/Oceanus.  The daughters, known as Titanides, were called Mnemosyne, Phoebe/Phiobe, Rhea/Rheia, Tethys, Theia, and Themis.

Coeus, meaning ‘intelligent’, was the father of Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis.  Crius, meaning ‘ram’, had no children.  Cronus, meaning ‘crow’, was later wrongly associated with time and became known as ‘Old Father Time’.  As we have already seen, he castrated his father, Ouranos, and was later defeated by Zeus and his   Hyperion was the father of Eos of the dawn, Helios of the sun, and Silene of the moon as wells as the nymphs Lampetie and Phaethusa.  Japetus fathered a second generation of Titans – Atlas, Epimetheus, Mencetius, and Prometheus – who we will learn about it   Oceanus, meaning ‘swift’, fathered the nymphs, known as the Oceanids, and all the rivers of the world.  He often represents the cosmic waters.


Crius by SKcreation

Mnemosyne, meaning ‘memory’, bore the nine Muses by Zeus.  Phoebe, meaning ‘brightness’, bore Latona, Asteria, and Leto by her sibling Coeus.  Rhea, as we have already seen, was the mother of the Olympic gods, keeping Zeus safe so he could defeat his father, Cronus.  Tethys bore the Oceanids with her brother Oceanus.  Theia was the wife of Hyperion and mother to the gods Eosm Helios, and Silene.  Themis was the mother of the Parcae and the Horae.  She is often depicted as the bringer of justice, with her eyes blindfolded while holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other.


According to Theogony:

Father great Ouranos, quarrelling with the children

he sired himself, gave them the name Titans, Stretchers.
He said that they stretched with a great recklessness to accomplish
A huge deed, and for it retribution be laid up for the future.


Kronos by IvanSevic

The Titans and Titanides, like the Hundred-Handed Giants, were imprisoned by their father and eventually rebelled when Gaia gave the youngest Titan, Cronus, a sickle with which he castrates his father.

Monstrous Gaia was groaning within,

congested.  She conceived a cunning, evil trick.
Quickly, she made the element of grey adamant and
fashioned a great sickle and showed it to her children.
Then she spoke, encouraging them, though sorrowing in her heart.


Hyperion - Titan of Vision and Astral Fire by HernanFotografias


'My children with a reckless father, if only you agree

to obey me.  We would avenge the evil outrage of this father
of yours, for he first devised unseemly deeds.’

…Then great Kronos of crooked counsel,

embolden, quickly addressed his dear mother with words:
‘Mother, I promise that I will bring to completion,

Iapetus: Titan of the West by LeDemonDeRazgriz

this deed, since I do not care for that ill-named father
of ours…

She hid him in an ambush and placed in his hands

a serrated sickle, and apprised him of her whole cunning.


Great Ouranos came…

…  His son reach out from ambush

with his left hand, and in his right he held the sickle,

long and serrated and the genitals of his father

he quickly reaped and threw them behind his back

to be carried away.



Oceanus by BonnySaintANdrew

But Cronus was no better than Ouranos and was determined that none of his children would rule.

Great Kronos kept swallowing them as each

arrived at his mother’s knees from her sacred womb,
intending that no other one of the illustrious children
of Ouranos hold the kingly province among the immortals
for he learned from Gaia and starry Ouranos
that it was fated for him to be subdued by his son, although
he himself was powerful, through the plans of great Zeus,
Therefore, he kept blind vigilance but awaiting each,
he would swallow his children.

While Cronus did all he could to prevent his loss of power, Rhea, his sister and wife, concealed the birth of Zeus with the help of Gaia and fooled Cronus into believing that he had swallowed his new-born son.


Holding him in her arms, she hid

him in a high cave, beneath the ways of divine Gaia,
on densely wooded Mount Aigiaon.


Mnemosyne - Mother of Muses by la-voisin
 

She wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes entrusted it
to Ouranos’ son and great lord, king of gods before,
He took it and put it down into his womb, cruel one, and
he did not realize it in his mind, so that in return for a stone,
his son remained unconquered and unconcerned,
who was going to subdue him by brute force and his hand and drive him from his province and lord among immortals.



Phoebe by Vladlena111

Zeus remained hidden until he was fully grown and strong.  At this point, with the help of Gaia, Zeus freed his brothers and sisters from the prison of their father, Cronus, before freeing his father’s brothers, the Hundred-Handed Giants and Cyclopes, who would help him to defeat Cronus.

Rapidly, the strength and the limbs in their glory

of the lord grew, and when the year in its cycle
came around, deceived by Gaia’s sagacious advice,
Kronos of crooked counsel sent up his offspring again,
conquered by the schemes and brute force of his son.
He vomited the stone first, swallowing it last.
…
He loosened his father’s brothers from destructive bonds,
sons of Ouranos, whom their father bound in his folly.
They remembered gratitude for his benefactions and
gave him thunder and gleaming lightning
and flash.

And so the final battle between the Titans and the offspring of Cronus commenced. 



Titaness Rhea by TouchofArtistry

Tethys by amethystmoonsongB

From the other side, the Titans strengthened their ranks

eagerly, and both sides were revealing the works of forceful
hands, and the boundless sea resounded dreadfully, and
the earth screamed loudly, and wide Ouranos groaned, when
heaved, and from the foundations lofty Olympus shook
beneath the fury of the immortals.  The heavy pounding
of their feet reached murky Tartaros, as did the shrill screams
of the terrible pursuit and powerful missiles.
Thus they hurled mournful darts at one another.
The sound of both reached starry Ouranos
as they cried out.  They clashed with a great war cry.
No longer did Zeus restrain his might but straightaway
his heart filled with might, and he showed all
his brute force.  From Ouranos and Olympus together
he came striding, flashing lighting constantly.  His bolts
were flying in close array with thunder and flash
from his sturdy hands, whirling the flame
thickly.  Life-bearing Gaia screamed as she burned, and
the immense forest crackled loudly all round.



Themis by karaat

All the earth was boiling as well the streams of Ouranos
and the unplowed sea.  His blasts encompassed
the nether Titans, and immense flame reached
the shining aether.  Although the Titans were stalwart,
the gleaming light of lightning and flash deprived
them of their eyes.  Ineffiable heat gripped Chawos.
It seemed to the eyes for the seeing and ears for the hearing
exactly as if Gaia and the wide Ouranos from above
 were drawing near one another.  Such a loud din would rise up
with Gaia being fallen upon and Ouranos falling from above.
Such was the din that sounded and whipped up dust, and
abetted thunder and flashing and gleaming lightning,
shafts of Great Zeus, and they carried swift uproar and clamor
into the midst of both sides.  A terrible din arose from their
dreadful wrath, and the work of power was revealed.



Theia by Kuldi

At this point the Titans are defeated when Kottos, Briareos and Gyges, the Hundred-Handed Giants take them to Tartaros and trap them there.  While the first generation of Titans were defeated, there was a second generation of Titans.  These we will cover in the next post, along with the Cyclopes and Gigantes. 

Useful Resources

Myths and Legends: Fact & Fiction by Vic Parker

Theogony by Hesiod
Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose

Creation Mythology - Greece

Greek mythology is considered to be one of the most complex and in order to look at it in full one must look at its development over many stages, starting in the Bronze Age, through the Helladic period and up to the Archaic and Classical periods.  Many Greek creation myths contain elements of the early Pelasgian myth, which is named after Pelasgus and can be dated back to around 4000 BC.  The Pelasgians worshipped goddesses and their creation myth is dominated by a female creator.

Eurynome and Ophion by nathanspotts

In the beginning there was the Eurynome, the Goddess of All Things.  She emerged, naked, from chaos and, finding nothing on which to rest her feet, she split the water from the sky and danced across the waves.  As Eurynome danced she created the wind.  She captured the north wind and, rubbing it between her hands, transformed it into the serpent Ophion, who is also known as Boreas.  Ophion and Eurynome coupled and then, as a dove, Eurynome, laid the world egg.  Ophion, as instructed by Eurynome, encircled the world egg until it hatched, bringing the sun, moon, stars, and earth into being along with all of its plants and creatures.  Eurynome and Ophion lived peacefully on Olympus together, but Ophion became arrogant and tried to claim ownership of the universe. Eurynome was forced to banish him, head flattened and teeth broken, to the darkness beneath the earth.  Sometime later, Eurynome created the Titans and Titanesses who were given control of the planet and then she made the first man, Pelasgus.

Oceanus and Tethys Mosaic by Erkan Adıgüzel

Homer in the Iliad, which was written in during the 8th century BC, credits Oceanus and Tethys, a Titaness, with the creation of the first gods and the world.  Tethys was the ruler of the sea, while Oceanus surrounded the universe.  Homer’s version of events follows a similar theme to that found in the Pelasgian myth of creation

 

 

 

For lo!  I haste to those remote abodes,

Where the great parents (sacred source of gods!)

Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep,

On the last limits of the land and deep.

In their kind arms my tender years were past;

What time old Saturn, from Olympus cast,

Of upper heavens to Jove resign’d to reign,

Whelm’d under the huge mass of earth and main.

For strife, I hear, has made the union cease,

Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.

Then, in the late 8th century BC, we find Hesiod of Boetia and the first fully formed Greek myth of creation contained within his Theogony and Works and Days.  Theogony, meaning ‘birth of the gods’ is a thousand line poem which is presented to the reader as a hymn to Zeus and details the origin of the world and of the gods.  I will give you a summary of the poem, but if you want to read Theogony in full, you can do so here. 

The Goddess Gaia by thefantasim`

In the beginning there was Chaos and from Chaos comes Gaia, who was the earth; Tartarus, who was the Underworld; Eros, who was love, Erebus; who was darkness; and Night.  Gaia created Ouranos, or Uranus, who was the sky and from their coupling came the three Cyclopes, or Kyklopes; the three Hecatoncheires, who were strong and monstrous creatures known as the ‘hundred-handed’; and the twelve Titans: six brothers and six sisters. 

Hecatonchire by Orion35

The Titan Oceanus was the stream of Ocean which encircled the disc of the earth in early concepts of geography.  Oceanus fathered three thousand daughters and three thousand sons who were called the Oceanids. 

Oceanids by cirrusmin0r

The Titan Hyperion fathered Helius, or Helios, and both were gods of the sun.  The sun god lived in the East, and every day he crossed the dome of the sky in a four horse drawn chariot and descended in the West – into Oceanus, who encircled the earth – before sailing back to the East to begin a new day.

Hyperion by heartfullofhell

Phaethon, sometimes son of Hyperon or Helius or Apollo, wanted to find out if the Sun was truly his father, so he visited the palace of the Sun to find out.  Here the sun god reassured Phaethon that he was his father and that he could have anything he might desire.  Phaethon asked to drive the sun-chariot for one day and was granted his wish.  However, Phaethon was inexperienced and unable to control the horses.  He caused absolute havoc and met his death at the hands of Zeus or Jupiter.

Selene and Endymion by Umina

 

Another daughter of Hyperion was Selene, a goddess of the moon who drove a two-horse chariot.  The goddess of the moon later became Artemis or Diana.  Selene fell head over heels in love with the hunter Endymion and would abandon her duties to visit the cave where Endymion lived.  Endymion was eventually granted endless sleep and eternal youth.

 

Eos by Vildamir

The goddess of the dawn was Eos or Aurora.  She was the third child of Hyperion and, like Selene, drove a two-horse chariot.  Eos fell in love with the human Tithonus, or Tithonos, and stole him away.  Zeus granted her wish and made Tithonus immortal, but Eos forgot to ask that Tithonus be given eternal youth and he grew old.  While Eos remained devoted to him, her love cooled.  Eos and Tithonus had a son, Memnon, who was killed by Achilles during the Trojan saga.  Eos stole away other lovers, including Cephalus who later became the husband of Procris.

Ouranos

Ouranos hated his children and, as they were about to be born, he hid them inside Gaia.  Gaia was very angry with Ouranos and wished for revenge.  Her appeal was granted by Cronus, who accepted a sickle fashioned by his mother and castrated Ouranos, his father.  The severed genitals of Ouranos were cast into the ocean and from them grew Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cronus devours one of his offspring by Peter Paul Rubens

Cronus, or Kronos, or Saturn, and Rhea, had several children who were eaten by their father Cronus.  Cronus became afraid that he would meet his end at the hands of one of his children.  Rhea was aware of Cronus’ fear and, when Zeus was to be born, she hid the birth from Cronus.  Zeus was taken to Crete while Cronus was given a stone wrapped in baby’s clothes to eat.  Rhea hid Zeus in a cave and he eventually grew up to overthrow his father.  Zeus went on to marry his sister Hera, or Juno, and they became the king and queen of the gods.

Another Greek creation myth came from the religious system Orphism, named after the mythological poet and musician Orpheus.  The Orphic cult developed during the late 7th century BC.  In contrast to Homer’s Olympian religion, Orphism was mostly concerned with the destiny of the soul.  The following poem is an account of creation, where time makes the silver egg of the cosmos and from the egg come the Orphic.  He was the first god and was known as Protogonos.  Protogonos was bisexual and from him came the seeds of all gods and men.  The poem is a parallel of Iranian religion, who put much emphasis on Zurvan, the god of time.  Time creates the egg from which comes Phanes-Dionysus.  Phanes, the creator, makes Nyx (the night), his daughter and he is both her mother and father.  Nyx is the only one lucky enough to behold the creator and over much time she join with Phanes and brought Gaea (earth), Uranus (heaven), and Cronus (light) into being.



Greek Relief 'Phanes'

The Sixth Orphic Hymn

O mighty first-begotten, hear my orayer,

Twofold, egg born, and wandering through the air;
 

Bull-roarer, glorying in thy golden wings,

From whom the race of Gods and mortals springs.
 

Ericapius, celebrated power,

Ineffable, occult, all shining flower.
 

‘Tis thine from darksome mists to purge the sight,

All-spreading splendour, pure and holy light;

Hence Phanes called the glory of the sky,

On waving pinions through the world you fly.
 

It was said that Zeus swallowed Phanes-Dionysus and, in capturing the source of being in his belly, was able to make the world anew.  The Orphics also told of Dionysus being eaten by the Titans.  Once the Titans were destroyed, mankind was able to emerge from their ashes.  And so manking contained both the evil of the Titans and the goodness of Dionysus.  In some Orphic myths, Dionysus is brought back by Persephone and/or Demeter.

That’s all for today.  Next time we will continue on with creation mythology – this time from the East.

 

 

 

Useful Resources
Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities by Charles Russell Coulter& Patricia Turner
A Dictionary of Creation Myths by David Adams Leeming
Creation Myths of the World: An Encylopedia by David A. L.eeming
Iliad by Homer 
The Many Faces of Creation: A History of Man's Search for His Place and Purpose by Vern A. Westfall