Mythical Creatures: Giants of Wales - Part One

Welsh legend and folklore is full of giants.  Most are bad tempered and cruel, some are black, and some are even ghostly apparitions of giants long dead.  But all are eventually defeated, sometimes through some kind of heavenly intervention and often by the mythical King Arthur who is so popular in Welsh tales.  Over the next two posts we will learn about these giants of Wales and their stories, along with their eventual defeat.

Culhwch (or Kilhwch) and Olwen, often referred to as ‘the Oldest Arthurian tale’, was written in c1090 and is the oldest and the longest to appear in the Welsh Mabinogion.  Set in the court of Arthur, the story tells of the feats which the hero, Culhwch, must accomplish in order to win Olwen, whose father is Ysbaddaden, the Chief Giant, whose eyes are so heavy that they need to be propped up with forks or spears.  Another giant to play a minor role within the tale is Gwrnach, whose sword is needed to complete one of the tasks set by Ysbaddaden.    As the original tale is a good 19 pages long, I’ll give you one version here, but if you want to read the original in its entirety you can find it here.

Ysbaddaden Chief Giant by Alan Lee

Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch was the son of Cilydid and Goleuddydd and the cousin of the famous King Arthur.  When Goleuddydd died, Cilydid took another wife.  The new wife thought Culhwch would make a good husband to her own daughter.  When Culhwch refused her request, she became very angry.  She laid a curse on him that the only woman he could ever marry was Olwen, daughter of the fearsome giant Yspaddaden Pencawr.  Yspaddaden would not allow any man to marry his daughter because an ancient curse promised he would die on the wedding day.

Even so, Culhwch blushed at the sound of Olwen’s name.  He fell in love with the very idea of her and went to his father to ask how he could win her.  Cilydid reminded his son that he was King Arthur’s cousin.  He suggested he go to Arthur’s court and ask for Olwen as a favour.
After a long journey, Culhwch arrived at the gates of Arthur’s palace.  It was late and the gates had been closed for the night.  The gatekeeper explained that it was Arthur’s custom to keep the gates locked until morning.  Culhwch flatly refused this response.  He demanded to be allowed in.  He swore that if he were not, he would let out a shriek so loud and so shrill that it would cause every pregnant woman in the land to miscarry her child.  The gatekeeper brought this news to Arthur.  Although several of his knights advised him against doing so, Arthur went against custom and allowed Culhwch to enter.
After greeting each other, Arthur offered his cousin food and drink.  Culhwch explained that he was there for a much greater purpose and that he had a favour to ask.  Arthur promised to grant him whatever he asked.  Hearing this Culhwch replied, ‘Then I ask for Olwen daughter of Chief Giant Ysbaddaden, and I invoke her in the name of your warriors.’
Neither Arthur nor any of his knights had heard of Olwen, but they promised to help Culhwch find her nonetheless.  Arthur ordered his most skilled warriors to accompany Culhwch on his journey.  Among the men who went along were Kai, who could hold his breath for nine days and go without sleep for nine nights.  With Kai came his constant companion Bedwyr, who was as fast with a sword as he was beautiful.  The party was rounded out by Gwrhyr, who could speak the language of any man or animal, Gwalchmei, who could leave no adventure unachieved, and Menw, who could make himself and his companions invisible.

Culhwch and Olwen by Alan Lee

The party travelled together until they saw a huge fortress on an open plain.  Feeding on the plain was a seemingly endless number of sheep.  They were watched over by a hulking shepherd and his huge dog.  Menw put a spell on the dog so that they could approach the shepherd without harm.  The party asked the shepherd his name and whose fortress it was.  He replied that he was Custennin.  The fortress belonged to Ysbaddaden, who Custennin and his wife hated.  The evil giant had killed all but one of their twenty-four sons.  They kept the only survivor hidden in a stone chest to keep him from harm.  Kai offered to take the boy under his wing and train him as a knight.  In return for his generous offer Custennin’s wife offered to secure a secret meeting between Olwen and Culhwch.
Messengers were dispatched and Olwen came down to the plain to wash her hair.  According to the poets of old:

Her hair was yellower than broom, her skin whiter than sea-foam…  Neither the eye of a mewer hawk nor the eye of a thrice-mewed falcon was fairer than hers; her [skin was] whiter than the breast of a white swan, her cheeks were redder than the reddest foxgloves, and anyone who saw her would fall deeply in love.

Culhwch and Olwen talked together at Custennin’s house and quickly fell in love.  As Olwen stood up to return home, she told Culhwch to ask her father for her hand in marriage and not to deny anything he might ask of him.  In return, she promised to spend the rest of her days with him.

The next day, the party made for Ysbaddaden’s castle.  They killed the nine gatekeepers and made their was straight to the giant’s chambers.  The giant glared at them.  He said he would think about the request and give them an answer the next day.  As they turned to go, he grabbed a poisoned spear and threw it at them.  But Bedwyr, quick as lightning, caught it and hurled it back, wounding the giant’s knee.

Culhwch at Ysbadadden's court by E. Wallcousins

The next day the same thing happened.  Ysbaddaden told them to return and threw a second spear as they left.  Menw caught the spear and this time pierced the giant’s chest.  The third day they repeated the ritual once more.  This time, Culhwch caught the spear and threw it back so hard that it went through Ysbaddaden’s eye and came out the other side.  The giant finally agreed to sit down with Culhwch and his party to discuss his daughter’s marriage.
Ysbaddaden agreed to let Culhwch marry Olwen, but only after he had completed several tasks.  The giant then listed thirty-nine tasks, each more impossible than the last.  For example, Culhwch was to plow a vast hill in one day’s time, which could only be achieved if they captured two magic oxen to lead the plow, which could only be driven by a certain plowman, and so on.  After Ysbaddaden named each feat to be completed or item to be brought back, Culhwch simply responded, ‘It will be easy for me to get that, though you think otherwise.’
Culhwch and his party made their way back to Arthur’s court.  On the way, Kai fulfilled one of the trials by tricking a giant named Gwrnach into giving him his sword.  When they arrived at court, they explained to the king what they must do.  Arthur immediately promised his help and resources.  The group set out to accomplish the tasks.  They realized that the most dangerous one would be obtaining the comb and shears that rested between the ears of Twrch Trwyth, a king transformed into a monstrous boar.
On their way to find the boar king, Arthur and his companions attempted to fulfil another of their tasks – to find Mabon, the son of Modron who had been kidnapped when he was only three days old.  Arthur instructed Gwyhyr to ask an ancient Blackbird if he knew of Mabon’s whereabouts.  The Blackbird answered that while he had been sitting in that spot long enough to peck an anvil to the size of a nut, he had never heard anyone speak of the boy.  The bird suggested that they ask a beast older than he, the Stag of Rhedenwre.  The Stag could not help them, nor could an old Owl nor an ancient Eagle.  Finally, though, they were directed toward the Salmon of Lake Llyw who was said to have been the oldest living creature in the world.  The Salmon indeed knew where Mabon lived.  He even offered to take Kai and Gwrhyr there on his shoulders.  Together they made their way to a stone house, where they heard a terrible wailing.  It was Mabon, begging for his freedom.  Kai and Gwyhyr released Mabon, who then helped them fulfil many of their tasks.
After much time, Arthur decided he and his men were ready to take on Twrch.  They advanced to the castle where the boar king lived with his seven young pig sons.  The companions fought Twrch for three days with little results.


The End of the Quest by Lelek1980

Finally, Arthur sent Gwrhyr in the shape of a bird to speak with Twrch.  Gwrhyr begged the board king to give up his comb and scissors in order to put an end to all the fighting.  Twrch not only refused, he promised to do even more damaged to the land and Arthur’s men.Enraged, Twrch and his pigs swarmed across the sea into Wales.  Arthur and his men followed.  They made their way all over Britain chasing Twrch, encountering many adventures and even fulfilling other tasks in the process.  Over a long period of time, the pig sons were killed one by one until Twrch alone remained.  Finally, they cornered the king and were able to grab the comb and scissors – but not without great effort and cost on their part.  Twrch managed to escape before Arthur had a chance to kill him.
With the comb in hand, Arthur had succeeded in helping Culhwch fulfil his trials as promised.  They made their way back to Ysbaddaden, bringing him every treasure he had required.  The gifts he had demanded turned out to be his death wish.  When Culhwch asked if Olwen was his, Ysbaddaden replied, ‘She is.  And you need not thank me, rather Arthur, who won her for you; of my own will you would have never got her.  Now it is time for you to kill me.’
With that, one of Arthur’s men grabbed the giant and beheaded him.  Ysbaddaden’s head was placed on a pole in the wall.  Arthur seized the fortress and all the treasures.  Culhwch, of course, took Olwen and the couple was soon married.

Our next giant, Rhitta Gawr, was alluded to by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote:

‘On the ridge cold and vast,
There the giant Ricca lies.’
Rhitta Gawr, sometimes referred to as Rhita Gawr, Rhitta Cawr, Rhicca, Ricca, or Rhicca Gawr, was a ‘monstrous aggressive giant who… terrorized the countryside of Yr Wyddfa Fawr, the Snowdon Mountain range, and challenged chieftains and kings to do battle with him.’  The giant seemed to have something of a fetish for the beards of rulers, turning them into a mantle for himself.  The tale below also contains King Arthur and tells of a cairn built for the defeated giant, called ‘Rhita’s Cairn,’ which was, unfortunately destroyed some time ago to make way for a hotel on the summit of the mountain.

Cairn at the top of Eryri, Snowdonia, like that which Rhitta was buried under

The Mantle of Kings’ Beards

There were formerly two kings in Britain named Nynio and Peibio.  One moonlit night, as they were walking the fields, ‘See,’ said Nynio, ‘what a beautiful and extensive field I possess.’  ‘Where is it?’ said Peibio.  ‘There it is,’ said Nynio, ‘the whole sky, as far as vision can extend.’  ‘And does thou see,’ said Peibio, ‘what countless herds and flocks of cattle and sheep I have grazing in thy field?’  ‘Where are they?’ said Nynio.  ‘There they are,’ said Peibio, ‘the whole host of stars which thou seest, each of golden brightness, with the Moon for their shepherdess, to look after their wanderings.’  ‘They shall not graze in my pasture,’ said Nynio.  ‘They shall,’ said Peibio.  ‘They shall not,’ said the one.  ‘They shall,’ said the other.  From contention it came to furious war, and the armies and subjects of both the kings were nearly all destroyed.

Rhitta Gawr, King of Wales, hearing of the desolation wrought by these mad monarchs, determined to attack them.  Having previously consulted the laws and his people, he marched against them, vanquished them and cut off their beards.  When the other Kings of Britain, twenty-eight in number, heard of this, they combined all their legions to avenge the degradation committed on the two disbearded kings, and made a fierce onset on Rhitta the Giant and his forces, and furiously bold was the engagement.  But Rhitta won the day.  ‘This is my extensive field,’ said he then, and he shaved the beards of these kings also, so that he now had the beards of thirty Kings of Britain.

Arthur and Rhitta Gawr - artist unknown

When the kings of the surrounding countries heard of the disgrace inflicted on all these disbearded kings, they armed themselves against Rhitta and his men, and tremendous was the conflict.  But Rhitta achieved a decisive victory, and then exclaimed, ‘This is my immense field,’ and at once ordered his men to shave off the beards of the kings.  Then pointing to them, ‘These,’ said he, ‘are the animals that grazed my field, but I have driven them out: they shall no longer depasture there.’  After that he took up all the beards and trimmed with them a mantle for himself that extended from head to heel: and Rhitta was twice as large as any other person ever seen.
Then Rhitta sent a messenger to the Court of King Arthur to say that he had trimmed a mantle with kings’ beards, and to command Arthur carefully to flay off his beard and send it to him.  Out of respect to his pre-eminence over other kings his beard should have the honour of the principal place.  But if he refused to do it, he challenged him to a duel, with this offer, that the conqueror should have the mantle and the beard of the vanquished.  Then was Arthur furiously wroth and said:
‘Were it permitted to slay a messenger, thou shouldest not go back to thy lord alive, for this is the most arrogant and villainous message that ever man sent to a king.  By the faith of my body, Rhitta shall lose his head.’
Arthur gathered his host and marched into Gwynedd and encountered Rhitta.  The twain fought on foot, and they gave one another blows so fierce, so frequent and so powerful, that their helmets were pierced and their skullcaps were broken and their arms were shattered and the light of their eyes was darkened by sweat and blood.  At the last Arthur became enraged, and he called to him all his strength: and boldly angry and swiftly resolute and furiously determined, he lifted up his sword and struck Rhitta on the crown of the head a blow so fiercely-wounding, severely-venomous and sternly-smiting that it cut through all his head armour and his skin and his flesh and clove him in twain.  And Rhitta gave up the ghost, and was buried on the top of the highest mountain of Eryri, and each of his soldiers placed a stone on his tomb.  The place was afterwards known as Gwyddfa Rhitta, Rhitta’s Barrow, but the English call it Snowdon.

Garwed the Giant terrorized Craig-y-Ddinas

Our next tale concerns Garwed the Giant, who spent his time praying on the local cattle, leaving the people so distraught that they sought the help of King Arthur to rid them of the giant.

Arthur and Garwed the Giant

The tale of another of Arthur’s giant-killing episode is directly linked to the various episodes linking Arthur to Craig-y-Ddinas near Pontneddfechan in the Vale of Neath which according to some legends is Arthur’s final resting place.

The tale itself relates to Garwed the Giant who was terrorizing the neighbourhood around Craig-y-Ddinas.  He was praying on the local cattle herds and when the cattle were moved away or he had consumed them all he terrorized the local people to supply him with live bullocks and heifers.  Matters had become so desperate that envoys were sent to Arthur’s court in Caerllion to request assistance.  It just so happened that the envoys arrived when Arthur was holding court at Caerllion and the Great Leader heard their petition himself.  On hearing of their troubles he personally vowed to rid their land of the marauding giant.
The following morning Arthur arrayed himself in his armour and mounting his favourite charger he rode out with Bedwyr and Cei at his side.
The horsemen reached the outskirts of Pontneddfechan  Something whistled through the air above them and the riders immediately halted their steeds; and only just in time as a huge, damp, clod of earth thwacked wetly onto the path just ahead of them.  Moments later and all three riders spurred their steeds off the path and into the nearby woods as wattle fences, crumbling sheets of daub, hunks of thatch and tree-trunk posts – now shredded to little more than cordwood – darkened the skies and rained down upon them.
Barking an order, Arthur, undaunted, led him compatriots onwards through the wooded verge of the track and towards the source of the destruction.  For a while the thudding of their horses’ hooves and the whipping of the branches about them almost covered the sounds of roaring and pounding ahead of them.  But soon enough, as they veered from the tree verge and back onto the path the pounding became so pronounced that the very ground beneath them began to shake.

King of the Britons by theDURRRRIAN*

Within instants they had broken through into a clearing, coming upon what had once been a farmstead – but which was now little more than a ruined wreck.  In the midst of the ruination there was a giant squatting upon his haunches within a crater of his own creation.  His hands wrapped around a byre which he held up to the sky and rattled even as one roving eye peered within.  Every now and then he would raise his hands to rattle the byre, sending clouds of clay and whitewash drifting to the ground by his feet.  Then he would tilt the building upwards so that he could peer within once more.
Arthur and his teulu reached within striking distance of the giant just as he crushed the byre in his hands and hurled it spear-like into the air.  Halting his steed, Arthur dismounted and handed the reins to Bedwyr before calmly walking towards the giant figure before him.  Tilting his head upwards Arthur addressed the giant, saying: ‘I am Arthur, protector of this realm – to whom am I addressing?’
'Puny mannikin,' replied the giant, inclining his head to look at the small figure before him, 'I am Garwed and these are my feeding grounds. If you truly are the protector of this realm, bring me kine before I start feeding on your people.'
Arthur gathered himself to his full height and suddenly he seemed to grow in both stature and majesty. 'Garwed,' he said, addressing the giant, 'you have consumed all the fair beasts of the regions hereabouts...'
The giant roared at this and raised his hand as if to swat Arthur away. But Arthur raised his own hand as if in a sign of appeasement. 'But...', he continued, '...there is a realm close to this that is overflowing with fine white cattle.'
'SHOW ME,' thundered the giant.
Instead of replying Arthur simply mounted his steed and with a wave of his hand indicated that Garwed should follow the three mounted men. As they turned their steeds' heads and cantered westwards the giant loped behind them, each footfall shaking the ground as it impacted with the earth. They rode quietly for a good half hour even as the giant's grumblings grew louder and louder behind them until they eventually emerged into a clearing beside a river. Before them stood a single imposing crag, rough inposing and shaped like a lopsided triangle. Arthur simply slowed his steed, pointed at the crag and of Craig y Ddinas and began to slowly ease his steed along the riverbank.

Giant by jjpeabodyB

Eventually they veered from the riverbank and began heading immediately towards the crag of Craig y Dinas and Arthur urged his steed into a canter and then a gallop, forcing the giant to enter into a long-legged lope to keep up with them. Within moments they were passing an ancient gnarled hazel tree at the base of Craig y Ddinas, heading for the outcrop itself. At the lower slope Arthur dismounted from his steed and motioned his companions to do likewise. Then all three warriors waited for the giant to catch-up with them.
Reaching level with Arthur and his men, the giant towered over them and roared down at them 'Where are my Kine?'.
'Through there', replied Aathur, pointing at the rock face of Craig-y-Ddinas. Beyond that lies the gateway to the Summer Realm and there there are magical kine, the fattest and most succulent that anyone has ever seen.
'Hmph...' harrumphed the giant... 'But where?'
Simply dig where I indicate, Arthur replied, and you will gain the Summer Realm.
The giant viewed the three small humans with dubious uncertainty, but he turned to face the mountain and began to tear at the soil and the rocks with his hands, sending great chunks of mountainside arcing into the air over their heads. Deeper and deeper the giant dug, until his head and then his shoulders and then almost his entire torso vanished into the hole he was forming.

Fallen Giant by Batatalion

At that point, Arthur shouted 'Now!' and he and his companions took up their spears and rushed the giant. Still half-stuck in the hole he had digged, Garwed struggled to back out, but he was wedged stuck and the three spears struck him deeply. So mighty was Arthur's strike that his spear went through the giant's back, straight into his heart and kept on going deep into the mountain. Indeed, it caused a fissure from which emerged a spring, that spring which now feeds the river which bears the giant's name, Afon Garwed.
The giant's heartblood was spilled and it trickled down the mountain side to the roots of the gnarled hazel tree at its base.
Arthur turned to his men and said to them: 'This is an enchanted place now, here, one day we shall sleep the sleep of the ages.'
Many years passed, and the giant's body decayed and merged with the tunnel he had dug to form a cave, a cave that the giant's blood enchanted to make it invisible from the gaze of mortal men.

Sion Dafydd Rhys, writing around c.1600, detailed several Welsh giants in his ‘The Giants of Wales and Their Dwellings.’  These included Maylor, or Maelor Gawr and his sons Cornippin Gawn, Crygyn Gawr and Bwba Gawr, and told of the capture of Maylor Gawr.

'Dinas Maelor' or 'Maelor's Fort', Wales

The Capture of Maylor Gawr

And in the country of Aberteifi, before the coming of Brutus to this island, there formerly lived Maylor Gawr, and the place where he lived is still called Castell Maylor which was built on a high hill or high ridge called Y Dinas on the one side of the river Ystwyth within the boundary of the town of Aber Yystwhyth.

To this Maylor Gawr were three sons, namely, Cornippin Gawr, and Crygyn Gawr, and Bwba Gawr.  Corpinnin Gawr dwelt in a castle which is still called after his own name, namely Castell Cornippin opposite the parish of Llan Ychaiam within the commote of Meifienydd.  And it came to pass that Maylor Gawr was taken prisoner in a place called Cyfeilog, about twelve miles from his own castle: and when on the point of being put to death, he begged of his enemies to permit him to blow his horn three times before suffering death, which thing was allowed to him.  And then he blew his horn the first time until the hair on his head and beard fell.  And on the second blast of his horn, so great was the strength and force of the sounding that all his finger and toe-nails fell off completely.  And on the third blast of his horn the intensity of the force of the sound caused the horn to be broken into small pieces.  And then when his son Cornippin was hunting, as he rode on his huge horse and leading his hound by hand, and hearing the sound of his father’s horn, he saddened greatly, and he longed beyond measure for his father: and that place, to this present day is called

Ystwyth river by Matt Davies

Cefn Hiraethog.  And then he began to return towards his father in seeking to help him: and in riding with such haste and swiftness, he tore the head of his hound off its body, until there only remained in the leash the head and mouth of the dog.  And that place is still called to this day, The Pass of the Dog’s Muzzle.  And when he saw that, he spurred his steed until the horse leapt at one bound over the Ystwyth River so that it was a great wonder to see such a length of leap, is called to this hour Ol Carn y March.  And in that manner Cornippin came up to his father, where after fighting he also was killed.
And Crygyn Gawr dwelt in Castell Grygyn within the parish of Llan Hilar, and in the same commote.
Bwba Gawr lived in the castle which still bears his name, namely, Castell Bwba, in the parish of Llan Bodam Fawr in the middle commote.
These giants lived in Wales before Brutus came to this island, and their custom while they lived was to kill whatever men should come to lodge within their strongholds until at last the same man came and killed them both the same night by cunning.

Another giant found within Sion’s writings is Cribwr Gawr, with the writing detailing the death of his sisters at the hands of Arthur.  This tale bears some resemblance to the tale of Odysseus and Polyphemus, in which Odysseus tells the Cyclops that his name is Nobody – a trick which enabled Odysseus to both blind and escape Polyphemus.

In the country of Morgannwg was Cribwr Gawr in Castell Cefn Cribwr by Llan Gewydd.  Arthur killed three sisters of Cribwr by treachery.  Because Arthur nicknamed him(self) Hot Pottage to the first sister, and Warm Porridge to the second sister (so the tale runs), and a Morsel of Bread to the third, and when the first sister called for help against Hot Pottage Cribwr answered: Wench, let him cool; and in the same manner he answered the second sister, when she sought assistance against Warm Porridge.  And the third sister called out that the Morsel of Bread was choking her, and to this he answered, Wench, take a smaller piece.  And when Cribwr reproached Arthur for killing his sisters Arthur replied by an englyn milwr in this manner:

Y Cribarth (The Sleeping Giant) by Ray Thomas

Cribwr take thy combs

And cease with currish anger
If I get a real chance – surely
What they have had, thou shalt have too.

No one could kill the three sisters together, so great was their strength, but singly by stealth Arthur killed them.

And the place is still called after his name Cribarth, namely, Garth Cribwr Gawr.

That's all for today.  Tomorrow we will cover the rest of the giants of Wales, including Benlli Gawr, the Giant of Wales, and the black ghost giants of Welsh folklore and the Mabinogion.

Useful Resources

The Mabinogion by Lady Charlotte Guest

Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by CarolRose
The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby
Celtic Mythology Rocks! By Catherine Bernard
The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas
The Giants of Wales and their Dwellings by Sion Dafydd Rhys

 

 

Mythical Creatures: Giants of Greece and Rome - Part Three

Today is the final post on the Giants of Greece and Rome, which will cover the Cyclopes, the giant one-eyed beings born of Gain and Ouranos, the Gigantes, born of Gaia and the blood of Uranus, and Typhon, the offspring of Gain and Tartaros.

FENIX - Brontes by ZEBES

Cyclopes

The Cyclopes, sometimes spelled Kyklopes which means ‘Round Eyes’, were the children of Gaia and Ouranos, or Uranus, with their siblings being the Hundred-Handed Giants.  The names of this first generation of Cyclopes were Brontes, meaning ‘Thunder,’ Steropes, meaning ‘Lightning’, and Arges, meaning ‘Thunderbolt’.  Hesiod’s Theogony tells us:

She further bore the Kyklopes with exceeding forceful hearts,

Brontes and Steropes and Arges mighty of spirit,
Who gave to Zeus the thunder sound and fashioned the thunderbolt.
They were like the gods in all respects except
The single eye that lay in the middle of their foreheads.
They are named Kyklopes from this feature,
Because one circular eye lay in the forehead of each.
Strong is their brute force, and designs are upon their deeds.

Cyclopes at the forge of Hephaestus

The Cyclopes, like the Hundred-Handed Giants, were imprisoned by the Titans inside Tartaros and were freed by Zeus before the battle between the gods and the Titans.  They repaid this kindness by giving Zeus the thunderbolt and its sound.  After the battle, they were given forges beneath Mount Etna, where they forged weapons for the gods.  They are mentioned again in Apollodorus’ Library, where they are killed by Apollo to avenge the death of his son, Aesculapius, at the hands of Zeus.

…Leucippus begat Arsinoe: with her Apollo had intercourse, and she bore Aesculapius…  And having become a surgeon, and carried the art to a great pitch, he not only prevented some from dying, but even raised up the dead; for he had received from Athena the blood that flowed from the veins of the Gorgon, and while he used the blood that flowed from the veins on the left side for the bane of mankind, he used the blood that flowed from the right side for salvation, and by that means he raised the dead.



Apollo killing the Cyclops by Domenichino and assistants

But Zeus, fearing that men might acquire the healing art from him and so come to the rescue of each other, smote him with a thunderbolt.  Angry on that account, Apollo slew the Cyclopes who had fashioned the thunderbolt for Zeus.  But Zeus would have hurled him to Tartaros; however, at the intercession of Latona he ordered him to serve as a thrall to a man for a year.  So he went to Admetus, son of Pheres, at Pherae, and served him as a herdsman, and caused all the cows to drop twins.

The Odyssey, an epic tale written by Homer, tells of the hero Odysseus as he journeys home after the Trojan War – a journey which takes him ten years to complete.  Within this myth we find Polyphemus – possibly the most well-known Cyclops of Greek mythology.  Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon and the nymph Thousa, is of the second generation of Cyclops.

Odysseus and Polyphemus

The war at Troy was over.  The Achaeans had burnt the great city of Priam; and Odysseus and all the other princes set out in their ships to go home.  But the winds and storms carried them away to many lands.  Only a few reached the countries which they had left to go to Troy; and these were tossed about for a long time on the sea, and went through great toil and many dangers.

Odysseus and Poseidon by faolainIllustration

At first the ships of Odysseus went on merrily with a fresh breeze: and the men thought that they would soon come to rocky Ithaca, where their homes were.  But Athena was angry with Odysseus, and she asked Poseidon, the lord of the sea, to send a great storm and scatter his ships.  So the wind arose, and the waters of the sea began to heave and swell, and the sky was black with clouds and rain.  Many days and many nights the storm raged fiercely; and when it was over, Odysseus could only see four or five of all the ships which had sailed with him for Troy.  The ships were drenched with the waves which had broken over them, and the men were wet and cold and tired; and they were glad indeed when they saw an island far away.  So they sat down on the benches, and took the great oars and rowed the ships towards the shore: and as they came near, they saw that the island was very beautiful, with cliffs and rocks, and bays for ships to take shelter from the sea.  Then they rowed into one of these quiet bays, where the water was always calm, and where they was no need to let down an anchor, or to tie the ship by ropes to the ship by ropes to the sea shore, for the ship lay there quite still of itself.  At the head of the bay a stream of fresh water trickled down from the cliffs, and ran close to the opening of a large cave, and near the cave some willow trees drooped their branches over the stream, which ran down towards the sea.

Polyphemus, detail from fresco

So they made haste to go on shore; and when they had landed, they saw fine large plains on which the corn might grow, but no one had taken the trouble to sow the seed; and sloping hills for grapes to ripen on the vines, but none were planted on them.  And Odysseus thought that the people who lived there must be very strange, because they had no corn and no vines, and he could see no houses, but only sheep and goats feeding on the hill-sides.  So he took his bow and arrows, and shot many of the goats, and he and his men lay down on the ground and had a merry meal, and drank the rich red wine which they had brought with them from the ship.  And when they had finished eating and drinking they fell asleep, and did not wake up till the morning showed its bright rosy light in the eastern sky.
Then Odysseus said that he would take some of his men and go to see who lived on the island, while the others remained in the ship close to the sea-shore.  So they set out, and at last they came to the mouth of a great big cave, where many sheep and goats were penned up in large folds; but they could see no one in the cave or anywhere near it; and they waited a long while, but no one came.  So they lit a fire, and made themselves merry, as they ate the cheese and drank the milk which was stored up round the sides of the cave.
Presently they heard a great noise of heavy feet stamping on the ground, and they were so frightened that they ran inside the cave and crouched down at the end of it.  Nearer and nearer came the Cyclops, and his tread almost made the earth shake.  At last he came, with many dry logs of wood on his back; and in came all the sheep, which he milked every evening; but the rams and the goats stated outside.  But if Odysseus and his men were afraid when they saw Polyphemus the Cyclops come in, they were much more afraid when he took up a great stone, which was almost as big as the mouth of the cave, and set it up against it for a door.  Then the men whispered to Odysseus, and said, ‘Did we not beg and pray you not to come into the cave?  But would you listen to us; and now how are we to get out again?  Why, two-and-twenty waggons would not be able to take away that huge stone from t

The One-Eyed Polyphemus - artist unknown

he mouth of the cave.’  But they were shut in now, and there was no use in thinking of their folly for coming in. So there they lay, crouching in the corner of the cave, and trembling with fear lest Polyphemus should see them.  But the Cyclops went on milking all the sheep, and then he put the milk into the bowls round the sides of the cave, and lit the fire to cook his meal.  As the flame shot up from the burning wood to the roof of the cave, it showed him the forms of Odysseus and his companions, where they lay huddled together in the corner; and he cried out to them with a loud voice, ‘Who are you that dare to come into the cave of Polyphemus?  Are you come to rob me of my sheep, or my cheese and milk that I keep here?’
Then Odysseus said, ‘Oh! No, we are not come to do you any harm: we are Achaeans who have been fighting at Troy to bring back Helen, whom Paris stole away from Sparta, and we went there with the great King Agamemnon, who everybody knows.  We are on our way home to Ithaca, but Poseidon sent a great storm, because Athena was angry with me; and almost all our ships have been sunk in the sea, or broken to pieces on the rocks.’ When he had finished speaking, Polyphemus frowned savagely and said, ‘I know nothing of Agamemnon, or Paris, or Helen;’ and he seized two of the men, and broke their heads against the stones, and cooked them for his dinner.  That day Polyphemus ate a huge meal, and drank several bowls full of milk; and after that he fell fast asleep.  Then, as he lay there snoring in his heavy sleep, Odysseus thought how easy it would be to plunge his sword into his breast and kill him; and he was just going to do it when he thought of the great stone which 


Odysseus in the Cave of Polyphemus by Jacob Jordaens

Polyphemus had placed at the mouth of the cave; and he knew that if Polyphemus were killed no one else could move away the stone, so they would all die shut up in that dismal place. So the hours of the night went slowly son, but neither Odysseus nor his friends could seep, for they thought of the men whom Polyphemus had eater, and how they would very likely be eaten up themselves.  At last they could tell, from the dim light which came in between the top of the stone and the roof of the cave, that the morning was come: and soon Polyphemus awoke and milked all the sheep again; and when he had done this, he went to the end of the cave and took up two more men and killed and ate them.  Then he took down the great stone from the mouth of the cave, and drove all the cattle out to graze on the soft grass of the hills; and Odysseus began to hope that they might be able to get away before Polyphemus came back.  But the Cyclops was not so silly as to let them go, for, as soon as the cattle were gone out, he took up the big stone again as easily as if it had been a little pebble, and put it up against the mouth of the cave; and there were Odysseus and his friends shut up again as fast as ever.
Then Odysseus began to think more and more how they were to get away, for if they stayed there they would soon be all killed, if Polyphemus went on eating four of them every day.  At last, near the sheep-fold, he saw a club of Polyphemus, which Polyphemus was going to use as a walking stick.  It was the whole trunk of an olive tree, fresh and green, for he had only just cut it and left it to dry, that he might carry if about when it was fit for use.  There it lay like the mast of a ship, which twenty men could hardly have lifted; and Odysseus cut off a bit from the end, as much as a man could carry, and

Odysseus and Polyphemus by 2HeadedMonster

told the men to bring it to a very sharp point; and when they had done this he hardened it in the fire, and then hid it away till Polyphemus should come home.  By and by, when the sun was sinking down, they heard the terrible tramp of his feet, and felt the earth shake beneath his tread.  Then the great stone was taken down from the mouth of the cave, and in he came, driving the sheep and goats and the great rams before him, for this time he let nothing stay outside.  So he milked the sheep and the goats, as he had done the day before; and then he killed two more men, and began to eat them for his supper.  Then Odysseus went toward him with a bottle full of wine, and said, ‘Drink this wine, Polyphemus; it will make your supper taste much nicer; I have brought it to you, because I want you to do me some kindness in return.’  So the Cyclops stretched out his hand to take the wine, and he drank it off greedily and asked for more.  ‘Give me more of this honey-sweet wine,’ he said; ‘surely no grapes on this earth could ever give such wine as this: tell me your name, for I should like to do you a kindness for giving me such wine as this.’  Then Odysseus said, ‘O Cyclops, I hope you will not forget to give me what you have promised: my name is Nobody.’  And Polyphemus said, ‘Very well, I shall eat up Nobody last of all, when I have eaten up all his companions; and this is the kindness which I mean to do for him.’  But by this time he was so stupid with all that he had been eating and drinking that he could say no more, but fell on his back fast asleep; and his heavy snoring sounded through the whole cave.  Then Odysseus cried to his friends, ‘Now is the time; come and help me, and we will punish this Cyclops for all that he has done.’  So he took the piece of the o

Polyphemus blinded by Odysseus and His Men - artist unknown

live tree, which had been made sharp, and put it into the fire, till it almost burst into a flame; and then he and two of his men went and stood over Polyphemus, and pushed the burning wood into his great eye as hard and as far down as they could.  It was a terrible sight to see; but the Cyclops was so stupid and heavy in sleep that as first he could scarcely stir; but presently he gave a great groan, so that Odysseus and his people started back in fright, and crouched down at the end of the cave: and then the Cyclops put out his hand and drew the burning wood from his eye, and threw it from him in a rage, and roared out for help to his friends, who lived on the hills round about.  His roar was as deep and loud, and they heard him shouting out so loud, and they said, ‘What can be the matter with Polyphemus?  We never heard him make such a noise before: let us go and see if he wants any help.’  So they went to the cave, and stood outside the great stone which shut it in, listening to his terrible bellowings; and when they did not stop, they shouted to him, and asked him what was the matter.  ‘Why have you waked us up in the middle of the night with all this noise, when we were sleeping comfortably?  Is any one taking away your sheep and goats, or killing you by craft and force?’  And Polyphemus said, ‘Yes, my friends, Nobody is killing me by craft and force.’  When the others heard this they were angry, and said, ‘Well, then, if nobody is killing you, why do you roar so?  If you are ill, you must bear it as best you can, and ask our father Poseidon to make you well again;’ and then they walked off to their beds, and left Polyphemus to make as much noise as he pleased.
It was of no use that he went on shouting: no one came to him any more; and Odysseus laughed because he had tricked him so cunningly by calling himself Nobody.  So Polyphemus got up at last, moaning and groaning with the dreadful pain, and groped his was with his hands against the sides of the cave until he came to the door.  Then he took down the great stone, and sat with his arms stretched out wide; and he said to himself, ‘Now I shall be sure to catch them, for no one can get out without passing me.’


Ulysses Escaping from Polyphemus the Cyclops by I.G. Walker

But Odysseus was too clever for him yet; for he went quietly and fastened the great rams of Polyphemus together by threes, and under the stomach of the middle one he tied one of his men, until he had fastened them all up safely.  Then he went and caught hold of the largest ram of all, and clung on with his hands to the thick wool underneath his stomach: and so they all waited in a great fright, lest after all the great giant might catch and kill them.  At last the pale light of morning came into the Eastern sky, and very soon the sheep and the goats began to go out of the cave.  Then Polyphemus passed his hands over the backs of all the sheep as they passed by, but he did not feet the willow bands, because their wool was long and thick, and he never thought that any one would be tied up underneath their stomachs.  Last of all came the great ram to which Odysseus was clinging: and when Polyphemus passed his hand over his back, he stroked him gently and said, ‘Well, old sheep, is there something the matter with you too, as there is with your master?  You were always the first to go out of the cave, and now today for the first time you are the last.  I am sure that horrible Nobody is at the bottom of all this.  Ah, old man, perhaps it is that you are sorry for your master, whose eye Nobody has put out.  I wish you could speak like a man, and tell me where he is.  If I could but catch him, I would take care that he never got away again, and then I should have some comfort for all the evil which Nobody has done to me.’  So he sent the ram on; and when he had gone a little way from the cave, Odysseus got up from under the ram, and went and untied all his friends: and very glad they were to be free once more; but they could not help crying, when they thought of the men whom Polyphemus had killed.  But Odysseus told them to make haste and drive as many of the sheep and goats as they could to the ships.  So they drove them down to the shore and hurried them into the ships, and began to row away: and soon they would have been out of the reach of the Cyclops, if Odysseus could only have held his tongue.  But he was so angry himself, that he thought he would like to make Polyphemus also still more angry; so he shouted to him, and said, ‘Oh, cruel Cyclops, did you think that you would not be punished for eating up my friends?  Is this the way in which you receive strangers who have been tossed about by many storms upon the sea?’

Odysseus And Polyphemus by Arnold Boecklin

Then Polyphemus was more furious than ever, and he broke off a great rock from the mountain, and hurled it at Odysseus.  On it came whizzing through the air, and fell just in front of the ship, and the water was dashed up all over it; and there was a great heaving of the sea, which almost carried them back to the land.  Then they began to row again with all their might; but still, when they had got about twice as far as they were before, Odysseus could not help shouting out a few more words to Polyphemus.  So he said, ‘If any one asks you how you lost your eye, remember, O Cyclops, to say that you were made blind by Odysseus, the plunderer of cities, the son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.’

The Cyclops Polyphemus tosses rocks at the fleeing Odysseus and his crew by Louis Frédéric Schützenberger

Terrible indeed was the fury of Polyphemus when he heard this, and he said: ‘Now I remember how the wise Telemus used to tell me that a man would come here named Odysseus, who would put my eye out.  But I thought he would have been some great strong man, almost as big as myself; and this a miserable little wretch, whom I could almost hold in my hand if I caught him.  But stay, Odysseus, and I will show you how I thank you for your kindness, and I will ask my father Poseidon to send you a pleasant storm to toss you about upon the dark sea.’
Then Polyphemus took up a bigger rock than ever and hurled it high into the air with all him might.  But this time it fell just behind the ship of Odysseus and all his people, and almost sunk the ship under the sea.  But it only sent them further out of the reach of the Cyclops; and though he hurled more rocks after them, they now fell far behind in the sea and did them no ham.  But even when they had rowed a long way, they could still see Polyphemus standing on the high cliff, and shaking his hands at them in rage and pain.  But no one came to help him for all his shouting, because he had told his friends that Nobody was doing him harm.

Giant - Greek Mythology by KingOvRats

The Gigantes

The Gigantes, Gegeneis, or Ge Geneis, from which the word ‘giant’ is derived and which is translated as ‘earth-born’, are said to be the offspring of Gaia, or Ge, and the blood of the wounded Uranus, or Ouranos, as in Hesiod’s Theogony.  In this case, later versions of the Theogony simply call them Giants, with them being born already wearing armor and armed with spears:

As many drops of blood spurted forth,

all of them Gaia received.  In the revolving years,
she bore the… great Giants,
gleaming in their armor, holding long spears in their hands,…

The names of these Gigantes are variously given as Agrius, meaning ‘Untameable’; Alcyoneus, meaning ‘Brayer’; Aloeus, meaning ‘Of the Threshing Floor’; Clytius, meaning ‘Renowned’; Enceladus, meaning ‘Buzzer’; Eurytus, meaning ‘Rapids’; Grathium, meaning ‘Grater’; Hippolytus, meaning ‘Stampede’; Mimas, meaning ‘Mocker’; Pallas, meaning ‘Handsome’; Polybutes, meaning ‘Cattle-lord’; Porphyrion, meaning ‘Purple One’; Thoas, meaning ‘Fast’; and Titys, meaning ‘Risker’.  The story of the Gigantes, however, does not appear in the Theogony and is instead covered by Apollodorus in his Library.  Here we are told of the battle between the Gigantes and the Olympian gods after the Titans defeat.  Apollodorus’ Gigantomachy tells us of how these Gigantes were defeated by the Olympian gods with the help of Heracles.

Gigantomachy by Perin del Vagas

The Gigantomachy

But Ge, angry about what happened to the Titans, produced the Giants by Ouranos, unsurpassed in bodily size, in power unconquerable.  They looked frightful in countenance, with thick hair hanging from their backs and chins, and they had serpent coils for legs.  According to some they were born in Phlegrai, but according to others in Pallene.  They hurled rocks and flaming trees into heaven.  Greatest of them all were Prophyrion and Alcyoneus.  Alcyoneus was immortal as long as he fought in the same land where he was born, and he even drove the cattle of Helios out of Erytheia.  It had been prophesied to the gods that none of the Giants could be killed by gods, but that is a mortal fought as their ally, the Giants would die.  When Ge learned of this, she sought a magic plant to prevent them from being killed even by a mortal, but Zeus forbade Eos, Selene, and Helios to shine. 

Giants Battle with the Gods by Joseph Anton Koch

Then he himself cut the plant before Ge could and had Athena call Heracles to help them as an ally.  Heracles first shot Alcyoneus, but when he fell onto the earth, he was reinvigorated.  At Athena’s direction, Heracles dragged him outside of Pallene.  That, then, is how he died; but Prophyrion moved against Heracles and Hera in the battle.  Zeus put desire for Hera into him.  She called for help when the Giant was tearing her clothes in his desire to rape her, and after Zeus hit him with a thunderbolt, Heracles shot and killed him with his bow.  As for the other Giants, Apollo shot Ephialtes’ left eye out; Heracles shot out the right.  Dionysos killed Eurytos with his thyrsus.  Hecate killed Clytios with torches.  Hephaistos killed Mimas by hitting him with molten metal.  Athena threw the island of Sicily onto Encelados as he fled, and she cut the skin off of Pallas and covered her own body with it during the battle.  Polybotes was pursued by Poseidon across the sea and came to Cos.  Poseidon broke off a pieces of the island (called Nisyron) and threw it on him.  Hermes, wearing Hades’ cap, killed Hippolytos in the fight, while Artemis killed Gration.  The Moirai, fighting with bronze clubs, killed Agrios and Thoas.  Zeus destroyed the rest by hurling his thunderbolts.  Heracles shot all of them as they died.

It is said that those Gigantes who survived after this made a final attack at Trapezus.  Here they were defeated and put into great chasms within the earth.  Their bodies were then covered by mountains and volcanoes to stop them from regenerating.  It is said that, when they stir, they cause earthquakes and tremors.  Some believe that ‘these myths were the creation of an explanation for quantities of dinosaur bones that have been found continuously in the region of Trapezus.’ 

Typhon by notdanmartin

While the Gigantes were defeated by the Olympian gods and Heracles, they were not the last.  Typhon, who is also known as Typhoeus, Typheus, Typhaon, and Typhois, was created by Gaia, or Ge and Tartaros according to Apollodorus, after the defeat of the Gigantes.  Apollodorus describes him as ‘a mix of man and beast…taller than all the mountains’ which ‘bested in size and strength everything that Ge had produced.’  This giant man-beast had ‘a hundred dragon heads’ sprouting from his arms and ‘gigantic viper coils’ from the thighs down.  He was ‘covered in wings’ and ‘belched a great blast of fire from his mouth.’  Typhon fought against Zeus and was eventually defeated and buried beneath Mount Etna (Aima) where he is still said to cause eruptions.
 

Typhon

When the gods had defeated the Giants, Ge became more angry, copulated with Tartaros, and bore Typhon in Cilicia.  He had a form that was a mix of man and beast.  He bested in size and strength everything that Ge had produced.  As far as the thighs he was man-shaped and of such immense size that he was taller than all the mountains, and his head often touched the stars.  One of his hands stretched out to the west and one to the east, and from them stood out a hundred dragon heads.  From the thighs down he had gigantic viper coils that, when stretched out, reached as far as the very top of his head and produced a great hissing.  His whole body was covered in wings, his coarse hair was whipped away from his head and chin by the wind, and fire flashed from his eyes.  [Such was Typhon, so great was Typhon when he threw flaming rocks as he moved against heaven itself with hissing noises and shouting, and he belched a great blast of fire from his mouth.]

Typhon rising by Demodus

When the gods saw him attacking heaven, they took refuge in Egypt and, being pursued, changed their forms into animals.  But Zeus threw thunderbolts when Typhon was far off and cut him down with an adamantite sickle when he came close.  He doggedly pursued him as he fled to Mount Casios, which looks over Syria.  There Zeus saw that Typhon was seriously wounded and engaged him hand-to-hand.  But Typhon wrapped his coils around Zeus and got him in a hold.  He stripped away the sickle and cut out the sinews of his hands and feet.  Lifting Zeus onto his shoulders, he carried him across the sea to Cilicia, and when he arrived, he put him into the Corycian cave.  Likewise, hiding the sinews in a bearskin, he stowed them there.  He set the dragoness Delphyne to guard him.  This girl was half-beast.  But Hermes and Aigipan stole the sinews and put them back in Zeus without being caught.  Zeus, having gotten his strength back, suddenly flew down from heaven in a chariot pulled by winged horses and threw thunderbolts at Typhon as he pursued him to the mountain called Nysa, where the Moirai deceived him as he fled, and, persuaded that he would be reinvigorated, he tasted the ephemeral fruits.  When the pursuit began again, he came to Thrace and, fighting around Mount Haimos, hurled whole mountains.  But these were forced back on him by the thunderbolt, and blood [‘haima’] gushed out onto the mountain, and they say that it is from this that the mountain is called Haimos.  As Typhon tried to flee across the Sicilian sea, Zeus threw Mount Aima in Sicily on him.  This mountain is enormous, and down to this day they say that the eruptions of fire from it come from the thunderbolts that were hurled.  But enough about that.

And that completes the Giants of Greece and Rome.  In the next post we will explore the Giants of Norse mythology. 

Useful Resources

Library by Apollodorus

Odyssey by Homer
Theogony by Hesiod
Tales from Greek Mythology by George William Cox
Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources of Translation by Stephen M. Trzaskoma, R.Scott Smith, Stephen Brunet & Thomas G. Palaima
Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by CarolRose