Tuphōn

Zeus2

 

This is part 2 of 2. Part 1 is here.

ὡς δ’ ἐκράτησαν οἱ θεοὶ τῶν Γιγάντων, Γῆ μᾶλλον χολωθεῖσα μίγνυται Ταρτάρῳ, καὶ γεννᾷ Τυφῶνα ἐν Κιλικίᾳ, μεμιγμένην ἔχοντα φύσιν ἀνδρὸς καὶ θηρίου. οὗτος μὲν καὶ μεγέθει καὶ δυνάμει πάντων διήνεγκεν ὅσους ἐγέννησε Γῆ, ἦν δὲ αὐτῷ τὰ μὲν ἄχρι μηρῶν ἄπλετον μέγεθος ἀνδρόμορφον, ὥστε ὑπερέχειν μὲν πάντων τῶν ὀρῶν, ἡ δὲ κεφαλὴ πολλάκις καὶ τῶν ἄστρων ἔψαυε· χεῖρας δὲ εἶχε τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν ἐκτεινομένην τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολάς· ἐκ τούτων δὲ ἐξεῖχον ἑκατὸν κεφαλαὶ δρακόντων. τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ μηρῶν σπείρας εἶχεν ὑπερμεγέθεις ἐχιδνῶν, ὧν ὁλκοὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐκτεινόμενοι κορυφὴν συριγμὸν πολὺν ἐξίεσαν. πᾶν δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα κατεπτέρωτο, αὐχμηραὶ δὲ ἐκ κεφαλῆς καὶ γενύων τρίχες ἐξηνέμωντο, πῦρ δὲ ἐδέρκετο τοῖς ὄμμασι. τοιοῦτος ὢν ὁ Τυφὼν καὶ τηλικοῦτος ἡμμένας βάλλων πέτρας ἐπ’ αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν μετὰ συριγμῶν ὁμοῦ καὶ βοῆς ἐφέρετο· πολλὴν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος πυρὸς ἐξέβρασσε ζάλην. θεοὶ δ’ ὡς εἶδον αὐτὸν ἐπ’ οὐρανὸν ὁρμώμενον, εἰς Αἴγυπτον φυγάδες ἐφέροντο, καὶ διωκόμενοι τὰς ἰδέας μετέβαλον εἰς ζῷα. Ζεὺς δὲ πόρρω μὲν ὄντα Τυφῶνα ἔβαλλε κεραυνοῖς, πλησίον δὲ γενόμενον ἀδαμαντίνῃ κατέπληττεν ἅρπῃ, καὶ φεύγοντα ἄχρι τοῦ Κασίου ὄρους συνεδίωξε· τοῦτο δὲ ὑπέρκειται Συρίας. κεῖθι δὲ αὐτὸν κατατετρωμένον ἰδὼν εἰς χεῖρας συνέβαλε. Τυφὼν δὲ ταῖς σπείραις περιπλεχθεὶς κατέσχεν αὐτόν, καὶ τὴν ἅρπην περιελόμενος τά τε τῶν χειρῶν καὶ ποδῶν διέτεμε νεῦρα, ἀράμενος δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων διεκόμισεν αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς Κιλικίαν καὶ παρελθὼν εἰς τὸ Κωρύκιον ἄντρον κατέθετο. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ νεῦρα κρύψας ἐν ἄρκτου δορᾷ κεῖθι ἀπέθετο, καὶ κατέστησε φύλακα Δελφύνην δράκαιναν· ἡμίθηρ δὲ ἦν αὕτη ἡ κόρη. Ἑρμῆς δὲ καὶ Αἰγίπαν ἐκκλέψαντες τὰ νεῦρα ἥρμοσαν τῷ Διὶ λαθόντες. Ζεὺς δὲ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀνακομισάμενος ἰσχύν, ἐξαίφνης ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ πτηνῶν ὀχούμενος ἵππων ἅρματι, βάλλων κεραυνοῖς ἐπ’ ὄρος ἐδίωξε Τυφῶνα τὸ λεγόμενον Νῦσαν, ὅπου μοῖραι αὐτὸν διωχθέντα ἠπάτησαν· πεισθεὶς γὰρ ὅτι ῥωσθήσεται μᾶλλον, ἐγεύσατο τῶν ἐφημέρων καρπῶν. διόπερ ἐπιδιωκόμενος αὖθις ἧκεν εἰς Θρᾴκην, καὶ μαχόμενος περὶ τὸν Αἷμον ὅλα ἔβαλλεν ὄρη. τούτων δὲ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ κεραυνοῦ πάλιν ὠθουμένων πολὺ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους ἐξέκλυσεν αἷμα· καί φασιν ἐκ τούτου τὸ ὄρος κληθῆναι Αἷμον. φεύγειν δὲ ὁρμηθέντι αὐτῷ διὰ τῆς Σικελικῆς θαλάσσης Ζεὺς ἐπέρριψεν Αἴτνην ὄρος ἐν Σικελίᾳ· τοῦτο δὲ ὑπερμέγεθές ἐστιν, ἐξ οὗ μέχρι δεῦρό φασιν ἀπὸ τῶν βληθέντων κεραυνῶν γίνεσθαι πυρὸς ἀναφυσήματα.
(Apollodorus, Bibl. 1.6.3)

When the gods had defeated the Giants, Earth was angrier still. She had intercourse with Tartarus and gave birth in Cilicia to Typhon, who was half man and half wild beast. He was the largest and most powerful of all Earth’s offspring, so huge up to his thighs (which were of human form), that he towered above all mountains. His head touched the stars and his hands, when outstretched, reached the one to the west, the other to the east. From his shoulders extended a hundred snake heads. From his thighs down he had huge coils of vipers which, when stretched out, reached all the way to his head and hissed loudly. His entire body was covered with wings and his hair and beard were unkempt and blew in the wind. Fire flashed from his eyes. Such was Typhon as he hurled fiery rocks at heaven itself and rushed at it with hissing and shouting. From his mouth he spewed out a great stream of fire. When the gods saw him attacking heaven, they quickly fled to Egypt and in the course of their flight changed themselves into animals. Zeus hurled thunderbolts at Typhon while he was yet at a distance from him. When Zeus drew nearer, he struck him with a steel sickle and chased him as far as Mount Casius in Syria. Seeing that he was wounded, he fought him with his bare hands. Typhon wound his coils around him and held him fast. Then, taking the sickle from him, he cut out tendons from his hands and feet, lifted him on his shoulders, and carried him over the sea to Cilicia where he left him in the Corycian cave. He put the tendons in the cave, too, hidden in a bearskin, and placed the she-dragon, Delphyne, as a guard over them. She was half girl and half wild animal. Hermes and Aegipan, however, stole the tendons and secretly replaced them in Zeus’ hands and feet. With his strength now restored, the god suddenly threw thunderbolts at Typhon from the sky, where he had been carried in a chariot with winged horses, and chased him to the mountain called Nysa. There the Fates tricked him, for he tasted the fruit called ”ephemeral,” persuaded that it would make him stronger. He was again driven to Thrace and hurled entire mountains at Zeus in a battle around Mount Haemus. When these bounced back upon him under the force of the thunderbolt, blood gushed out on the mountain. From this, they say, the mountain is called Haemus [“bloody”]. As he started to flee across the Sicilian sea, Zeus threw Mount Aetna in Sicily upon him. It is a large mountain and they say that fire erupts from the thunderbolts which were thrown into it up to the present time. (tr. Michael Simpson)

Gigantas

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Villa del Casale, Piazza Armerino, Sicily

 

This is part 1 of 2. Part 2 is here.

Γῆ δὲ περὶ Τιτάνων ἀγανακτοῦσα γεννᾷ Γίγαντας ἐξ Οὐρανοῦ, μεγέθει μὲν σωμάτων ἀνυπερβλήτους, δυνάμει δὲ ἀκαταγωνίστους, οἳ φοβεροὶ μὲν ταῖς ὄψεσι κατεφαίνοντο, καθειμένοι βαθεῖαν κόμην ἐκ κεφαλῆς καὶ γενείων, εἶχον δὲ τὰς βάσεις φολίδας δρακόντων. ἐγένοντο δέ, ὡς μέν τινες λέγουσιν, ἐν Φλέγραις, ὡς δὲ ἄλλοι, ἐν Παλλήνῃ. ἠκόντιζον δὲ εἰς οὐρανὸν πέτρας καὶ δρῦς ἡμμένας. διέφερον δὲ πάντων Πορφυρίων τε καὶ Ἀλκυονεύς, ὃς δὴ καὶ ἀθάνατος ἦν ἐν ᾗπερ ἐγεννήθη γῇ μαχόμενος. οὗτος δὲ καὶ τὰς Ἡλίου βόας ἐξ Ἐρυθείας ἤλασε. τοῖς δὲ θεοῖς λόγιον ἦν ὑπὸ θεῶν μὲν μηδένα τῶν Γιγάντων ἀπολέσθαι δύνασθαι, συμμαχοῦντος δὲ θνητοῦ τινος τελευτήσειν. αἰσθομένη δὲ Γῆ τοῦτο ἐζήτει φάρμακον, ἵνα μηδ’ ὑπὸ θνητοῦ δυνηθῶσιν ἀπολέσθαι. Ζεὺς δ’ ἀπειπὼν φαίνειν Ἠοῖ τε καὶ Σελήνῃ καὶ Ἡλίῳ τὸ μὲν φάρμακον αὐτὸς ἔτεμε φθάσας, Ἡρακλέα δὲ σύμμαχον δι’ Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπεκαλέσατο. κἀκεῖνος πρῶτον μὲν ἐτόξευσεν Ἀλκυονέα· πίπτων δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς μᾶλλον ἀνεθάλπετο· Ἀθηνᾶς δὲ ὑποθεμένης ἔξω τῆς Παλλήνης εἵλκυσεν αὐτόν. κἀκεῖνος μὲν οὕτως ἐτελεύτα, Πορφυρίων δὲ Ἡρακλεῖ κατὰ τὴν μάχην ἐφώρμησε καὶ Ἥρᾳ. Ζεὺς δὲ αὐτῷ πόθον Ἥρας ἐνέβαλεν, ἥτις καὶ καταρρηγνύντος αὐτοῦ τοὺς πέπλους καὶ βιάζεσθαι θέλοντος βοηθοὺς ἐπεκαλεῖτο· καὶ Διὸς κεραυνώσαντος αὐτὸν Ἡρακλῆς τοξεύσας ἀπέκτεινε. τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν Ἀπόλλων μὲν Ἐφιάλτου τὸν ἀριστερὸν ἐτόξευσεν ὀφθαλμόν, Ἡρακλῆς δὲ τὸν δεξιόν· Εὔρυτον δὲ θύρσῳ Διόνυσος ἔκτεινε, Κλυτίον δὲ δαισὶν Ἑκάτη, Μίμαντα δὲ Ἥφαιστος βαλὼν μύδροις. Ἀθηνᾶ δὲ Ἐγκελάδῳ φεύγοντι Σικελίαν ἐπέρριψε τὴν νῆσον, Πάλλαντος δὲ τὴν δορὰν ἐκτεμοῦσα ταύτῃ κατὰ τὴν μάχην τὸ ἴδιον ἐπέσκεπε σῶμα. Πολυβώτης δὲ διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης διωχθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἧκεν εἰς Κῶ· Ποσειδῶν δὲ τῆς νήσου μέρος ἀπορρήξας ἐπέρριψεν αὐτῷ, τὸ λεγόμενον Νίσυρον. Ἑρμῆς δὲ τὴν Ἄϊδος κυνῆν ἔχων κατὰ τὴν μάχην Ἱππόλυτον ἀπέκτεινεν, Ἄρτεμις δὲ †Γρατίωνα†, μοῖραι δ’ Ἄγριον καὶ Θόωνα χαλκέοις ῥοπάλοις μαχόμεναι τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους κεραυνοῖς Ζεὺς βαλὼν διέφθειρε· πάντας δὲ Ἡρακλῆς ἀπολλυμένους ἐτόξευσεν.
(Apollodorus, Bibl. 1.6.1-2)

Angry because of the Titans, Earth bore the Giants to Sky. They had enormous bodies, were invincible in their power and of fearful appearance. Thick hair hung from their heads and chins, and their feet had scales like snakes. Some say they were born in Phlegrae, but others in Pallene. They hurled rocks and burning oak trees into the sky. Porphyrion and Alcyoneus were the most powerful of them all, and the latter was even immortal whenever he fought in the land where he was born. He stole from Erythia the cattle of the Sun. There was an oracle which said that it was impossible for the gods to kill any of the Giants, although they could be killed with the aid of a mortal. When Earth learned this, she sought a drug which would protect the Giants, even from a mortal. But Zeus, forbidding the Dawn, Moon, and Sun to appear, got possession of the drug first and, through Athena, summoned Heracles as an ally. Heracles first shot Alcyoneus with an arrow, but he revived as he fell upon the ground. At Athena’s suggestion he dragged him outside Pallene and so he died. Porphyrion attacked Heracles and Hera. Zeus then filled him with desire for Hera, but when he tore off her robe and tried to rape her she cried out for help. Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and Heracles shot him with an arrow, and he was killed. Of the Giants remaining, Apollo blinded Ephialtes in his left eye, Heracles in the right; Dionysus killed Eurytus with his wand; Hecate killed Clytius with torches. Hephaestus threw red-hot iron from the forge at Mimas, and Athena hurled Sicily at Enceladus. She then skinned Pallas and covered her own body with his skin for protection in battle. Poseidon chased Polybotes across the sea to Cos and there broke off that part of the island called Nisyrum and threw it at him. Hermes, wearing Hades’ helmet in the battle, killed Hippolytus, and Artemis killed Gration. The Fates attacked Agrius and Thoas with bronze clubs and killed them. Zeus destroyed the other Giants with thunderbolts, and Heracles shot them all with arrows as they lay dying. (tr. Michael Simpson)

Cheilē

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Ὡς δὲ ἐγέννησε Θέτις ἐκ Πηλέως βρέφος, ἀθάνατον θέλουσα ποιῆσαι τοῦτο, κρύφα Πηλέως εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐγκρύβουσα τῆς νυκτὸς ἔφθειρεν ὃ ἦν αὐτῷ θνητὸν πατρῷον, μεθ’ ἡμέραν δὲ ἔχριεν ἀμβροσίᾳ. Πηλεὺς δὲ ἐπιτηρήσας καὶ σπαίροντα τὸν παῖδα ἰδὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐβόησε· καὶ Θέτις κωλυθεῖσα τὴν προαίρεσιν τελειῶσαι, νήπιον τὸν παῖδα ἀπολιποῦσα πρὸς Νηρηίδας ᾤχετο. κομίζει δὲ τὸν παῖδα πρὸς Χείρωνα Πηλεύς. ὁ δὲ λαβὼν αὐτὸν ἔτρεφε σπλάγχνοις λεόντων καὶ συῶν ἀγρίων καὶ ἄρκτων μυελοῖς, καὶ ὠνόμασεν Ἀχιλλέα (πρότερον δὲ ἦν ὄνομα αὐτῷ Λιγύρων) ὅτι τὰ χείλη μαστοῖς οὐ προσήνεγκε.
(Apollodorus, Bibl. 3.13.6)

When Thetis had got a babe by Peleus, she wished to make it immortal, and unknown to Peleus she used to hide it in the fire by night in order to destroy the mortal element which the child inherited from its father, but by day she anointed him with ambrosia. But Peleus watched her, and, seeing the child writhing on the fire, he cried out; and Thetis, thus prevented from accomplishing her purpose, forsook her infant son and departed to the Nereids. Peleus brought the child to Chiron, who received him and fed him on the inwards of lions and wild swine and the marrows of bears, and named him Achilles, because he had not put his lips to the breast; but before that time his name was Ligyron. (tr. James George Frazer)