A mural of the Gigantomachy.
The Gigantomachy was the most important battle that happened in Greek mythology. It was a fight between the Giants or Gigantes and the Olympian gods who were trying to overthrow the old religion and establish themselves as the new rulers of the cosmos.
History[]
Background[]
According to the most detailed source, this battle will be triggered when Metis bears a son named Invictus who is fated to be more powerful than his father Zeus, however, Metis remained trapped within Zeus's gullet alive but miserable because of her predicament. Hera, having grown tired of Zeus's infidelity and questionable ruling, reached out to Gaia in secret, proposing a plan to overthrow her husband using the Gigantes or Giants. These monstrous giants were said to have been begotten by the Chaos Mother herself, in a time when the gods were first brought into the universe only to betray their primordial parents.
An oracle had declared that none of the Giants could perish at the gods' hands once they consume the fiery entrails of the slain primordial beast Ophiotaurus that roast in the bowls of Mount Etna and was mixed with a medicinal herb that will protect them from being destroyed by a mortal, but Zeus forbade Eos, Selene, and Helios to shine, and collected every single plant for himself. 'Gaia' and Hera concocted a plan; have Hypnos lull Zeus to sleep and once Zeus was ensnared by Hypnos's spell, he could be forced to discorge Metis. Following that, Hera could use the seed she had saved after her seduction of Zeus to impregnate Metis with Zeus's child.
Unbeknownst to Hera, 'Gaia' was in fact Tiamat's disembodied essence, stringing these events that would culminate in the demise of the gods so as to consume their eidolons and empower herself to achieve a physical body once more to exact revenge. She showed no loyalty to Hera as she was mainly using the queen of the gods as an instrumental pawn for her plan. Some even speculated that Tiamat and Gaia had an unspoken alliance to avenge their children by ridding the gods' rule over the cosmos.
Finally, Metis would be whisked away by dryads to a cave where she could bear her child in safety. When the child was born, he was named Invictus, and was reared by Metis to despise his biological father, Zeus. Gaia will then guide Invictus to then locate the entrails of Ophiotaurus. Invictus must first consume the entrails raw before burning them by throwing them in the flames within the bowels of Mount Etna which in turn releases the most fearsome beast in Greek mythology, Typhon. The Giants will gorge on the burning insides of the Ophiotaurus and upon being mixed with the herb will prevent them from perishing at the hands of the Olympian gods.
Gigantomachy[]
The Giants were dormant and could only be awakened by the herb that will grant them invincibility. From there, Invictus fell beneath the notice of the gods, and used their prideful callousness to his advantage by using mortals in order not to draw out too much attention from the Olympians. One such mortal was Iphicles, the half-brother of Heracles who, consumed by his hatred and rage, was manipulated by Invictus to find the herb and mix it with the burning entrails of the Ophiotaurus.
To ensure that Iphicles has a fighting chance against his powerful brother, Invictus led Iphicles towards the remains of a monstrous giant washed ashore on a beach. Invictus explains that this beast was once among the Chaos Mother's children, bred to destroy the gods but fell at the hands of Marduk. Though he did not know it, this evil began poisoning him after he came into physical contact with the monster, and a disembodied voice compelled him to consume its flesh. Feasting on the beast's flesh, Iphicles was slowly but surely turning into a demonic being with his metamorphosis being fueled by his hatred.
The Giants with their thousand hands darted rocks and burning oaks at the sky, and it is said that the most fierce among them were Porphyrion and Alcyoneus. The fight was so terrible that Hephaestus is said to have fainted, being rescued by Helios, who took him up in his chariot. The gods needed help in this fight, and they knew of an oracle that had declared that none of the Giants could perish at their hands, but that with the help of a mortal they would defeat them. Then he sent Athena to summon Heracles to his help.
Invictus will lead the Gigantes to take down the gods of Olympus. Typhon will rampage across the land, polluting and decimating all in his path while filling it with a horde of monstrosities. All the while the Gigantes will climb Mount Olympus towards the Olympians. It is also told that during the war, Triton blew his shell-trumpet (which he himself had invented) against the Giants, putting them to flight. And the mules that the Sirens and the Satyrs rode when they came to assist Zeus in the war were so terrified that they let out a braying such as the monsters had never heard, thus frightening them.
Olympians Strike Back[]
It is also told that during the fight the Giants threw a dragon against Athena, who having snatched it, threw it to the stars, and fixed it in heaven as the constellation Serpens. The most prominent gods, being Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, battle Typhon on their own. Poseidon floods the terrain to drown the monsters of Typhon after a majority of them kill or incapacitate the minor deities with Zeus then throwing a lighting bolt at Typhon's feet in an attempt to electrocute him through the water. Hades then opens the Earth to swallow the stunned Typhon only for some of the Giants to come to Typhon's aid by battling Poseidon and Hades.
Having come into battle, Heracles shot Alcyoneus, but as the giant, having fallen on the ground, revived, Athena told Heracles to drag him outside Pallene. For he was immortal only for as long as he remained in the land of his birth. Later, when Porphyrion attacked Heracles, Zeus distracted the giant by inspiring him with lust for Hera, and when the goddess, with torn robes, cried for help, Zeus smote him with a thunderbolt, and then Heracles shot him dead with an arrow. But others have said that Apollo killed Porphyrion, and also Ephialtes, whom the god shot in his left eye and Heracles in his right. And Dionysus killed Eurytus with a thyrsus, and Hecate slew Clytius with torches, and Hephaestus killed Mimas with missiles of red-hot metal. Athena drove her chariot against Enceladus, and when he fled she threw on him the island of Sicily. And the giant Pallas she flayed, using his skin to protect her own body during the battle.
In the meantime, Poseidon pursued Polybotes across the sea, and when they came to Cos (one of the Sporades Islands, now Dodecanese) the god broke a piece of the island (the one called Nisyrus) and threw it on him. Yet others say that the giant lies beneath Cos. Hermes, wearing Hades' helmet, slew Hippolytus; and Artemis slew Gration; and the Moerae killed Agrius and Thoas with brazen clubs; and the rest, they say, Zeus destroyed with his thunderbolt, all of them being shot, as they were dying, by Heracles. The last of the Giants, some say, were buried by Heracles beneath Myconos, the small island to the east of Delos.