Key Points

- Battle of the Giants vs. the Olympians for Supremacy

- Won by the Olympians

Brief Bio

The Gigantomachy was the battle between the Gigantes (Giants), children of Gaia, and the Olympians, who had recently defeated the Titans in the Titanomachy.

When the Giant Alcyoneus stole the cattle of god Helios the seeds for war were planted. To protect her children, Gaea tried to find a plant that would shield the Giants from any harm; however, Zeus stopped Eos (Dawn), Selene (Moon) and Helios (Sun) from shining, and took every single plant for himself. 

Either Phoebe or Theia prophesised the war could only be won when the son of a mortal woman fights. Thus the gods summoned Heracles, a demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, to fight for them. 

Armed with his lethal arrows, Heracles eliminated numerous Giants, complementing Zeus’ lightning strikes with ground-based combat. Heracles fought Alcyoneus; however, the Giant would not die as long as he stepped on the soil of his homeland. With Athena's advice, Heracles dragged Alcyoneus away from his homeland, and killed him. The other Giants had similar fates; Dionysus killed Eurytus; Athena buried Enceladus under Sicily; Hermes killed Hippolytus; and so on.

The final threat to Zeus’ authority came in the form of Typhoeus, a monstrous creature with a hundred serpent-like heads, born of Gaia and Tartarus. However, Zeus emerged triumphant, securing his absolute power as the supreme god.

Many of the Giants were buried under islands. In fact, it was believed that the earthquakes and the volcanic eruptions were caused when the Giants moved in their tombs. Typhon was imprisoned under Mt Etna, whilst his brother Enceladus, was imprisoned under Vesuvius.