The Hecatonchires, or Hekatonkheires, were three gargantuan figures of an archaic stage of Greek mythology. According to Hesiod they were children of Gaia and Uranus,^[1] simply the issue of Earth and Sky, or of Earth and Sea^[2] thus part of the very beginning of things (Kerenyi 1951:19) in the submerged prehistory of Greek myth, though they played no part in cult. They were known as Briareus the Vigorous, also called Aigaion (Latinized as Aegaeon) the "sea goat", Cottus the Striker or the Furious, and Gyges (or Gyes) the Big-Limbed. Their name derives from the Greek ἑκατόν (hekaton; "hundred") and χείρ (kheir; "hand"), "each of them having a hundred hands and fifty heads" (Bibliotheca). They were giants of incredible strength and ferocity, even superior to that of the Titans, whom they helped overthrow, and the Cyclopes. In Latin poetry, the Hecatonchires were known as the Centimani, which simply translates "Hundred-Handed Ones." The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... Roman bronze bust, the so-called Pseudo-Seneca, now identified by some as possibly Hesiod Hesiod (Hesiodos, ) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. Hesiod and Homer, with whom Hesiod is often paired, have been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived... For other uses, see Gaia. ... Ouranos is the Greek name of the sky, latinized as Uranus. ... In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings (scriptures), its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. ... The Bibliotheca (in English Library), in three books, provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. ... This article is about the race of Titans in Greek mythology. ... This page is about the mythical creature. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ...

It would be difficult to determine exactly what natural phenomena are symbolized by the Hecatoncheires. They may represent the gigantic forces of nature which appear in earthquakes and other convulsions, or the multitudinous motion of the sea waves (Mayer, Die Giganten und Titanen, 1887).

Soon after they were born, their father, Uranus, threw them into the depths of Tartarus because he saw them as hideous monsters. In some versions of this myth, Uranus saw how ugly the Hecatonchires were at their birth and pushed them back into Gaia's womb, upsetting Gaia greatly, causing her great pain, and setting into motion the overthrow of Uranus by Cronus. In this version of the myth, they were only later imprisoned in Tartarus by Cronus. In classic Greek mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

The Hecatonchires remained there, guarded by the dragon Campe, until Zeus rescued them, advised by Gaia that they would serve as good allies against Cronus. During the War of the Titans, the Hecatonchires threw rocks as big as mountains, one hundred at a time, at the Titans, overwhelming them. Hesiod, in continuing the Theogony (624, 639, 714, 734-35) reports the three Hecatonchires became the guards of the gates of Tartarus. Other accounts make Briareus one of the assailants of Olympus, who, after his defeat, was buried under Mount Aetna (Callimachus, Hymn to Delos, 141). A female monster in Greek mythology, Campe (crooked) guarded the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus after Cronus imprisoned them there; she was killed by Zeus when he rescued his uncles for help in the Titanomachy. ... For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy, or War of the Titans (Greek: Τιτανομαχία), was the eleven-year series of battles fought between the two races of deities long before the existence of mankind: the Titans, fighting from Mount Othrys, and the Olympians, who would come to reign on Mount Olympus. ...

Briareos as the "sea-goat" Aigaion

The sea-goat Aigaion "cannot be distinguished from Hesiod's Briareos", according to M.L. West; they are already explicitly linked in Iliad I.402-04, though they must have had separate origins:^[3] Martin Litchfield West (born 23 September 1937, London, England) is an internationally recognised scholar in classics, classical antiquity and philology. ...

...the monster of the hundred arms whom the gods call Briareus, but mankind Aegaeon, a giant more powerful even than his father."^[4]

This episode, alluded to in Iliad (i.399ff), is found nowhere else in Greek mythology: at one time the Olympian gods were trying to overthrow Zeus but were stopped when the sea nymph Thetis brought one of the Hecatonchires to his aid, him whom the gods call Briareios but men call Aigaion ("goatish" Iliad i.403).^[5] Hesiod reconciles the archaic Hecatonchires with the Olympian pantheon by making of Briareos the son-in-law of Poseidon, he "giving him Kymopoliea his daughter to wed." (Theogony 817). title page of the Rihel edition of ca. ... This article is about the Greek sea nymph. ... Neptune reigns in the city of Bristol. ...

In a Corinthian myth related in the second century CE to Pausanias (Description of Greece ii. 1.6 and 4.7), Briareus was the arbitrator in a dispute between Poseidon and Helios, between sea and sun: he adjudged the Isthmus of Corinth to belong to Poseidon and the acropolis of Corinth (Acrocorinth) sacred to Helios. Corinth, or Korinth (Greek: Κόρινθος, Kórinthos; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... For other uses, see Helios (disambiguation). ... The Isthmus of Corinth is the narrow landbridge which connects the Peloponnesos peninsula with the mainland of Greece, near the city of Corinth. ... Map of the remains of Acrocorinth Acrocorinth (Gr. ...

In Virgil's Aeneid (10.566-67), Aeneas is likened in a simile to "Aegaeon," though in Virgil's account Aegaeon fought on the side of the Titans rather than the Olympians; in this Virgil was following the lost Corinthian epic Titanomachy rather than the more familiar account in Hesiod. Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598 Galleria Borghese, Rome The Aeneid (IPA English pronunciation: ; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced — the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos) is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC (between 29 and 19 BC) that tells the legendary story... The Titanomachy is an epic poem, which is a part of Ancient Greek Mythology. ...

Adaptations

Briareus is mentioned in the Divine Comedy as one of the Titans who attacked Jove on Olympus. He is in the pit of the giants in the ninth circle of hell (Inferno XXXI.99). The giant is also mentioned in Cervantes´ Don Quixote, in the famous episody of the windmills. Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ... This article is about the fictional character and novel. ...

As somewhat generic fearful challenges, the Hecatoncheires are listed in the Epic Level Handbook (a Dungeons & Dragons rulebook) as being the most powerful "monsters" available, with a Challenge Rating of 57. For comparison, the Tarrasque (a D&D monster normally at the top level) has a CR of 20. The CR of this monster has been debated, as have those of many of the other epic monsters in the book. Since the system was developed separately from Deities and Demigods, the monster isn't a challenge for most gods at all, who vastly outstrip it in power (which is the reverse of the mythical description of the Hecatoncheires). The Epic Level Handbook is a rulebook by Wizards of the Coast containing rules for Dungeons & Dragons characters to attain levels above 20, the limit in the core rulebooks. ... “D&D” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the tarrasque is a magical beast. ... For the article on gods see deity Cover of the first printing of the first edition Deities & Demigods is a reference book for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, containing descriptions of pagan gods and legendary creatures from myth and fiction. ...

More distantly, Briareos Hecatonchires is one of the protagonists of Masamune Shirow's Appleseed. He is a cyborg with a device called the Hecatonchires controller, which allows him to control dozens of limbs or even other bodies without straining himself. Briarios holding onto Deunan on the poster for the 2004 Appleseed film. ... Masamune Shirow ) is a manga artist of international renown, born Masanori Ota (太田 まさのりOta Masanori) on November 23, 1961. ... For the Aesop Rock album, see Appleseed (album). ... For other uses, see Cyborg (disambiguation). ...

In the Hyperion Cantos, Briareus and Gyges are the names given to two of the constructs used to hunt Aenea by the Technocore. Hyperion The Hyperion Cantos form a tetralogy of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. ...

In the up and coming Xbox 360 game Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, there are three types of aerial battle fortresses, the largest one named the 'Aigaion', and the other two types being labelled as the 'Kottos' and the 'Gyges'. It has been suggested that Xbox 360 Elite be merged into this article or section. ...

Notes

Scholium (tr~bXtoe), the name given to a grammatical, critical and explanatory note, extracted from existing commentaries and inserted on the margin of the manuscript of an ancient author. ... Apollonius of Rhodes (Apollonius Rhodius), librarian at Alexandria, was a poet, the author of Argonautica, a literary epic retelling of ancient material concerning Jason and the Argonauts quest for the Golden Fleece in the mythic land of Colchis. ... Eumelus of Corinth or Eumelos of Korinthos was an early Greek poet, probably the author of Corinthiaca, an epic narrating the legends and early history of his home city Corinth. ... Martin Litchfield West (born 23 September 1937, London, England) is an internationally recognised scholar in classics, classical antiquity and philology. ... Dr. E.V. Rieu— in full Emile Victor Rieu (1887–1972)— is best known for his lucid translations of Homer, as editor of Penguin Classics, and for a modern translation of the Gospels, which evolved from his role as editor of a projected Penguin translation of the Bible. ... Look up Aegean Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Apollonius of Rhodes, also known as Apollonius Rhodius (Latin; Greek Apollōnios Rhodios), early 3rd century BC - after 246 BC, was an epic poet, scholar, and director of the Library of Alexandria. ... Traditional rural Pontic house A man in traditional clothes from Trabzon, illustration Pontus is the name which was applied, in ancient times, to extensive tracts of country in the northeast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), which was often called simply Pontos (the main), by... // Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of Ovids Metamorphosis Englished The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms according to Greek and Roman points of view. ... Apollonius of Tyana (Greek: ; 16—ca. ...

References

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:

Briareus

• Hesiod's Theogony, 147ff.
• Bibliotheca I.1.1
• Ovid, Fasti iv.593
• Horace Carminae II.17.14, III.4.69
• Karl Kerenyi, Gods of the Greeks (London: Thames and Hudson) 1951.
• Theoi.com:Briareus

Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... Theogony (Greek: Θεογονία, theogonia = the birth of God(s)) is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC. The title of the work comes from the Greek words for god and seed. // Hesiods Theogony is a large-scale... For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... Horace, as imagined by Anton von Werner Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hecatonchires

• Greek Mythology