Saturday 11 August 2018

Hecatoncheires

        In Greek mythology, Hecatoncheires { hundred-handed giants } were the three sons of  Gaea { Earth } and Uranus { Sky }. Each had a hundred hands for wielding clouds and fifty heads for blustering wind. Cyclopes were their companion brothers, who were masters of thunder and lightning. 

                According to Greek Legend, Uranus {heaven or sky} came every night to cover the Gaea
{Earth} and mate with her. Their first six sons and six daughters were the Titans, and then three Hecancheires and three Cyclopes.
                                   Fearing the power of his gigantic sons {the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires }, Uranus locked them away in the Tartarus. Uranus drew the enmity of Gaea when he imprisoned her children in Tartarus. According to other version, to protect her children from her husband { the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires), Gaea hid them all within herself in Tartarus.  To prevent more monstrous offspring Gaea plan to castrate Uranus.
                                   Gaea created a great stone sickle and gathered together male Titans to persuade them to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus, youngest and most ambitious of the Titans, was willing. he ambushed his father and castrated him.
                                               However, once in power, Cronus turned into the terrible king, re-imprisoning his sibling the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes in Tartarus and set monster Campe as its guard. Cronus swallow each of his children whole as they were born from his sister Rhea {fearing to be overthrown by his offsprings} Rhea however managed to hide her younger child Zeus, by tricking Cronus into swallowing a rock wrapped in a blanket instead.
    Zeus killed Campe and released the imprisoned giants. The Hecatoncheires fought against the Titan, throwing rocks as big as mountains, one hundred at a time and overwhelming them. After this, the hecatoncheires became the guards of Tartarus.

Briareus- One of the Hecatoncheires, was more specifically a god of sea storms and in this guise he was often named Aegaeon. Briareus wed sea god Poseidon's daughter Cymopoleia {Wave-Ranging} and dwelt with her in the depths of the sea.

Kottus and Gyes -were appointed guardians of the gates of the Tartarus.
(SOON UPDATE)

Related Posts
Castration of Uranus     |   Uranus   |   Zeus and Hera  |
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