Editing Alcyoneus (section)

==Early sources==
Early sources provide glimpses of other versions of the story from the one that Apollodorus tells. Possibly Alcyoneus was not originally a Giant, but simply one of  Heracles' many monstrous opponents.<ref>Gantz, p. 446; MacLean, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R8nMVkv_lZ4C&pg=PA100 p. 100].</ref>

===Iconography===
[[File:Paestum metope heracles.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Heracles]] and Alcyoneus, [[metope (architecture)|metope]] from the first [[Heraion (disambiguation)|Heraion]] at [[Heraion at the mouth of the Sele|Foce del Sele]]]]

Depictions of Heracles fighting Alcyoneus, named by inscription, are found on several sixth century BC pots (e.g., Louvre F208). The earliest extant representation of their battle probably occurs on a [[metope (architecture)|metope]] from the first temple dedicated to Hera at [[Heraion at the mouth of the Sele|Foce del Sele]], which shows Heracles holding a large figure by the hair, while stabbing him with a sword. Such a scene is also depicted on several shield-band reliefs from [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] (B 1801, B 1010).<ref>Gantz, p. 420. Louvre F208: Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/4843C327-7B54-4D3C-9675-56AB63AA7465 6561]; Moon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 p. 65]. Metope: Bennett, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R7PP3wNr4zMC&pg=PA124 p. 124]. For a detailed discussion see Andreae 1962.</ref>

A terracotta frieze (Basel BS 318) and the sixth century BC pots show a reclining Alcyoneus. And on some of the pots Alcyoneus is apparently sleeping, with a winged [[Hypnos]] nearby (Melborne 1730.4, Getty 84.AE.974, Munich 1784, Toledo 52.66). These depictions suggest the existence of a story in which Heracles takes advantage of a sleeping opponent.<ref>Gantz, p. 420; Stafford, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3JDj7MRQAn4C&pg=PA118 p. 118]. Melborne 1730.4: Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/DE569155-E2D3-4B0F-91BC-39717EDEE899 201048]; ''LIMC '' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-75077887769e9-a 25109 (Alkyoneus 11)]. Getty 84.AE.974:  Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/1A2F7CAA-E6BF-4425-BC11-F0BFB61EB60C 16201]; Cohen [https://books.google.com/books?id=SCA2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 p. 66&ndash;68]. Munich 1784: Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/51C4CA4F-2EC3-493A-83E0-1929852B219D 351331]. Toledo 52.66: Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/8C99CB41-B339-44E1-8CF5-116FED746C10 2190]; Moon [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 p. 65].</ref>

The presence of cattle on several of the pots suggests that the story also involved cattle in some way (e.g., Tarquinia RC 2070, Taranto 7030). This last pot depicts Heracles, with a headlock perhaps dragging his opponent, which might be a representation of Heracles dragging Alcyoneus out of his homeland.<ref>Gantz, p. 420. Tarquinia RC 2070: Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/7D225D1A-D9C2-48B4-BAA6-F5D5839AC97B 332028]. Taranto 7030: Andreae, pp. 188, 189; ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-75029c283c045-a 24768 (Alkyoneus 17)].</ref>

===Literature===

The earliest mentions of Alcyoneus in literature, are by the fifth century BC poet [[Pindar]]. According to Pindar, Heracles and [[Telamon]] were traveling  through [[Phlegra (mythology)|Phlegra]], where they encountered Alcyoneus, whom Pindar describes as a "herdsman ... huge as a mountain",<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Isthmian'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DI.%3Apoem%3D6 6.30&ndash;35].</ref> and a "great and terrible warrior".<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Nemean'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D4 4.24&ndash;30].</ref> A battle occurs in which Alcyoneus "laid low, by hurling a rock, twelve chariots and twice twelve horse-taming heroes who were riding in them", before finally being "destroyed" by the two heroes.

The participation of Telamon and other mortals in the battle, and the lack of mention of any of the gods, or other Giants, seem to imply that for Pindar, unlike apparently Apollodorus, the battle between Heracles and Alcyoneus was a separate event from the Gigantomachy. And in fact Pindar never actually calls Alcyoneus a Giant, although the description of him as "huge as a mountain", his use of a rock as a weapon, and the location of the battle at Phlegra, the usual site of the Gigantomachy, all suggest that he was.<ref>Gantz, pp. 419, 445, 447. Pindar knew of  the larger battle between the gods and Giants which he also located "on the plain of Phlegra", ''Nemean'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D1 1.67&ndash;69]; [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D7 7.90]; ''Pythian'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP.%3Apoem%3D8 8.12&ndash;18].</ref>

Scholia to Pindar tell us that Alcyoneus lived on the isthmus of Thrace and that he had stolen his cattle from [[Helios]], causing the Gigantomachy, (Schol. Pindar ''Isthmian'' 6.47) and that Alcyoneus, one of the Giants, attacked Heracles, not in Thrace but at the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], while the hero was returning with the cattle of [[Geryon]], and that this was according to Zeus' plan because the Giants were his enemies (Schol. Pindar ''Nemean'' 4.43). The cattle shown on the sixth century pots, might thus represent either Alcyoneus' cattle stolen from Helios, or Heracles' cattle taken from Geryon.<ref>Gantz, pp. 419, 448.</ref> Apollodorus mentions the theft of Helios' cattle as an event of the Gigantomachy, but not the cause of it.