Editing Giants (Greek mythology) (section)

==The Gigantomachy==
{{redirect|Gigantomachy|the painting|Gigantomachy by the Suessula Painter}}
{{redirect|Gigantomachia|the character|Gigantomachia (My Hero Academia)|the novel series|Saint Seiya: Gigantomachia}}
The most important divine struggle in Greek mythology was the Gigantomachy, the battle fought between the Giants and the Olympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos.<ref>Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 p. 21].</ref> It is primarily for this battle that the Giants are known, and its importance to Greek culture is attested by the frequent depiction of the Gigantomachy in Greek art.

===Early sources===

[[File:Athena Enkelados Louvre CA3662.jpg|thumb|[[Athena]] (left) fighting the Giant [[Enceladus (giant)|Enceladus]] (inscribed retrograde) on an [[Attica|Attic]] [[red-figure pottery|red-figure]] dish, c. 550&ndash;500 BC ([[Louvre]] CA3662).<ref>Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/3572A177-0DAE-4EED-8140-BEA13D762135 200059], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-754b527f8601b-c 29890 (Gigantes 342)].</ref>]]

The references to the Gigantomachy in archaic sources are sparse.<ref>Gantz, p. 15. For a survey of literary sources see Gantz, pp. 445&ndash;450, Vian and Moore 1988, pp. 191&ndash;196.</ref> Neither Homer nor Hesiod mention anything explicit about the Giants battling the gods.<ref>Gantz, p. 446.</ref>
Homer's remark that Eurymedon "brought destruction on his froward people" might possibly be a reference to the Gigantomachy<ref>A scholion to ''Odyssey'' 7.59 asserts that Homer does not know that the Giants fought against the gods, Gantz, p. 447.</ref> and Hesiod's remark that [[Heracles]] performed a "great work among the immortals"<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+954 954]; for the translation used here see Most 2006, p. 79.</ref> is probably a reference to Heracles' crucial role in the gods' victory over the Giants.<ref>Gantz, p. 446.</ref> The Hesiodic ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' (also called ''Ehoiai''), following mentions of Heracles' sacks of [[Troy]] and of [[Kos]], refers to his having slain "presumptuous Giants".<ref>Hesiod fragment 43a.65 MW, see Most 2007, p. 143. Gantz, p. 446, says that this line "with no link to what precedes or follows, might easily be an interpolation".</ref> Another probable reference to the Gigantomachy in the ''Catalogue'' has Zeus produce Heracles to be "a protector against ruin for gods and men".<ref>Hesiod fragment 195.28&ndash;29 MW, Most 2007, p. 5; Gantz, p. 446.</ref>

There are indications that there might have been a lost epic poem, a ''Gigantomachia'', which gave an account of the war: Hesiod's ''Theogony'' says that the [[Muses]] sing of the Giants,<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+50 50&ndash;52].</ref> and the sixth century BC poet [[Xenophanes]] mentions the Gigantomachy as a subject to be avoided at table.<ref>[[Xenophanes]], 1.21 (Lesher, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LxxJXTviacgC&pg=PA12 pp. 12, 13]); Gantz, p. 446.</ref> The [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius]] scholia refers to a "''Gigantomachia''" in which the Titan [[Cronus]] (as a horse) sires the [[centaur]] [[Chiron]] by mating with [[Philyra (mythology)|Philyra]] (the daughter of two Titans), but the scholiast may be confusing the Titans and Giants.<ref>Since Chiron did apparently figure in a lost poem about the Titanomachy, and there is no obvious role for the centaur in a poem about the Gigantomachy, see Gantz, p. 447.</ref> Other possible archaic sources include the lyric poets Alcman (mentioned above) and the sixth-century [[Ibycus]].<ref>Wilkinson [https://books.google.com/books?id=iSp0mnpkE_QC&pg=PA141 pp. 141&ndash;142]; Gantz p. 447.</ref>

The late sixth early fifth century BC lyric poet [[Pindar]] provides some of the earliest details of the battle between the Giants and the Olympians. He locates it "on the plain of [[Phlegra (mythology)|Phlegra]]" and has [[Teiresias]] foretell Heracles killing Giants "beneath [his] rushing arrows".<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Nemean'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D1 1.67&ndash;69].</ref> He calls Heracles "you who subdued the Giants",<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Nemean'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D7 7.90].</ref> and has [[Porphyrion]], whom he calls "the king of the Giants", being overcome by the bow of [[Apollo]].<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Pythian'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP.%3Apoem%3D8 8.12&ndash;18].</ref> [[Euripides]]' ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' has its hero shooting Giants with arrows,<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=779AD6C623207413812A728B409D9381?doc=Eur.+Her.+177&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0102 177&ndash;180]; Gantz, p. 448.</ref> and his ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' has the chorus describe seeing a depiction of the Gigantomachy on the late sixth century [[Temple of Apollo (Delphi)|Temple of Apollo at Delphi]], with [[Athena]] fighting the Giant [[Enceladus (giant)|Enceladus]] with her "gorgon shield", [[Zeus]] burning the Giant [[Mimas (Giant)|Mimas]] with his "mighty thunderbolt, blazing at both ends", and [[Dionysus]] killing an unnamed Giant with his "ivy staff".<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Ion+206&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0110 205&ndash;218].</ref> The early 3rd century BC author [[Apollonius of Rhodes]] briefly describes an incident where the sun god [[Helios]] takes up [[Hephaestus]], exhausted from the fight in Phlegra, on his chariot.<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/126#3.210 3. 221]</ref>

===Apollodorus===
[[File:Dionysos Giant Louvre G434.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dionysus]] (left) with ivy crown, and [[thyrsus]] attacking a Giant, [[Attica|Attic]] [[red-figure]] ''[[pelike]]'', c. 475&ndash;425 BC ([[Louvre]] G434).<ref>Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/4DA73FC2-375D-420B-92C9-32C252B34D82 207774].</ref>]]

The most detailed account of the Gigantomachy<ref>Tripp, p. 252.</ref> is that of the (first or second-century AD) mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]].<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.6.1 1.6.1&ndash;2].</ref> None of the early sources give any reasons for the war. Scholia to the ''[[Iliad]]'' mention the rape of [[Hera]] by the Giant Eurymedon,<ref>Gantz, pp. 16, 57, 448&ndash;449; Hard [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA88 p. 88]. According to Gantz, p. 449, it is possible but unlikely, that this is the incident being referred to in Odyssey 7, noting that the story of the rape of Hera by Eurymedon may be a later invention to explain Homer's remark.</ref> while according to the scholia to [[Pindar]]'s ''Isthmian'' 6, it was the theft of the cattle of [[Helios]] by the Giant [[Alcyoneus]] that started the war.<ref>Gantz, pp. 419, 448&ndash;449; Scholia on [[Pindar]], ''Isthmian Odes'' [https://scaife.perseus.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg5034.tlg001d.perseus-grc1:6.47 6.47].</ref> Apollodorus, who also mentions the theft of Helios' cattle by Alcyoneus,<ref>According to Apollodorus, Alcyoneus stole Helios' cattle from [[Erytheia]], where the cattle of [[Geryon]] are usually found.</ref> suggests a mother's revenge as the motive for the war, saying that [[Gaia]] bore the Giants because of her anger over the Titans (who had been vanquished and imprisoned by the Olympians).<ref>Gantz, p. 449; Grimal, p. 171; Tripp, p. 251. The late 4th century AD Latin poet [[Claudian]] expands on this notion in his ''Gigantomachia'' [https://archive.org/stream/claudia02clau#page/280/mode/2up 1&ndash;35 (pp. 280&ndash;283)] with Gaia, "jealous of the heavenly kingdoms and in pity for the ceasless woes of the Titans" (1&ndash;2), gave birth to the Giants, urging them to war saying "Up, army of avengers, the hour is come at last, free the Titans from their chains; defend your mother." (27&ndash;28)</ref> Seemingly, as soon as the Giants are born they begin hurling "rocks and burning oaks at the sky".<ref>Compare with [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+185 185&ndash;186] which seems to have the Giants born, like [[Athena]] and the [[Spartoi]], fully grown and armed for battle (Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.3.6 1.3.6], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.3.6 1.3.6]). Also compare with [[Plato]], ''[[Sophist (dialogue)|Sophist]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=6EA8185321C1F13AC8EBBFB34B9BDAA7?doc=Plat.+Soph.+246a&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0172 246a], where comparing materialist philosophers with the Giants, says they "drag down everything from heaven and the invisible to earth, actually grasping rocks and trees with their hands".</ref>

There was a prophecy that the Giants could not be killed by the gods alone, but they could be killed with the help of a mortal.<ref>Compare with [[Pindar]], ''Nemean'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D1 1.67&ndash;69] (mentioned above) where [[Teiresias]] prophesies that Heracles will aid the gods in their battle with the Giants.</ref> Hearing this, Gaia sought for a certain plant (''pharmakon'') that would protect the Giants. Before Gaia or anyone else could find this plant, Zeus forbade [[Eos]] (Dawn), [[Selene]] (Moon) and Helios (Sun) to shine, harvested all of the plant himself and then he had [[Athena]] summon [[Heracles]].

According to Apollodorus, Alcyoneus and [[Porphyrion]] were the two strongest Giants. Heracles shot Alcyoneus, who fell to the ground but then revived, for Alcyoneus was immortal within his native land. So Heracles, on Athena's advice, dragged him beyond the borders of that land, where Alcyoneus then died (compare with [[Antaeus]]).<ref>Antaeus, another offspring of Gaia who was an opponent of Heracles, was immortal as long as he was in contact with the earth. Heracles killed Antaeus by crushing him while holding him off the ground. For [[Pindar]], Hearacles' battle with Alcyoneus (whom he calls a herdsman) and the Gigantomachy were separate events, see: ''Isthmian'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DI.%3Apoem%3D6 6.30&ndash;35], ''Nemean'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D4 4.24&ndash;30].</ref> Porphyrion attacked Heracles and Hera, but Zeus caused Porphyrion to become enamoured of Hera, whom Porphyrion then tried to rape, but Zeus struck Porphyrion with his thunderbolt and Heracles killed him with an arrow.<ref>As noted above Pindar has Apollo kill Porphyrion.</ref>

Other Giants and their fates are mentioned by Apollodorus. Ephialtes was blinded by an arrow from Apollo in his left eye, and another arrow from Heracles in his right. [[Eurytus]] was killed by [[Dionysus]] with his [[thyrsus]], [[Clytius]] by [[Hecate]] with her torches, and [[Mimas (Giant)|Mimas]] by [[Hephaestus]] with "missiles of red-hot metal" from his forge.<ref>As noted above, Euripides has Zeus kill Mimas; other accounts have Mimas killed by [[Ares]]: [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/276/mode/2up 3.1225&ndash;7 (pp. 276&ndash;277)]; [[Claudian]], ''Gigantomachia'' [https://archive.org/stream/claudia02clau#page/286/mode/2up 85&ndash;91 (pp. 286&ndash;287)].</ref> Athena crushed Enceladus under the Island of Sicily and flayed [[Pallas (Giant)|Pallas]], using his skin as a shield. [[Poseidon]] broke off a piece of the island of [[Kos]] called [[Nisyros]], and threw it on top of [[Polybotes]] ([[Strabo]] also relates the story of Polybotes buried under Nisyros but adds that some say Polybotes lies under Kos instead).<ref>[[Strabo]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+10.5.16 10.5.16]. The mention of a millstone, in the poem fragment by Alcman (mentioned above) may be an early reference to the island of Nisyros, see Hanfmann 1937, pp. 476; Vian and Moore 1988, p. 192.</ref> [[Hermes]], wearing [[Hades]]' helmet, killed [[Hippolytus (Greek myth)|Hippolytus]], [[Artemis]] killed Gration with her bow and arrows, and the [[Moirai]] killed Agrius and Thoas with bronze clubs. The rest of the giants were "destroyed" by thunderbolts thrown by Zeus, with each Giant being shot with arrows by Heracles (as the prophecy seemingly required).

===Ovid===
The Latin poet [[Ovid]] gives a brief account of the Gigantomachy in his poem ''[[Metamorphoses]]''.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D89 1.151–162].</ref> Ovid, apparently including the [[Aloadae]]'s attack upon Olympus as part of the Gigantomachy, has the Giants attempt to seize "the throne of Heaven" by piling "mountain on mountain to the lofty stars" but Jove (i.e. [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], the Roman Zeus) overwhelms the Giants with his thunderbolts, overturning "from [[Mount Ossa (Greece)|Ossa]] huge, enormous [[Pelion]]".<ref>Ovid also refers to Giants piling up Pelion on top of Ossa elsewhere, see ''[[Amores (Ovid)|Amores]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ov.+Am.+2.1 2.1.11&ndash;18], ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/22/mode/2up 1.307&ndash;308], [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/152/mode/2up 3.437&ndash;442]; Green, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yPUDE65WEMoC&pg=PA143 p. 143].</ref> Ovid says that (as "fame reports") from the blood of the Giants came a new race of beings in human form.<ref>Compare with [[Lycophron]], ''Alexandra'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/606/mode/2up 1356&ndash;1358 (pp. 606&ndash;607]), who has the Pelasgian race born from the "blood of the [[Sithonia]]n giants", Sithonia being the middle spur of [[Chalcidice]] just north of the southern spur of [[Pallene, Chalcidice|Pallene]], the traditional home of the Giants.</ref> According to Ovid, Earth (Gaia) did not want the Giants to perish without a trace, so "reeking with the copious blood of her gigantic sons", she gave life to the "steaming gore" of the blood soaked battleground. These new offspring, like their fathers the Giants, also hated the gods and possessed a bloodthirsty desire for "savage slaughter".

Later in the ''Metamorphoses'', Ovid refers to the Gigantomachy as: "The time when serpent footed giants strove / to fix their hundred arms on captive Heaven".<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D163 1.182 ff.].</ref> Here Ovid apparently conflates the Giants with the [[Hundred-Handers]],<ref>Anderson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=t12AuG0q144C&pg=PA170 p. 170, note to line 184 "''centum'' with ''bracchia''"]. Ovid's  ''[[Amores (Ovid)|Amores]]''  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ov.+Am.+2.1 2.1.11&ndash;18], see Knox, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MtNSM3gHnvEC&pg=PT239 p. 209], likewise associates the Gigantomachy with the Hundred-Hander "Gyas", while in ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/262/mode/2up 5.35&ndash;37], Ovid has the Giants have a "thousand hands". This same conflation may already occur in [[Euphorion of Chalcis|Euphorion]], fragment 169 (Lightfoot) (Lightfoot, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3ScXvWB0Es0C&pg=PA394 pp. 394&ndash;395]), see Vian and Moore 1988, p. 193.</ref> who, though in Hesiod fought alongside Zeus and the Olympians, in some traditions fought against them.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+617 617&ndash;736], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+815 815&ndash;819]. For the Hundred-Handers as opponents of Zeus, see for example [[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D543 10.565&ndash;568]; O'Hara, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nhAFo12lV7IC&pg=PA99 p. 99].</ref>

=== Other late sources ===
[[Eratosthenes]] records that Dionysus, Hephaestus and several satyrs mounted on donkeys and charged against the Giants. As they drew closer and before the Giants had spotted them, the donkeys brayed, scaring off some Giants who ran away in terror of the unseen enemies, for they had never heard a donkey's bray before.<ref>Hard 2015, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7IMSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 p. 66].</ref> Dionysus placed the donkeys in the skies in gratitude, and in vase paintings from the classical period, satyrs and [[Maenads]] can sometimes be seen confronting their gigantic opponents.<ref>Hard 2015, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7IMSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 p. 68].</ref>

A late Latin grammarian of the fifth century AD, [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], mentions that during the battle, the [[eagle of Zeus]] (who once had been the boy [[Aëtos]] before his metamorphosis) assisted his master by placing the lightning bolts on his hands.<ref>Kerenyi, [https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7346/page/n115/mode/2up?view=theater p. 95].</ref>

===Location===
Various places have been associated with the Giants and the Gigantomachy. As noted above Pindar has the battle occur at Phlegra ("the place of burning"),<ref>Singleton, [https://books.google.com/books?id=xbB5PE9O9KEC&pg=PA235 p. 235].</ref> as do other early sources.<ref>[[Aeschylus]], ''[[Oresteia|Eumenides]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0006%3Acard%3D276 294]; [[Euripides]], ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=779AD6C623207413812A728B409D9381?doc=Eur.+Her.+1192 1192&ndash;1194]; ''Ion'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Ion+987 987&ndash;997]; [[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0019,006:824&lang=original 824]; [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/210/mode/2up 3.232&ndash;234 (pp. 210&ndash;211)], [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/276/mode/2up 3.1225&ndash;7 (pp. 276&ndash;277)]. See also Hesiod fragment 43a.65 MW (Most 2007, p. 143, Gantz, p. 446)</ref> Phlegra was said to be an ancient name for [[Pallene, Chalcidice|Pallene]] (modern [[Kassandra, Chalkidiki|Kassandra]])<ref>[[Herodotus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D123%3Asection%3D1 7.123.1]; [[Strabo]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3Dfragments%3Asection%3D25 7 Fragment 25], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3Dfragments%3Asection%3D27 27]; [[Philostratus]], ''On Heroes'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=R8nMVkv_lZ4C&pg=PA14 8.16 (p. 14)];
 [[Stephanus Byzantius]], ''s.v.'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ5bAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA221 ''Παλλήνη''] (Hunter [https://books.google.com/books?id=46QD6MxdH8cC&pg=PA81 p. 81]), [https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ5bAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA299 ''Φλέγρα'']; Liddell and Scott, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=fle/gra ''Φλέγρα'']</ref> and Phlegra/Pallene was the usual birthplace of the Giants and site of the battle.<ref>Gantz, p. 419; Frazer 1898b, note to Pausanias 8.29.1 "the legendary battle of the gods and the giants" [https://archive.org/stream/pausaniassdescr01pausgoog#page/n336/mode/2up pp. 314&ndash;315]; [[Lycophron]], ''Alexandra'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/504/mode/2up 115&ndash;127  (pp. 504&ndash;505)], [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/606/mode/2up 1356&ndash;1358 (pp. 606&ndash;607)], [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/610/mode/2up 1404&ndash;1408 (pp. 610&ndash;611)]; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4B*.html 4.15.1]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.25.2 1.25.2], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.29.1 8.29.1]; AT-scholia to ''Iliad'' 15.27 (Hunter [https://books.google.com/books?id=46QD6MxdH8cC&pg=PA81 p. 81]).</ref> Apollodorus, who placed the battle at Pallene, says the Giants were born "as some say, in Phlegrae, but according to others in Pallene". The name Phlegra and the Gigantomachy were also often associated, by later writers, with a volcanic plain in Italy, west of [[Naples]] and east of [[Cumae]], called the [[Phlegraean Fields]].<ref>[[Strabo]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/5D*.html 5.4.4], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/5D*.html 5.4.6], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.3.5 6.3.5]; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4B*.html 4.21.5&ndash;7], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html 5.71.4].</ref> The third century BC poet [[Lycophron]], apparently locates a battle of gods and Giants in the vicinity of the volcanic island of [[Ischia]], the largest of the [[Phlegraean Islands]] off the coast of Naples, where he says the Giants (along with Typhon) were "crushed" under the island.<ref>[[Lycophron]], ''Alexandra'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/550/mode/2up 688&ndash;693 (pp. 550&ndash;551)].</ref> At least one tradition placed Phlegra in [[Ancient Thessaly|Thessaly]].<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+3.578 3.578]; Leigh, p. 122.</ref>

[[File:Mosaic of Poseidon and the Giant Polybotes.jpg|thumb|260px|Ancient Roman mosaic with Poseidon fighting Polybotes, exhibited in [[Rhodes]].]]

According to the geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], the [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]]ns claimed that battle took place "not at [[Pellene]] in [[Thrace]]" but in the plain of [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]] in the central Peloponnese where "rises up fire".<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.29.1 8.29.1].</ref> The tradition of the battle being in Megalopolis may have been inspired by the presence of numerous gigantic bones around Megalopolis as noted by Pausanias, which in Ancient Greek times were attributed to giants, but which in modern times are known to be those of fossil [[Pleistocene]] mammals such as [[straight-tusked elephant]]s, an enormous extinct elephant species formerly native to the region.<ref name=":32">{{Citation |last=Athanassiou |first=Athanassios |title=The Fossil Record of Continental Elephants and Mammoths (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Elephantidae) in Greece |date=2022 |work=Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 1 |pages=345–391 |editor-last=Vlachos |editor-first=Evangelos |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-68398-6_13 |access-date=2023-07-16 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-68398-6_13 |isbn=978-3-030-68397-9 |s2cid=245067102}}</ref> Another tradition apparently placed the battle at [[Tartessus]] in Spain.<ref>Scholiast A on ''Iliad'' 8.479 (Brown, [https://books.google.com/books?id=SSljjU2xlecC&pg=PA125 p. 125]).</ref> [[Diodorus Siculus]] presents a war with multiple battles, with one at Pallene, one on the Phlegraean Fields, and one on [[Crete]].<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4B*.html 4.15.1], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4B*.html 4.21.5&ndash;7], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html 5.71.2&ndash;6].</ref> Strabo mentions an account of Heracles battling Giants at [[Phanagoria]], a Greek colony on the shores of the [[Black Sea]].<ref>[[Strabo]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+11.2.10 11.2.10].</ref> Even when, as in Apollodorus, the battle starts at one place. Individual battles between a Giant and a god might range farther afield, with Enceladus buried beneath Sicily, and Polybotes under the island of [[Nisyros]] (or [[Kos]]). Other locales associated with Giants include [[Attica]], [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]], [[Cyzicus]], [[Lipari|Lipara]], [[Lycia]], [[Lydia]], [[Miletus]], and [[Rhodes]].<ref>Hanfmann 1937, p. 475 n. 52.</ref>

The presence of volcanic phenomena, and the frequent unearthing of the fossilized bones of large prehistoric animals throughout these locations may explain why such sites became associated with the Giants.<ref>Mayor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9TwhfvU08UcC&pg=PA197 p. 197 ff.]; Apollodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.%201.6.1 1.6.1 n. 3]; Frazer 1898b, note to Pausanias 8.29.1 "the legendary battle of the gods and the giants" [https://archive.org/stream/pausaniassdescr01pausgoog#page/n336/mode/2up pp. 314&ndash;315]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.32.5 8.32.5]; [[Philostratus]], ''[[Life of Apollonius of Tyana]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofapollonius01phil#page/498/mode/2up 5.16 (pp. 498&ndash;501)], ''On Heroes'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=R8nMVkv_lZ4C&pg=PA14 8.15&ndash;16 (p. 14)].</ref>

===In art===

====Sixth century BC====
[[File:Black-Figured Amphora depicting the Battle of Gods and Giants.jpg|thumb| A depiction of the Gigantomachy showing a typical central group of Zeus, Heracles and Athena. [[black-figure]] [[amphora]] in the style of the [[Lysippides Painter]], c. 530-520 BC ([[British Museum]] B208).<ref>Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA56 p. 56]; Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/8F58F440-D701-45DF-9D42-9F05021E88A4 302261]; ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7524e4a3bcb9b-c 27185 (Gigantes 120)].</ref>]]

From the sixth century BC onwards, the Gigantomachy was a popular and important theme in Greek art, with over six hundred representations cataloged in the ''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae]]'' (''LIMC'').<ref>Vian and Moore 1988; Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA51 p. 51], [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA64 p. 64]; Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA82 p. 82]; See also Vian 1951; 1952; Morford, p. 72.</ref>

The Gigantomachy was depicted on the new ''[[peplos]]'' (robe) presented to [[Athena]] on the [[Acropolis of Athens]] as part of the [[Panathenaea|Panathenaic festival]] celebrating her victory over the Giants, a practice dating from perhaps as early as the second millennium BC.<ref>Barber 1992, pp. 103&ndash;104, 112, 117; Barber 1991, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HnSlynSfeEIC&pg=PA361 361&ndash;362], [https://books.google.com/books?id=HnSlynSfeEIC&pg=PA380 380&ndash;381]; Simon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AMTNIZ_LQjoC&pg=PA23 p. 23]; Euripides, ''[[Hecuba (play)|Hecuba]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Hec.+466 466&ndash;474], ''[[Iphigenia in Tauris]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0112%3Acard%3D203 222&ndash;224]; [[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0019,006:824&lang=original 823&ndash;831], ''[[The Knights]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=EBE89320150BA26C965AD689D8DABDF1?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0034%3Acard%3D565 565]; [[Plato]], ''[[Euthyphro]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0170%3Atext%3DEuthyph.%3Asection%3D6b 6b&ndash;c]; ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=6E0C79B2440716402D4400CF905F4A85?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0168%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D378c 2.378c]; Vian and Moore 1988, p. 210 no. 32. For the importance of the Gigantomachy to the Athenian Acropolis see Hurwit, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0pQ4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA30 pp. 30&ndash;31].</ref> The earliest extant indisputable representations of Gigantes are found on votive [[Pinax|pinakes]] from [[Corinth]] and [[Eleusis]], and [[Attica|Attic]] [[Black-figure pottery|black-figure]] pots, dating from the second quarter of the sixth century BC (this excludes early depictions of Zeus battling single snake-footed creatures, which probably represent his battle with [[Typhon]], as well as Zeus' opponent on the west pediment of the [[Temple of Artemis, Corfu|Temple of Artemis]] on Kerkyra (modern [[Corfu]]) which is probably not a Giant).<ref>Gantz, p. 450; Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 p. 21]; Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA51 pp. 51&ndash;52]; Robertson, Martin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BoUsvD1_VNQC&pg=PA16 pp. 16&ndash;17].</ref>

Though all these early Attic vases<ref>Akropolis 607 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/F8C80F34-7A75-4712-8FD7-E265EFE5492C 310147], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7426c59aa3230-4  9257 (Gigantes 105)]); Akropolis 1632 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/5F5F01AD-810D-4DBB-9356-E562BA2D5A4D 15673], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73e88da481d30-d 4867 (Gigantes 110)]); Akropolis 2134 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/B61DEF22-344B-47D5-B0E7-A7680D952ACC 301942], ''LIMC''  [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7516741f70861-5 26166 (Gigantes 106)]); Akropolis 2211 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/82A9B36D-069A-45A6-A06F-11D7FA0A0529 3363], ''LIMC''  [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-74bf215896015-7 20013 (Gigantes 104)]).</ref> are fragmentary, the many common features in their depictions of the Gigantomachy suggest that a common model or template was used as a prototype, possibly Athena's ''peplos''.<ref>Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 p. 21]; Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA55 p. 55], [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA57 57]; Neils, p. 228.</ref> These vases depict large battles, including most of the Olympians, and contain a central group which appears to consist of Zeus, Heracles, Athena, and sometimes Gaia.<ref>Gantz, p. 451; Moore 1979, pp. 81&ndash;84, ILL. 1. & 2.; Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 p. 21]; Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA57 57]; Beazley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rrhKNJaNBgAC&pg=PA38 pp. 38&ndash;39]; Day, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0cMLPoGmRHgC&pg=PA163 p. 163]. Several examples from later in the sixth century BC depict a similar central group of Zeus, Heracles and Athena. Moore 1979, p. 83 n. 36 lists as examples: Tarquina 623 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/622178EF-9C19-4FBC-B7C9-9C998B231893 310411], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7541284bf59f8-8 29174 (Gigantes 114)]), Munich 1485 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/6BA7826F-3FBE-4581-A4F0-551E315A11D1 302287]), British Museum B208 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/8F58F440-D701-45DF-9D42-9F05021E88A4 302261]; ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7524e4a3bcb9b-c 27185 (Gigantes 120)]). Arafat, p. 14 n. 12, in addition to British Museum B208, also gives as examples Vatican 422 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/6882EE32-BAEE-447D-AE53-B7B62EC55CAF 302040], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-754157e02a4f9-8 29187 (Gigantes 123)]) and Vatican 365 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/2DA7C493-0544-4EFB-9A35-C1717118E76F 301601]), however Moore says that Zeus is not present in Vatican 365. For British Museum B208, see also Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA56 p. 56]. [[Euripides]], perhaps referring to archaic vase paintings or to Athena's ''peplos'', locates Heracles and Athena fighting near Zeus in the Gigantomachy, see ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=779AD6C623207413812A728B409D9381?doc=Eur.+Her.+177 177&ndash;179]; ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Ion+1528 1528&ndash;1529]; Vian and Moore 1988, p. 192.</ref> Zeus, Heracles and Athena are attacking Giants to the right.<ref>Rightward was conventionally the "direction of victory", see Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA62 p. 62]; Stewart, p. 128.</ref> Zeus mounts a chariot brandishing his thunderbolt in his right hand, Heracles, in the chariot, bends forward with drawn bow and left foot on the chariot pole, Athena, beside the chariot, strides forward toward one or two Giants, and the four chariot horses trample a fallen Giant. When present, Gaia is shielded behind Herakles, apparently pleading with Zeus to spare her children.

On either side of the central group are the rest of the gods engaged in combat with particular Giants. While the gods can be identified by characteristic features, for example [[Hermes]] with his hat (''[[petasos]]'') and [[Dionysus]] his ivy crown, the Giants are not individually characterized and can only be identified by inscriptions which sometimes name the Giant.<ref>Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA56 pp. 56&ndash;57]; Gantz p. 451; Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 p. 21]</ref> The fragments of one vase from this same period (Getty 81.AE.211)<ref>Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetails.asp?id=79B9C21C-CF52-40F6-85C1-E00C4BBC5D60 10047], ''LIMC''  [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-743727dea0612-1 10415 (Gigantes 171)].</ref> name five Giants: Pankrates against Heracles,<ref>Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 p. 28].</ref> [[Polybotes]] against Zeus,<ref>Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 pp. 30&ndash;31].</ref> Oranion against Dionysus,<ref>Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 p. 32].</ref> Euboios and Euphorbus fallen<ref>Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 pp. 34&ndash;36].</ref> and Ephialtes.<ref>Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 pp. 34&ndash;35].</ref> Also named, on two other of these early vases, are [[Aristaeus (Giant)|Aristaeus]] battling [[Hephaestus]] (Akropolis 607), [[Eurymedon (mythology)|Eurymedon]] and (again) [[Aloadae|Ephialtes]] (Akropolis 2134). An [[amphora]] from [[Caere]] from later in the sixth century, gives the names of more Giants: [[Hyperbius|Hyperbios]] and [[Agasthenes]] (along with Ephialtes) fighting Zeus, Harpolykos against [[Hera]], Enceladus against Athena and (again) Polybotes, who in this case battles Poseidon with his trident holding the island of Nisyros on his shoulder (Louvre E732).<ref>Gantz, p. 451; Arafat, p. 16; Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/55A90360-6C37-47D9-A4DA-8A81196212C5 14590], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73a49a0ddfe9b-f 52 (Gigantes 170)].</ref> This motif of Poseidon holding the island of Nisyros, ready to hurl it at his opponent, is another frequent feature of these early Gigantomachies.<ref>Gantz, p. 453; Moore 1985, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 p. 32]; Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie03cook#page/14/mode/2up pp. 14&ndash;18]; Frazer 1898a, note to Pausanias 1.2.4 "Poseidon on horseback hurling a spear at the giant Polybotes" [https://archive.org/stream/pausaniassdescr04pausgoog#page/n68/mode/2up pp. 48&ndash;49].</ref>

[[File:GR-delphi-tempelfries.jpg|thumb|left|[[Siphnian Treasury]] at [[Delphi]], North frieze (c. 525 BC). Detail showing gods facing right and Giants facing left.]]

The Gigantomachy was also a popular theme in late sixth century sculpture. The most comprehensive treatment is found on the north frieze of the [[Siphnian Treasury]] at [[Delphi]] (c. 525 BC), with more than thirty figures, named by inscription.<ref>Gantz, pp. 451&ndash;452; Stewart, pp. 128&ndash;129, plates 195&ndash;198; Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA59 pp. 59&ndash;62]; Morford, p. 73; [https://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/Sculpture/ashmolean/context/SiphnianTreasuryNFrieze.htm Drawing: J.Boardman, ''Greek Sculpture Archaic Period'' fig.212.1]; [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact;jsessionid=5559FC6C86C9AB95D17FE6D7ACF0D4C6?name=Delphi%2C+Siphnian+Treasury+Frieze--North&object=Sculpture Perseus: Delphi, Siphnian Treasury Frieze--North (Sculpture)]; ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73eab9f338a28-a 5020 (Gigantes 2)].</ref> From left to right, these include Hephaestus (with bellows), two females fighting two Giants; Dionysus striding toward an advancing Giant; [[Themis]]<ref>Brinkmann, N17 p. 101. According to Schefold, p. 62, Themis "appears here in the guise of [[Kybele]]".</ref> in a chariot drawn by a team of lions which are attacking a fleeing Giant; the archers Apollo and Artemis; another fleeing Giant (Tharos or possibly Kantharos);<ref>Brinkmann, N5 p. 92, reads only Tharos.</ref> the Giant Ephialtes lying on the ground;<ref>Brinkmann, N7 p. 94.</ref> and a group of three Giants, which include [[Hyperphas]]<ref>Brinkmann, N6 p. 92, others have read Hypertas.</ref> and Alektos,<ref>Brinkmann, N8 p. 94.</ref> opposing Apollo and Artemis. Next comes a missing central section presumably containing Zeus, and possibly Heracles, with chariot (only parts of a team of horses remain). To the right of this comes a female stabbing her spear<ref>Possibly Aphrodite, has been identified as Hera, but Brinkmann, p. 94 finds no trace of that name.</ref> at a fallen Giant (probably Porphyrion);<ref>Brinkmann, N22 p. 103, only the last four letters: ''ριον'' can be read.</ref> Athena fighting Eriktypos<ref>Brinkmann, N10 p. 96; others have read Berektas.</ref> and a second Giant; a male stepping over the fallen Astarias<ref>Brinkmann, N12 p. 103; others have read Astartas.</ref> to attack Biatas.<ref>Brinkmann, N11 p. 96.</ref> and another Giant; and Hermes against two Giants. Then follows a gap which probably contained Poseidon and finally, on the far right, a male fighting two Giants, one fallen, the other the Giant Mimon (possibly the same as the Giant Mimas mentioned by Apollodorus).<ref>Brinkmann, N14 pp. 98, 124&ndash;125. The fallen Giant Mimon against Ares is also named on a late fifth century BC cup from [[Vulci]] (Berlin F2531): Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/46E5041B-1D5E-482A-8D61-D896ECDDF3DA 220533]: [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetailsLarge.asp?recordCount=1&id={46E5041B-1D5E-482A-8D61-D896ECDDF3DA}&fileName=IMAGES200%2FGER22%2FCVA%2EGER22%2E1048%2E1%2F&returnPage=&start= detail showing Mimon and Ares]; Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie03cook#page/n102/mode/2up p. 56], [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie03cook#page/n103/mode/2up Plate VI].</ref>

The Gigantomachy also appeared on several other late sixth century buildings, including the west pediment of the Alkmeonid [[Temple of Apollo (Delphi)|Temple of Apollo]] at Delphi, the pediment of the [[Megarian Treasury (Olympia)|Megarian Treasury]] at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], the east pediment of the [[Old Temple of Athena]] on the Acropolis of Athens, and the metopes of [[Temple F (Selinus)|Temple F]] at [[Selinunte|Selinous]].<ref>Gantz, p. 452. For the Temple of Apollo see: Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA64 p 64]; Shapiro, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6LUcuGdJF30C&pg=PA247 p. 247]; Stewart, pp. 86&ndash;87; [[Euripides]], ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Ion+206&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0110 205&ndash;218]; ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-74b025c09c19d-a 18960 (Gigantes 3)]. For the Megarian Treasury see: Pollitt 1990, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XoCNQwkNsLAC&pg=PA22 pp. 22&ndash;23]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+6.19.12 6.19.12&ndash;14]; Frazer 1898b, note to Pausanias 6.19.12 "The people of Megara – built a treasury" [https://archive.org/stream/pausaniassdescr01pausgoog#page/n76/mode/2up pp 65&ndash;67], note to 6.19.13 "In the gable – is wrought in relief the war of the giants" [https://archive.org/stream/pausaniassdescr01pausgoog#page/n78/mode/2up pp 67&ndash;69]; ASCA Digital Collections, [http://www.ascsa.net/research?v=list&q=Megarian+Treasury Megarian Treasury]. For the Old Temple of Athena see: Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA64 pp. 64&ndash;67].</ref>

====Fifth century BC====
The theme continued to be popular in the fifth century BC. A particularly fine example is found on a [[red-figure]] cup (c. 490&ndash;485 BC) by the [[Brygos Painter]] (Berlin F2293). On one side of the cup is the same central group of gods (minus Gaia) as described above: Zeus wielding his thunderbolt, stepping into a quadriga, Heracles with lion skin (behind the chariot rather than on it) drawing his (unseen) bow and, ahead, Athena thrusting her spear into a fallen Giant. On the other side are Hephaestus flinging flaming missiles of red-hot metal from two pairs of tongs, Poseidon, with Nisyros on his shoulder, stabbing a fallen Giant with his trident and Hermes with his ''petasos'' hanging in back of his head, attacking another fallen Giant. None of the Giants are named.<ref>Arafat, pp 12&ndash;15; Cohen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YyufPUA_S74C&pg=PA177 pp. 177&ndash;178]; Gantz p. 452; Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/FF922369-A326-4645-870F-1DEBDFEB9D0C 203909]; ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-74476cdb1abcc-3 11564 (Gigantes 303)].</ref>

[[Phidias]] used the theme for the [[Metopes of the Parthenon|metopes]] of the east façade of the [[Parthenon]] (c. 445 BC) and for the interior of the shield of [[Athena Parthenos]].<ref>For the Parthenon Gigantomachy metopes see Schwab, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5TADtR0uRhkC&pg=PA168 pp. 168&ndash;173], for the statue of Athena see Lapatin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5TADtR0uRhkC&pg=PA262 pp. 262&ndash;263], for both see Kleiner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sgiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 pp. 136&mdash;137].</ref> Phidias' work perhaps marks the beginning of a change in the way the Giants are presented. While previously the Giants had been portrayed as typical [[hoplite]] warriors armed with the usual helmets, shields, spears and swords, in the fifth century the Giants begin to be depicted as less handsome in appearance, primitive and wild, clothed in animal skins or naked, often without armor and using boulders as weapons.<ref>Dwyer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rMeJDwmr_hcC&pg=PA295 p. 295]; Gantz, pp. 446, 447, 452&ndash;453; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA90 p. 90]. For an example of a particularly "handsome" Giant see Schefold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA67 p. 67]: [[British Museum]] E 8 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/8F58F440-D701-45DF-9D42-9F05021E88A4 302261], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7448118d5af6d-3 11609 (Gigantes 365)], [https://www.iconiclimc.ch/limc/imageview.php?image=2e018e3fb44d467d8bad00cf62b3d940&total=2&term=%22Gigantes+365%22 image 1 of 2]), for Giants with animal skins fighting with boulders see a [[calyx krater]] from Ruvo, c. 400: Naples 81521 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/DD4BCEF5-28C4-42CF-9DAD-E464C47D5011 217517], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-74390ea38056b-b 10553 (Gigantes 316)], [https://www.iconiclimc.ch/limc/imageview.php?image=28fcc6f4a1b04dd7af7b64c777433923&total=5&term=%22Gigantes+316%22 image 2 of 5].</ref> A series of red-figure pots from c. 400 BC, which may have used Phidas' shield of Athena Parthenos as their model, show the Olympians fighting from above and the Giants fighting with large stones from below.<ref>Robertson, Martin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BoUsvD1_VNQC&pg=PA106 pp. 106&ndash;107]; Dwyer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rMeJDwmr_hcC&pg=PA295 p. 295]; Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie03cook#page/n101/mode/2up p. 56]; Arafat, p. 25; Louvre [http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/attic-red-figure-neck-amphora MNB810] (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetails.asp?id=1EFF3531-45A0-4643-8823-26F3DB9C0692 217568], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7446fb65ff8f1-f  11533 (Gigantes 322)]; Naples 81521 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/DD4BCEF5-28C4-42CF-9DAD-E464C47D5011 217517], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-74390ea38056b-b 10553 (Gigantes 316)]).</ref>

====Fourth century BC and later====

[[File:DSC04529a Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Gigantomachia - sec. II d.C. - da Afrodisia - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006.jpg|thumb|right|In the Gigantomachy from a 1st-century AD frieze in the agora of [[Aphrodisias]], the Giants are depicted with scaly coils, like [[Typhon]]]]

[[File:Fregio della gigantomachia 02.JPG|thumb|right|Winged Giant (usually identified as [[Alcyoneus]]), [[Athena]], [[Gaia]] (rising from the ground), and [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], detail of the Gigantomachy frieze, [[Pergamon Altar]], [[Pergamon museum]], Berlin]]

With the beginning of the fourth century BC probably comes the first portrayal of the Giants in Greek art as anything other than fully human in form, with legs that become coiled serpents having snake heads at the ends in place of feet.<ref>Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA82 pp. 82&ndash;83], Gantz, p. 453; Berlin V.I. 3375 (Beazley Archive [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/526CE240-23D4-484D-98DD-C14B1FD5AFE1 6987], ''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-754cf3ba8f1d5-7 30005 (Gigantes 389)]). Snake-legged Giants may exist in earlier Etruscan art, for example a winged and snake-footed monster depicted on a late sixth century Etruscan hydria (British Museum B62, ''LIMC'' [https://weblimc.org/page/monument/2073285 2639 (Typhon 30])), might be a Giant, see de Grummond, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sKT6M2rdN9gC&pg=PA259 p. 259], compare with Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA71, p. 71]. For more on snake-legged Giants see Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA82 pp. 82&ndash;86], and Vian and Moore 1988, pp. 253&ndash;254.</ref> Such depictions were perhaps borrowed from Typhon, the monstrous son of Gaia and [[Tartarus]], described by Hesiod as having a hundred snake heads growing from his shoulders.<ref>Pollitt 1986, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vt9JwsNcKzwC&pg=PA109 p. 109]; Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA83 p. 83]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+820 820 ff.]. The similarities between Typhon and the Giants are several, both "monstrous children produced by Earth in a spirit of revenge, with the mission to attack and overthrow the gods in heaven, and whose fate they share, blasted by thunderbolts and, in Enceladus' case buried under Sicily." (Ogden, p. 83).</ref> This snake-legged motif becomes the standard for the rest of antiquity, culminating in the monumental Gigantomachy frieze of the second century BC [[Pergamon Altar]]. Measuring nearly 400 feet long and over seven feet high, here the Gigantomachy receives its most extensive treatment, with over one hundred figures.<ref>Kleiner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sgiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 pp. 155&ndash;156]; Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA33 p. 33]; Smith, R. R. R. 1991, p. 159; Queyrel, p. 49; Pergamon Altar (''LIMC'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ac4ebff2462-9 617 (Gigantes 24)]).</ref>

Although fragmentary, much of the Gigantomachy frieze has been restored. The general sequence of the figures and the identifications of most of the approximately sixty gods and goddesses have been more or less established.<ref>[http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-08-39.html Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2005]. The names of the gods and goddesses were inscribed on the upper molding of the frieze, with the exception of Gaia whose name was inscribed on the background next to her head, see Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA32 p. 32]. For the total number of gods and goddesses, see Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA54 p. 54 n. 35].</ref> The names and positions of most Giants remain uncertain. Some of the names of the Giants have been determined by inscription,<ref>The names of the Giants were inscribed on the lower molding or, for the walls flanking the stairs where the moulding was omitted, on the background of the frieze between the figures, see Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA32 p. 32], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA54 p. 54 n. 34]. Queyrel, p. 52, lists the names of 27 Giants fully or partly preserved in the inscriptions which have so far been found. For Queyrel's identification of the various figures, see Fig. 33, pp. 50&ndash;51.</ref> while their positions are often conjectured on the basis of which gods fought which Giants in [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]]' account.<ref>Pollitt 1986, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vt9JwsNcKzwC&pg=PA109 p. 109].</ref>

The same central group of Zeus, Athena, Heracles and Gaia, found on many early Attic vases, also featured prominently on the Pergamon Altar. On the right side of the East frieze, the first encountered by a visitor, a winged Giant, usually identified as [[Alcyoneus]], fights [[Athena]].<ref>Cunningham, [https://books.google.com/books?id=G8GiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 p. 113]; Kleiner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sgiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 p. 156 FIG. 5-79]; Queyrel, pp. 52&ndash;53; Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA39, p. 39], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA59 pp. 59&ndash;60 n. 59]. Supporting the identification of this Giant as Alcyoneus, is the fragmentary inscription "neus", that may belong to this scene, for doubts concerning this identification, see Ridgway.</ref> Below and to the right of Athena, Gaia rises from the ground, touching Athena's robe in supplication. Flying above Gaia, a winged [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] crowns the victorious Athena. To the left of this grouping a snake-legged Porphyrion battles Zeus<ref>Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA54 p. 54 n. 35]; Queyrel, pp. 53&ndash;54.</ref> and to the left of Zeus is Heracles.<ref>[http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-08-39.html Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo 2005]. Though virtually nothing of Heracles remains, only part of a linonskin, and a left hand holding a bow, the location of the hero is identified by inscription, see Queyrel, pp. 54&ndash;55.</ref>

On the far left side of the East frieze, a triple [[Hecate]] with torch battles a snake-legged Giant usually identified (following Apollodorus) as Clytius.<ref>Queyrel, pp. 56&ndash;58; Ling, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4HwfcdfLvCUC&pg=PA50 p. 50]; Apollodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.6.2 1.6.2].</ref> To the right lays the fallen Udaeus, shot in his left eye by an arrow from Apollo,<ref>Queyrel, pp. 55&ndash;56. This figure, now identified by inscription as Udaeus, was previously supposed to be Ephialtes, who Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.6.2 1.6.2] has Apollo shoot in the left eye. Udaeus (earthy) was also the name of one of the [[Spartoi]], who were sometimes called Gegeneis or Gigantes, see Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&dq=Udaios&pg=PA316 p. 316]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]]; [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.4.1 3.4.1]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.5.3 9.5.3]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#178 178]. Pelorus (monstrous), the name of another Spartoi, is a possible restoration of the fragmentary inscription "oreus" listed by Queyrel, p. 52.</ref> along with Demeter who wields a pair of torches against Erysichthon.<ref>Queyrel, p. 55; Moore 1977, p. 324 n. 70; McKay, [https://books.google.com/books?id=SsEeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA93 p. 93]; [[Callimachus]], ''Hymn 6 (to Demeter)'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/126/mode/2up 25 ff. (pp. 126 ff.)].</ref>

The Giants are depicted in a variety of ways. Some Giants are fully human in form, while others are a combination of human and animal forms. Some are snake-legged, some have wings, one has bird claws, one is lion-headed, and another is bull-headed. Some Giants wear helmets, carry shields and fight with swords. Others are naked or clothed in animal skins and fight with clubs or rocks.<ref>Pollitt 1986, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vt9JwsNcKzwC&pg=PA109 p. 109]; Smith, R. R. R. p. 162.</ref>

The large size of the frieze probably necessitated the addition of many more Giants than had been previously known. Some, like Typhon and Tityus, who were not strictly speaking Giants, were perhaps included. Others were probably invented.<ref>Pollitt 1986, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vt9JwsNcKzwC&pg=PA109 p. 109].</ref> The partial inscription "Mim" may mean that the Giant Mimas was also depicted. Other less-familiar or otherwise unknown Giant names include Allektos, Chthonophylos, Eurybias, Molodros, Obrimos, Ochthaios and Olyktor.<ref>Queyrel, p. 52.</ref>

====In post-classical art====

[[File:Giulio Romano - Fresco on the north wall (detail) - WGA09554.jpg|thumb|right|Detail of the ''[[Fall of the Giants (Romano)|Sala dei Giganti]]'' in the [[Palazzo del Te]], [[Mantua]], c. 1530, [[Giulio Romano (painter)|Giulio Romano]]]]

The subject was revived in the Renaissance, most famously in the frescos of the ''[[Fall of the Giants (Romano)|Sala dei Giganti]]'' in the [[Palazzo del Te]], [[Mantua]]. These were painted around 1530 by [[Giulio Romano (painter)|Giulio Romano]] and his workshop, and aimed to give the viewer the unsettling idea that the large hall was in the process of collapsing. The subject was also popular in [[Northern Mannerism]] around 1600, especially among the [[Haarlem Mannerists]], and continued to be painted into the 18th century.<ref>Hall, James, ''Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art'', p. 140, 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray, {{ISBN|0719541476}}</ref>