Editing Giants (Greek mythology) (section)

===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>