Ephialtes
Twin brother of Otus among the Aloadae giants, whose combined assault on Olympus was among the most audacious acts of defiance against the gods.
The Myth of Ephialtes
Ephialtes was the twin brother of Otus, and together they formed the Aloadae — the most terrifyingly ambitious pair of giants in Greek myth. Their growth was supernatural: each year they grew a fathom taller and a cubit broader. While Otus set his heart on Artemis, Ephialtes desired Hera herself, the queen of the gods. Their assault on Olympus by stacking mountains was not mere brute force but strategic engineering, and the gods genuinely feared the outcome. Some traditions credit the twins with founding cities and establishing cults, suggesting an older stratum of myth in which they were culture heroes rather than villains. Their death came through divine trickery rather than direct combat — neither god nor mortal could kill them by force, so Artemis used guile, appearing as a deer between them so that their own spears brought mutual destruction. The name Ephialtes later became the Greek word for "nightmare," and the giant who once threatened heaven became a demon of sleep.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The name Ephialtes became the standard Modern Greek word for "nightmare" — the giant who stormed heaven was transformed into the demon who sits upon the sleeping chest.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Otus
🐉 creaturegigantic, rebellion
One of the Aloadae — twin giants of extraordinary size who attempted to storm Olympus and imprisoned the god Ares in a bronze jar.
Aloadae
🐉 creaturegiants, rebellion
Twin giants who grew nine fathoms each year and attempted to storm Olympus by stacking mountains, threatening the gods before Artemis or Apollo destroyed them.
Aloadae
🐉 creaturewar,giants
Twin giants of enormous strength — Otus and Ephialtes — who attempted to storm Olympus by stacking mountains on top of one another.
Alcyoneus
🐉 creaturegiants
The mightiest of the Gigantes, immortal within his homeland, who stole the cattle of Helios
Briareos
🐉 creaturegiants,sea
One of the Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Giants), beings of immense power with fifty heads and one hundred arms, allies of Zeus in the Titanomachy.
Gegenees
🐉 creaturegiants
Six-armed earth-born giants who attacked the Argonauts on Bear Mountain
Cyclops
🐉 creatureOne-eyed giant
Race of one-eyed giants. The original three Cyclopes forged Zeus's thunderbolts; later Cyclopes were savage shepherds, the most famous being Polyphemus.
Typhon
🐉 creatureMost powerful monster who challenged Zeus
Typhon was the most fearsome monster in Greek mythology — a giant with serpent heads who nearly overthrew Zeus and would have ruled the cosmos.
Aloeus
🗡 heroFarming, Giant-Fathers, Hubris
Thessalian king whose twin stepsons the Aloadae nearly defeated the Olympian gods.
Polybotes
🐉 creaturegiants,Gigantomachy
One of the Giants who fought the gods in the Gigantomachy, pursued by Poseidon across the sea and finally crushed beneath the island of Nisyros, which Poseidon broke off from the island of Cos.
Typhon
🐉 creatureFather of all monsters
The most fearsome monster in Greek mythology, who challenged Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. Typhon was the father of many of mythology's most dangerous creatures.
Hecatoncheires
🐉 creatureHundred-handed giants
The Hecatoncheires were three giants, each with a hundred hands and fifty heads — the most powerful beings born before the Olympians.