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Greek Mythology Notes

Otus

🐉 creatureὮτος
gigantic, rebellion

One of the Aloadae — twin giants of extraordinary size who attempted to storm Olympus and imprisoned‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌ the god Ares in a bronze jar.

The Myth of Otus

Otus and his twin brother Ephialtes were the Aloadae, sons of Poseidon (or Aloeus) and Iphimedeia.‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌ They grew at an astonishing rate — nine fathoms tall and nine cubits broad by the age of nine — and their ambitions matched their stature. They stacked Mount Ossa on Olympus and Mount Pelion on Ossa in an attempt to reach heaven. They captured Ares and imprisoned him in a bronze jar for thirteen months, until Hermes freed the war god. They threatened to pile mountains into the sea and turn the sea onto dry land. Otus desired Artemis and Ephialtes desired Hera, compounding their presumption with lust for divine brides. Apollo finally destroyed them, or in another version, Artemis ran between them in the form of a deer and the twins, hurling their spears, struck and killed each other. In the underworld, they were bound back-to-back to a pillar with serpents, while a screech-owl sat above them forever.

Parents

Poseidon (or Aloeus) and Iphimedeia

Symbols

bronze jarstacked mountainsspear

Fun Fact

The Aloadae imprisoned Ares — the god of war himself — in a bronze jar for thirteen months, a humiliation unmatched by any other mortal or giant in Greek mythology.

Explore Further

Aloadae

🐉 creature

giants, 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

Ephialtes

🐉 creature

gigantic, rebellion

Twin brother of Otus among the Aloadae giants, whose combined assault on Olympus was among the most audacious acts of defiance against the gods.

ephialtes (nightmarein Modern Greek)

Aloadae

🐉 creature

war,giants

Twin giants of enormous strength — Otus and Ephialtes — who attempted to storm Olympus by stacking mountains on top of one another.

Briareos

🐉 creature

giants,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.

Hecatoncheires

🐉 creature

Hundred-handed giants

The Hecatoncheires were three giants, each with a hundred hands and fifty heads — the most powerful beings born before the Olympians.

Cyclops

🐉 creature

One-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.

cyclopscyclopean

Gegenees

🐉 creature

giants

Six-armed earth-born giants who attacked the Argonauts on Bear Mountain

Alcyoneus

🐉 creature

giants

The mightiest of the Gigantes, immortal within his homeland, who stole the cattle of Helios

Aloeus

🗡 hero

Farming, Giant-Fathers, Hubris

Thessalian king whose twin stepsons the Aloadae nearly defeated the Olympian gods.

Typhon

🐉 creature

Most 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.

typhoontyphus

Centimani

🐉 creature

cosmic warfare, imprisonment

The Hundred-Handed Ones — Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges — titanic beings of overwhelming force who helped Zeus win the war against the Titans.

Cyclopes

🐉 creature

smithing, monstrous

One-eyed giants who existed in two distinct traditions: divine craftsmen who forged Zeus's thunderbolts, and savage pastoral giants encountered by Odysseus.

cyclopsCyclopean (masonry)