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"... of all the children
that were born of
Gaia and
Uranus, these were the most terrible, and
they were hated by their own father from the
first." [Hesiod,
Theogony
155]
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The HECATONCHEIRES (hundred-handed) are
Briareus, Cottus and Gyes, the most terrible
offspring of Uranus.
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Uranus did not like
his children
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The three HECATONCHEIRES were enormous both in
size and might, and each of them had one hundred
hands and fifty heads.
But for being either so good or so bad, their
father Uranus detested
them. Consequently, he hid them in a secret place
of earth, or cast them into Tartarus, a gloomy
place in Hades where
no one wishes to sojourn in, along with his other
sons the CYCLOPES, whom
he also hated. And having them all well hidden, he
rejoiced in his evil doing.
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Injustice nourishes sedition
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This is what the ruler of the universe,
apparently ignoring that injustice nourishes
sedition, did against the HECATONCHEIRES and the
CYCLOPES, his own
offspring. But his wife
Gaia, not wishing her
children to suffer the perpetual prisoner's fate,
or to be straitened for having their children
within, persuaded the
TITANS to revolt against
their father. And they, led by
Cronos, attacked and
dethroned Uranus, after
having castrated him [see also
Castration of
Uranus].
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New rule same as old
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Now Cronos, having
coveted his father's chair more than he was
disgusted at his deeds, hurled the HECATONCHEIRES
down to Tartarus again, as soon as he had gained
power. For he, some suggest, was jealous of their
manhood and comeliness. In Tartarus, where
Night spreads about in
triple line, they were guarded by Campe, a gigantic
jaileress with clusters of poisonous serpents for
hair, who was covered with sea-monster's scales
from the chest to the parting-point of the thighs.
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The HECATONCHEIRES save the gods
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Cronos cannot be said
to have been more fortunate than his predecessor;
for also he was the victim of a conspiracy, being
fought against for ten years by
Zeus and the gods, his own
children. Gaia then
prophesied victory to Zeus
if he should have as allies the
CYCLOPES and the
HECATONCHEIRES. So Zeus,
having slain their jaileress Campe, freed them, and
provided the HECATONCHEIRES with nectar and
ambrosia, so that their spirit should come to life
again. The gods then, armed with the weapons that
the CYCLOPES had given
them, and helped by the many missiles of the
HECATONCHEIRES, overcame the
TITANS [see also
Titanomachy].
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Heavy bombardment
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The HECATONCHEIRES' capacity for bombardment was
proverbially remembered in later times; for it is
said:
"... if a man
were gifted by nature with the frame of ... a
Briareus, with his hundred hands he ought to be
able to throw a hundred darts." [Plato,
Laws 795c]
And those who tell the story say that the
HECATONCHEIRES made the battle particularly harsh.
For they, being insatiable war lovers, hurled three
hundred rocks in quick succession, overshadowing
the TITANS, and defeating
them. And when the TITANS
were brought to prison in Tartarus,
Zeus appointed the
HECATONCHEIRES to guard them, and
Poseidon gave Briareus
his daughter Cymopolea as wife.
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Where they dwell
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Later the TITANS were
released by Zeus, and the
Hecatoncheires Cottus and Gyes went to dwell at the
source of the Ocean. It is not clear where Briareus
and his wife live, but he was seen by
Aeneas when he descended
to Hades, beside the
Elm of False Dreams.
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Interventions of Briareus
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On one occasion, Briareus arbitrated in the
dispute between Helius
and Poseidon,
concerning the lands about
Corinth: he assigned to
Poseidon the Isthmus of
Corinth and the
neighbouring lands, and gave to
Helius the height above
the city (Acrocorinthus).
Briareus is also remembered for having averted a
minor conspiracy in heaven. For it is told that
when Hera,
Poseidon, and
Athena plotted against
Zeus, planning to throw him
into chains, he was saved by Briareus. The
Hecatoncheire, whom
Achilles' mother Thetis
had called, came to Zeus'
rescue, and by squatting down close to him,
frightened the other gods away through the mere
display of his force.
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