Battle Of The Giants
The invasion so long dreaded and expected came suddenly. For the Giants had hid themselves in great caves far to the north of Greece, until they are strong enough to assail heaven. It was when Zeus was yet in another quarrel with Hera, that the Giants entered Greece and got ready to attack.
They first camped at Phlegra, capturing the golden-horned cattle of Helios for food. Their leader was Alcyoneus, and he cannot die as long as he stayed in Phlegra. They began to attack Olympus, hurling huge rocks and burning oak trees.
"We cannot slay the Giants unaided! As Prometheus said, a mortal must kill them, the greatest hero in all Greece. And that man is Heracles! For this he has been trained all these years, and has accomplished such labours as no mortal did before!" Cried Zeus.
Then Athena was sent to fetch Heracles. The Giants themselves knew this, so they began to seek for a magic herb which would render them proof against the mortal hero. But Zeus had also ordered Athena with Heracles to search for the herb, which had only one single plant in the whole world. And Heracles found it, by the aid of the Immortals.
As the Giants continued hurling rocks and tearing away hill tops, Athena ordered Heracles to shoot Alcyoneus with one of his poisonous arrows. But as soon as the giant fell to the ground, he began to recover.
"Quick! He cannot die as long as he was in Phlegra! Drag him away into another country!" Cried Athena.
So Heracles hoisted the still-breathing Giant onto his back, and staggered with him over the border. There he flung him down and dispatched him with repeated blows of his club.
Returning to the battle, Heracles found that the giant Porphyrion had assumed the lead. The giant was already injured by an arrow from Eros and a thunderbolt from Zeus, and Heracles finished him off with one of his poisonous arrows.
The battle grew furious, and Heracles was sent to kill a Giant whenever he or she was injured by the Immortals. For the Immortals themselves cannot slay the Giants, and only a mortal can. Many of the Giants were killed, until the remnants finally fled towards the south of Greece, except the two greatest ones, Ephialtes and Otus. These two managed to reach Olympus and started to climb towards Heaven, vowing to marry Hera and Artemis as their prize. However, Heracles was unable to fend off these two, as they could only be killed by their own kind, neither man or Immortal can do anything against them. But they were easily tricked, for when Zeus said that he would give up Artemis to the most deserving one, the two fought against one another. Finally they were both dead. The Immortals, with Heracles, pursued the fleeing Giants, and in the end all of the Giants were killed.
Heracles, after the weary battle, went to visit his friend Nestor, who ruled in Pylos. Now at Pylos he met another friend, Tyndareus, who was the rightful king of Sparta but was driven out by usurpers. So almost immediately Heracles assembled an army and set out towards Sparta. There Heracles killed the usurpers, captured the princess Iole, and afterwards returned the throne to Tyndareus.
He then set out for his home in Trachis, where his wife Deianira was waiting for him. And before he reach Trachis, not far from the city itself, he paused to raise an altar for Zeus, and he sent his herald Lichas to Trachis to fetch the robe he usually wore on such an occasion. But when Deianira heard from Lichas about the captured princess, she thought that Heracles was bringing back a new wife, and this made her jealous. In actual fact, however, the captured princess was meant for their son Hyllus, but Deianira did not know.
She suddenly remembered the love charm which the dying centaur Nessus had given her, and was determined to use it. So she soaked the robe intended for Heracles in it, and sent it to Heracles. Then she tossed a bit of rag which had touched the love charm out into the courtyard. Presently, a sudden chill struck her heart, when she saw that the piece of rag was burning in the sunlight. Immediately she sent for his son Hyllus, who went as swiftly as he could to where Heracles was raising the altar.
But he was too late. Heracles had already put on the robe, and was now burning in pain. Heracles tried to tear off the robe, but the robe had stuck on his skin, and to tear the robe meant tearing off his very own flesh. Yelling in pain, Heracles threw himself into a nearby stream, but the poison burned ever more fiercely. Then he went rushing into the woods, tearing off the trees, until he came to Mount Oeta where he sank to the ground. He died, and later Philoctetes, the only son of Poeas, found his bow and the poisonous arrows which would bring about the fall of Troy in the future years.
Heracles had came to Olympus, welcomed rightly by Zeus to become an Immortal. And at last Hera forgot her jealousy, and to honour him, gave her daughter Hebe to be his wife.
Meanwhile, Deianara had killed herself when she knew what she had done, and Heracles' mother, Alcmena, died of grief. But by the command of Zeus, Alcmena was brought to live in the happy islands of the Elysian Fields.
Thus the Age of Heroes drew near to its end, but not before the Tale of Troy, and also Odysseus' wanderings.
Previous Tale Next Tale