Father Zeus sent his beloved daughter Pallas Athena to Hercules on the island of Kos to call upon the great hero to help in their fight against the giants. The giants were born by the goddess Gaia from drops of the blood of Uranus, overthrown by Cronus. These were monstrous giants with snakes instead of legs, with shaggy long hair on their heads and beards.
The giants had terrible power, they were proud of their power and wanted to take away the power over the world from the bright Olympian gods. They entered into battle with the gods on the Phlegrean fields, which lay on the Chalcis peninsula of Pallene. The gods of Olympus were not afraid of them. The mother of the giants, Gaia, gave them a healing remedy that made them invulnerable to the weapons of the gods. Only a mortal could kill the giants; Gaia did not protect them from mortal weapons. Gaia searched all over the world for a healing herb that was supposed to protect the giants from the weapons of mortals, but Zeus forbade the goddesses of dawn Eos and the moon Selene and the radiant sun god Helios to shine, and he himself cut off the healing herb.
Not fearing death at the hands of the gods, the giants rushed into battle. The battle lasted a long time. The giants threw huge rocks and burning trunks of ancient trees at the gods. The thunder of battle echoed throughout the world.
Finally, Hercules appeared with Pallas Athena. The string of the formidable bow of the son of Zeus rang, an arrow filled with the poison of the Lernaean hydra flashed, and pierced the chest of the mightiest of the giants, Alcyoneus. A giant struck the ground. His death on Pallene could not be comprehended, here he was immortal - having fallen to the ground, he rose after a while even more powerful than before. Hercules quickly threw him onto his shoulders and carried him away from Pallena; outside of it a giant died. After the death of Alkyoneus, the giant Porphyrion attacked Hercules and Hera, he tore off Hera’s veil and wanted to grab her, but Zeus threw him to the ground with his lightning, and Hercules took his life with his arrow. Apollo pierced the left eye of the giant Ephialtes with his golden arrow, and Hercules killed him by hitting him in the right eye with an arrow. The giant Eurytus was struck down by Dionysus with his thyrsus, and the giant Clytius by Hephaestus, throwing a whole block of red-hot iron at him. Pallas Athena brought down the entire island of Sicily on the fleeing giant Enceladus.
The giant Polybotes, fleeing by sea from the pursuit of the formidable earth-shaker Poseidon, fled to the island of Kos. Poseidon broke off part of the Scythe with his trident and threw it on Polybotes. This is how the island of Nisyros was formed. Hermes defeated the giant Hippolytus, Artemis - Gration, the great Moirai - the giants Agria and Foon, who fought with copper clubs. All the other giants were struck down by the thunderer Zeus with his sparkling lightning, but the great Hercules sent death to them all with his never-missing arrows.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru