InGreek mythology,Alcyoneus orAlkyoneus (/ælˈsaɪ.əˌnjuːs/;Ancient Greek:Ἀλκυονεύς,romanized: Alkyoneús) was a traditional opponent of the heroHeracles. He was usually considered to be one of the Gigantes (Giants), the offspring ofGaia born from the blood of the castratedUranus.[1]
According to the mythographerApollodorus, Alcyoneus' confrontation with Heracles was part of theGigantomachy, the cosmic battle of the Giants with theOlympian gods. In Apollodorus' account Alcyoneus andPorphyrion were the greatest of the Giants, and Alcyoneus was immortal as long as he was in his native land. When Heracles shot Alcyoneus with an arrow, Alcyoneus fell to the ground but then began to revive, so on the advice of Athena, Heracles dragged Alcyoneus out of his homeland where Alcyoneus then died.[2]
For the poetPindar, Heracles' battle with Alcyoneus (whom he calls a herdsman), and the Gigantomachy were separate events.
In some accounts Alcyoneus caused the Gigantomachy by stealing thecattle ofHelios.[3] Vase paintings suggest a version of the story in which Heracles encounters a sleeping Alcyoneus.
His seven daughters are theAlkyonides.
Early sources provide glimpses of other versions of the story from the one that Apollodorus tells. Possibly Alcyoneus was not originally a Giant, but simply one of Heracles' many monstrous opponents.[4]
Depictions of Heracles fighting Alcyoneus, named by inscription, are found on several sixth century BC pots (e.g., Louvre F208). The earliest extant representation of their battle probably occurs on ametope from the first temple dedicated to Hera atFoce del Sele, which shows Heracles holding a large figure by the hair, while stabbing him with a sword. Such a scene is also depicted on several shield-band reliefs fromOlympia (B 1801, B 1010).[5]
A terracotta frieze (Basel BS 318) and the sixth century BC pots show a reclining Alcyoneus. And on some of the pots Alcyoneus is apparently sleeping, with a wingedHypnos nearby (Melborne 1730.4, Getty 84.AE.974, Munich 1784, Toledo 52.66). These depictions suggest the existence of a story in which Heracles takes advantage of a sleeping opponent.[6]
The presence of cattle on several of the pots suggests that the story also involved cattle in some way (e.g., Tarquinia RC 2070, Taranto 7030). This last pot depicts Heracles, with a headlock perhaps dragging his opponent, which might be a representation of Heracles dragging Alcyoneus out of his homeland.[7]
The earliest mentions of Alcyoneus in literature, are by the fifth century BC poetPindar. According to Pindar, Heracles andTelamon were traveling throughPhlegra, where they encountered Alcyoneus, whom Pindar describes as a "herdsman ... huge as a mountain",[8] and a "great and terrible warrior".[9] A battle occurs in which Alcyoneus "laid low, by hurling a rock, twelve chariots and twice twelve horse-taming heroes who were riding in them", before finally being "destroyed" by the two heroes.
The participation of Telamon and other mortals in the battle, and the lack of mention of any of the gods, or other Giants, seem to imply that for Pindar, unlike apparently Apollodorus, the battle between Heracles and Alcyoneus was a separate event from the Gigantomachy. And in fact Pindar never actually calls Alcyoneus a Giant, although the description of him as "huge as a mountain", his use of a rock as a weapon, and the location of the battle at Phlegra, the usual site of the Gigantomachy, all suggest that he was.[10]
Scholia to Pindar tell us that Alcyoneus lived on the isthmus of Thrace and that he had stolen his cattle fromHelios, causing the Gigantomachy, (Schol. PindarIsthmian 6.47) and that Alcyoneus, one of the Giants, attacked Heracles, not in Thrace but at theIsthmus of Corinth, while the hero was returning with the cattle ofGeryon, and that this was according to Zeus' plan because the Giants were his enemies (Schol. PindarNemean 4.43). The cattle shown on the sixth century pots, might thus represent either Alcyoneus' cattle stolen from Helios, or Heracles' cattle taken from Geryon.[11] Apollodorus mentions the theft of Helios' cattle as an event of the Gigantomachy, but not the cause of it.
Alcyoneus is usually identified as the winged Giant battlingAthena on the Gigantomachy frieze from thePergamon Altar.[12]
An unascribed lyric fragment (985 PMG) calls the Giant "Phlegraian Alkyoneus of Pallene, the eldest of the Gigantes [Giants]".[13]Claudian has Alcyoneus buried under the volcanicMount Vesuvius[14] whilePhilostratus says that the bones of Alcyoneus were considered a "marvel" by the people living near Vesuvius, where it was said that many Giants were buried.[15] TheSuda says thatHegesander told of a myth in which Alcyoneus had seven daughters, theAlkyonides, who threw themselves into the sea when Alcyoneus died and were turned into birds, the Halcyons (kingfishers).[16]
The late fourth century or early fifth century AD Greek poetNonnus, in his poemDionysiaca, mentions Alcyoneus as one of the several Giants thatDionysus battles in the Gigantomachy.[17] Nonnus has Gaia set the Giants againstDionysus, promising AlcyoneusArtemis as his wife should the Giants subdue Dionysus.[18] Nonnus makes Alcyoneus nine cubits high,[19] and has him fight with mountains as weapons.[20]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
