Typhon
The hundred-headed serpentine giant who challenged Zeus for the cosmos.
Typhon was a monstrous serpentine giant and one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod, Typhon was the son of Gaia and Tartarus. However, one source has Typhon as the son of Hera alone, while another makes Typhon the offspring of Cronus. Typhon and his mate Echidna were the progenitors of many famous monsters. Typhon attempted to overthrow Zeus for the supremacy of the cosmos. The two fought a cataclysmic battle, which Zeus finally won with the aid of his thunderbolts. Defeated, Typhon was cast into Tartarus, or buried underneath Mount Etna, or in later accounts, the island of Ischia.
Quick Facts
- Status
- Defeated and Imprisoned
- Nature
- Titan-like Beast
Lore & Background
Typhon's birth is described in several ways. According to Hesiod's Theogony (c. 8th–7th century BC), Typhon was the son of Gaia (Earth) and Tartarus. The mythographer Apollodorus adds that Gaia bore Typhon in anger at the gods for their destruction of her offspring the Giants. However, according to the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (6th century BC), Typhon was the child of Hera alone.
Hera, angry at Zeus for having given birth to Athena by herself, prayed to Gaia, Uranus, and the Titans, to give her a son stronger than Zeus, then slapped the ground and became pregnant. Hera gave the infant Typhon to the serpent Python to raise. The b scholia to Iliad 2.783, preserving a possibly Orphic tradition, has Typhon born in Cilicia, as the offspring of Cronus. Several sources locate Typhon's birth and dwelling place in Cilicia, and in particular the region in the vicinity of the ancient Cilician coastal city of Corycus.
Reader's Guide
According to Hesiod's Theogony, Typhon 'was joined in love' to Echidna, who bore Typhon 'fierce offspring'. First, according to Hesiod, there was Orthrus, the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryon, second Cerberus, the multiheaded dog who guarded the gates of Hades, and third the Lernaean Hydra, the many-headed serpent who, when one of its heads was cut off, grew two more. The Theogony next mentions an ambiguous 'she', which might refer to Echidna, as the mother of the Chimera with Typhon then being the father.
The mythographer Acusilaus adds the Caucasian Eagle that ate the liver of Prometheus. The mythographer Pherecydes of Athens also names Prometheus's eagle, and adds Ladon, the dragon that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. The lyric poet Lasus of Hermione adds the Sphinx. Apollodorus also adds the Nemean lion and the Crommyonian Sow.
Hyginus adds 'Gorgon', the Colchian dragon, and Scylla. According to Hesiod, the defeated Typhon is the father of destructive storm winds.
Did You Know?
- According to Hesiod, Typhon had one hundred snake heads that emitted fire and every kind of noise, including sounds like a bull, a lion, and whelps.
- Apollodorus describes Typhon as a huge winged monster whose head 'brushed the stars', with one hand reaching to the west and the other to the east.
- Nonnus's Dionysiaca gives Typhon two hundred arms and many animal heads including leopards, lions, bulls, boars, bears, cattle, wolves, and dogs.
Elsewhere in God of War
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