Wars in Greek Mythology
The Great Conflicts of the Ancient World
War is central to Greek mythology. The myths describe cosmic battles between generations of gods, legendary conflicts between mortal kingdoms, and the eternal struggle between civilization and chaos.
The Titanomachy was the first great war — Zeus and the Olympians versus Cronus and the Titans, lasting ten years before the younger gods prevailed with the help of the Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Ones. The Gigantomachy followed when Gaia raised the Giants against the Olympians, a battle that could only be won with the help of a mortal hero — Heracles. The Trojan War is the most famous conflict in all of mythology, immortalized in Homer's Iliad. It lasted ten years, involved every major Greek hero, and was orchestrated by the gods for reasons that range from strategic (Athena supporting the Greeks) to petty (Aphrodite protecting Paris because he judged her the most beautiful). The Seven Against Thebes describes the civil war between Oedipus's sons Eteocles and Polynices over the throne of Thebes. Both brothers killed each other, and Antigone's defiance of King Creon's order not to bury Polynices became one of the most powerful stories about conscience versus law ever told.
The wars of the gods, in more detail
The Titanomachy. In Hesiod's Theogony, the Titans fought from Mount Othrys and the Olympians from Mount Olympus for ten years without either side winning. Gaia told Zeus he would win only if he freed the Hundred-Handed Ones, Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges, from beneath the earth. Fed on nectar and ambrosia, they threw three hundred boulders at a time, and Zeus finally unleashed his full thunder. The defeated Titans were chained in Tartarus with the Hundred-Handed as their guards. Not every Titan fought: the river-goddess Styx brought her children to Zeus first, and Themis and Prometheus are often shown on his side. See the Titanomachy.
The Gigantomachy. Hesiod mentions the Giants only briefly, and the fullest narrative comes from Apollodorus. Gaia, angry at the fate of the Titans, bore the Giants, and they attacked heaven from Phlegra, often placed on the Pallene peninsula. The gods learned that they could kill Giants only with a mortal's help, so Athena brought in Heracles. Gaia looked for a herb that would make the Giants immune even to mortals, and Zeus forbade Dawn, Sun, and Moon to shine so he could find it first. Alcyoneus could not die on his native ground, so Heracles dragged him off it; Athena threw Sicily on Enceladus; Poseidon crushed Polybotes with part of the island of Kos, which became Nisyros. See the Gigantomachy.
Zeus against Typhon. The last challenge to Zeus came from Typhon, Gaia's youngest child. In Apollodorus, Typhon briefly wins: he cuts out Zeus' sinews and hides them in a cave in Cilicia, until Hermes and Aegipan steal them back. Hesiod's version is a straight fight in which Zeus blasts Typhon with lightning and hurls him into Tartarus.
Mortal wars before Troy
The Seven Against Thebes and the Epigoni. Polynices gathered an army at Argos under King Adrastus. The seven champions included Amphiaraus, a seer who knew the expedition would fail and went only because his wife Eriphyle had been bribed with the necklace of Harmonia; Capaneus, struck down by Zeus' lightning as he boasted on the walls; and Tydeus, who in his death throes gnawed the skull of his enemy Melanippus, so disgusting Athena that she withheld the immortality she had planned for him. Only Adrastus survived. Ten years later, the sons of the Seven, the Epigoni, returned and destroyed Thebes.
The war of Eleusis and Athens. Athenian legend told of a war between King Erechtheus and Eumolpus of Eleusis, a son of Poseidon. An oracle demanded the sacrifice of one of Erechtheus' daughters; Athens won, Eumolpus died, and Poseidon took revenge by having Erechtheus killed. Euripides wrote a tragedy on it, the Erechtheus, which survives only in fragments.
The Amazon invasion of Attica. After Theseus carried off the Amazon queen Antiope (in other versions Hippolyta), the Amazons invaded Attica and fought in the middle of Athens. Plutarch, who records the tradition, mentions Amazon graves pointed out in the city.
The Lapiths and Centaurs. At the wedding of the Lapith king Pirithous, the drunken Centaurs tried to carry off the bride and other women. The brawl turned into a full war, with Theseus fighting beside his friend. Ovid tells it at gory length in Metamorphoses 12, through the old warrior Nestor.
The war of the Curetes and Calydonians. In Iliad 9, Phoenix tells Achilles the story of Meleager, who withdrew from the fighting in anger after a quarrel over the Calydonian Boar's hide and refused to return until his city was burning. Phoenix offers it as a warning to Achilles, who is doing the same thing.
Mythic wars in Greek art
The Greeks used these battles to talk about their own conflicts, especially after the Persian Wars. The metopes of the Parthenon show four mythic wars, one on each side of the building: the Gigantomachy on the east, the Amazonomachy on the west, the Centauromachy on the south, and the sack of Troy on the north. Each stands for order defeating chaos and Greeks defeating outsiders. The west pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia shows the Lapiths and Centaurs with Apollo standing calmly in the centre. The Great Altar of Pergamon, now in Berlin, carries the most dramatic Gigantomachy frieze to survive, with gods and Giants labelled by name. Athena's robe, presented to her at the Panathenaic festival in Athens, was traditionally woven with scenes of her fight against the Giants. See also Greek mythology in art and the Trojan War.
Ancient sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 617–735 and 820–880 — the Titanomachy with the Hundred-Handed Ones, and Zeus' battle with Typhon.
- Apollodorus, Library 1.6 — the fullest account of the Gigantomachy and of Typhon stealing Zeus' sinews; Book 3 covers the Seven Against Thebes and the Epigoni.
- Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes — the champions at each of the seven gates and the deaths of Eteocles and Polynices.
- Homer, Iliad 9 — Phoenix's story of Meleager and the war between the Curetes and Calydonians.
- Plutarch, Life of Theseus — the Amazon invasion of Attica and the battle with the Centaurs.
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 12 — Nestor's account of the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs.
Frequently asked questions
What was the biggest war in Greek mythology?
Among mortals, the Trojan War, which drew in almost every hero and god. On a cosmic scale, the Titanomachy, which decided who would rule the universe.
What is the difference between the Titanomachy and the Gigantomachy?
The Titanomachy was the war between the Olympians and the older generation of Titans. The Gigantomachy came later, when Gaia's Giants attacked Olympus, and the gods needed the mortal Heracles to win it.
How long did the Titanomachy last?
Ten years, according to Hesiod, the same length as the siege of Troy.
Who won the war of the Seven Against Thebes?
Thebes. The attackers were defeated and the brothers Eteocles and Polynices killed each other. A generation later the Epigoni avenged their fathers and took the city.