#aloadae

Had no one noticed Ares was gone??

He was trapped for thirteen months so it always made me wonder if the other Gods just never suspected anything or didn't notice (he had gotten significantly weak, after all)

I haven't looked much into it or of the Aloadai, so I don't know much of the context (except the version of Artemis being involved)

I make a lot of ramble posts (tho not as detailed and interesting as yours, I'd say) so this topic is one I hope to prattle about when I come back from my break.

(Also I hope you've been well)

I mean is hard to tell. For once not all gods reside on Olympus 24/7 and oftentimes they are known to travel or live somewhere else. Not to mention that 13 months is in fact one year plus one month. That amount of time for gods who are immortals might seem like nothing. It seems to be the turn of a year. This kind of turn for godly travels seems to be a relatively common amount of time such as the annual trips of Apollo to the land of Hyperboreans or the travels of gods and goddesses like Persephone etc. So I guess 13 months is not such a worrying amount of time for a god to be missing from the picture.

Hmm it depends on which myth with Artemis you are referring to. Like the myth where Artemis transforms into a deer and makes them kill each other?

because there is also the myth that the Aloades even tried to court her for her hand and she refused of course.

Like the myth of Aloades (Oto and Ephialtes) is known already in Homer. In Iliad we hear the story about Ares being trapped in a vase and in the Odyssey we hear that the Aloades were in fact two children/giants that grew up in immense rhythm and they were already huge at nine years of age. As they grew bigger and stronger they became arrogant and attacked the gods (which in some versions is the reason why they started with Ares) which of course led to the anger of Zeus and in this version they find death by Apollo (I believe there is one more version at least with Apollo being the killer like Nonnus)

For example Hyginus mentions how they attempt to rape Artemis. Artemis seems to be no match for their combined strength but she is rescued by her brother Apollo who is in fact the one to send the deer among them and they kill each other in their attempt to strike it.

In Virgil we hear also Zeus's contribution being more personal at their downfall something that Statius also seems to repeat. That the two brethern giants tried to climb the mountain of gods or that they took over Pelion and Ossa but were striken by the thunders of Zeus unless I am mistaken. In general their whole essence seems to revolve around hubris and nemesis once more either because they think they can take over the gods (arrogance that was increased when they managed to capture Ares) or because they try to violate the virgin goddess Artemis among others but one way or another the two of them get punished.

There is one positive mention of theirs that they are the first to offer sacrifices to the Muses

Their parentage differs Poseidon and Iphimedeia Aloeus and Iphimedeia being the two most prominent examples. In the lost hesiodic catalogue of women we seem to see Iphimedeia being their mother but even if the name of the official father is Aloeus the real biological father is Poseidon, which is also the line of other sources even like Homer's Odyssey.

Their names are interesting. I mean "Ephialtes" (Ἐφιάλτης) is easy it means "nightmare" but for "Otos" (Ὦτος) I find some interesting meanings. I know the english wikipedia says it means "insatiable" but that seems closer to the word ἄατος than that What I find is that the name is used for a type of night bird "eagle owl" or "eared owl" which in modern greek we use an italian loan word μπούφος (buffo -> bufos) which as you notice means "idiot" and ironically this is both the essence of ancient Greek and modern Greek for that bird; someone that is easily persuaded, silly, stupid. So yeah hehe things associated with night but also with something bad I suppose

@inktober Day 14: Otus and Ephialtes, the Aloadae. Giants, sons of Poseidon. They were extremely big, by age nine they had a height of 1.80mts. They eventually killed each other, not on purpose, they were trying to hunt Artemis who had shifted into a doe [Greek Mythology].

But the rest of the Thracians seized some of the other women, the most renowned of whom were Iphimedeia, the wife of Aloeus, and Pancratis, her daughter, and taking these women along with them, they sailed off to Strongylê. And in place of Butes the Thracians made Agassamenus king of the island, and to him they united in marriage Pancratis, the daughter of Aloeus, who was a woman of surpassing beauty...And Agassamenus appointed one of his friends his lieutenant and united Iphimedeia to him in marriage. Aloeus dispatched his sons Otus and Ephialtes in search of his wife and daughter, and they, sailing to Strongylê, defeated the Thracians in battle and reduced the city. Some time afterward Pancratis died, and Otus and Ephialtes essayed to take the island for their dwelling and to rule over the Thracians, and they changed the name of the island to Dia. But at a later time they quarrelled among themselves, and joining battle they slew many of the other combatants and then destroyed one another, and from that time on these two men have received at the hands of the natives the honours accorded to heroes.

Diodorus Siculus, 5.50.6-51.2

Neat seeing the Aloadae portrayed in a slightly more positive light.

Preview of my piece for the @greekmythszine! I adapted the myth of Ares and the Aloadae giants with a psychological twist! 💕

mythology aesthetics

OTUS & EPHIALTES

ONE TIME THIS IPHIMEDEIA BITCH FELL IN LOVE WITH POSEIDON. SHE HADN'T EVEN FUCKING MET HIM BUT SHE WAS OBSESSED. SO SHE SAT ON THE BEACH AND POURED SEA-WATER IN HER LAP. SHE THEN GOT PREGNANT. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, LADY.

SHE HAD TWIN BOYS, OTUS AND EPHIALTES (NOT THE LAW FUCKER FROM ATHENS, NOR THE UGLY FUCKER FROM 300). THEY STARTED OUT FUCKING NORMAL, BUT SOON THEY STARTED GROWING. AND GROWING. THEY WERE JUST FUCKING MASSIVE, BECAUSE WHEN THEY WERE NINE YEARS OLD THEY CAME UP WITH A CUNNING PLAN TO FUCK UP OLYMPUS.

OTUS DECIDED HE WANTED TO FUCK ARTEMIS, AND EPHIALTES WANTED HERA. THESE ARE FUCKING NINE-YEAR-OLDS. THEY PILED UP SOME FUCKING MOUNTAINS AND BESIEGED OLYMPUS. THIS PISSED EVERYONE OFF.

THEN THEY KIDNAPPED ARES AND STUCK HIM IN A FUCKING JAR, WHICH PISSED MORE FOLKS OFF. ALSO THERE WAS SOME PROPHECY SHIT THAT MEANT NOBODY ELSE COULD KILL THESE FUCKERS. BALLS.

THE GODS WERE REALLY FUCKING ANGRY, SO ARTEMIS SENT THE BOYS A MESSAGE TO SAY SHE'D MEET THEM FOR SEXY TIMES ON NAXOS. HERA DIDN'T MAKE ANY PROMISES THOUGH, SO THE TWINS STARTED FIGHTING OVER WHO GOT TO FUCK ARTEMIS FIRST.

The mercenary called Heart-Eater had enjoyed decades of autonomy along the borders of civilized lands. He was a highly experienced and well-worn warrior, other men feared him, Greeks and barbarians alike. What he did not anticipate, however, were tricky huntresses and their traps. They had descended on him in the night, women with wild hair and longbows with savagely sharp-tipped arrows, one of which that had left a vicious wound in his muscled left thigh.

At present he was imprisoned at their camp under a broad-leafed tree, his arms and legs bound with thick leather straps, a piece of which was lodged between his teeth, which he had very quickly proven to be effective weapons. He could see a fire far off, and heard murmurs of discussion, but he was sore from the beating he had endured and annoyed by his growing hunger, so he could not quite make out the words.