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In Greek mythology, the Giants or Gigantes (, ''Gigantes'', singular ''Gigas'') were a race of great strength and aggression, though not necessarily of great size, known for the Gigantomachy (Gigantomachia), their battle with the Olympian gods.〔Hansen, pp. 177–179; Gantz, pp. 445–454.〕 According to Hesiod, the Giants were the offspring of Gaia (Earth), born from the blood that fell when Uranus (Sky) was castrated by their Titan son Cronus.〔Hesiod, ''Theogony'' (185 ). Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' (Preface ) gives Tartarus as the father of the Giants. A parallel to the Giants' birth is the birth of Aphrodite from the similarly fertilized sea.〕 Archaic and Classical representations show Gigantes as man-sized hoplites (heavily-armed ancient Greek foot soldiers) fully human in form.〔Gantz, pp. 446, 447.〕 Later representations (after c. 380 BC) show Gigantes with snakes for legs.〔Gantz, p. 453; Hammond, "Giants"; Frazer 1898b, note to 8.29.3 "That the giants have serpents instead of feet" (pp. 315–316 ).〕 In later traditions, the Giants were often confused with other opponents of the Olympians, particularly the Titans, an earlier generation of large and powerful children of Gaia and Uranus. The vanquished Giants were said to be buried under volcanos, and to be the cause of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. ==Origins== The name "Gigantes" is usually taken to imply "earthborn",〔Hard, ( p. 86 ); Gantz, p. 16; Merry, ''Homer's Odyssey'' (7.59 ); Douglas Harper mentions that a Pre-Greek origin has also been proposed (("giant" ). ''Online Etymology Dictionary'').〕 and Hesiod's ''Theogony'' makes this explicit by having the Giants be the offspring of Gaia (Earth). According to Hesiod, Gaia mating with Uranus bore many children: the first generation of Titans, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handers.〔Hesiod, ''Theogony'' (132–153 )〕 But Uranus hated his children and, as soon as they were born, he imprisoned them inside of Gaia, causing her much distress. And so Gaia made a sickle of adamant which she gave to Cronus, the youngest of her Titan sons, and hid him (presumably still inside Gaia's body) to wait in ambush.〔Hesiod, ''Theogony'' (154–175 ); Gantz, p. 10.〕 And when Uranus came to lie with Gaia, Cronus castrated his father, and "the bloody drops that gushed forth () received, and as the seasons moved round she bore ... the great Giants."〔Hesiod, ''Theogony'' (176 ff. )〕 From these same drops of blood also came the Erinyes (Furies) and the Meliai (ash tree nymphs), while the severed genitals of Uranus falling into the sea resulted in a white foam from which Aphrodite grew. The mythographer Apollodorus also has the Giants being the offspring of Gaia and Uranus, though he makes no connection with Uranus' castration, saying simply that Gaia "vexed on account of the Titans, brought forth the Giants".〔Apollodorus, (1.6.1 ); Hansen, p. 178.〕 There are three brief mentions of ''Gigantes'' in Homer's ''Odyssey'', though it's not entirely clear that Homer and Hesiod understood the term to mean the same thing.〔Gantz, p. 446. Ogden, (p. 82 n. 74 ) says that the "''Odyssey'' The 6th–5th century lyric poet Bacchylides calls the Giants "sons of the Earth".〔Bacchylides, (15.63 ); Castriota, (pp. 233–234 ).〕 Later the term "gegeneis" ("earthborn") became a common epithet of the Giants.〔("Gegeneis" ), ''Brills New Pauly''; Crusius, (p.93 ); ''Batrachomyomachia'' (7 (pp. 542–543) ); Sophocles, ''Women of Trachis'' (1058 ); Euripides, ''The Phoenician Women'' (1131 ); Lycophron, ''Alexandra'' (127 (pp. 504–505) ), (1408 (pp. 610–611) ).〕 Hyginus has the Giants being the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus, another primordial Greek deity.〔Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' (Preface ).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Giants (Greek mythology)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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