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Hecatonchires

the Hundred-Handed Ones

The Hecatonchires were three giants of immense strength born of Ouranos and Gaia, mightier even than the Titans they helped to overthrow. One of their number, Aegaeon, was transformed by the Furies into a vast living prison for those who broke a blood oath with the gods.

By Joe Garratt

The Hecatonchires, the Hundred-Handed Ones, were three giants of incredible strength and ferocity born of Ouranos and Gaia. Mightier even than the Titans, they aided the gods in overthrowing them and were afterward set to guard the gates of Tartarus, where the defeated Titans were chained. One of their number, Aegaeon, would meet a far stranger fate.

Origin#

The Hecatonchires were among the very first children born of the union of Ouranos and Gaia, brought into being alongside the Cyclopes and the twelve Titans. They were three creatures of monstrous form, each bearing a hundred arms and fifty heads. Their names were Aegaeon, also called Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges. Seeing his offspring as hideous monsters, Ouranos cast them down into the depths of Tartarus soon after their birth, where they remained imprisoned.

The Great War#

When the gods rose against the Titans, the Hecatonchires were freed to serve as allies, for their strength surpassed that of any Titan. During the Great War they hurled rocks as large as mountains, a hundred at a time, overwhelming the Titans and helping to secure the victory of the gods. With the Titans defeated and banished to Tartarus, the Hecatonchires were set as guardians over its gates.

Aegaeon the prison#

After the Great War, Aegaeon swore a blood oath to Zeus, only to betray it. Such a crime did not escape the notice of the Furies, the ancient guardians of honor and the keepers of blood oaths, who held that mere death would be too merciful a punishment. They transformed Aegaeon into a vast living prison, a Titan-sized creature built within and around his own body, where he would be both an example to all and a cage for those who followed him in breaking their oaths to the gods. Even so transformed, Aegaeon remained alive within his torment.

The breaking of the prison#

When Kratos broke the blood oath that bound him to Ares, having been tricked into slaying his own wife and child, he too was sentenced by the Furies to a life of madness within the prison of the damned built from Aegaeon. As he sought a way out, the Fury Megaera loosed her parasites into one of the creature's arms, and the fingers mutated and split until a tusked monster burst from the palm. Kratos pressed deeper through the countless grasping arms as the body of Aegaeon slowly transformed around him, until at the creature's head he faced Megaera as she warped the giant's skull and tried to make it devour him. Tricking the head into biting one of its own mutated arms, Kratos seized the opening and killed the Fury. Her death brought about the death of Aegaeon as well, ending the centuries of torment the Hecatonchires had endured.

Frequently asked questions

What were the Hecatonchires in God of War?
The Hecatonchires were three giants of incredible strength and ferocity born of Ouranos and Gaia, each possessing many arms and heads. They surpassed even the Titans in might and helped the gods overthrow them, after which they were set to guard the gates of Tartarus where the Titans were imprisoned.
Who was Aegaeon the Hecatonchires?
Aegaeon, also called Briareus, was one of the three Hecatonchires. After the Great War he swore a blood oath to Zeus and then betrayed it. As punishment the Furies transformed him into a colossal living prison, the Hecatonchires, in which those who broke their own oaths to the gods were tormented without end.
How did Kratos free Aegaeon?
Imprisoned within the body of Aegaeon for breaking his oath to Ares, Kratos fought his way through its countless mutating arms while pursued by the Fury Megaera. When he finally killed Megaera at the creature's head, Aegaeon died with her, ending the Hecatonchires' centuries of torment.

Sources

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