Typhon

Typhon (Greek Τυφῶν Typhon, also Typhoeus Τυφωεύς, Τυφάων Typhaon ) is the son of Gaia and Tartarus, a figure of Greek mythology.

Gaia united with the Tartarus, to take revenge for the defeat of their children, the Titans and Giants, to Zeus. She gave birth to Typhon in a cave near Korykos in Cilicia in southeastern Asia Minor, so that he could just as Zeus grow undisturbed in his own youth. He was depicted as indescribably hideous monster, as giant with a hundred dragon or serpent heads, they could speak in the language of the gods and many animals.

The late Hellenistic Greeks identified with the Egyptian god Typhon Seth equal.

Etymology

Typhon comes to the role of the father of hot and dangerous winds in Greek mythology. This is related to the Greek type hein ( " smoke " ) from which the word typhon probably also derived. The Persian طوفان Tufan and the Arabs extended this concept to the tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean, from which probably derives its current term typhoon. Very similar in pronunciation and meaning is the Chinese台风Tai Feng " Typhoon", although this word probably from Low - expression风 筛Feng Shai " sieve-like wind " back. Whether there is a linguistic connection between the two terms, however, is still unknown.

Hera and Typhon

In one variant of the myth not Gaia, but Hera is the mother of Typhon. Hera is angry with Zeus, their participation and maternity, the goddess Athena was born out of his head without. Now Hera wants to do the same and give birth to a terror -causing and thus also in the Olympus respect erzwingendes creature off without Zeus ' participation.

She asks Gaia to this favor, Gaia gives it to and after the time Hera gives birth to Typhon, they are in the care and watch an in-house end at Delphi female dragon Python, which is later killed by Apollo.

The fight with Zeus

After he was grown, he went up to Olympus, where he the gods with his roar from a hundred throats so terrified that they fled to Egypt, where they hid themselves as animals. So Zeus turned into a ram - while Athena had stood as the sole and Zeus and the other mocked. Zeus finally took back its original shape and turned the Typhon to fight. From a flash of Zeus struck Typhon fled to the mountain Kasion, where it came to a fight again. In the resulting melee fight Typhon could entwine the Zeus with its many arms so that he could finally sickle that had been emasculated Uranus steal him. He severed the tendons of Zeus from his belly and gave it to the Delphyne, a monster that lived in the korykischen cave in which he was born. And there Zeus was now hidden. Hermes was the helpless Zeus finally, directed from Delphyne, stole her tendons and handed it back to Zeus.

Zeus won from Olympus a new stock of thunderbolts, as it they were also been stolen by Typhon, and Typhon, was raised again to fight. This had to retreat to the mountain Nysa, where he took following the advice of the Fates food, how they eat and the people - Eintagsfrüchte that should only temporarily strengthen him. Trusting in his only seemingly regained his strength he went against Zeus on the Thracian mountain Haemus and threw huge stones on those who answered with thunder and lightning and Typhon dubbed badly. The spilled blood of Typhon here to have given the mountain the name, as αἷμα haima is the Greek word for " blood ".

Typhon fled to Sicily and Zeus threw Mount Etna on Typhon. Since then, Typhon is trapped under Mount Etna. In his anger he had the Etna repeatedly shake and spit fire and rock.

Progeny

Before Typhon was defeated, he fathered with his wife Echidna several monsters: the three-headed Cerberus, who guards as hellhound the entrance to Hades, the two-headed Orthos, the Sphinx, a winged lion with a woman's head, the Chimera, the Hydra, a nine -headed serpent and Ethon, a giant eagle.