Hecatoncheires

The Hecatoncheires (hundred hands) were the hundred handed giants. The were three in number, and were called Cottus, Gyes (or Gyges), and Briareus (or Aegeon). They were brothers to the Cyclopes and the Titans, children of Uranus and Gaea.

When Uranus banished his children to Tartarus, there the Hecatoncheires remained. Until, that is, Cronos led the Titans against Uranus and then freed those still imprisoned. However, after the defeat of Uranus and his rise to the throne, Cronos hurled his brothers, the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, back into Tartarus. It wasn't until Zeus was persuaded by Gaea to free those six that they finally escaped. Following the Titanomachia and the eventual victory of Zeus over Cronos, the Hecatoncheires were set to guard the Titans where they were trapped, in a cavity deep below Tartarus.

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