Typhon
Also known as: Typhaon · Family: monsters · Role: monster · First appears: Apollodorus, Library 1.6
Typhon, also known as Typhaon, was brought forth in Cilicia by Earth and Tartarus as “a hybrid between man and beast.” At Cilicia, he defeated Zeus, severing the sinews of his hands and feet and carrying him to the Corycian cave. When Typhon fled through the Sicilian sea, Zeus defeated him, casting Mount Etna upon him and trapping him beneath it.
Typhon was joined in love with Echidna, and together they produced Orthus, Cerberus, and the Hydra of Lerna. Their offspring also included an immortal dragon associated with Hesperides, Sphinx, and, according to some, Phaea.
Relationship record
Life events
- Earth and Tartarus brought forth Typhon, a hybrid between man and beast.(Apollodorus, Library 1.6 · 📍 Cilicia)
- Typhon defeated Zeus and severed the sinews of his hands and feet.(Apollodorus, Library 1.6 · 📍 Cilicia)
- With: Zeus
- “But Typhon twined about him and gripped him in his coils, and wresting the sickle from him severed the sinews of his hands and feet, and lifting him on his shoulders carried him through the sea to Cilicia and deposited him on arrival in the Corycian cave.”
- Zeus cast Mount Etna upon Typhon, trapping him beneath it.(Apollodorus, Library 1.6 · 📍 Sicily)
- With: Zeus
- “And when he started to flee through the Sicilian sea, Zeus cast Mount Etna in Sicily upon him.”
- Echidna and Typhaon produce Orthus and Cerberus.(Hesiod, Theogony 295-404)
- With: Echidna Orthus Cerberus
- “So she conceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the hound of Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong.”
Apollodorus, Library 1.6
- parent: Earth “Earth, still more enraged, had intercourse with Tartarus and brought forth Typhon in Cilicia, a hybrid between man and beast.”
- enemies with Zeus “However Zeus pelted Typhon at a distance with thunderbolts, and at close quarters struck him down with an adamantine sickle,”
- parent: Tartarus “Earth, still more enraged, had intercourse with Tartarus and brought forth Typhon in Cilicia”
Apollodorus, Library 2.5
- child: Orthus “Orthus, the two-headed hound, begotten by Typhon on Echidna”
- child: Hesperides (The dragon, not the Hesperides, is the offspring of Typhon.) “guarded by an immortal dragon with a hundred heads, offspring of Typhon and Echidna, which spoke with many and divers sorts of voices. With it the Hesperides also were on guard,”
Apollodorus, Library 3.5
- child: Sphinx “For Hera sent the Sphinx, whose mother was Echidna and her father Typhon”
Hesiod, Theogony 295-404
- courtship with Echidna “Men say that Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and lawless, was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes.”
- child: Cerberus “Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and lawless, was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she conceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the hound of Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus”
- child: Hydra of Lerna “Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and lawless, was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she conceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the hound of Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong. And again she bore a third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna”
Apollodorus, Epitome 1
- child: Phaea “that sow, some say, was the offspring of Echidna and Typhon.”
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Extracted from the original text of Greek Mythology. Made with Rho MD.