TyphonPratt

= = **TYPHON - Father of All Monsters**

**__Intro__**
toc This page was designed to gather the scattered information on the Greek/Roman monster known as Typhon (sometimes called Typhoeus, Typhaon, or Typhos) and present it in one place, in a clear, concise, and easy to understand form. Information on this page has been collected from many individual myths and descriptions of Typhon, presented by many different sources, and so, in order to save space and be as concise as possible, have been condensed into what is the MOST COMMON depiction of him. In addition, I am being graded on this for my Latin II class.

**__Origins of Myth__**

 * Greek mythology

**__Family__**
Gaia- Earth (mother; Typhon is her last child) Tartarus- the Pit (father) Echidna (wife)

__Offspring__
Typhon sired a great many monstrous children with his wife, Echidna, thus his title "Father of All Monsters," and hers, "Mother or All Monsters." In this way, although he himself appears DIRECTLY in myth but one time, his name springs up many, many times, in the stories of his progeny. Many of the children of Typhon you have undoubtedly heard of before, as they are some of the most famous monsters in all of mythology. I have taken the liberty of naming a few of the most well known of his children below:
 * Chimera ♀
 * Orthus ♂
 * Cerberus ♂
 * Ladon ♂
 * Colchian Dragon ♂
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Nemean Lion ♂
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Phaea (Crommyonian Sow) ♀
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Lernaean Hydra ♀
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sphinx ♀
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Caucasian Eagle ♂

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**__Appearance__**

 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">gigantic, even when compared to the gods: Typhon was so huge that his head was said to brush the stars
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">man-shaped down to his thighs, and he had two enormous snakes in place of legs
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">in place of fingers he had a hundred serpent heads, fifty on each hand
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">according to some he had two hundred hands, each with fifty serpents for fingers
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">some accounts tell him as saying he had a hundred heads, one in human form with the rest being heads of bulls, boars, serpents, lions and leopards (as seen in the image at the top of the page)
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">others describe Typhon as having the head of a mule or donkey, with the teeth and tongue of a dragon
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Typhon had eyes of molten lava, with flames or lightning coming from them, and fire spewed from his mouth
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">was winged, with dirty, matted hair and beard, and pointed ears

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**__Myth__**
The story of Typhon really begins with the end of the story of the Titans, so that is where I shall begin: The Titans, offspring of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky), had failed in their attempt to overthrow the gods, and so had been cast down into the hellish depths of Tartarus, the prison reserved for the most dangerous enemies to the gods. Gaia, in anger at Zeus and the other gods for the Titans’ defeat, gave birth to the monster Typhon, sired by the primordial being of the Pit, Tartarus. Gaia then sent Typhon to destroy the gods and so free the Titans once more. In his rage, Typhon demolished cities and tore up whole mountains, which he hurled at the gods. Upon seeing this monster approaching, the gods all hid, terrified of Typhon and his awesome power. However, Zeus, king of the gods, came back out of hiding and confronted Typhon. Now you are probably thinking, “Oh, well it’s Zeus; he’s just going to pull out a lightning bolt and microwave that sucker so bad that his mama is gonna feel it.” Well, you would be very wrong.

What actually happened was that Zeus and Typhon faced off in several enormous battles, one-on-one. Guess what, Zeus did not have an easy time of it. There is dispute about how many battles were actually fought between these two powerful beings, but of the two of them, Zeus was faring the worse. In one battle, Typhon actually managed to KILL Zeus, dismembering his body and scattering the parts, leaving head and torso in a bag in the Corycian Cave. However, Hermes, the messenger god, collected the scattered parts of Zeus and brought them to the cave, where Zeus, being an immortal god, was brought back to the living when his limbs were rejoined to his body. Now Zeus was back, and he had some unfinished business with one ugly brute of a monster.

Now, Zeus went out once more to stop Typhon, determined to end it once and for all. Zeus faced off with Typhon one last time, his lightning bolt in hand. Typhon screamed in rage and spewed fire into the heavens, throwing enormous chunks of earth and stone at the god, but Zeus struck again and again with his mighty bolt, until Typhon was forced to retreat. However, Zeus followed him, still hurling thunderbolt after thunderbolt after the fleeing monster, until they eventually reached the island of Sicily, where Typhon was finally trapped under Mount Aetna (Etna). How this happened varies from story to story; some say that Typhon finally turned to make a last stand and ripped up the mountain, holding it over his head to throw it at the god, and at that moment Zeus struck with all he had, causing Typhon to fall, and the mountain on top of him, trapping him beneath. Other accounts say that after incapacitating him with his lightning, Zeus himself lifted the mountain and threw it on top of Typhon. Either way, Zeus barely won. It was by no means an easy victory.

Fast-forwarding now to the present day: Mt. Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It is in a state of almost constant activity. This, according to the myth, is due to the rage and unrest of Typhon, who is still trapped beneath the mountain, his struggles to escape and his fiery breath the cause of the quaking and the eruptions. In addition, the myth states that after Typhon’s imprisonment, Hephaestus, the god of volcanoes and the forge, built his forge under the mountain, using the heat from Typhon’s raging fires to run the forge. Thus ends the tale of Typhon, Bane of the Gods and Father of All Monsters.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**__Symbolic Representation__**
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">In myth, Typhon was a sort of anti-Zeus being. Typhon held power over destructive winds, Zeus was god of the sky and of storms, and this pitted them against each other. Another aspect that makes Typhon the antithesis of the gods is that while the Olympian gods chose to take human-like appearances, Typhon is depicted as a horrifyingly grotesque, hideous abomination. Typhon was born of the earth/nature (Gaia), and chaos (Tartarus), making Typhon a symbol and embodiment of the raw, chaotic power present in the untamed natural world and natural disasters. Typhon’s representation of nature in its uncontrolled state opposes the gods, who represent civilization and nature in its tamed, domesticated form, showing the mindset of those describing them as thinking of civilization and domesticity as good and beautiful (the gods), and the untamed, untapped natural world as chaotic, malevolent, and ugly (Typhon).

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**__Modern References__**

 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">appears in __Percy Jackson and the Olympians__, Book 5: //The Last Olympian// by Rick Riordan
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">appears in the //God of War// video game series[[image:Gow2-titan.jpg width="300" height="180" align="right" caption="Typhon as he appears in the God of War series" link="@http://images.wikia.com/godofwar/images/d/d6/Gow2-titan.jpg"]]
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">//Star Trek: Typhon Pact// book series
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">is referenced and mentioned in Dante Alighieri’s //Inferno//
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">//Hercules//: //The Legendary Journeys.// Typhon is portrayed by Glenn Shadix
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">final boss in the game //Titan Quest//
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Typhon appears in Roger Zelazny's //Creatures of Light and Darkness//
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">is the final boss of the Greek levels in the game //Age of Empires: Mythologies//
 * ship in Star Trek named the //U.S.S Typhon//
 * there is a motorcycle called the //1197 Typhon//
 * video game developer called Typhon Mobile



<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**__Resources__**

 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">www.pantheon.org
 * www.theoi.com
 * monsters.monstrous.com
 * www.wikipedia.com