Mimas
Mimas was one of the Gigantes (Giants) in Greek mythology, a son of Gaea who fought the Olympian gods in the Gigantomachy. Ancient writers disagree on which god killed him: Apollodorus says Hephaestus, Euripides says Zeus, and Apollonius of Rhodes says Ares.
Origin of Mimas
Hesiod says that the Giants were born from Gaea (Earth) after the blood of the castrated Uranus (Sky) fell on her, together with the Erinyes and the Meliae nymphs; they were born in shining armour with long spears in their hands (Hesiod, Theogony 183–187). Apollodorus says that Gaea, vexed on account of the Titans, brought forth the Giants whom she had by Uranus, matchless in bulk and invincible in strength (Apollodorus, Library 1.6.1). In both accounts Mimas is a child of Gaea and Uranus, and a brother of the Titans, not one of them.
Family of Mimas
Mimas in the Gigantomachy
In the Gigantomachy, the battle between the Giants and the Olympian gods, Mimas stood among the Giants who attacked the gods. In Apollodorus, the gods learned from an oracle that none of the Giants could be destroyed by the gods unless a mortal fought beside them, and Heracles was called to the battle (Library 1.6.1–2). Apollodorus lists the Giants whom each of the gods killed: Mimas fell to Hephaestus, who killed him with missiles of red-hot metal, as Ephialtes was shot in the eyes by Apollo and Heracles, Eurytus was killed by Dionysus with his thyrsus, and Clytius was burned by Hecate with her torches (Library 1.6.2).
Other Accounts of His Death
The sources do not agree. In Euripides, the chorus of Ion looks at the battle of gods and Giants carved on the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and sees Zeus’ thunderbolt blazing against the hateful Mimas and burning him with fire (Euripides, Ion 205–218). In Apollonius of Rhodes, King Aeetes wears the breastplate which Ares gave him after he had killed the Phlegraean Mimas with his own hands (Argonautica 3.1225–1227). Neither of these accounts mentions Hephaestus.
Mimas Sources
Hesiod, Theogony 183–187; Apollodorus, Library 1.6.1–2; Euripides, Ion 205–218; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.1225–1227.
See Also: Gigantes, Uranus, Gaea, Gigantomachy, Hephaestus, Zeus, Ares, Heracles
What the ancient sources say
Passages that name Mimas, in the original with English translation. The line gives the work and reference as scholars cite it.
- Callimachus, Hymns 4.1–86Hymn to Delos: Asteria among the islandsThe poet resolves to sing of Delos, nurse of Apollo, a wave-beaten isle that leads the others when they gather before Oceanus and Tethys. He tells how the…
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.67.1–4.70.4Aeolus and Boeotus, Salmoneus and Neleus, the Lapiths and CentaursAfter the Epigoni return home, Teiresias dies at Tilphossaeum and the Cadmeans leave it, and the historian gives the story of Arne, Aeolus and Boeotus. He…
- Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 28.257–330Book 28: Halimedes and the Corybants join the fightMore allies enter the battle: the Cyclops Halimedes, whose roar kills twelve men, and the Corybants, who fight in a war dance round Deriades' car like the…
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