Enceladus (mythology)


 * This article is about the mythological giant; for the moon of Saturn, see Enceladus (moon).

In Greek mythology, Enceladus (or Enkelados, Ἐγκέλαδος/"Trumpeter to Arms") was one of the Gigantes, the enormous children of Gaia (Earth) fertilized by the blood of castrated Uranus. With the other Gigantes, Enceladus appeared in one particular region&mdash;either Phlegra, the "burning plain" in Thrace, or Pallene.

Like the other Gigantes, Enceladus had serpent-like lower limbs, "with the scales of dragons for feet" as the Bibliotheke states, though this convention was not invariably followed in pictorial representations.

During the battle between the Gigantes and the Olympian gods, Enceladus was disabled by a spear thrown by the goddess Athena (illustration, right). He was buried on the island of Sicily, under Mount Etna. The volcanic fires of Etna were said to be the breath of Enceladus, and its tremors to be caused by him rolling his injured side beneath the mountain (similar myths are told about Typhon and Vulcan). In Greece, an earthquake is still often called a "strike of Enceladus". . In Euripides' satyr play Cyclops the minor god Silenus claims to have dealt Enceladus' death blow, but this was perhaps intended by the author as a vain drunken boast, since Silenus also claims to have sent the Gigantes flying with the braying of his ass.

In later art and literature
At Versailles, Louis XIV's consistent iconographic theme of the triumphs of Apollo and the Olympians against all adversaries included the fountain of Enceladus in its own cabinet de verdure, which was cut into the surrounding woodland and outlined by trelliswork,; the ensemble has recently been restored (illustration). According to an engraving of the fountain by Le Pautre (1677), the sculptor of the gilt-bronze Enceladus was Gaspar Mercy of Cambrai.

John Keats mentions Enceladus among the other Titans in his "Hyperion" (1818/1819).

In Herman Melville's Pierre, the image of Enceladus appears multiple times; the protagonist identifies with Enceladus in a dream.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, inspired by the suffering of the Second Italian War of Independence, wrote his poem "Enceladus" in 1859.

Rick Riordan included Enceladus in his most recent book The Lost Hero as one of the primary villains.

Namesakes
Enceladus, a moon of the planet Saturn, is named after the mythological Enceladus.

One of two surviving Short Belfast military transport aircraft is dubbed "Enceladus".