In Greek mythology, Alcyoneus (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκυονεύς) was a traditional opponent of Heracles and usually one of the Gigantes, offspring of Gaia born from the blood of castrated Uranus. In Apollodorus he and Porphyrion were the greatest of the Giants; Alcyoneus was immortal so long as he remained in his native land, and Heracles dragged him beyond its borders to kill him. Pindar instead presents him as a mountain-tall herdsman at Phlegra, slain by Heracles and Telamon.
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I.Early sources
Early sources provide glimpses of versions other than the one Apollodorus tells. Possibly Alcyoneus was not originally a Giant, but simply one of Heracles's many monstrous opponents.
II.Literature
The earliest mentions of Alcyoneus in literature are by the fifth-century BC poet Pindar. According to Pindar, Heracles and Telamon were traveling through Phlegra when they encountered Alcyoneus, whom Pindar describes as a "herdsman ... huge as a mountain" and a "great and terrible warrior." Alcyoneus "laid low, by hurling a rock, twelve chariots and twice twelve horse-taming heroes" before finally being destroyed by the two heroes.
The participation of Telamon and other mortals, and the lack of mention of the gods or other Giants, seem to imply that for Pindar the battle was a separate event from the Gigantomachy. Scholia to Pindar report that Alcyoneus lived on the isthmus of Thrace and had stolen cattle from Helios, causing the Gigantomachy; another scholium places his attack on Heracles at the Isthmus of Corinth while the hero returned with the cattle of Geryon.
III.Apollodorus and later tradition
According to Apollodorus, Alcyoneus's confrontation with Heracles was part of the Gigantomachy. Alcyoneus and Porphyrion were the greatest of the Giants, and Alcyoneus was immortal as long as he was in his native land. When Heracles shot him with an arrow he fell but began to revive, so on Athena's advice Heracles dragged him out of his homeland, where he then died.
Alcyoneus is usually identified as the winged Giant battling Athena on the Gigantomachy frieze from the Pergamon Altar. The Suda says that Alcyoneus had seven daughters, the Alkyonides, who threw themselves into the sea when he died and were turned into kingfishers (halcyons).
IV.Iconography
Depictions of Heracles fighting Alcyoneus, named by inscription, are found on several sixth-century BC pots. Some show a reclining or sleeping Alcyoneus with winged Hypnos nearby, suggesting a story in which Heracles takes advantage of a sleeping opponent. The presence of cattle on several pots suggests that the story also involved cattle — either Alcyoneus's stolen herd of Helios or Heracles's cattle taken from Geryon.