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Typhon
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Down in the pit of Tartarus lived a monster named Typhon and his wife Echidna. Typhon was so horrible that any mortal who gazed upon him would go mad. He and Echidna had many monster children, including the Chimera, the Hydra, the Sphinx, the Ladon, and Cerberus.
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One day, Typhon got bored and decided to try to overthrow the gods. As he rampaged across the world, his massive size scraping the sky and flooding the oceans, he left a wake of destruction in his path.
The gods assembled for battle but had never before faced such a terrifying being. The second generation gods, such as Athena, Hephaestus, and Ares, had never even been in a major battle before. But compared to the Titans, Typhon was doubly terrifying, even for the original six. Only Zeus could muster up enough courage to attempt to face him. The others changed shape and fled into Africa, allegedly creating the animal-headed gods of the Egyptian Pantheon.
Zeus changed into his largest form, still puny in comparison to Typhon. Charging at him with his lightning bolts blazing, Zeus engaged Typhon by throwing large bolts at his face, each one staggering Typhon slowly. But suddenly, Typhon retaliated, swiping with one hand and knocking the king of the gods to the ground, creating a massive crater in the earth. Shrinking to match Zeus’s size, Typhon approached him and ripped Zeus’s sinews out of his lifeless form, further immobilizing him and leaving him helpless on the ground.
Making his way toward Olympus, Typhon laughed to himself at the ease at which he could take Olympus. But two of the retreating gods felt guilty about leaving their king alone to fend for himself. These gods were Hermes, the messenger god, and his son Pan, the god of nature, who was also a satyr. As the fastest being in the universe due to his job of carrying souls to the underworld, Hermes dragged Pan back toward Olympus.
As they approached Zeus, they marveled at his form so easily brought down. They devised a plan to recover Zeus’s sinews so they could defeat Typhon before he reached Olympus.
Pan seated himself at the foot of Olympus and took out his lyre. He began playing a beautiful song while trying to act as calm and composed as he could. Typhon approached him.
“What are you doing, little satyr? Are you not scared?”
Pan looked up absentmindedly. “I didn’t see you coming. I guess I was too engrossed in my song.”
“Huh. You are funny, little one. Perhaps you would make a good court entertainer in my new palace. And perhaps you could write a ballad about me and how I overtook Olympus from the weak hand of Zeus.”
Pan managed to maintain his composure because he knew that at any moment’s notice, Hermes would be there to whisk him out of danger. But he also knew that this was his only opportunity to stop Typhon before he overthrew Olympus.
“Oh my,” Pan groveled. “That would be an honor, my Lord. However, my strings are too weak for such an epic ballad. In fact, all mortal strings would crack under the pure epicness that is you, my Lord. In order to write a ballad about your greatness, I would need some extra-sturdy and powerful strings. Do you have any sinews or something of equal strength?”
Typhon was delighted. “Why, in fact I do. I just pulled these from the measly god over there.” He pointed over the horizon to the crater in which Zeus lay.
“Wow! Those will be perfect.”
Thrilled about the forthcoming ballad about him, Typhon set the sinews down next to Pan. But suddenly, the satyr was gone, along with the sinews.
Typhon was frightened. What would become of his new ballad?
But the distant roll of thunder snapped him out of his shock. Zeus was back.
Typhon took one step before being pounded with one of the biggest lightning strikes in all the universe. Again and again, he was pounded until Typhon was forced to retreat into the ocean.
“Oh no you don’t!” Zeus cried out after him.
Zeus lifted the nearest mountain and threw it on top of the monster giant. Typhon was crushed under Mount Etna and disappeared from the mortal world forever.