Pergamon Altar: Athena Fighting the Giants

c. 175–150 BCE

Marble high relief · Pergamonmuseum, Berlin

Part of the Great Frieze, more than 100 m of high relief that wrapped the monumental altar at Pergamon, built under King Eumenes II. It is the largest surviving telling of the war against the Giants.

Athena grabs the winged Giant Alkyoneus by the hair while her serpent bites his chest.
Earth (Ge) rises from the ground pleading for her son; Victory flies in to crown Athena.
Scholars link the Giants to enemies of the Attalid kings, such as the Gauls.
In Berlin since 1930; the altar hall is closed for renovation and due to reopen in spring 2027.

In the Gigantomachy the Olympians, helped by Heracles, defeated the Giants. Athena’s victory over Alkyoneus was one of its best-known episodes.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain