Enceladus (mythology)
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Enceladus was one of the Gigantes, the enormous children of Gaia (Earth) in Greek mythology.
War with the Giants
In Greek mythology, the Gigantes were defeated in battle with the Olympian gods. The goddess Athena cast the spear that disabled Enceladus, and he was buried on the island of Sicily, under Mount Etna. The volcanic fires were supposed to be the breath of Enceladus, and its tremors were caused by his rolling his injured side beneath the mountain. In Greece an earthquake is still sometimes called a "strike of Enceladus".
In Euripides' 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.
Saturnian Satellite Name
William Herschel's son John Herschel suggested that a moon of Saturn be named after Enceladus in Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope, 1847.
References
- Apollodorus, i.6.1
- Hyginus, Fabulae, proem
- Robert Graves, 1960. The Greek Myths, 35.f, .h.de:Enkelados
el:Εγκέλαδος es:Encélado (mitología) fr:Encélade (mythologie) ja:エンケラドス zh:恩克拉多斯