The Aloadai Giants
Otus and Ephliates were two fierce and strong giants born to the queen of Aloeus, Iphimedia. They were actually said to be quite beautiful, nearly as handsome as the great hunter Orion, but not too bright. The duo planned to capture Artemis for Otus and Hera for Ephliates. In different versions the stories alter on how they got to Mt. Olympus and how the raid took place, but the seemingly most famous one includes Artemis’s quick wit. In this version, the brothers were putting up a pretty good fight against the gods. Their skin was impenetrable and they had managed to capture Ares in a bronze jar. Artemis then offered herself to Otus which made Ephliates jealous and they began to fight each other. Then, Artemis turned herself into a stag and jumped between the giants. Otus and Ephliates didn’t want her to get away and so threw spears at her and missed, instead hitting each other.