宇宙の王となったゼウスは、すぐにその支配を脅かされることになる。ティターンはオリンポスの神々と戦い、「ギガントマキア」と呼ばれる戦いで、その力に挑戦してきた。ヘーシオドスによれば、ティターンはクロノスが父ウラヌスを去勢した際に地面に落ちた血の滴から生まれたガイアの子である<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA86 p. 86]; Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:173-206 183–7].</ref>が、『神統記』には神々と巨人の戦いについての記述はない<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA86 p. 86]; Gantz, p. 446.</ref>。 『ギガントマキア』について最も完全な記述をしたのはアポロドーロスである。ガイアは、ゼウスが自分の子供である巨人を幽閉したことに怒り、ウーラヌスに巨人を産み落としたと言うのだ<ref>Gantz, p. 449; Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA90 p. 90]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.6.1 1.6.1].</ref>。巨人は神々だけでは倒せず、人間の力を借りなければ倒せないという予言が神々にもたらされる。これを聞いたガイアは、巨人を倒さない特別なファルマコン(薬草)を探すが、その薬草は巨人を倒してしまうことになる。しかし、ゼウスはエーオース(夜明け)、セレネー(月)、ヘーリオス(太陽)に光を止めるように命じ、自らすべての薬草を収穫し、アテーナーにヘーラークレースを召喚させる<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA89 p. 89]; Gantz, p. 449; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.6.1 1.6.1].</ref><ref group="私注">ゼウスに太陽や月の動きを統括できる能力がある、と考えられていたことが分かる。</ref>。しかし、ゼウスはポルピュリオーンにヘーラーへの欲望を抱かせ、ポルピュリオーンはヘーラーを犯そうとしたところをゼウスに雷で打たれ、ヘーラークレースには矢で致命傷を負わされてしまう<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA89 p. 89]; Gantz, p. 449; Salowey, p. 236; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.6.2 1.6.2]. Compare with Pindar, ''Pythian'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0033.tlg002.perseus-eng1:8 8.12–8], who instead says that Porphyrion is killed by an arrow from Apollo.</ref><ref group="私注">[[射日神話]]的な展開といえる。</ref>。
『神統記』では、ゼウスがティターン族を倒してタルタロスへ追放した後、彼の支配に巨大な蛇のような怪物テュポーンが挑戦し、宇宙の支配権をめぐってゼウスと争うことになる。ヘーシオドスによれば、テュポーンはガイアとタルタロスの子であり<ref>Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA72 pp. 72–3]; Gantz, p. 48; Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA71 p. 71]; Fowler, p. 27; Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:820-852 820–2]. According to Ogden, Gaia "produced him in revenge against Zeus for his destruction of ... the Titans". Contrastingly, according to the ''Homeric Hymn to Apollo'' (3), [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg003.perseus-eng1:305-348 305–55], ヘーラーは父親のいないテュポーンの母である。アテーナーを一人で産んだゼウスに腹を立てた彼女は、手で地面を叩き、ガイア、ウラヌス、ティターンにゼウスより強い子を授かるように祈り、その願いを受け、怪物テュポーンを産む。 (Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA72 p. 72]; Gantz, p. 49; Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA84 p. 84]); cf. Stesichorus [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/stesichorus_i-fragments/1991/pb_LCL476.167.xml fr. 239 Campbell, pp. 166, 167] [= ''PMG'' 239 (Page, p. 125) = ''Etymologicum Magnum'' 772.49] (see Gantz, p. 49).</ref><ref group="私注">テュポーンとは中国神話の[[共工]]、[[相柳]]に相当する神であると考える。</ref>、100の蛇のような火を噴く頭を持っていると描写されている<ref>Gantz, p. 49; Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:820-852 824–8].</ref>。ヘーシオドスは、ゼウスがこの怪物に気づいて素早く退治してくれなければ、「人間と不死人を支配するようになっていただろう」と言っている<ref>Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA71 p. 71]; Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:820-852 836–8].</ref>。2人は激動の戦いで出会い、ゼウスは雷で簡単に彼を倒し、怪物はタルタロスへ投げ落とされた<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:820-852 839–68]. According to Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 p. 27], the monster's easy defeat at the hands of Zeus is "in keeping with Hesiod's pervasive glorification of Zeus".</ref>。
In the ''Theogony'', after Zeus defeats the Titans and banishes them to Tartarus, his rule is challenged by the monster [[Typhon]], a giant serpentine creature who battles Zeus for control of the cosmos. According to Hesiod, Typhon is the offspring of Gaia and [[Tartarus]], described as having a hundred snaky fire-breathing heads. Hesiod says he "would have come to reign over mortals and immortals" had it not been for Zeus noticing the monster and dispatching with him quickly:<ref>Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA71 p. 71]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:820-852 836–8].</ref> the two of them meet in a cataclysmic battle, before Zeus defeats him easily with his thunderbolt, and the creature is hurled down to Tartarus.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:820-852 839–68]. According to Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 p. 27], the monster's easy defeat at the hands of Zeus is "in keeping with Hesiod's pervasive glorification of Zeus".</ref> [[Epimenides]] presents a different version, in which Typhon makes his way into Zeus's palace while he is sleeping, only for Zeus to wake and kill the monster with a thunderbolt.<ref>Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA74 p. 74]; Gantz, p. 49; [[Epimenides]] ''[[FGrHist]]'' 457 F8 [= [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA97 fr. 10 Fowler, p. 97] = [https://archive.org/details/diefragmenteder02diel/page/190/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 8 Diels, p. 191]].</ref> [[Aeschylus]] and [[Pindar]] give somewhat similar accounts to Hesiod, in that Zeus overcomes Typhon with relative ease, defeating him with his thunderbolt.<ref>Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA73 p. 73]; [[Aeschylus]], ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:343-378 356–64]; [[Pindar]], ''Olympian'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0033.tlg002.perseus-eng1:8 8.16–7]; for a discussion of Aeschylus' and Pindar's accounts, see Gantz, p. 49.</ref> Apollodorus, in contrast, provides a more complex narrative.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.6.3 1.6.3].</ref> Typhon is, similarly to in Hesiod, the child of Gaia and Tartarus, produced out of anger at Zeus's defeat of the Giants.<ref>Gantz, p. 50; Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA73 p. 73].</ref> The monster attacks heaven, and all of the gods, out of fear, transform into animals and flee to Egypt, except for Zeus, who attacks the monster with his thunderbolt and sickle.<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA84 p. 84]; Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA73 p. 73]; Gantz, p. 50.</ref> Typhon is wounded and retreats to Mount Kasios in Syria, where Zeus grapples with him, giving the monster a chance to wrap him in his coils, and rip out the sinews from his hands and feet.<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA84 p. 84]; Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA73 p. 73].</ref> Disabled, Zeus is taken by Typhon to the [[Corycian Cave]] in Cilicia, where he is guarded by the "she-dragon" [[Delphyne]].<ref>Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA73 p. 73]; Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA42 p. 42]; Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA84 p. 84].</ref> [[Hermes]] and [[Aegipan]], however, steal back Zeus's sinews, and refit them, reviving him and allowing him to return to the battle, pursuing Typhon, who flees to Mount Nysa; there, Typhon is given "ephemeral fruits" by the [[Moirai]], which reduce his strength.<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA84 p. 84–5]; Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA73 p. 73–4].</ref> The monster then flees to Thrace, where he hurls mountains at Zeus, which are sent back at him by the god's thunderbolts, before, while fleeing to [[Sicily]], Zeus launches [[Mount Etna]] upon him, finally ending him.<ref>Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA85 p. 85].</ref> [[Nonnus]], who gives the most longest and most detailed account from antiquity, presents a narrative similar to Apollodorus, with differences such as that it is instead [[Cadmus]] and [[Pan (god)|Pan]] who recovers Zeus's sinews, by luring Typhon with music and then tricking him.<ref>Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA74 p. 74–5]; Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA74 pp. 74–5]; Lane Fox, [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780679763864/page/287/mode/2up?view=theater p. 287]; Gantz, p. 50.</ref>
In the ''Iliad'', Homer tells of another attempted overthrow, in which Hera, Poseidon, and Athena conspire to overpower Zeus and tie him in bonds. It is only because of the Nereid [[Thetis]], who summons Briareus, one of the [[Hecatoncheires]], to Olympus, that the other Olympians abandon their plans (out of fear for Briareus).<ref>Gantz, p. 59; Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA82 p. 82]; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.386-1.427 1.395–410].</ref>