The Gigantomachy was very popular among the Athenians; according to their traditions, the procession of the Great Panathenaia, the greatest festival in classical Athens, was established by the legendary ruler Erichthonius to commemorate Athena’s victory over the Giants. They were monsters that sprang from the blood that dripped when Kronos severed the testicles of Ouranos. There were 24 Giants against the 12 Olympian gods, and the former were so big that their heads touched the clouds. Athena distinguished herself in this cosmic war by annihilating two of her opponents. Pallas was relatively easy to overcome, so she played him and used his impenetrable skin for her aegis. Enceladus was much stronger, so she lifted the island of Sicily and threw it on him, crushing him beneath Mount Etna.