TALOS

A brazen giant in Crete whom Hephaestus had given to Minos. This giant guarded the island. He went round the island three times a day and scared away those who approached it by throwing stones at them; or, if they landed, he sprang into the fire with them and pressed them to his glowing bosom till they were burnt to death. A vein of blood ran from his head to his foot, where it was closed by a nail. When the Argonauts came to Crete, Medea caused the nail to fall out by means of a magic song. According to another account, Poeas, the father of Philoctetes, shot it out with his bow, whereupon Talos bled to death.