Afterwards the Hecatonchires became the guards of the gates of Tartarus. In the Iliad there is a story, found nowhere else in mythology, that at one point the gods were trying to overthrow Zeus but were stopped when Thetis brought a Hecatonchire to his aid. They are often considered sea-deities, and may be derived from pentekonters, longboats with fifty oarsmen.
They were Briareus ("strong"), Gyges (or Gyes) and Cottu ("son of Cottytus"). Homer also referred to Briareus as Aegaeon ("goatish"), and said he was a marine deity and son of Poseidon.
In Latin, the Hecatonchires were also known as the Centimani.