Amphisbaena
This exceedingly poisonous species of serpent, reputed to be the progeny of Medusa, is said to
have venomous heads at either end of its elongated, worm-like body . . . with eyes that are said to “glow
like candles.”
This name of “worm lizard” begs comparison to modern Amphisbaenidae, which (while
decidedly single-headed) look distinctly like reptilian earthworms and are found in most of the Western
Hemisphere, some Caribbean islands and sub-Saharan Africa. There is even one primordial and rather
unusual genus, Blanus, which is native to Europe, and may represent the original inspiration for the
legends.
Tales of these ancient creatures come to us originally from Greek Mythology, where it is said
that the Amphisbaena was spawned from the blood that dripped from the severed head of the gorgon
known as Medusa, as the legendary Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with his prize. It has also been
chronicled that Cato’s army encountered the poisonous serpents on their renowned march.
Unlike other multiple headed beasts (such as the hydra), this reptile’s torso does not split into
separate necks; rather the animal is purported to have a head at each end of its body. In fact, its name —
when translated from Greek — means “goes both ways.” Pliny the Elder, who first chronicled the
creature sometime before A.D. 79, described the snake-like creature thusly:
“The amphisbaena has a twin head, that is one at the tail end as well, as though it were
not enough for poison to be poured out of one mouth.”
The Amphisbaena is also reputed to have incredible regenerative capacities, which include the
ability to weld itself back together if its two sections are severed. This may indicated that the animal is
not a reptile at all, but perhaps more in line with parasitic worms (helminthes) of some variety.
The Amphisbaena is also reportedly capable of an extraordinary form of locomotion, whereby its
two heads clamp onto one another enabling it to roll like a bicycle wheel. This trait, as many
investigators have indicated in the past, bears an incredible likeness to the North American hoop snake.
English author and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) further described the
Amphisbaena’s bizarre attributes in his Pseudodoxia Epidemica:
“(The Amphisbaena is) a smaller kind of Serpent, which moveth forward and backward,
hath two heads… Which double formations do often happen unto multiparous
generations, more especially that of Serpents; whose productions being numerous, and
their Eggs in chains or links together (which sometime conjoin and inoculate into each
other) they may unite into various shapes and come out in mixed formations.”
Bestiaries (books containing pictures and moralizing stories about real and imaginary animals)
from the Medieval era also chronicle the Amphisbaena, but there it is more often described as a twoheaded lizard, or even a multi-headed serpent, with elements of a fowl – a description which closely
resembles the notoriously toxic basilisk. The creature has been referred to as the “mother of ants,”
because its particular fondness for the insect delicacy.
The medical properties of the Amphisbaena were also recorded. According to Pliny, the wearing
of a live Amphisbaena is a supposed safeguard in pregnancy, and draping a dead one across your neck is
an alleged remedy for rheumatism (stiffness in joints or muscles). Those who ate the meat of this
creature were said to become irresistible to the opposite gender, and anyone of pure heart who had the
fortune of slaying an Amphisbaena during a full moon would allegedly gain remarkable powers.
(Storrs, Marc. “Amphisbaena: (Greece).” American Monsters. n.p. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.
http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2010/02/amphisbaena-greece/. Accessed March 8, 2014)
Amphisbaena
The Amphisbaena is a reptile in European legends and heraldry, commonly described as a snake
with a head at both ends. Its name stems from a Greek word that means 'to go both ways,' which
Amphisbaena earned because it was believed that it could move backward or forward with equal ease.
Amphisbaena is described as a two-headed serpent, one above the neck and one at the end of its
prehensile tail, sometimes depicted with the claws and legs of a bird and the pointed wings of a bat.
In bestiaries and manuscripts, depictions of the amphisbaena have its jaws wrap around its own
tail/neck, creating a hoop that can either roll or move like a cartwheel. When both heads try to move
forward, the dragon forms a circle.
The Amphisbaenae live in the deserts of North Africa. They are widespread throughout the
desert, and they lie in wait for unwary animals or travelers in the desert.
Amphisbaenae are formidable adversaries. They can run at spectacular speeds in either direction
and can change direction with ease to surprise prey or elude capture. On top of its speed, they secrete a
dangerous and excruciating position that kills quickly. No one is safe from an Amphisbaena, even at
night, because its glowing eyes penetrate the darkness.
After an Amphisbaena lays its eggs in the warm sands, the parents keep watch. While one of its
head sleeps, the other keeps watch, with eyes as bright as fire.
In Greek myth, the blood of the Gorgon Medusa spawned many deadly serpents as Perseus
carried the head of the Gorgon over the Libyan Desert. Among those serpents was the first
Amphisbaena. When Cato's army marched across the desert, amphisbaena fed upon the fallen soldiers.
Classical writer Pliny the Elder describes the Amphisbaena, and Lucan makes an account of one
in Pharsalia.
Despite its dangerous venom, capturing an Amphisbaena can prove its worth. Its dried skin can
cure rheumatism and remedy chilblains because it reduces the swelling of the hands and feet when
inflamed by the cold.
A living Amphisbaena is an excellent talisman for any pregnant woman. In fact, prophetesses
and women of prestige or high rank wore golden bracelets carved in the resemblance of an amphisbaena,
as this signified power and protection.
In the Libyan Desert there is a reptile that has the name Amphisbaena, although its nature is far
less fantastical than the dragon species described here.
Amphisbaena is the scientific name for a genus of legless worm lizards capable of moving both
ways with camouflaged tails. When one raises its tail, it appears as if there is an additional head, and,
with this clever camouflage, the lizard protects its eggs and eludes predators.
These are quotations from people of the past who are describing this strange creature.
A smaller kind of serpent, which moveth forward and backward, hath two heads...Which
double formations do often happen unto multiparous generations, more especially that of
Serpents; whose productions being numerous, and their Eggs in chains or links together
(which sometime conjoyn and inoculate into each other) they may unite into various
shapes and come out in mixed formations.
-- Sir Thomas Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica
(McCormick, Kylie. “Dragon Species: Amphisbaena/Amfisibena/Amphista/Amphivena.” Circle of the
Dragon. n.p. Web. 18. Nov. 2012. http://www.blackdrago.com/species/amphisbaena.htm. Accessed 8
March, 2014.)
Antaeus
A son of Poseidon and Gaea, a mighty giant and wrestler in Libya, whose strength was invincible so
long as he remained in contact with his mother earth. The strangers who came to his country were
compelled to wrestle with him; the conquered were slain, and out of their skulls he built a house to
Poseidon. Heracles discovered the source of his strength, lifted him up from the earth, and crushed him
in the air. The tomb of Antaeus (Antaei collis), which formed a moderate hill in the shape of a man
stretched out at full length, was shewn near the town of Tingis in Mauretania down to a late period, and
it was believed that whenever a portion of the earth covering it was taken away, it rained until the hole
was filled up again. Sertorius is said to have opened the grave, but when he found the skeleton of sixty
cubits in length, he was struck with horror and had it covered again immediately.
(Atsma, Aaron. “Antaois.” Theoi Project. n.p. n.d. Web.
http://www.theoi.com/Gigante/GiganteAntaios.html. Accessed 8 March 2014.)
Antaeus
Heracles did not return to Mycenae by a direct route. He first traversed Libya, whose King
Antaeus, son of Poseidon and Mother Earth, was in the habit of forcing strangers to wrestle with him
until they were exhausted, whereupon he killed them; for not only was he a strong and skillful athlete,
but whenever he touched the earth, his strength revived. He saved the skulls of his victims to roof a
temple of Poseidon. It is not known whether Heracles, who was determined to end this barbarous
practice, challenged Antaeus, or was challenged by him.
Antaeus, however, proved no easy victim, being a giant who lived in a cave beneath a towering
cliff, where he feasted on the flesh of lions, and slept on the bare ground in order to conserve and
increase his already colossal strength. Mother Earth, not yet sterile after her birth of the Giants, had
conceived Antaeus in a Libyan cave, and found more reason to boast of him than even of her monstrous
elder children, Typhon, Tityus, and Briareus. It would have gone ill with the Olympians if he had fought
against them on the Plains of Phlegra.
"In preparation for the wrestling match, both combatants cast off their lion pelts, but while
Heracles rubbed himself with oil in the Olympic fashion, Antaeus poured hot sand over his limbs lest
contact with the earth through the soles of his feet alone should prove insufficient.
Heracles planned to preserve his strength and wear Antaeus down, but after tossing him full
length on the ground, he was amazed to see the giant's muscles swell and a healthy flush suffuse his
limbs as Mother Earth revived him.
The combatants grappled again, and presently Antaeus flung himself down of his own accord,
not waiting to be thrown; upon which, Heracles, realizing what he was at, lifted him high into the air,
then cracked his ribs and, despite the hollow groans of Mother Earth, held him aloft until he died.
(Graves, Robert. “The Myth of Antaeus.” The Greek Myths. Penguin Books, 1955. Web.
http://antaeus.org/old/antaeus/classic/Legend.html. Accessed 8 March 2014.)
Argus
Argus (or Argos) was a monster in Greek mythology. He was famous in legend for having many
eyes. With his multiple sets of eyes, he could see nearly everything in his vicinity. And indeed, with his
keen vision, Argus was regarded as an almost perfect mythological guard creature. Why only almost
perfect? Read on to see the answer to this question, and to learn more about the story of Argus.
There are several legends in which Argus plays a part. Two of these tales involve creatures that
terrorized the area in and around Arcadia (incidentally, Arcadia is located in the Peloponnese, a
peninsula in Greece). Argus set about ridding Arcadia of its troublesome pests. His first task was to
subdue a wild bull that was destroying the Arcadian countryside. Then, Argus eliminated a malicious
cattle-stealing satyr.
The other important legend in which Argus appears features some famous characters from myth,
including Hermes, Zeus, Hera, and Io. According to the story, Hera, the Queen of the Olympian gods
and goddesses, commanded Argus to watch over Io. Io was a woman with whom Zeus - the ruler of the
Olympians - had conducted a passionate love affair. However, in order to protect his mistress from the
wrath of his wife, Zeus had transformed Io into a heifer. So Hera, who was quite clever, had Argus
guard her rival, the heifer Io. Zeus was not pleased. He sent the god Hermes to dispatch the monster.
Hermes managed to subdue Argus, and here the details differ depending on the source of the myth.
Some sources suggest that Hermes lulled Argus to sleep, while others state that Hermes killed the
monster.
So in the end, the nearly perfect guard creature was defeated by the wit and cunning of Hermes.
Hera paid tribute to Argus by placing his eyes into the tail of the peacock, her favorite bird. In this way,
Argus was immortalized, his eyes adorning the feathers of Hera’s peacock.
(http://www.mythography.com/myth/welcome-to-mythography/greek-chimerae/monsters1/argus/)
Argus
Homer's Odyssey (c. 800 BCE) alludes to the story of Argus by referring to Hermes as 'the
guide, the slayer of Argus' (8.332). Similar references to Argus appear in Hesiod's Works and Days (c.
750-700 BCE) and many of the Homeric Hymns, including those to Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes, and
Demeter (c. 700-500 BCE). Hermes's epithet 'Argeiphontes' (ar-jee-fon-teez) means 'slayer of Argus.'
The myth's outline is that Zeus had seduced Io when Hera arrived on the scene. Zeus transformed
Io into a cow to hide his infidelity, but Hera was not deceived. When Hera asked, Zeus was obliged to
give her the cow. Hera appointed her servant Argus to guard the cow, and Hermes, at Zeus' command,
killed Argus. The detail omitted in this summary varies depending on which source is referenced. Two
prominent sources of the myth of Argus's death are Aeschylus's play Prometheus Bound (c. 500 BCE)
and Ovid's Metamorphoses (c. 8 CE).
In Prometheus Bound Io, as a cow, has been wandering all over Greece desperately fleeing from
a stinging gadfly ever since Hermes killed Argus. She comes upon Prometheus and relates her story in
exchange for a prophecy. According to Aeschylus, the ghost of "Argus --that evil thing-- / The hundredeyed- / Earth born herdsmen" (617-9) was the gadfly sent by "Hera's curse... [to pursue Io] ever on [her]
endless round" (657-8). Little else is revealed about Argus in the play, as Io focuses on her wanderings.
The play presents the myth in a manner that suggests it should be familiar to the audience, revealing
only the details that are pertinent to the themes of the play.
Unlike Aeschylus, who assumes knowledge of the myth and omits details such as Argus' death at
the hand of Hermes, Ovid tells a complete narrative of one version of this myth in the Metamorphoses.
According to Ovid, Argus had "the hundred eyes / All watching and on duty round his head, / Save two
which took in turn their sleep and rest" (I.625-7). The following lines tell that Zeus dispatched Hermes
to slay Argus and set Io free. Hermes sang Argus to sleep, used his magic wand to seal Argus's eyes
shut, and decapitated Argus. Hera was furious about the death of her servant Argus, and "Juno [Hera]
retrieved those eyes to set in place / among the feathers of her bird and filled / his tail with starry jewels"
(I.721-3), creating the eyes of the peacock. Furthermore, Hera, "before her rival's [Io's] eyes and in her
mind... set a frightful Fury" (I.725-6).
Sources with different details for the same myth are characteristic of Greek myth, which is
rooted in oral transmissions. Notice that in Ovid's tale Hera does not dispatch the ghost of Argus to
torment Io as a gadfly. Hera calls upon a Fury as she does in an episode in Virgil's Aeneid that recounts
Hera enlisting a Fury to torture the wife of Latinus. In Prometheus Bound, Argus is the child of Gaia,
but Ovid is silent on the issue of Argus's lineage. While Ovid and Aeschylus give Argus one hundred
eyes, other traditions, according to Pierre Grimal, attribute one eye or four eyes to the monster Argus.
Just as there are differences in the literary preservation of this myth, representations of Argus in the
plastic arts may differ. For example, Ovid describes Argus with one hundred eyes in his head, but an
Attic vase (c. 490 BCE) depicts Argus with eyes all over his body (Powell 375).
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/argus.html)
Argus
JUNO, queen of the gods, had the fairest cow that any one ever saw. She was creamy white, and
her eyes were of as soft and bright a blue as those of any maiden in the world. Juno and the king of the
gods often played tricks on each other, and Juno knew well that the king would try to get her cow. There
was a watchman named Argus, and one would think that he could see all that was going on in the world,
for he had a hundred eyes, and no one had ever seen them all asleep at once, so Queen Juno gave to
Argus the work of watching the white cow.
The king of the gods knew what she had done, and he laughed to himself and said, "I will play a
trick on Juno, and I will have the white cow." He sent for Mercury and whispered in his ear, "Mercury,
go to the green field where Argus watches the cream-white cow and get her for me."
Mercury was always happy when he could play a trick on any one, and he set out gladly for the
field where Argus watched the cream-white cow with every one of his hundred eyes.
Now Mercury could tell merry stories of all that was done in the world. He could sing, too, and
the music of his voice had lulled many a god to sleep. Argus knew that, but he had been alone a long
time, and he thought, "What harm is there in listening to his merry chatter? I have a hundred eyes, and
even if half of them were asleep, the others could easily keep watch of one cow." So he gladly hailed
Mercury and said, "I have been alone in this field a long, long time, but you have roamed about as you
would. Will you not sing to me, and tell me what has happened in the world? You would be glad to hear
stories and music if you had nothing to do but watch a cow, even if it was the cow of a queen."
So Mercury sang and told stories. Some of the songs were merry, and some were sad. The
watchman closed one eye, then another and another, but there were two eyes that would not close for all
the sad songs and all the merry ones. Then Mercury drew forth a hollow reed that he had brought from
the river and began to play on it. It was a magic reed, and as he played, one could hear the water rippling
gently on the shore and the breath of the wind in the pine-trees; one could see the lilies bending their
heads as the dusk came on, and the stars twinkling softly in the summer sky.
It is no wonder that Argus closed one eye and then the other. Every one of his hundred eyes was
fast asleep, and Mercury went away to the king of the gods with the cream-white cow.
Juno had so often played tricks on the king that he was happy because he had played this one on
her, but Juno was angry, and she said to Argus, "You are a strange watchman. You have a hundred eyes,
and you could not keep even one of them from falling asleep. My peacock is wiser than you, for he
knows when any one is looking at him. I will put every one of your eyes in the tail of the peacock." And
to-day, whoever looks at the peacock can count in his tail the hundred eyes that once belonged to Argus.
Centaur
THE KENTAUROI (or Centaurs) were a tribe of half man, half horse savages which inhabited the
mountains and forests of Magnesia. They were a primitive race who made their homes in mountain
caves, hunted wild animals for food and armed themselves with rocks and tree branches. The Centaurs
were spawned by the cloud nymph Nephele who was raped by the impious Lapith King Ixion. Her
double-formed brood were deposited on Mount Pelion where the daughters of the centaur-god Kheiron
nursed and fostered them to adulthood. They were invited to attend the wedding of their half-brother
Peirithoos, the Lapith king, but became drunk and attempted to carry off the bride and the female guests.
In the battle which ensued the Centaurs were all but wiped out.
Another tribe of Centaurs resided in the western Peloponnese where they came into conflict with the
hero Herakles. They may originally been a seperate breed, although numerous writers combine their
stories. One ancient writer also mentions a tribe of bull-horned Centaurs native to the island of Kypros.
Female Centaurs were also known, although these only appear in later art and literature.
The Centaur was depicted with the upper body of a man, from head to loins, set upon the body of a
horse. Sometimes it had the facial feature of a man, at other times it was portrayed with the snub nose
and pointed ears of a rustic Satyros.
(http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentauroiThessalioi.html)
Centaur
CENTAURI (Kentauroi), that is, the bullkillers, are according to the earliest accounts a race of men who
inhabited the mountains and forests of Thessaly. They are described as leading a rude and savage life,
occasionally carrying off the women of their neighbours, as covered with hair and ranging over their
mountains like animals. But they were not altogether unacquainted with the useful arts, as in the case of
Cheiron. Now, in these earliest accounts, the centaurs appear merely as a sort of gigantic, savage, or
animal-like beings; whereas, in later writers, they are described as monsters (hippocentaurs), whose
bodies were partly human and partly those of horses. This strange mixture of the human form with that
of a horse is accounted for, in the later traditions, by the history of their origin. Ixion, it is said, begot by
a cloud Centaurus, a being hated by gods and men, who begot the hippocentaurs on mount Pelion, by
mixing with Magnesian mares. the centaurs were the sons of Ixion himself by a cloud; they were
brought up by the nymphs of Pelion, and begot the Hippocentaurs by mares. Others again relate, that the
centaurs were the offspring of Ixion and his mares; or that Zeus, metamorphosed into a horse, begot
them by Dia, the wife of Ixion. From these accounts it appears, that the ancient centaurs and the later
hippocentaurs were two distinct classes of beings, although the name of centaurs is applied to both by
ancient as well as modern writers.
The Centaurs are particularly celebrated in ancient story for their fight with the Lapithae, which arose at
the marriage-feast of Peirithous, and the subject of which was extensively used by ancient poets and
artists. This fight is sometimes put in connexion with a combat of Heracles with the centaurs. The scene
of the contest is placed by some in Thessaly, and by others in Arcadia. It ended by the centaurs being
expelled from their country, and taking refuge on mount Pindus, on the frontiers of Epeirus. Cheiron is
the most celebrated among the centaurs.
As regards the origin of the notion respecting the centaurs, we must remember, in the first place, that
bull-hunting on horseback was a national custom in Thessaly, and, secondly, that the Thessalians in
early times spent the greater part of their lives on horseback. It is therefore not improbable that the
Thessalian mountaineers may at some early period have made upon their neighbouring tribes the same
impression as the Spaniards did upon the Mexicans, namely, that horse and man were one being. The
centaurs were frequently represented in ancient works of art, and it is here that the idea of then is most
fully developed. There are two forms in which the centaurs were represented in works of art. In the first
they appear as men down to their legs and feet, but the hind part consists of the body, tail, and hind legs
of a horse the second form, which was probably not used before the time of Phidias and Alcamenes,
represents the centaurs as men from the head to the loins, and the remainder is the body of a horse with
its four feet and tail. It is probably owing to the resemblance between the nature of the centaurs and that
of the satyrs, that the former were in later times drawn into the sphere of Dionysiac beings; but here they
appear no longer as savage monsters, but as tamed by the power of the god. They either draw the chariot
of the god, and play the horn or lyre, or they appear in the train of Dionysus, among the Satyrs, Fauns,
Nymphs, Erotes, and Bacchantes. It is remarkable that there were also female centaurs, who are said to
have been of great beauty.
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Centaurs
Homer, Odyssey 21. 293 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Wine is many a man's undoing, when he gulps his draught and will never drink discreetly. Wine it was
that darkened the wits of Eurytion the Kentauros (Centaur) in the palace of bold Peirithoos. The
kentauros had come to the Lapithai's country, and now with wine he clouded his understanding and in
his frenzy did monstrous things in the very hall of Peirithoos. The heroes were seized with indignation;
they leapt up, they dragged the kentauros across the courtyard and out of doors, they lopped off his ears
and nose with the ruthless bronze, and the frenzied creature went his way, taking his retribution with
him in his still darkened mind. From this beginning came the long feud between men and Kentauroi
(Centaurs), but it was Eurytion first of all who brought chastisement on himself by his drunkenness."
(http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentauroiThessalioi.html)
Centaurs
The Centaurs were a tribe of half-man and half-horse, living in Magnesia, a coastal region in
Thessaly. The Centaur was depicted in arts to have a head, chest and arms of a man, while the rest of his
body was that of a horse.
There were several different stories of their origin.
One version says that the Centaurs were said to be descendants of Centaurus, the son of Apollo
and Stilbe, thus brother of Lapithus, who became descendants of the Thessalian tribe, known as the
Lapiths (Λαπίθαι).
A more popular version say that this Centaurus was a son of Ixion, the king of Thessaly, and the
the cloud, possibly named Nephele, who was created by Zeus, made to look like Hera. If Centaurus was
the son of Ixion, then the Centaurs were very closely related to Peirithoüs.
In both version, Centaurus mated with the mares from Magnesia, southern Thessaly, which
produced half-horse, half-man offspring. The Centaurs were also known as Hippocentaurs.
The Centaurs were known for their inability to drink alcohol. They become unruly when drunk.
There were frequent clashes between the Lapiths and the Centaurs. The height of conflict was reached
during the wedding of Peirithoüs & Hippodameia. Peirithoüs (Peirithous) was king of the Lapiths and
friend of Theseus. Two of the Centaurs were prominent at the wedding, Eurytion and Nessus; Heracles
would killed them later. With the help of some of Peirithoüs' guests, they were able to drive the Centaurs
out of Thessaly. Most fled to Arcadia where they encountered Heracles, during his 4th Labour.
There were two friendly Centaurs to humans, Cheiron and Pholus.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/centaurs.html#Centaurus )
Cerberus
The most dangerous labor of all was the twelfth and final one. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go
to the Underworld and kidnap the beast called Cerberus (or Kerberos). Eurystheus must have been sure
Hercules would never succeed at this impossible task!
The ancient Greeks believed that after a person died, his or her spirit went to the world below
and dwelled for eternity in the depths of the earth. The Underworld was the kingdom of Hades, also
called Pluto, and his wife, Persephone. Depending on how a person lived his or her life, they might or
might not experience never-ending punishment in Hades. All souls, whether good or bad, were destined
for the kingdom of Hades.
Cerberus was a vicious beast that guarded the entrance to Hades and kept the living from
entering the world of the dead. According to Apollodorus, Cerberus was a strange mixture of creatures:
he had three heads of wild dogs, a dragon or serpent for a tail, and heads of snakes all over his back.
Hesiod, though, says that Cerberus had fifty heads and devoured raw flesh.
. . . A monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh,
the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong.
Cerberus' parents were the monster Echinda (half-woman, half-serpent) and Typhon (a firebreathing giant covered with dragons and serpents). Even the gods of Olympus were afraid of Typhon.
Among the children attributed to this awful couple were Orthus (or Othros), the Hydra of Lerna,
and the Chimaera. Orthus was a two-headed hound which guarded the cattle of Geryon. With the
Chimaera, Orthus fathered the Nemean Lion and the Sphinx. The Chimaera was a three-headed firebreathing monster, part lion, part snake, and part goat. Hercules seemed to have a lot of experience
dealing with this family: he killed Orthus, when he stole the cattle of Geryon, and strangled the Nemean
Lion. Compared to these unfortunate family members, Cerberus was actually rather lucky.
Before making the trip to the Underworld, Hercules decided that he should take some extra
precautions. This was, after all, a journey from which no mortal had ever returned. Hercules knew that
once in the kingdom of Hades, he might not be allowed to leave and rejoin the living. The hero went to
Eleusis and saw Eumolpus, a priest who began what were known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. The
mysteries were sacred religious rites which celebrated the myth of Demeter and her daughter
Persephone. The ancients believed that those who learned the secrets of the mysteries would have
happiness in the Underworld. After the hero met a few conditions of membership, Eumolpus initiated
Hercules into the mysteries.
Hercules went to a place called Taenarum in Laconia. Through a deep, rocky cave, Hercules
made his way down to the Underworld. He encountered monsters, heroes, and ghosts as he made his
way through Hades. He even engaged in a wrestling contest! Then, finally, he found Pluto and asked the
god for Cerberus. The lord of the Underworld replied that Hercules could indeed take Cerberus with
him, but only if he overpowered the beast with nothing more than his own brute strength.
A weaponless Hercules set off to find Cerberus. Near the gates of Acheron, one of the five rivers
of the Underworld, Hercules encountered Cerberus. Undaunted, the hero threw his strong arms around
the beast, perhaps grasping all three heads at once, and wrestled Cerberus into submission. The dragon
in the tail of the fierce flesh-eating guard dog bit Hercules, but that did not stop him. Cerberus had to
submit to the force of the hero, and Hercules brought Cerberus to Eurystheus. Unlike other monsters that
crossed the path of the legendary hero, Cerberus was returned safely to Hades, where he resumed
guarding the gateway to the Underworld. Presumably, Hercules inflicted no lasting damage on Cerberus,
except, of course, the wound to his pride!
(http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/cerberus.html)
Cerberus
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 6. 19 ff :
"When you [Psykhe on her journey to the underworld] have crossed the river [Akheron] and have
advanced a little further, some aged women weaving at the loom will beg you to lend a hand for a short
time. But you are not permitted to touch that either, for all these and many other distractions are part of
the ambush which Venus [Aphrodite] will set to induce you to release one of the cakes from your hands.
Do not imaging that the loss of a mere barley cake is a trivial matter, for if you relinquish either of them,
the daylight of this world above will be totally denied you. Posted there is [Kerberos, Cerberus] a
massive hound with a huge, triple-formed head. This monstrous, fearsome brute confronts the dead with
thunderous barking, though his menaces are futile since he can do them no harm. He keeps constant
guard before the very threshold and the dark hall of Proserpina [Persephone], protecting that deserted
abode of Dis [Haides]. You must disarm him by offering him a cake as his spoils. Then you can easily
pass him, and gain immediate access to Proserpina herself . . . When you have obtained what she gives
you, you must make your way back, using the remaining cake to neutralize the dog's savagery."
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/KuonKerberos.html)
Cerberus (http://www.museumofmythology.com/Greek/cerberus.htm)
Cerberus was the guardian of Hades, the underworld, domain of the dead. He was the child of
Echinda, a half-woman, half serpent, and Typhon, a fire-breathing giant. With three heads, and (some
say) a serpent for a tail and snake's heads on his back, Cerberus had a double task - he would not allow
any creature still living to enter earth's realm, and he would allow none to leave, whether alive or dead.
Only a few were ever able to get past Cerberus. One of these was Persephone, goddess of
innocence and mistress of the underworld. She was the child of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and
Zeus, ruler of the gods. The ruler of Hades kidnapped Persephone to rule with him, but after Demeter
threatened that nothing would ever grow again, the gods arranged that she would spend half the year in
Hades, and the other half on earth, giving us winter and summer. Cerberus allows Persephone to pass
each time the seasons change.
Another who got past was Orpheus, a musician. He played the lyre, a kind of harp. When his
wife, Eurydice, died, he went to Hades to get her back. He played his lyre with such grace and skill that
it lulled Cerberus to sleep. Orpheus was able to bring Eurydice to the gates of Hades, but in the growing
light, he looked back to see if she was behind him (which he had been forbidden to do until they were
both safely among the living), and she was returned to her place among the dead.)
Hercules, however, was the most famous to best Cerberus. As the last of his twelve labors,
Hercules had to bring Cerberus to the king Eurystheus. Hercules went to the ruler of the underworld,
who said that if Hercules could take Cerberus without the use of any weapons, Hercules would be
allowed to leave the underworld with the beast and to return to the land of the living. Cerberus is one of
the few monsters who ever met Hercules and survived.
PRONUNCIATION:
Cerberus: SIR- ber- uss
Echinda: eh- KIN- duh
Typhon: TIE- fon
Persephone: per- SEFF- uh- nee
Demeter: duh- MEE- ter
Zeus: ZOOSE
Orpheus: ORFF- ee- uss
Eurydice: you- RID- ih- see (that third syllable is the short "i", like in "sit".)
Hercules: HER- kyoo- leez
Eurystheus: you- RISS- thee- uss
Cetus
THE KETOS AITHIOPIOS (or Ethiopian Cetus) was a sea-monster sent by Poseidon to ravage the land
of Aithiopia as punishment for Queen Cassiopeia's hubristic boast that her daughter Andromeda was
more beautiful than the Nereides. To assuage the wrath of the sea-gods, the girl was chained to the rocks
as a sacrificial offering and feast for the dragon. It was at this time that Perseus was flying back to
Greece with the head of Medousa. He spied the girl, flew down, slew the monster and carried her off to
be his bride. Some say the hero turned the monster to stone, a rock which ancient tourists were shown
near the Lebanese town of Joppa.
The Sea-Monster, along with Perseus, Andromeda, and her parents King Kepheus and Queen
Kassiopeia, were all placed amongst the stars of the sky as Constellatons.
Encyclopedia
ETHIOPIAN SEA MONSTER. Cassiopeia boasted of her daughter Andromeda's beauty, and said that
she surpassed the Nereids. The latter prevailed on Poseidon to visit the country by an inundation, and a
sea-monster was sent into the land. The oracle of Ammon promised that the people should be delivered
from these calamities, if Andromeda was given up to the monster; and Cepheus, being obliged to yield
to the wishes of his people, chained Andromeda to a rock. Here she was found and saved by Perseus,
who slew the monster and obtained her as his wife. Athena placed her among the stars, in the form of a
maiden with her arms stretched out and chained to a rock, to commemorate her delivery by Perseus.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 43 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Arriving in Aithiopia, which Cepheus ruled, Perseus came upon his daughter Andromeda laid out as a
meal for a Cetus. It seems that the king's wife Cassiopeia had challenged the Nereides in beauty,
boasting that she outdid them all. As a result the Nereides were in a rage, and Poseidon in sympathetic
anger sent a flood-tide upon the land and a ketos as well. The oracle of Ammon prophesied an end to the
trouble if Kassiopeia's daughter Andromeda were served up to the Cetus as a meal, so Cepheus, pushed
to it by the Aithiopians, tied his daughter out on a rock. When Perseus saw her it was love at first sight,
and he promised to kill the cetus and rescue the girl in return for her hand. Oaths were sworn, after
which Perseus faced and slew the cetus, and set Andromeda free."
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/KetosAithiopios.html)
Cetus
From the Greek myth of Perseus:
The next day, when Perseus was about to resume his travel back to Greece, the news about sea monster
and sacrificing Ethiopian princess came across to him. He decided to help and travelled to mentioned
Ethiopian shore. When he came there, he noticed Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess, chained to the
rock, waiting to be sacrificed to the sea monster. The reason behind all of this was her mother`s ego,
when she bragged that her daughter is more beautiful than Nereids, the sea nymphs. The word spread
and nymphs, the relatives of Poseidon, complained to their ruler. The god of the sea then sent one of his
minions to seek retribution. Cetus, the giant sea monster, constantly ravaged the coastal lands of
Ethiopia, caused many deaths and disabled any use of the sea. King Cepheus then sought help from
oracle of Delphi who told him that the only way to satisfy Poseidon would be to sacrifice Andromeda to
the monster. And when the princess was just approached by the monster, Perseus descended from the
sky to take a closer look at the princess. Overwhelmed by her beauty, Perseus immediately fell in love
with her and was even more determined to kill the monster which had just interrupted their first
conversation. He overcame the monster and released the princess from chains.
(http://www.greek-gods.org/greek-heroes/perseus.php)
Cretan Bull
THE TAUROS KRETAIOS (or Cretan bull) was a handsome bull sent forth from the sea by
Poseidon. The Cretan Queen Pasiphae lusted after the animal and coupled with it, hidden inside a
wooden cow crafted by the artificer Daidalos. She gave birth to the monstrous Minotauros, a creature
with the head of a bull.
Herakles was commanded to fetch the bull of Krete as one of his Twelve Labours. Upon
completion of this task Herakles he set the creature free and it eventually came to the Athenian town of
Marathon where it laid waste to the countryside. There it was destroyed by the hero Theseus. The gods
placed the bull among the stars as the Constellation Taurus, along with the Hydra, Nemean Lion and
various other creatures from Herakles' labours.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 8 - 11 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Asterios [King of Krete] died childless. Minos aspired to the throne [of Krete], but was rebuffed. He
claimed, however, that he had received the sovereignty from the gods, and to prove it he said that
whatever he prayed for would come about. So while sacrificing to Poseidon, he prayed for a bull to
appear from the depths of the sea, and promised to sacrifice it upon its appearance. And Poseidon did
send up to him a splendid bull. Thus Minos received the rule, but he sent the bull to his herds and
sacrificed another. Poseidon was angry that the bull was not sacrificed, and turned it wild. He also
devised that Pasiphae should develop a lust for it. In her passion for the bull she took on as her
accomplice an architect named Daidalos . . . He built a woden cow on wheels, took it, hollowed it out in
the inside, skinned a real cow, and sewed the contraption into the skin, and then, after placing Pasiphae
inside, set it in a meadow where the bull normally grazed. The bull came up and had intercourse with it,
as if with a real cow.
Pasiphae gave birth to Asterios, who was called Minotauros. He had the face of a bull, but was
otherwise human. Minos, following certain oracular instructions, kept him confined and under guard in
the labyrinth. This labyrinth, which Daidalos built, was a cage with convoluted flextions that disorders
debouchment.”
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/TaurosKretaios.html)
Cretan Bull (http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#CretanBull)
Minos, the king of Crete, had prayed to Poseidon, to send him a bull, so he could honour and
sacrifice to the sea god. Poseidon answered the king's prayer, by sending a beautiful, white bull from the
sea. However, Minos broke his word to the god, refusing to sacrifice the beautiful bull to Poseidon.
What was special about the Cretan Bull was its ability to walk on the water surface.
Poseidon punished Minos by making the king's wife, Pasiphaë (Pasiphae), the daughter of the
sun god Helius, fall in love with the bull. Pasiphaë copulated with the Cretan Bull, giving birth to a
monstrous offspring called Minotaur. The Minotaur had a body of man, but a head of a bull. Minos
confined the monster in the Labyrinth.
Later, Heracles had to perform the seventh labour, which was to fetch the Cretan Bull for his
cousin Eurystheus. Minos, who was embarrassed with the incident with his wife and bull, he was eager
to give the bull away to Heracles. Heracles brought the bull to Greece, by riding on its back as it swam
to Tiryns.
Aegeus, the king of Athens, sent Androgeus, the son of Minos, to confront the bull and was
killed. His death was the source of the war between Crete and Athens. Winning the war, Minos forced
Aegeus to pay a tribute every nine years. Minos demanded seven youth and seven maidens as tribute.
The Athenian youths and maidens were left in the Labyrinth, to feed his monster, the Minotaur,
offspring of the Cretan (Marathonian) Bull.
After Theseus became king, the hero decided to get rid of the bull that ravaged the plain of
Marathon. Theseus killed the Cretan (Marathonian) Bull.
Cyclopes
The Cyclops were a race of one-eyed giants. The name "Cyclops" comes from words meaning
"wheel-eyed", because each of them was big enough that his eye was as big as a wagon wheel. Some
Cyclops were responsible for making the thunderbolts used by Zeus as his favorite weapon, but the one
you see here wasn't one of those.
This is Polyphemus, most famous of the Cyclops, a race of wild monsters.. A son of Poseidon,
god of the sea, Polyphemus had a herd of giant sheep he tended in a remote part of Sicily, where he
lived. The great Odysseus landed his ship there, and sought shelter in a cave (which they did no know
was Polyphemus's home until they became trapped in there with him when he rolled a huge boulder in
front of the door). Polyphemus caught two of Odysseus's men and ate them raw before going to sleep,
and in the morning, ate two more for breakfast, before leaving with his sheep and rolling the boulder in
front of the cave, trapping the men inside again. But Odysseus had his men take a huge pole that was
inside the cave, sharpen one end of it, and heat it in a fire until it was hard and dry. When Polyphemus
came back to the cave, the men drove the pole into the Cyclops's eye, blinding him. Polyphemus sealed
off the cave again, and spent the night trying to catch the men, but he could not. He roared out, "Who
has done this to me?" and Odysseus replied, "I am Noman, and Noman has done this to you!"
In the morning, Polyphemus rolled the boulder away from the door to let out the sheep. He felt
the back of each sheep to see if the men were riding the sheep out - but Odysseus had each of his men
hang underneath the sheep as they left the cave, and the blind Cyclops missed them. The Cyclops called
to his brothers to come and help him, and when they asked who had harmed him, Polyphemus said "No
man! No man has done this to me!" The others said, "If no man has done this to you, then it must be a
god who has done it. We will not interfere in the affairs of the gods!" and they left him alone.
Odysseus got his men back to the ship, and made good his escape. When he was far enough
away that he knew Polyphemus could not reach his ship, he shouted taunts at Polyphemus, which
enraged the Cyclops so much that he tore off the top of a mountain and threw it at the ship. It missed,
but the waves pushed the ship almost all the way back to shore. Odysseus got away again, and shouted
back to Polyphemus, "I am not Noman, but Odysseus, ruler of Ithaca. Tell everyone that I, Odysseus,
blinded the mighty Polyphemus!" Polyphemus cried out for vengeance to his father, Poseidon, who tried
for the next ten years to destroy Odysseus, before Odysseus finally made it home to his island kingdom.
PRONUNCIATION:
Cyclops: SAI- clops
Polyphemus: Polly- FEE- mus
Odysseus: o- DISS- ee- us (or o- DEESE- ee- us)
Noman: Pronounce as you would "no man"
Ithaca: ITH- uh- kuh, like the city in New York State
Poseidon: po- SIGH- don
(http://www.museumofmythology.com/Greek/cyclops.htm)
Cyclopes
THE ELDER KYKLOPES (or Cyclopes) were the three, orb-eyed, immortal giants who forged
the lightning-bolts of Zeus. As soon as they were born, their father Ouranos (the Sky) locked them away
inside the belly of Earth, along with their stormy brothers, the Hekatonkheires. When the Titanes
overthrew him, they then drove the giants into the pit of Tartaros. Zeus and his brothers eventually
released them and in return they provided the god with his thunderbolt, Poseidon with his storm-raising
trident, and Haides with a helm of invisibility. Some say there were a total of seven forging Kyklopes.
The additional four, sons of the first, were slain by Apollon to avenge the death of his son Asklepios,
who was struck down by lightning.
THE YOUNGER KYKLOPES were a primitive tribe of one-eyed Giants who lived in caves and
herded flocks on the Homeric island of Hypereia, which was later identified by the Greeks with Sicily. It
was here that Odysseus encountered the Kyklops Polyphemos.
The Hypereian Kyklopes were closely related to the Gigantes and Phaiakians, who were both
born from the blood of the castrated Ouranos which spilt upon the earth.
The foremost of these giants in strength and height was Polyphemos who, unlike the rest of the
tribe, was a son of the god Poseidon.
(http://www.theoi.com/Gigante/GigantesKyklopes.html)
Cyclopes
The Cyclopes were giant beings with a single, round eye in the middle of their foreheads.
According to Hesiod, they were strong, stubborn, and "abrupt of emotion." Their every action ebbed
with violence and power. There are actually two generations of Cyclopes in Greek myth. The first
generation consisted of three brothers, Brontes ("thunderer"), Steropes ("flasher"), and Arges
("brightener"), who came from the union of Gaia (earth) and Uranus (sky). The second generation
descended from Poseidon, and the most famous of these was Polyphemus from Homer's Odyssey.
Brontes, Steropes, and Arges (the three descended from Gaia and Uranus) were the inventive
blacksmiths of the Olympian gods. They were skilled metal workers and created Zeus' thunderbolts,
Poseidon's trident, and Hades' Helmet of Darkness that was later used by Perseus while on his quest to
decapitate Medusa. However, they spent the majority of their early existence imprisoned. Their father
Uranus (sky) hated all of his offspring (the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatonchires or hundred-handers)
and kept them confined deep within Gaia (earth). The defeat of Uranus by his son Cronus (a Titan) freed
the Cyclopes for a time, but Cronus was a paranoid ruler. He feared the Cyclopes' power and cast them
into Tartarus (the place of punishment in the underworld) where they remained imprisoned until Zeus
(an Olympian and son of Cronus) released them, requiring their aid in the Titanomachy (battle of the
Titans). With the assistance of the Cyclopes and their thunderbolts, Zeus overthrew Cronus and the
Titans and became ruler of the cosmos. He was grateful for the Cyclopes' help and allowed them to stay
in Olympus as his armorers and helpers to Hephaestus, god of smiths. The Greeks also credited them
with building the massive fortifications at Tiryns and Mycenae in the Peloponnese.
Brontes, Steropes, and Arges are mainly mentioned in passing in most of the myths to convey
strength in heroes and the fine quality of weapons but are major characters in one other event their
deaths at the hands of Apollo. Zeus struck Asclepius, Apollo's son, down with a thunderbolt for having
risen a person from the dead. Apollo was outraged and killed the Cyclopes who had forged the deadly
thunderbolt. It appears that Apollo's rage was misplaced, yet by killing the Cyclopes, he was indirectly
punishing Zeus. The ghosts of Brontes, Steropes, and Arges are said to dwell in Mt. Aetna, an active
volcano that smokes as a result of their burning forges.
The second generation of Cyclopes was a band of lawless shepherds living in Sicily who had lost
the skill of metallurgy. Polyphemus, son of Poseidon and the sea nymph Thoosa, is the only notable
individual of the lot and figures prominently in Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus and his crew landed on
Sicily, realm of the Cyclopes. He and a few of his best men became trapped in Polyphemus' cave when
Polyphemus rolled a large boulder in front of the entrance to corral his sheep while Odysseus was still
inside. Polyphemus was fond of human flesh and devoured many of the men for dinner. On the second
night, Odysseus told Polyphemus that his name was "Nobody," and tricked him into drinking enough
wine to pass out. While he was incapacitated, Odysseus/Nobody blinded him with a red hot poker.
Polyphemus shouted in pain to the other Cyclopes on the island that "Nobody" was trying to kill him, so
no one came to his rescue. Eventually, he had to roll away the stone to allow his sheep to graze.
Odysseus and the remaining crew clung to the bellies of the exiting sheep where Polyphemus could not
feel them as they passed him on their way to pasture and escaped. As Odysseus sailed away from the
island, he shouted to Polyphemus that it was Odysseus who had blinded him. Enraged, the Cyclops
threw huge boulders at the ship and shouted to his father, Poseidon, to avenge him.
Recent scholars have hypothesized about the origin of the Cyclopes' single eye. One possibility
is that in ancient times, smiths could have worn an eye patch over one eye to prevent being blinded in
both eyes from flying sparks. Also, smiths sometimes tattooed themselves with concentric circles which
could have been in honor of the sun which provided the fire for their furnaces. Concentric rings were
also part of the pattern for making bowls, helmets, masks, and other metal objects. Notice that the first
generation Cyclopes were associated with metal-working while the second generation was not.
Apparently, the lawless band of Cyclopes is a later addition to the myths. The incidence with
Polyphemus seems to have had an independent existence from the Odyssey before Homer added it to his
epic adventure. It was probably told as a separate myth at certain functions.
It is uncertain why the Cyclopes were demoted from the smiths of the gods to a lawless group of
monsters with no reverence for the gods. When the universe came into being, there were many monsters
and vague forms that were gradually replaced with beings with more human forms. Order was replacing
chaos. The monsters were phased out, and this could have lead to the transformation of the "good"
Cyclopes to the "evil" Cyclopes that were destined to be fought and defeated by the divine human form.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cyclopes.html)
Echidna
EKHIDNA (or Echidna) was a monstrous she-dragon (drakaina) with the head and breast of a
woman. She probably represented or presided over the corruptions of the earth : rot, slime, fetid waters,
illness and disease.
She was often equated with Python (the rotting one), a dragon born of the fetid slime left behind
by the great Deluge. Others call her the Tartarean lamprey, and assigned her to the dark, swampy pit of
Tartaros beneath the earth. Hesiod, makes her a daughter of monstrous sea-gods, and presumably
associates her with rotting sea-scum and fetid salt-marshes.
In all cases, she was described as the consort of Typhoeus, a monstrous storm-daemon who challenged
Zeus in heaven. Together they spawned a host of terrible monsters to plague the earth.
Other closely related she-dragons included the Argive Ekhidna and Poine, the Tartarean Kampe,
and the Phokian Sybaris.
In the image (right), Ekhidna is equated with Python. Apollo seated on the omphalos stone slays her
with his arrows : in the motif of healing god (Paian) destroying plague-bringing demon.
Hesiod, Theogony 295 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
"But she [Keto] bore [to Phorkys] another unmanageable monster like nothing human nor like the
immortal gods either, in a hollow cave. This was the divine and haughty Ekhidna, and half of her is a
Nymphe with a fair face and eyes glancing, but the other half is a monstrous serpent (ophis), terrible,
enormous and squirming and voracious, there in earth's secret places. For there she has her cave on the
underside of a hollow rock, far from the immortal gods, and far from all mortals. There the gods
ordained her a fabulous home to live in which she keeps underground among the Arimoi, grisly
Ekhidna, a Nymphe who never dies, and all her days she is ageless."
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakainaEkhidna1.html)
Echidna
(http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Echidna_%28mythology%29.html)
In Greek mythology, Echidna (Greek: Ἔχιδνα, ekhis, ἔχις, meaning "she viper") was half
woman half snake, known as the "Mother of All Monsters" because most of the monsters in Greek myth
were mothered by her. Hesiod described her as:
[...] the goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and half
again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the
holy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless gods and
mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in
Arima beneath the earth, grim Echidna, a nymph who dies not nor grows old all her days.
According to Apollodorus, Echidna was the daughter of Tartarus and Gaia, while according to
Hesiod, either Ceto and Phorcys or Chrysaor and the naiad Callirhoe were her parents. Another account
says her parents were Peiras and Styx (according to Pausanias, who did not know who Peiras was aside
from her father). Echidna was a drakaina, with the face and torso of a beautiful woman (depicted as
winged in archaic vase-paintings) and the body of a serpent, sometimes having two serpent's tails. She is
also sometimes described, as Karl Kerenyi noted, in archaic vase-painting, with a pair of echidnas
performing sacred rites in a vineyard, while on the opposite side of the vessel, goats were attacking the
vines: thus chthonic Echidnae are presented as protectors of the vineyard.
The site of her cave Homer calls "Arima, couch of Typhoeus".[8] When she and her mate
attacked the Olympians, Zeus beat them back and punished Typhon by sealing him under Mount Etna.
However, Zeus allowed Echidna and her children to live as a challenge to future heroes. Although to
Hesiod (Theogony above), she was an immortal and ageless nymph, according to Apollodorus, Echidna
used to "carry off passers-by", until she was finally killed where she slept by Argus Panoptes, the
hundred-eyed giant.
Echidna
Echidna was a monster that played an intriguing part in Greek mythology. And this creature
earned her legendary reputation as an important mythic monster for two main reasons. The first was due
to her striking appearance, for Echidna was commonly portrayed as an odd and unsettling juxtaposition
of beautiful woman and deadly serpent. The second reason that Echidna is significant in myth comes
from the tradition that she was the mother to a motley assortment of monsters. With these points in
mind, let us now explore Echidna’s story in more detail.
Legend has it that Echidna was the daughter of a pair of powerful mythical beings. Some sources
claim that she was the child of Tartarus and Gaia, while others propose a different set of parents entirely.
Indeed, the ancient poet Hesiod suggests that Echidna was the offspring of Ceto and Phorcys. Hesiod
also gives us a glimpse of Echidna in his Theogony, as the following passage from this work will
demonstrate:
“Then Ceto bore another invincible monster,
in no way like mortal men or the deathless gods;
yes, in a hollow cave she bore Echidna, divine
and iron-hearted, half fair-cheeked and bright-eyed nymph
and half huge and monstrous snake inside the holy earth,
a snake that strikes swiftly and feeds on living flesh.
Her lair is a cave under a hollow rock,
far from immortal gods and mortal men;
the gods decreed for her a glorious dwelling there.”
(Hesiod, Theogony, 295-303)
In addition to revealing the name of her parents, describing her appearance, and explaining that
she lived in a secluded cave, Hesiod also includes another important element in his of discussion of
Echidna. For Hesiod’s Theogony features a list of offspring to which this prolific monster gave birth.
Echidna bore Orthus (the dog of Geryon), Cerberus, the Hydra of Lerna, and the Chimera after mating
with Typhon. Hesiod adds that Echidna then produced the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion as a result of
her union with Orthrus.
According to some versions of the myth, Echidna was eventually killed by Argus - but of course
only after she had given birth to what amounts to a horde of malicious monsters and other creatures.
(http://www.mythography.com/myth/welcome-to-mythography/greek-chimerae/monsters-1/echidna/)
Graeae
The Graeae (English translation: "old women", "gray ones", "gray sisters", or "gray witches";
alternatively spelled Graiai (Γραῖαι), Graiae, Graii), were three sisters who shared one eye, and one
tooth among them. They are one of several trios of archaic goddesses in Greek mythology. The Graeae
were daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Thus, they were among the Phorcydes, all of which were
primordial deities of the sea or of the earth. The Graiae were sisters to the Gorgons. The Graeae took the
form of old grey-haired women; though, at times poets euphemistically described them as "beautiful."
Their age was so great that a human childhood for them was hardly conceivable. Hesiod reports their
names as Deino (Δεινώ "dread", the dreadful anticipation of horror), Enyo (Ἐνυώ "horror" the "waster
of cities" who had an identity separate from this sisterhood) and Pemphredo (Πεμφρηδώ "alarm").
Hyginus adds a fourth, Persis or Perso.
Like another set of crones at the oldest levels of both Germanic and Norse mythology, they
shared one eye and one tooth, which they took turns using. By stealing their eye while they were passing
it amongst themselves, the hero Perseus forced them to tell the whereabouts of the three objects needed
to kill Medusa (in other versions the whereabouts of Medusa herself), by ransoming their shared eye for
the information. One might compare the Graeae with the three spinners of Destiny, (the Moirae); the
northern European Norns; or the Baltic goddess Laima and her two sisters; though all are distinct trios.
(http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Graeae.html)
Graeae
Deino, which means dread, was one of the three Graeae (gray women) in Greek Mythology. Her
parents were Phorcys and Ceto. She had quite a few sisters including Enys, Pemphredo, and Graea. Her
other sisters were female monsters known as the Gorgons. The Gorgons, who the Graea guarded, were
Euryale, Sthenno, and Medusa. The best known Gorgon, Medusa, had snakes for hair, and turned
whoever looked at her to stone.
There were several ways in which Deino and her sisters Enys and Pemphredo were unique. First,
they had been gray-haired since their birth (hence their name). But even more interesting, they only
shared one eye and one tooth among them. This occasionally led to trouble.
In one mythological story King Polydectes sent Perseus off to bring back the head of Medusa,
one of the Gorgons. Since Perseus needed information on where to find Medusa, he went to Deino and
the other two Graeae. As the sisters were passing their eye between them, Perseus snatched it and held it
until they told him everything he wanted to know.
Deino, which means dread, was one of the three Graeae (gray women) in Greek Mythology. Her
parents were Phorcys and Ceto. She had quite a few sisters including Enys, Pemphredo, and Graea. Her
other sisters were female monsters known as the Gorgons. The Gorgons, who the Graea guarded, were
Euryale, Sthenno, and Medusa. The best known Gorgon, Medusa, had snakes for hair, and turned
whoever looked at her to stone.
There were several ways in which Deino and her sisters Enys and Pemphredo were unique. First,
they had been gray-haired since their birth (hence their name). But even more interesting, they only
shared one eye and one tooth among them. This occasionally led to trouble.
In one mythological story King Polydectes sent Perseus off to bring back the head of Medusa,
one of the Gorgons. Since Perseus needed information on where to find Medusa, he went to Deino and
the other two Graeae. As the sisters were passing their eye between them, Perseus snatched it and held it
until they told him everything he wanted to know.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/deino.html)
Enyo: A Greek goddess of war and waster of cities, sometimes depicted as the daughter of Ares,
but also as his mother or his sister. She appears covered in blood, and striking attitudes of violence.
Enyo ("horror") is one of the Graeae, the three 'old women'. In Rome she was identified with Bellona.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/enyo.html)
Pemphredo is one of the Graeae from Greek myth. Some historians have translated the name as
‘Wasp’ while others state that it means ‘the one who guides’. The later translation describes the role that
the Graeae play in the story of Perseus.
The hero Perseus is keen to find the location of Medusa (or in some versions the location and
knowledge of the 3 items needed in order to slay Medusa). The Graeae refuse but Perseus manages the
force them into telling him.
Some historians such as Apollodorus and Hesoid do not use the name Pemphredo but use Persis
as the name of one of the Graeae sisters. Further, Hesoid only states two sisters, the other being Enyo
(http://www.mythicalcreatureslist.com/mythical-creature/Pemphredo)
Gorgons
The Gorgons were a trio of monsters in Greek mythology. They were sisters who were legendary
for their horrible faces (and bodies), and ancient Greek artists seemed especially fond of depicting the
Gorgons as grotesque creatures. And because of their terrifying appearance and abilities, these mythic
monsters were the perfect beings to play evil enemy to a host of Greek heroes.
One of our best primary sources for information about the Gorgons comes from the Theogony of
Hesiod. In this poem that describes the birth of the Greek gods and goddesses, we learn that the Gorgons
were the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. In addition, we find some other important hints about the
nature of these monsters from Hesiod:
“To Phorcys Ceto bore the fair-cheeked Graiae…
then the Gorgons, who dwell beyond glorious Okeanos,
at earth’s end, toward night, by the clear-voiced Hesperides,
Stheno, Euryale, and ill-fated Medusa
who was mortal; the other two were ageless and immortal.”
(Hesiod, Theogony, 270-277)
So from this passage in the Theogony, we know that the Gorgons were the sisters of the Graiae;
that they lived in the far West; that they were named Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa; and that two of the
sisters - Stheno and Euryale - were immortal, while the third - Medusa - was mortal and therefore could
be killed (and indeed, Medusa, as the sole mortal sister, is most famous in mythology for the story of her
tragic life and death).
As was previously mentioned, the Gorgons are also notorious for their distinctive appearance.
According to ancient Greek artists, these monsters were not just ugly - they were hideous. The Gorgons
are commonly portrayed in ancient art with snakes for hair, enormous tongues, teeth that would make a
boar blush with envy, and a stare that could literally petrify. However, it is also worth noting that in
some versions of the myth of the Gorgons, Medusa is described as a beautiful woman who makes the
unfortunate mistake of comparing her beauty to that of the goddess Athena - see the page about Medusa
for more details.
(http://www.mythography.com/myth/welcome-to-mythography/greek-chimerae/monsters1/gorgons/)
Gorgons
In Greek mythology a Gorgon is a monstrous feminine creature whose appearance would turn
anyone who laid eyes upon it to stone. Later there were three of them: Euryale ("far-roaming"), Sthenno
("forceful"), and Medusa ("ruler"), the only one of them who was mortal. They are the three daughters
of Phorcys and Ceto.
The Gorgons are monstrous creatures covered with impenetrable scales, with hair of living
snakes, hands made of brass, sharp fangs and a beard. They live in the ultimate west, near the ocean, and
guard the entrance to the underworld.
A stone head or picture of a Gorgon was often placed or drawn on temples and graves to avert
the dark forces of evil, but also on the shields of soldiers. Such a head (called a gorgoneion) could also
be found on the older coins of Athens. Artists portrayed a Gorgon head with snake hair, and
occasionally with a protruding tongue and wings.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gorgons.html)
Gorgons
In Greek mythology, the Gorgon (plural: Gorgons) (Greek: Γοργών or Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo)
was a terrifying female creature. It derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While
descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters
who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying gaze that turned those who beheld it to stone.
Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was
not, and was slain by the mythical hero Perseus.
Gorgons were a popular image of Greek mythology, appearing in the earliest of written records
of Ancient Greek religious beliefs such as those of Homer. Because of their legendary gaze, images of
the Gorgons were put upon objects and buildings for protection. For example, an image of a Gorgon
holds the primary location at the pediment of the temple at Corfu. It is the oldest stone pediment in
Greece and is dated to c. 600 BC.
Gorgons sometimes are depicted as having wings of gold, brazen claws, the tusks of boars, but
most often with the fangs and skin of a serpent. The oldest oracles were said to be protected by serpents
and a Gorgon image often was associated with those temples. Lionesses or sphinxes frequently are
associated with the Gorgon as well. The powerful image of the Gorgon was adopted for the classical
images and myths of Zeus and Athena, perhaps being worn in continuation of a more ancient imagery.
The Gorgons were said to be the daughters of the sea god Phorcys and sister Ceto the sea monster.
(https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Gorgons.html)
Harpies
"Robbers". In earlier versions of Greek myth, Harpies were described as beautiful, winged
maidens. Later they became winged monsters with the face of an ugly old woman and equipped with
crooked, sharp talons. They were represented carrying off persons to the underworld and inflicting
punishment or tormenting them. Those persons were never seen again. They robbed the food from
Phineus, but were driven away by Cailas and Zetes, the Boreads, and since then they lived on the
Strophades. The Harpies were probably the personification of storm winds. They are: Aello, Celaeno,
and Ocypete.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/harpies.html)
Harpies
HARPYIAE (Harpies), that is, "the swift robbers," are (according to Homer) nothing but
personified storm winds. Homer mentions only one by name—Podarge. When a person suddenly
disappeared from the earth, it was said that he had been carried off by the Harpies; thus, they carried off
the daughters of king Pandareus, and gave them as servants to the Erinnyes.
According to Hesiod, the Harpies were the daughters of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, fairlocked and winged maidens, who surpassed winds and birds in the rapidity of their flight. Their names
in Hesiod are Aëllo and Ocypete. But even as early as the time of Aeschylus, they are described as ugly
creatures with wings, and later writers carry their notions of the Harpies so far as to represent them as
most disgusting monsters. They were sent by the gods as a punishment to harass the blind Phineus, and
whenever a meal was placed before him, they darted down from the air and carried it off; later writers
add, that they either devoured the food themselves, or that they dirtied it by dropping upon it some
stinking substance, so as to render it unfit to be eaten.
They are further described in these later accounts as birds with the heads of maidens, with long
claws on their hands, and with faces pale with hunger.
The traditions about their parentage likewise differ in the different traditions, for some called
them the daughters of Pontus (or Poseidon) and Terra, of Typhon, or even of Phineus. Their number is
either two, as in Hesiod and Apollodorus, or three; but their names are not the same in all writers, and,
besides those already mentioned, we find Aëllopos, Nicothoë, Ocythoë, Ocypode, Celaeno, Acholoë.
Their place of abode is either the islands called Strophades, a place at the entrance of Orcus, or a cave in
Crete.
The most celebrated story in which the Harpies play a part is that of Phineus, at whose residence
the Argonauts arrived while he was plagued by the monsters. He promised to instruct them respecting
the course they had to take, if they would deliver him from the Harpies. When the food for Phineus was
laid out on a table, the Harpies immediately came, and were attacked by the Boreades, Zetes and Calais,
who were among the Argonauts, and provided with wings. According to an ancient oracle, the Harpies
were to perish by the hands of the Boreades, but the latter were to die if they could not overtake the
Harpies. The latter fled, but one fell into the river Tigris, which was hence called Harpys, and the other
reached the Echinades, and as she never returned, the islands were called Strophades. But being worn
out with fatigue, she fell down simultaneously with her pursuer; and, as they promised no further to
molest Phineus, the two Harpies were not deprived of their lives.
According to others, the Boreades were on the point of killing the Harpies, when Iris or Hermes
appeared, and commanded the conquerors to set them free, or both the Harpies as well as the Boreades
died.
(http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Harpyiai.html)
Harpies
In Greek mythology, a harpy ("snatcher", from Latin: harpeia, originating in Greek: ἅρπυια,
harpūia) was one of the winged spirits best known for constantly stealing all food from Phineas. The
literal meaning of the word seems to be "that which snatches" as it comes from the ancient Greek word
harpazein (ἁρπάζειν), which means "to snatch".
A harpy was the mother by the West Wind Zephyros of the horses of Achilles.[1] In this context
Jane Ellen Harrison adduced the notion in Virgil's Georgics (iii.274) that mares became gravid by the
wind alone, marvelous to say.[2]
Hesiod[3] calls them two "lovely-haired" creatures, perhaps euphemistically. Harpies as ugly
winged bird-women, e.g. in Aeschylus' The Eumenides (line 50) are a late development, due to a
confusion with the Sirens. Roman and Byzantine writers detailed their ugliness.[4]
The harpies were sisters of Iris, daughters of Thaumas and Electra.[5]
Phineas, a king of Thrace, had the gift of prophecy. Zeus, angry that Phineas revealed too much,
punished him by blinding him and putting him on an island with a buffet of food which he could never
eat. The harpies always arrived and stole the food out of his hands before he could satisfy his hunger,
and befouled the remains of his food. This continued until the arrival of Jason and the Argonauts. The
Boreads, sons of Boreas, the North Wind, who also could fly, succeeded in driving off the harpies, but
without killing any of them, following a request from Iris, who promised that Phineas would not be
bothered by the harpies again, and "the dogs of great Zeus" returned to their "cave in Minoan Crete".
(https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Harpy.html)
Hecatoncheires
THE HEKATONKHEIRES (or Hecatoncheires) were three giant gods of violent storms and
hurricanes summoned forth from the stormy pit of Tartaros. Each had a hundred hands and fifty heads,
for the weilding of the destructive power of storm. Their brothers were the Cyclopes, crafters of the
thunder and lightning of Zeus. The six were connected with the stormy season in Greece which followed
the rise of the Constellation Altar in November.
As soon as these six gigantic storm-brothers were born, their father, Uranus (Sky), bound them in
the pit of Tartaros, in fear of their power. Zeus later released them from this prison in his war against the
Titans, utilizing their power to achieve victory and become master of the skies. After the war, Kottos
and Gyes were given palaces in the River Okeanos and, Briareos, a home in the depths of the Aegean
Sea. Together they appear to have functioned as doorkeepers for the storms of Tartaros, releasing them
at the command of the gods.
A fourth Hecatoncheire-like daimon (another spelling of daemon, a mythological being tht is
part-god and part-human) was Typhoeus, a god of destructive storms. Unlike the Hecatoncheires, he was
a son of Tartaros, rather than Uranus, and an enemy of Zeus. After being defeated by the god, he was
bound in Tartaros as the primal source of all Hurricanes and Storm-Winds.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 1 - 7 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Uranus (Heaven) was the first to rule over the entire world. He married Ge (Earth) and sired first the
Hecatoncheires, who were named Briareos, Gyes and Kottos. They were unsurpassed in both size and
power, and each had a hundred hands and fifty heads. After these he sired the Cycloes, by name Arges,
Steropes, and Brontes, each of whom had one eye in his forehead. But Uranus bound these and threw
them into Tartaros, a place in Haides’ realm as dark as Erebos, and as far away from the earth as the
earth is from the sky . . .
Now Ge, distressed by the loss of her children into Tartaros, persuaded the Titanes to attack their
father, and she gave Cronus a sickle made of adamant (a legendary, extremely hard stone). So all of
them except Oceanus set upon Uranus, and Cronos cut off his genitals, tossing them into the sea. (From
the drops of the flowing blood Erinyes were born, named Alekto, Tisiphone, Megaira.) Thus having
overthrown Uranus’s rule, the Titanes retrieved their brothers from Tartaros and gave the power to
Cronus. But Cronus once again bound the Cyclopes and confined them in Tartaros.
After ten years of fighting Ge prophesied a victory for Zeus if he were to secure the prisoners
down in Tartaros as his allies. He thereupon slew their jail-keeper Kampe, and freed them from their
bonds. In return the Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder, lightning, and a thunderbolt, as well as a helmet for
Haides and a trident for Poseidon. Armed with these the three gods overpowered the Titanes, confined
them in Tartaros, and put the Hecatoncheires in charge of guarding them."
(http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Hekatonkheires.html)
Hecatoncheires
The Hecatonchires were born of Gaia and Uranus. They were stronger, more overbearing, and more
fierce than even the mighty Cyclopes. They had 100 arms and 50 heads each. Their names were Cottus,
Briareus, and Gyges. Uranus was disgusted by these children, so in a fit of outrage he cast them into
Tartarus to be locked up forever. Gaia was distressed about this and asked the Titans for help in
retrieving them. Only Cronus agreed to help. Cronus waited for Uranus under his bed. That night, when
Uranus laid with Gaia, Cronus castrated Uranus and cast his genitals behind his head and into the sea.
This caused foam in the sea and blood drops on the land. The foam was the birthplace of Aphrodite. The
blood drops gave birth to the giants and nymphs.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hecatonchires.html)
Hippocampus
The Hippocampus is commonly seen in ancient Greek art and is a mythical creature associated with the
Greek god of the ocean - Poseidon (or Neptune in Roman myth). The Hippocampus has the top half of a
horse including head neck and forelegs and the lower part of a fish, a dolphin or in some rare cases a
serpent. Therefore the Hippocampus is literally a sea-horse. The name comes from the Greek ‘hippos’
meaning horse and ‘kampos’ meaning sea monster.
Poseidon was the god of horses as well as the god of the sea and earthquakes. Many Hippocampi were
needed to draw the chariot of the sea of Poseidon. Homer describes Poseidon as driving a chariot pulled
by brazen-hoofed horses across the sea. The Hippocampus appears frequently in bronzeware, silverware
and paintings of the ancient Greeks and the Etruscans but also feature in the artworks of India and
Mesopotamia. According to one tale when the city of Helike was submerged by an earthquake the
Hippocampi swam free above the city and pulled on the lines of fisherman's rods. The Hippocampus are
also the mounts for the Nerieds and spiritual beings. There are 4 other fish tailed animals like the
Hippocampus:




Leokampos - a fish-tailed lion.
Taurokampos - a fish-tailed bull.
Pardalokampos - a fish-tailed leopard.
Aigikampos - a fish-tailed goat which later became Capricorn.
The Hippocampi is also a creature of medieval heraldry. However its appearance is quite different. It
still has the upper-half of a horse but is has webbed feet instead of hooves and dorsal fin of a dolphin
instead of a mane. It has the tail of a fish and in some cases the wings of a bird.
- See more at: http://www.mythicalcreatureslist.com/mythicalcreature/Hippocampus#sthash.nMW9aBfJ.dpuf
Hippocampus
HIPPOKAMPOI (or Hippocamps) were the horses of the sea. They were depicted as composite
creatures with the head and fore-parts of a horse and the serpentine tail of a fish. In mosaic art they were
often covered with green scales and had fish-fin manes and appendages. The ancients believed they were
the adult-form of the fish we call the "sea-horse". Hippokampoi were the mounts of Nereid nymphs and
sea-gods, and Poseidon drove a chariot drawn by two or four of the beasts.
Hydra
Hydra was a gigantic, nine-headed water-serpent, which haunted the swamps of Lerna. Herakles
(Hercules) was sent to destroy her as one of his twelve labours, but for each of her heads that he
decapitated, two more sprang forth. So with the help of Iolaos, he applied burning brands to the severed
stumps, cauterizing (burn tissue to stop bleeding) the wounds and preventing regeneration. In the battle
he also crushed a giant crab beneath his heel which had come to assist Hydra. The Hydra and the Crab
were afterwards placed amongst the stars by Hera as the Constellations Hydra and Cancer.
HYDRA. This monster, like the lion, was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and was brought up by
Hera. It ravaged the country of Lernae near Argos, and dwelt in a swamp near the well of Amymone: it
was formidable by its nine heads, the middle of which was immortal. Heracles, with burning arrows,
hunted up the monster, and with his club or a sickle he cut off its heads; but in the place of the head he
cut off, two new ones grew forth each time, and a gigantic crab came to the assistance of the hydra, and
wounded Heracles. However, with the assistance of his faithful servant Iolaus, he burned away the heads
of the hydra, and buried the ninth or immortal one under a huge rock. Having thus conquered the
monster, he poisoned his arrows with its bile, whence the wounds inflicted by them became incurable.
Eurystheus declared the victory unlawful, as Heracles had won it with the aid of Iolaus.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 77 - 80 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"For his second labour Herakles was instructed to slay the Lernaian Hydra. The beast was nurtured in
the marshes of Lerna, from where she would go out onto the flatland to raid flocks and ruin the land.
The Hydra was of enormous size, with eight mortal heads, and a ninth one in the middle that was
immortal. With Iolaos driving, Herakles rode a chariot to Lerna, and there, stopping the horses, he found
the Hydra on a ridge beside the springs of Amymone where she nested. By throwing flaming spears at
her he forced her to emerge, and as she did he was able to catch hold. But she hung on to him by
wrapping herself round one of his feet, and he was unable to help matters by striking her with his club,
for as soon as one head was pounded off two others would grow in its place. Then a giant crab came
along to help the Hydra, and bit Herakles on the foot. For this he killed the crab, and called on his own
behalf to Iolaos for help. Iolaos made some torches by setting fire to a portion of the adjoining woods,
and, by using these to burn the buddings of the heads, he kept them from growing. When he had
overcome this problem, Herakles lopped off the immortal head, which he buried and covered with a
heavy boulder at the side of the road that runs through Lerna to Elaios. He cut up the Hydra's body and
dipped his arrows in its venom."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 80 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"He [Herakles] cut up the Hydra's body and dipped his arrows in its venom."
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakonHydra.html)
Hydra
The Hydra which lived in the swamps near to the ancient city of Lerna in Argolis, was a terrifying
monster which like the Nemean lion was the offspring of Echidna (half maiden - half serpent), and
Typhon (had 100 heads), other versions think that the Hydra was the offspring of Styx and the Titan
Pallas. The Hydra had the body of a serpent and many heads (the number of heads deviates from five up
to one hundred there are many versions but generally nine is accepted as standard), of which one could
never be harmed by any weapon, and if any of the other heads were severed another would grow in its
place (in some versions two would grow). Also the stench from the Hydra's breath was enough to kill
man or beast (in other versions it was a deadly venom). When it emerged from the swamp it would
attack herds of cattle and local villagers, devouring them with its numerous heads. It totally terrorized
the vicinity for many years.
Heracles journeyed to Lake Lerna in a speedy chariot, and with him he took his nephew and charioteer
Iolaus, in search of the dreaded Hydra. When they finally reached the Hydras' hiding place, Heracles
told Iolaus to stay with the horses while he drew the monster from its hole with flaming arrows. This
brought out the hideous beast. Heracles courageously attacked the beast, flaying at each head with his
sword, (in some versions a scythe) but he soon realized that as one head was severed another grew in its
place. Heracles called for help from Iolaus, telling him to bring a flaming torch, and as Heracles cut off
the heads one by one from the Hydra, Iolaus cauterized the open wounds with the torch preventing them
from growing again. As Heracles fought the writhing monster he was almost stifled by its obnoxious
breath, but eventually, with the help of Iolaus, Heracles removed all but one of the Hydras' heads. The
one remaining could not be harmed by any weapon, so, picking up his hefty club Heracles crushed it
with one mighty blow, he then tore off the head with his bare hands and quickly buried it deep in the
ground, placing a huge boulder on the top. After he had killed the Hydra, Heracles dipped the tips of his
arrows into the Hydras' blood, which was extremely poisonous, making them deadly.
Other versions say that while Heracles fought the Hydra the goddess Hera sent down a giant crab which
attacked his feet). This legend comes from a marble relief dating from the 2nd century BCE found at
ancient Lerna, showing Heracles attacking the Hydra, and near his feet is a huge crab. Also other
legends say that a stray arrow set alight the forest, and it was the burning trunks which Heracles ripped
up and used to cauterize the open wounds.
Hydra
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic (relating to
the underworld) water beast that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vasepainters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent
even her tracks were deadly. The Hydra of Lerna was killed by Heracles as one of his Twelve Labours.
Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, though archaeology has borne out the myth that the sacred
site was older even than the Mycenaean city of Argos since Lerna was the site of the myth of the
Danaids. Beneath the waters was an entrance to the Underworld, and the Hydra was its guardian.
The Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna (Theogony, 313), both of whom were noisome
offspring of the earth goddess Gaia.
(https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Lernaean_Hydra.html)
Lamia
LAMIA was a child-devouring Daimon (a mythological being that is part-god and part-human). She was
a daughter of the god Poseidon, and the mother of the sea-monsters Skylla and Akheilos. Her name and
family suggest she was originally imagined as a large, aggressive shark.
In one story, Lamia was a Libyan queen loved by the god Zeus. When his jealous wife Hera learned of
their affair she stole away her children. Lamia went mad with grief, and tore out her own eyes. Zeus then
transformed her into a monster allowing her to exact her revenge by hunting and devouring the children
of others.
Lamia often appears as a bogey-monster, a night-haunting demon which preyed on children. She was
sometimes pluralised into ghostly, man-devouring demon Lamiai.
The Greek word lamia means dangerous lone-shark. Such sharks were also referred to as ketea (seamonsters). As such it is likely that she was identified with the monstrous sea-goddess Keto. Both Lamia
(Lone-Shark) and Keto (Sea-Monster) were said to have spawned the monster Skylla (the Rending One).
Another child of Lamia was the boy Akheilos (the Lipless One) who was transformed into a shark by the
goddess Aphrodite.
Bell, Women of Classical Mythology (sourced from Diodorus Siculus 22.41; Suidas 'Lamia'; Plutarch
'On Being a Busy-Body 2; Scholiast on Aristophanes' Peace 757; Eustathius on Homer's Odyssey 1714)
(Mythology dictionary C20th) :
"Lamia was a daughter of Belus and a queen in Libya. She was very beautiful and attracted the attention
of the ever-watchful and far-seeing Zeus. He had children by her, but Hera discovered their involvement
and kidnapped the children. Their ultimate fate is unknown. This loss drove Lamia insane; in revenge
and despair she snatched up the children of others and murdered them. The cruelty, which became
obsessive, caused her appearance to change, and she became ugly with distorted features [a shark].
Perhaps in a well-intended gesture, Zeus inexplicably gave her the power to take out her eyes and then
reinsert them."
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Lamia.html)
Lamia
Lamia was a beautiful woman from Libya, whom Zeus often visited and made love to. Each time she
gave birth to a child, the jealous Hera would murder Lamia's baby. Eventually, Lamia was so overcome
with grief that she was driven insane. Lamia became madly jealous of other mothers who could bear
children that Lamia was driven to snatching babies from their cribs at night, before devouring them.
For these hideous acts, Lamia was transformed into an ugly hideous monster, with the ability to remove
her eyes when she wanted to sleep.
Lamia was something like a Greek version of a vampire or an ogress, the ancient form of the bogeywoman, where mothers would frighten their children into behaving, or else child-eating monster would
come and snatch you, and devour you.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html)
Lamia
In Greek mythology, Lamia was the daughter of Libya and Belus. According to the legend, Zeus
engaged in an affair with Lamia. Hera, furious that her husband had cheated on her yet again, punished
the unfortunate Lamia. As a result of Hera’s wrath, Lamia was compelled to eat her own offspring. The
story takes an even uglier turn when we learn that the crazed Lamia then developed a taste for children.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Lamia is usually described as a sort of bogey-woman. Her story
was chilling and more than a bit macabre - perfect for frightening small children. It is said that Greek
mothers sometimes told their children this tale in order to make them behave.
However, the legend of the Lamia inspired more than fear, for the poet John Keats took up the subject in
his poem entitled simply Lamia. An excerpt from the poet’s description of Lamia follows:
“She was a gordian shape of dazzling hue,
Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue;
Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard,
Eyed like a peacock, and all crimson barr’d;
And full of silver moons, that, as she breathed,
Dissolv’d, or brighter shone, or interwreathed
Their lustres with the gloomier tapestriesSo rainbow-sided, touch’d with miseries,
She seem’d, at once, some penanced lady elf,
Some demon’s mistress, or the demon’s self.
Upon her crest she wore a wannish fire
Sprinkled with stars, like Ariadne’s tiar:
Her head was serpent, but ah, bitter-sweet!
She had a woman’s mouth with all its pearls complete:
And for her eyes: what could such eyes do there
But weep, and weep, that they were born so fair?”
(http://www.mythography.com/myth/welcome-to-mythography/greek-chimerae/monsters-1/lamia/)
Lamia
The ancient Greeks believed that the Lamia was a vampire who stole little children to drink their blood.
She was portrayed as a snake-like creature with a female head and breasts. Usually female, but
sometimes referred to as a male or a hermaphrodite.
According to legend, she was once a Libyan queen (or princess) who fell in love with Zeus. Zeus'
jealous wife Hera deformed her into a monster and murdered their offspring. She also made Lamia
unable to close her eyes, so that she couldn't find any rest from the obsessing image of her dead children.
When Zeus saw what had be done to Lamia, he felt pity for her and gave his former lover a gift: she
could remove her eyes, and then put them on again. This way, though sleepless, she could rest from her
misfortune. Lamia envied the other mothers and took her vengeance by stealing their children and
devouring them.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/l/lamia.html)
Minotaur
THE Minotaur was a bull-headed monster born to Queen Pasiphae of Crete after she had mated with a
bull. The creature resided in the twisting maze of the labyrinth, where he was offered a regular sacrifice
of youths and maidens to satisfy his hunger. He was eventually destroyed by the hero Theseus.
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Minotauros.html)
Minotaur
The Minotaur was a monster with a head of bull and a body of man. The Minotaur was the son of the
Cretan Bull and Pasiphaë (Pasiphae), the wife of King Minos of Crete. Minos confined the Minotaur in
the Labyrinth. To punish Aegeus for the death of his son, Minos required seven Athenian youths and
seven maidens as tribute and sacrifice to the monster, every seven years. Theseus, aided by Ariadne
(daughter of Minos), the Athenian hero was able to leave the Labyrinth after killing the Minotaur.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Minotaur)
Minotaur (http://www.museumofmythology.com/Greek/minotaur.htm)
The myth says in the royal family of Crete, there were two brothers, Minos and Rhadamanthys,
and each wanted to rule the city. Minos was sure that he was the favorite of the gods, and he would be
able to overthrow the forces of Rhadamanthys and drive them from the city. To prove this, he made
preparation for a sacrifice to Poseidon and prayed that a bull for the sacrifice would emerge from the
sea. A great wave crashed on the shore, and the white foam became a white bull, perfect for the
sacrifice. But Minos admired the bull so, that he decided to keep it, and sacrificed a lesser one from his
herd in its place.
Poseidon was angered by this subterfuge (deception; misleading), and caused the wife of Minos,
Pasipha, to fall in love with the bull. Pasipha conspired with Minos' great builder, Daedalus, to build a
mechanical cow that would catch the eye of the bull, while Pasipha would hide inside it. (The bull then
mated with the fake cow.) From their union the Minotaur was born—both bull and human.
The Minotaur grew at a frightening rate, and demanded human sacrifice. Minos had Daedalus
build the Labyrinth, a huge maze, to contain the Minotaur. Minos arranged for young men and women to
be led into the Labyrinth. Through its chambers they would wander, unable to find their way, until the
Minotaur would discover them and devour them. Minos arranged that every nine years, the cities around
him would have to give seven young men and seven young women to satisfy the Minotaur.
One of those condemned to die was the young warrior, Theseus. When he came off the ship in
Crete, Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, saw him and fell in love with him immediately. Ariadne gave
Theseus a ball of string, which he would use to find his way back out of the labyrinth. Using a sword
and shield which had been given him by the gods, Theseus slew the Minotaur, cut off its head, and used
the string to lead his companions back out of the Labyrinth.
PRONUNCIATION:
Minos: MEEN-aws (the second syllable rhymes with "boss", not "dose")
Rhadamanthys: Rad- uh- MAN- thees (the "th" is unvoiced, like in "Theseus" below)
Poseidon: po- SIGH-d'n
Pasipha: pa-SEEF-uh (If you want to be REALLY correct, it's pa-SEEF-uh-eh, with the last syllable
having the sound of "e" in "bet")
Daedalus: DEAD-uh-luss
Theseus: THEE-see-us (The "th" is unvoiced, like in "with", not like "these"
Ariadne: AA-ree-ADD-nee
Medusa
According to late classical poets, Medusa was once a beautiful maiden who was transformed by Athena
into a monster as punishment for lying with Poseidon in her shrine. However, early Greek writers and
artists, simply portray her as a monster born of a monstrous family.
In other motifs, the Gorgon Medusa was a portrayed as a storm daemon (a demigod—half man, half
god) whose visage was set upon the storm-bringing aigis-shield of Athene. The two ideas were probably
connected, with sea storms driving ships to destruction upon the reefs.
(http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Gorgones.html)
Medusa
One of the three Gorgons. They were winged women, with snakes on their heads instead of hair.
A single glimpse of their hideous would turn any creature, mortal and immortal (except for the gods),
into stone. They could only be seen safely through reflective surface, such as a mirror, polished metal or
on the water surface.
Two of the Gorgons, named Stheno and Euryale, were the immortal offspring of Phorcys and
Ceto. Only Medusa was mortal, the only one that the hero Perseus could kill.
Medusa was formerly a beautiful maiden, whom Athena had turned into a Gorgon, when she
found Poseidon had seduced the unfortunate maiden Medusa in her temple.
Perseus decapitated Medusa as one of his quests for the wicked king Polydectes. As Perseus
returned home with the freshly cut head of Medusa, some of her blood spilled into the sea. The winged
horse, Pegasus, was born from that blood. Blood also fell onto the sands of the Libyan Desert, bringing
about the creation of snakes. It is therefore said that Medusa was the mother of the snakes.
Even dead, Medusa had the ability to turn people or other creatures into stone. Perseus rescued
his future wife, Andromeda, by turning the sea-monster Cetus into stone. He also turned into stone:
Andromeda's uncle and his followers, and later King Polydectes.
After Perseus' adventure, the hero gave Medusa's head to Athena, who used the skin on her aegis
(shield). Medusa's blood was said to have great healing power. Asclepius used the blood to return
someone, who had died, back to life.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Gorgons)
Medusa
One of the Gorgons, and the only one who was mortal. Her gaze could turn whoever she looked
upon to stone. There is a particular myth in which Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden. She
desecrated Athena's temple by lying there with Poseidon. Outraged, Athena turned Medusa's hair into
living snakes.
Medusa was killed by the hero Perseus with the help of Athena and Hermes. He killed her by
cutting of her head and gave it to Athena, who placed it in the center of her Aegis, which she wore over
her breastplate.
From Medusa's dead body the giant Chrysaor and the winged horse Pegasus, her son by
Poseidon, sprang forth.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medusa.html)
Pegasus
PE′GASUS (Pêgasos). The famous winged horse, whose origin is thus related. When Perseus struck off
the head of Medusa (the Gorgon with whom Poseidon had had intercourse in the form of a horse or a
bird), some of her blood ran into the sea. Pegasus there sprang forth from her blood. The latter obtained
the name Pegasus because he was believed to have made his appearance near the sources (pêgai) of
Oceanus. Pegasus rose up to the seats of the immortals, and afterwards lived in the palace of Zeus, for
whom he carried thunder and lightning. According to this view, which is apparently the most ancient,
Pegasus was the thundering horse of Zeus.
Pegasus also acts a prominent part in the fight of Bellerophon against the Chimaera. After Bellerophon
had tried and suffered much to obtain possession of Pegasus for his fight against the Chimaera, he
consulted the soothsayer Polyidus at Corinth. The latter advised him to spend a night in the temple of
Athena, and, as Bellerophon was sleeping, the goddess appeared to him in a dream, commanding him to
sacrifice to Poseidon, and gave him a golden bridle. When he awoke he found the bridle, offered the
sacrifice, and caught Pegasus, who was drinking at the well Peirene. According to some Athena herself
tamed and bridled Pegasus, and surrendered him to Bellerophon, or Bellerophon received Pegasus from
his own father Poseidon. After he had conquered the Chimaera, he endeavored to rise up to heaven with
his winged horse, but fell down upon the earth, either from fear or from giddiness, or being thrown off
by Pegasus, who was rendered furious by a gad-fly which Zeus had sent. But Pegasus continued his
flight.
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/HipposPegasos.html)
Pegasus
Winged horse of Bellerophon. Pegasus, or Πήγασος, was the offspring of Poseidon and the Gorgon
Medusa. The winged steed was born, when the blood fell into sea from Medusa's neck. Pegasus was
born at the same time as Chrysaor.
Bellerophon was only able to tame the steed when Athena gave the hero a golden bridle. Bellerophon
used Pegasus in all his adventure: killing the monster Chimaera, defeating the Solymi and Amazons.
When Bellerophon thought to fly Pegasus to Olympus, the home of the gods, they send a gadfly to sting
Pegasus. Bellerophon was thrown off his horse; the hero became lame for his misdeed. After this,
Pegasus lived in the stable in Olympus offering his service to Zeus, carrying his thunderbolts.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Pegasus)
Pegasus
Pegasus, the flying horse, came about from the severed neck of Medusa after she was decapitated by
Perseus. He was a wild horse and would only allow the Muses to come near him. The hero Bellerophon,
however, wanted desperately to ride him. One day, Bellerophon threw a magic bridle over Pegasus's
head that he had received from the goddess Athena. It made Pegasus so tame that he could ride him.
Bellerophon and Pegasus were a great team. They killed the Chimera in Lycia and became very well
known. But Bellerophon grew bigheaded and thought that he should be a god. He began to fly toward
Mt. Olympus, but Zeus sent a gadfly that stung Pegasus and he threw the hero off his back. Pegasus
went up to Mt. Olympus and became the carrier of Zeus's thunderbolts.
(http://www.museumofmythology.com/Greek/pegasus.htm)
Pegasus
From the myth of Bellerophon:
Before he set out on his quest, Bellerophon sought the advice of Polyidus, the wisest man in Lycia.
Impressed by the youth's courage, Polyidus told him of the legendary Pegasus. He advised him to spend
a night in Athena's temple, and offer her many gifts. In return, the goddess may help him obtain the
horse.
Bellerophon took his advice, and Athena appeared to him that night in a dream. She gave him a golden
bridle and instructions as to where to find the well from which the Pegasus drank. In the morning,
Bellerophon awoke to find the golden bridle beside him. He knew that his dream had been real.
Bellerophon journeyed into the forest, locating the well of which Athena had spoken. He hid in the
bushes by the well. When the Pegasus finally arrived, Bellerophon waited till it kneeled over to drink
and then pounced upon it from his hiding place, slipping the bridle onto its head. Pegasus flew into the
air, trying desperately to shake Bellerophon off. But Bellerophon was up to the challenge, skilled in the
handling of fierce horses. Pegasus understood that he had a new master.
After a brief rest, Bellerophon set out to the ledge where the Chimera dwelt. Armed with a long spear,
he charged the Chimera. The Chimera exhaled a puff of its horrible fire. Pegasus darted backward to
evade the burning breath. Before the Chimera could breathe again, Pegasus renewed its advance and
Bellerophon drove the spear through the Chimera's heart.
When the Prince returned to the palace upon a winged horse, carrying the head of the frightful Chimera,
the Kingdom rejoiced. The people admired his bravery, and the wonderful winged horse which he rode.
King Iobates gave his willing daughter to Bellerophon as a bride.
For years the couple was happy, and when Iobates died, Bellerophon took his place. But again
Bellerophon sought greater and greater adventures. Finally, he decided to ride up to Mount Olympus to
visit the gods.
Mounting his steed, he urged Pegasus skyward, higher and higher. Zeus, displeased with Bellerophon's
arrogant attempt to scale Mount Olympus' heights, sent a gadfly to punish the mortal for daring to
ascend to the home of gods. The fly stung Pegasus, and so startled the horse that he suddenly reared, and
Bellerophon was hurled off of his back. He plummeted to the ground.
Athena spared his life by causing him to land on soft ground. But for the rest of his life, Bellerophon
traveled, lonely and crippled, in search of his wonderful steed.
But alas, Pegasus never returned.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/bellerophon.html)
Phoenix
THE PHOENIX was a fabulous golden-red feathered bird whose body emitted rays of pure
sunlight. The creature lived for at least five hundred years and roamed the lands of Arabia feeding upon
oils of balsam and frankincense.
At its time of death a new-born Phoinix emerged fully-grown from its body and straightaway
encased its parent in an egg of myrrh and conveyed it to the great Egyptian temple of the Sun in
Heliopolis.
Herodotus, Histories 2. 73 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"There is another sacred bird, too, whose name is Phoinix (Phoenix). I myself have never seen it, only
pictures of it; for the bird seldom comes into Aigyptos (Egypt): once in five hundred years, as the people
of Heliopolis say. It is said that the Phoinix comes when his father dies. If the picture truly shows his
size and appearance, his plumage is partly golden and partly red. He is most like an eagle in shape and
size. What they say this bird manages to do is incredible to me. Flying from Arabia to the temple of the
Helios (the Sun), they say, he conveys his father encased in myrrh and buries him at the temple of
Helios (the Sun) [i.e. in the temple of the Egyptian god Ra]. This is how he conveys him: he first molds
an egg of myrrh as heavy as he can carry, then tries lifting it, and when he has tried it, he then hollows
out the egg and puts his father into it, and plasters over with more myrrh the hollow of the egg into
which he has put his father, which is the same in weight with his father lying in it, and he conveys him
encased to the temple of the Sun in Aigyptos (Egypt). This is what they say this bird does."
(http://www.theoi.com/Thaumasios/Phoinix.html)
Phoenix
Phoenix (Φοἳνιξ) was a mythical bird that was said to have originated in Asia. The Greeks
believed that the Phoenix come from Egypt. The bird was said to be able to breathe fire.
The Greeks, like the historian Herodotus, equated the Phoenix with the Egyptian bird called
Bennu. Bennu resembled a large heron, with it long beak and long legs. Bennu was sacred to the sun god
of Heliopolis, either Atum or Re.
Later legends says that the bird had the ability to live over a hundred years old, before it begins
to build a huge bonfire. The bird would then set it alight before jumping into the bonfire. When the fire
died down, the Phoenix would be reborn as a young bird.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Phoenix)
Phoenix
In ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology, the phoenix is a mythical bird and associated with the
Egyptian sun-god Re and the Greek Phoibos (Apollo). According to the Greeks the bird lives in Arabia, nearby a
cool well. Each morning at dawn, it would bathe in the water and sing such a beautiful song, that the sun-god
stops his chariot to listen. There exists only one phoenix at the time.
When it felt its death approaching (every 500 or 1461 years), it would build a nest of aromatic
wood and set it on fire, and was consumed by the flames. When it was burned, a new phoenix sprang
forth from the pyre. It then embalmed the ashes of its predecessor in an egg of myrrh and flew with it to
Heliopolis ("city of the sun"). There it would deposit the egg on the altar of the sun god.
In Egypt is was usually depicted as a heron, but in the classic literature as a peacock, or an eagle.
The phoenix symbolizes immortality, resurrection, and life after death. In that aspect it was often placed
on sarcophagi. It is associated with the Egyptian Benu, the Garuda of the Hindus, and the Chinese Fenghuang.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/phoenix.html)
Phoenix
The phoenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Persians, Greeks,
Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, and (according to Sanchuniathon) Phoenicians.
A phoenix is a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or
purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of
which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to
ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new
phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of
its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (literally "sun-city"
in Greek). It is said that the bird's cry is that of a beautiful song. The Phoenix's ability to be reborn from
its own ashes implies that it is immortal, though in some stories the new Phoenix is merely the offspring
of the older one. In very few stories they are able to change into people.
The Roman poet Ovid wrote the following about the phoenix:
Most beings spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself. The
Assyrians call it the Phoenix. It does not live on fruit or flowers, but on frankincense and odoriferous
gums. When it has lived five hundred years, it builds itself a nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top
of a palm tree. In this it collects cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh, and of these materials builds a pile
on which it deposits itself, and dying, breathes out its last breath amidst odors. From the body of the
parent bird, a young Phoenix issues forth, destined to live as long a life as its predecessor. When this has
grown up and gained sufficient strength, it lifts its nest from the tree (its own cradle and its parent's
sepulchre), and carries it to the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, and deposits it in the temple of the Sun.
French author Voltaire thus described the phoenix:
It was of the size of an eagle, but its eyes were as mild and tender as those of the eagle are fierce and
threatening. Its beak was the color of a rose, and seemed to resemble, in some measure, the beautiful
mouth of Formosante. Its neck resembled all the colors of the rainbow, but more brilliant and lively. A
thousand shades of gold glistened on its plumage. Its feet seemed a mixture of purple and silver; and the
tail of those beautiful birds which were afterwards fixed to the car of Juno, did not come near the beauty
of its tail.
(https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Phoenix_%28mythology%29.html)
Scylla
SKYLLA (or Scylla) was a monstrous sea goddess who haunted the rocks of certain narrow
strait opposite the whirlpool daemon Kharybdis. Ships who sailed too close to her rocks would lose six
men to her ravenous, darting heads. Homer describes Skylla as a creature with twelve dangling feet, six
long necks and grisly heads lined with a triple row of sharp teeth. Her voice was likened to the yelping
of dogs. This description of Skylla is probably derived from the imagery of words associated with her
name : namely, "hermit-crab" (Greek skyllaros), "dog" and "dog-shark" (skylax), and "to rend" (skyllô).
In classical art she was depicted as a fish-tailed sea-goddess with a cluster of canine fore-parts
surrounding her waist.
Late classical writers say that she was once a beautiful nymph who was loved by the sea-god
Glaukos. She has a jealous rival in the witch Kirke who used her magics to transform Skylla into a
monster. The old poets, however, imagined Skylla as a creature who was born monstrous.
Encyclopedia
SCYLLA (Skulla) and Charybdis, the names of two rocks between Italy and Sicily, and only a
short distance from one another. In the midst of the one of these rocks which was nearest to Italy, there
dwelt, according to Homer, Scylla, a daughter of Crataeis, a fearful monster, barking like a dog, with
twelve feet, six long necks and mouths, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth. The opposite
rock, which was much lower, contained an immense fig-tree, under which there dwelt Charybdis, who
thrice every day swallowed down the waters of the sea, and thrice threw them up again : both were
formidable to the ships which had to pass between them. Later traditions represent Scylla as a daughter
of Phorcys or Phorbas, by Hecate Crataeis, or by Lamia; while others make her a daughter of Triton, or
Poseidon and Crataeis, or of Typhon and Echidna. Some, again, describe her as a monster with six heads
of different animals, or with only three heads. One tradition relates that Scylla originally was a beautiful
maiden, who often played with the nymphs of the sea, and was beloved by the marine god Glaucus. He
applied to Circe for means to make Scylla return his love; but Circe, jealous of the fair maiden, threw
magic herbs into the well in which Scylla was wont to bathe, and by these herbs the maiden was
metamorphosed in such a manner, that the upper part of her body remained that of a woman, while the
lower part was changed into the tail of a fish or serpent, surrounded by dogs. Another tradition related
that Scylla was beloved by Poseidon, and that Amphitrite, from jealousy, metamorphosed her into a
monster. Heracles is said to have killed her, because she had stolen some of the oxen of Geryon; but
Phorcys is said to have restored her to life. Virgil speaks of several Scyllae, and places them in the lower
world.
(http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Skylla.html)
Scylla
The six-headed monster that resided at the Strait of Messina.
Scylla (Σκύλλη) was originally a beautiful maiden who was loved by a minor sea god named
Glaucus. The sorceress Circe was in love with Glaucus, but the sea god did not return her love. In a
jealous rage, Circe poured one of her potion into area where Scylla normally bathed. Scylla was
transformed into a monster with six long necks, with the head of ugly hounds.
According to Hyginus, Scylla was born a monster. She was an offspring of Typhon.
Scylla's lair was on the opposite side of the strait, where a giant whirlpool, the Charybdis
(Χάρυβδις), bring complete destruction to any ship sailing nearby.
To escape both Scylla and Charybdis was virtually impossible. If the ship sailed near Scylla, they
would lose sailors, but sailing too close to Charybdis would destroy the entire ship.
However, the Argonauts did manage to pass through Scylla and Charybdis, because of the sea
goddess Thetis. Her husband, Peleus was one of the Argonauts.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus lost six of his men to Scylla, the first time his ship passed through the
strait. A month later, Odysseus lost his entire ship and crew, when the gods send strong winds, driving
his ship back to the strait. This time, Charybdis swallowed his ship. Odysseus was the only survivor.
The Christian saying, "between the devil and the deep blue sea" actually alluded to and orginated
from Scylla and Charybdis.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Scylla)
Scylla
In Greek mythology, a sea monster who lived underneath a dangerous rock at one side of the
Strait of Messia, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis. She threatened passing ships and in the Odyssey ate
six of Odysseus' companions.
Scylla was a nymph, daughter of Phorcys. The fisherman-turned-sea-god Glaucus fell madly in
love with her, but she fled from him onto the land where he could not follow. Despair filled his heart. He
went to the sorceress Circe to ask for a love potion to melt Scylla's heart. As he told his tale of love to
Circe, she herself fell in love with him. She wooed him with her sweetest words and looks, but the seagod would have none of her. Circe was furiously angry, but with Scylla and not with Glaucus. She
prepared a vial of very powerful poison and poured it in the pool where Scylla bathed. As soon as the
nymph entered the water she was transformed into a frightful monster with twelve feet and six heads,
each with three rows of teeth. Below the waist her body was made up of hideous monsters, like dogs,
who barked unceasingly. She stood there in utter misery, unable to move, loathing and destroying
everything that came into her reach, a peril to all sailors who passed near her. Whenever a ship passed,
each of her heads would seize one of the crew.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/scylla.html)
Scylla
Scylla and Charybdis, in Greek mythology, two immortal and irresistible monsters who beset
the narrow waters traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings described in Homer’s Odyssey,
Book XII. They were later localized in the Strait of Messina. Scylla was a supernatural creature, with 12
feet and 6 heads on long, snaky necks, each head having a triple row of sharklike teeth, while her loins
were girt with the heads of baying dogs. From her lair in a cave she devoured whatever ventured within
reach, including six of Odysseus’ companions. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Books XIII–XIV, she was
said to have been originally human in appearance but transformed out of jealousy through the witchcraft
of Circe into her fearful shape. She was sometimes identified with the Scylla who betrayed her father,
King Nisus of Megara, out of love for Minos, king of Crete.
Charybdis, who lurked under a fig tree a bowshot away on the opposite shore, drank down and
belched forth the waters thrice a day and was fatal to shipping. Her character was most likely the
personification of a whirlpool. The shipwrecked Odysseus barely escaped her clutches by clinging to a
tree until the improvised raft that she swallowed floated to the surface again after many hours. Scylla
was often rationalized in antiquity as a rock or reef. Both gave poetic expression to the dangers
confronting Greek mariners when they first ventured into the uncharted waters of the western
Mediterranean. To be “between Scylla and Charybdis” means to be caught between two equally
unpleasant alternatives.
(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/530331/Scylla-and-Charybdis)
Sirens
THE Sirens were three sea nymphs (spirit of nature) who lured sailors to their death with a bewitching
song. They were formerly handmaidens of the goddess Persephone. When the girl was secretly abducted
by Hades, Demeter (Persephone’s mother) gave the Sirens the bodies of birds, and sent them to assist in
the search. They eventually gave up and settled on the flowery island of Anthemoessa.
The Sirens were later encountered by the Argonauts who passed by unharmed with the help of Orpheus,
the poet, who drowned out their music with his song. Odysseus also sailed by, bound tightly to the mast
of his ship, his men blocking their ears with wax. The Sirens were so distressed to see a man hear their
song and yet escape, that they threw themselves into the sea and drowned.
The Sirens were depicted as birds with either the heads or the entire upper bodies of women. In mosaic
art they were depicted with just bird legs.
Encyclopedia
Sirens, mythical beings who were believed to have the power of enchanting and charming, by their song,
anyone who heard them. When Odysseus, in his wanderings through the Mediterranean, came near the
island on the lovely beach on which the Sirens were sitting, and endeavouring to allure him and his
companions, he stuffed the ears of his companions with wax, and tied himself to the mast of his vessel,
until he was so far off that he could no longer hear their song. According to Homer, the island of the
Sirens was situated between Aeaea and the rock of Scylla, near the south-western coast of Italy. Homer
says nothing of their number, but later writers mention both their names and number; some state that
they were two, and others that they were three.
Their place of abode is likewise different in the different traditions, for some place them on cape
Pelorum, others in the island of Anthemusa, and others again in the Sirenusian islands near Paestum, or
in Capreae. The Sirens are also connected with the legends about the Argonauts and the rape of
Persephone. When the Argonauts passed by the Sirens, the creatures began to sing, but in vain, for
Orpheus rivalled and surpassed them ; and as it had been decreed that they should live only till someone
hearing their song should pass by unmoved, they threw themselves into the sea, and were
metamorphosed into rocks.
Late poets represent them as provided with wings, which they are said to have received at their own
request, in order to be able to search after Persephone, or as a punishment from Demeter for not having
assisted Persephone, or from Aphrodite, because they wished to remain virgins. Once, however, they
allowed themselves to be prevailed upon by Hera to enter into a contest with the Muses, and being
defeated, they were deprived of their wings.
(http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Seirenes.html)
Sirens
The Sirens were bird-women, who lured sailors to their island with their songs. There were said to be
either two or three Sirens. The song of the Sirens would cause to sailors to forget whom they were and
where they were going, often causing them to wreck their ships on reef. The Sirens were said to live on
the island of Anthemoessa. Those who jumped overboard and swam to the island - would be killed and
devoured by the Sirens, or they just simply waste away listening to their songs.
There has been lost of speculation about what they sang, that would lure the sailors to their death. Some
think that the songs were different for each sailor, other say that it was not the words, but it was their
magical qualities of their voices that lure sailors.
The Argonauts managed to escape the song, because the great musician, Orpheus. Orpheus played his
lyre so beautifully, that it drowned out the songs from the Sirens. Only one Argonaut could not resist the
song, probably because his hearing was better than the other Argonauts. Butes, the son of Teleon or
Poseidon and Zeuxippe, jumped overboard, swimming towards his death. Aphrodite took pity on Butes,
spirited the hero away to Lilybaeum, in Sicily, where he became the goddess' lover.
In the Odyssey, Circe warned Odysseus about the Sirens' seductive song, telling the hero the measure he
must take to protect his crew. It was simply plugging their ears with bee-wax. Circe knew that Odysseus
was curious about the song. Circe suggested that her lover should have himself tied to the ship mast until
they pass the island.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Sirens)
Sirens
In Greek mythology, the Sirens are creatures with the head of a female and the body of a bird. They lived on an
island and with the irresistible charm of their song they lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks
surrounding their island.
The Argonauts escaped them because when he heard their song, Orpheus immediately realized the peril
they were in. He took out his lyre (small harp) and sang a song so clear and ringing that it drowned the
sound of those lovely fatal voices. When on another journey the Odysseus' ship passed the Sirens, had
the sailors stuff their ears with wax. He had himself tied to the mast for he wanted to hear their beautiful
voices. The Sirens sang when they approached, their words even more enticing than the melody. They
would give knowledge to every man who came to them, they said, ripe wisdom and a quickening of the
spirit. Odysseys' heart ran with longing but the ropes held him and the ship quickly sailed to safer
waters.
Homer mentions only two sirens, but later authors mention three or four. According to Ovid, they were
nymphs and the play-mates of Persephone. They were present when she was abducted and, because they
did not interfere, Demeter changed them into birds with female faces.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/sirens.html
Sphinx
SPHINX, a monstrous being of Greek mythology, is said to have been a daughter of Orthus and
Chimaera, or of Typhon and Echidna, or lastly of Typhon and Chimaera.
Encyclopedia
The legend itself clearly indicates from what quarter this being was believed to have been introduced
into Greek mythology. The figure which she was conceived to have had is originally Egyptian or
Ethiopian; but after her incorporation with Grecian story, her figure was variously modified. The
Egyptian Sphinx is the figure of an unwinged lion in a lying attitude, but the upper part of the body is
human. They appear in Egypt to have been set up in avenues forming the approaches to temples. The
greatest among the Egyptian representations of Sphinxes is that of Ghizeh, which, with the exception of
the paws, is of one block of stone. The Egyptian Sphinxes are often called androsphinges, not describing
them as male beings, but as lions with the upper part human, to distinguish them from those Sphinxes
whose upper part was that of a sheep or ram. The common idea of a Greek Sphinx, on the other hand, is
that of a winged body of a lion, having the breast and upper part of a woman. Greek Sphinxes,
moreover, are not always represented in a lying attitude, but appear in different positions, as it might suit
the fancy of the sculptor or poet. Thus they appear with the face of a maiden, the breast, feet, and claws
of a lion, the tail of a serpent, and the wings of a bird; or the fore part of the body is that of a lion, and
the lower part that of a man, with the claws of a vulture and the wings of an eagle.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 52 - 55 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"While [Creon] was king, quite a scourge held Thebes in suppression, for Hera sent upon them the
Sphinx, whose parents were Echidna and Typhon. She had a woman's face, the breast, feet, and tail of a
lion, and bird wings. She had learned a riddle from the [Muses], and now sat on Mount Phikion where
she kept challenging the Thebans with it. The riddle was: what is it that has one voice, and is four-footed
and two-footed and three-footed? An oracle existed for the Thebans to the effect that they would be free
of the Sphinx when they guessed her riddle, so they often convened to search for the meaning, but
whenever they came up with the wrong answer, she would seize one of them, and eat him up. When
many had died, including most recently Creon's own son Haimon, Creon announced publicly that he
would give both the kingdom and the widow of Laios to the man who solved the riddle. [Oedipus] heard
and solved it, stating that he answer to the Sphinx's question was man. As a baby he crawls on all fours,
as an adult he is two-footed, and as he grows old he gains a third foot in the form of a cane. At this the
Sphinx threw herself from the acropolis (fortified citadel of a city; fortress)."
(http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Sphinx.html)
Sphinx
The Sphinx was a creature with a head and chest of a woman, body and legs of lion and wings of an
eagle. In Egyptian mythology, the Sphinx appeared to be wingless. The Sphinx was an offspring of
Echidna and either Orthus or Typhon.
The Sphinx lived on the road west of Thebes. It was custom of the Sphinx to tell the riddle to travelers
heading towards Thebes. If the traveler answers the riddle correctly, the traveler would be allowed to
pass her. Giving the wrong answer, the Sphinx would kill and devour the traveler.
When Creon became regent (acting ruler) at the death of King Laius, he offered the kingdom of Thebes
and his beautiful sister, Jocasta (newly widowed) in marriage. When Oedipus correctly answered the
riddle, the Sphinx killed itself by jumping off the cliff.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Sphinx)
Sphinx
In ancient Egypt, the Sphinx is a male statue of a lion with the head of a human, sometimes with wings.
Most sphinxes however represent a king in his appearance as the sun god.
The Greek Sphinx was a demon of death and destruction and bad luck. She was the offspring of Typhon
and Echidna. It was a female creature, sometimes depicted as a winged lion with a feminine head, and
sometimes as a female with the breast, paws and claws of a lion, a snake tail and bird wings. She sat on
a high rock near Thebes and posed a riddle to all who passed. The riddle was: "What animal is that
which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" Those who
could not solve the riddle were strangled by her. Finally Oedipus came along and he was the only who
could answer that it was "Man, who in childhood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks erect,
and in old age with the aid of a staff." The Sphinx was so mortified at the solving of her riddle that she
cast herself down from the rock and perished.
The name 'sphinx' is derived from the Greek sphingo, which means "to strangle". In ancient Assyrian
myths, the sphinx usually appears as a guardian of temple entrances.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/sphinx.html)
Sphinx
Sphinx, mythological creature with a lion’s body and a human head, an important image in Egyptian
and Greek art and legend. The word sphinx was derived by Greek grammarians from the verb sphingein
(“to bind” or “to squeeze”), but the etymology (study of word origins) is not related to the legend and is
dubious.
The winged sphinx of Boeotian Thebes, the most famous in legend, was said to have terrorized the
people by demanding the answer to a riddle taught her by the Muses—What is it that has one voice and
yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?—and devouring a man each time the riddle
was answered incorrectly. Eventually Oedipus gave the proper answer: man, who crawls on all fours in
infancy, walks on two feet when grown, and leans on a staff in old age. The sphinx thereupon killed
herself. From this tale apparently grew the legend that the sphinx was omniscient, and even today the
wisdom of the sphinx is proverbial.
(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/559722/sphinx)
Typhoeus
TYPHOEUS (or Typhon) was a monstrous immortal storm-giant who was defeated and imprisoned by
Zeus in the pit of Tartaros. He was the source of devastating storm winds which issued forth from that
dark nether realm.
Typhoeus was so huge that his head was said to brush the stars. He appeared man-shaped down to the
thighs, with two coiled vipers in place of legs. Attached to his hands in place of fingers were a hundred
serpent heads, fifty per hand. He was winged, with dirty matted hair and beard, pointed ears, and eyes
flashing fire. According to some he had two hundred hands each with fifty serpents for fingers and a
hundred heads, one in human form with the rest being heads of bulls, boars, serpents, lions and leopards.
As a volcano-daimon (half man, half god), Typhoeus hurled red-hot rocks at the sky and storms of fire
boiled from his mouth.
Encyclopedia
TYPHON or TYPHOEUS is described sometimes as a destructive hurricane, and sometimes as a firebreathing giant. According to Homer he was concealed in the country of the Arimi in the earth, which
was lashed by Zeus with flashes of lightning. Typhoeus is described as a monster with a hundred heads,
fearful eyes, and terrible voices; he wanted to acquire the sovereignty of gods and men, but was
subdued, after a fearful struggle, by Zeus, with a thunderbolt. He begot the winds, whence he is also
called the father of the Harpies, but the beneficent (good, helpful) winds Notus, Boreas, Argestes, and
Zephyrus, were not his sons. He is further said to have at one time been engaged in a struggle with all
the immortals, and to have been killed by Zeus with a flash of lightning; he was buried in Tartarus under
Mount Aetna, the workshop of Hephaestus. The later poets frequently connect Typhoeus with Egypt,
and the gods, it is said, when unable to hold out against him, fled to Egypt, where, from fear, they
metamorphosed themselves into animals, with the exception of Zeus and Athena.
Hesiod, Theogony 820 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
"Typhoeus; the hands and arms of him are mighty, and have work in them, and the feet of the powerful
god were tireless, and up from his shoulders there grew a hundred snake heads, those of a dreaded
drakon (dragon), and the heads licked with dark tongues, and from the eyes on the inhuman heads fire
glittered from under the eyelids: from all his heads fire flared from his eyes' glancing; and inside each
one of these horrible heads there were voices that threw out every sort of horrible sound, for sometimes
it was speech such as the gods could understand, but at other times, the sound of a bellowing bull,
proud-eyed and furious beyond holding, or again like a lion shameless in cruelty, or again it was like the
barking of dogs, a wonder to listen to, or again he would whistle so the tall mountains re-echoed to it."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 39 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Typhon was a mixture of man and beast, the largest and strongest of all Ge's (Earth's) children. Down
to the thighs he was human in form, so large that he extended beyond all the mountains while his head
often touched even the stars. One hand reached to the west, the other to the east, and attached to these
were one hundred heads of serpents. Also from the thighs down he had great coils of vipers, which
extended to the top of his head and hissed mightily. All of his body was winged, and the hair that flowed
in the wind from his head and cheeks was matted and dirty. In his eyes flashed fire. Such were the
appearance and the size of Typhon as he hurled red-hot rocks at the sky itself, and set out for it with
mixed hisses and shouts, as a great storm of fire boiled forth from his mouth."
(http://www.theoi.com/Gigante/Typhoeus.html)
Typhoeus
Typhon was a giant winged monster with a hundred heads. Typhon was an offspring of Gaea ("Earth")
and Tartarus, and according to Apollodorus, the creature was born in Cilicia.
Typhon was a gigantic winged monster that was part man and part beast. Typhon was also taller than the
tallest mountain. Under Typhon's arms there was a hundred dragon-heads. Below his thighs were the
massive coils of vipers. Typhon was a terribly horrifying sight and was deadly since flame would gush
from his mouth.
Typhon fathered many monsters upon Echidna: Cerberus, Chimaera, Orthus, the Hydra, Nemean Lion,
Sphinx, Caucasian Eagle, Crommyonian Sow and vultures. According to Hyginus, Typhon was said to
be father of Scylla.
Even though the Olympians had recently won the war against the Titans, the younger gods feared to face
the monsters. Zeus tried to fight Typhon, until the monster cut off Zeus' sinews from his hands and feet.
This prevented Zeus from using his thunderbolts, Zeus' most deadly weapon. Zeus was helpless and
could not prevent Typhon from imprisoning Zeus in a cave. After some time, Hermes, the son of Zeus,
recovered the sinews and rescued his father. When the sinews were restored to Zeus, he returned to fight
Typhon with his thunderbolts. Zeus killed the monster by blasting his thunderbolts at Typhon, before
burying the creature under Mount Aetna (Etna) or the entire island of Sicily.
(http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Typhon)
Typhoeus
Typhon is the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus. His mate is Echidna and both were so fearful that when
the gods saw them they changed into animals and fled in terror. Typhon's hundred, horrible heads
touched the stars, venom dripped from his evil eyes, and lava and red-hot stones poured from his gaping
mouths. Hissing like a hundred snakes and roaring like a hundred lions, he tore up whole mountains and
threw them at the gods.
Zeus soon regained his courage and turned, and when the other gods saw him taking his stand, they
came back to help him fight the monster. A terrible battle raged, and hardly a living creature was left on
Earth. But Zeus was fated to win, and as Typhon tore up huge Mount Aetna to hurl at the gods, Zeus
struck it with a hundred well-aimed thunderbolts and the mountain fell back, pinning Typhon
underneath. There the monster lies to this very day, belching fire, lava and smoke through the top of the
mountain.
Echidna, his hideous mate, escaped destruction. She cowered in a cave, protecting Typhon's offspring,
and Zeus let them live as a challenge to future heroes. Echidna and Typhon's children are the Nemean
Lion, Cerberus, Ladon, the Chimera, the Sphinx, and the Hydra.
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/typhon.html)