A - M Group “Beast Mode” …
Represent.
Kat, Tashima,
Maria, Joe, Mark.
Monsters, Myths, Beasts, Demons, Nymphs
Tashima Gallant
Gorgyra
(orphnê)
Greek: Γοργυρα
Translation: Underground drain
Description:
 (orphnê) GORGYRA was a Daimon
(Spirit) or Nymph of the underworld. She
was the mother of Askalaphos, the
orchardist of Haides, by the River-God
Akheron
 Gorgyra may have been identified with
Styx, goddess of the underworld river.
Orphne, on the other hand, resembles
Nyx, the netherworld-dwelling goddess of
the night.
Tashima Gallant
Nymphai
Greek: Νυμφη Νυμφαι
Nymphê, Nymphai Nympha,Nymphae Nymph
Translation: Girl of Marriageable Age
 female spirits of the natural world,
 minor goddesses of the forests, rivers, springs,
meadows, mountains and seas.
 crafted of nature's wild beauty, from the the plants,
flowers and trees, wild birds, animals, rocky caverns,
springs, wetlands and brooks.
 companions of the gods.
 inferior female divinities,
 hold the title of Olympian,
 called to meet with gods in Olympus
 daughters of Zeus.
 dwell on earth in groves, summits of mountains, in
rivers, streams, glens, grottoes.
(…Courtesy theoi.com)
Tashima Gallant
Gorgyra continued…
Literary Appearances:
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"Askalaphos, the son of Akheron and Gorgyra.“Ovid and Virgil's celebrated poems
immortalize the pairing of "Naiades and Dryades" of the countryside. Their poems contain
many other references to individual nymphs and groupings - such as those inhabiting
specific mountains or river streams).
Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 453 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Richer still her beauty; such the beauty of the Naides and Dryades, as we used to hear,
walking the woodland ways."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5. 538 ff :
"[Orphne] not the least famous of Avernus' [Hades'] Nymphae."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2. 15 ff :
"On the land people and cities, woods and beasts . . . Flumina (Rivers) and
Nymphae and Rural deities (Numina Ruris)."
Mark Bruno
THE BLEMMYAI
(aka STERNOPHTHALMO)
Βλεμμυας: Blemmyas Βλεμμυαι: Blemmyai,
Translation: Gazing from Middle
(blemma, mesos)
Description:
tribe of men whose faces were on their chests
from Africa or India
Sterno – phthalmo translates to “chest eyes”
First Mention:
Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, wrote “It is said
that the Blemmyes have no heads, and that their
mouth and eyes are ‘put in their chests.”
Literature/significance:
 Shakespeare’s, “Othello”
 Valerio Manfredi’s novel "The Tower", where
they are portrayed as the murderous desert
guardians of an ancient and terrible secret.
Joseph Benavidez
Loch Ness Monster
Description:
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A lake beast with an elongated neck with flippers
From Scotland
Nickname: "Nessie“
Kelpie (water horse) versus ‘sea serpent’
Origin:
 Scotland
First Mention:
 Made world news in 1933
 when a couple traveling through Scotland saw 'a most
extraordinary' animal.
 similar creatures appear in Scandinavia & Australian
folklore
 photos, videos, articles and other "proof" appeared
Joseph Benavidez
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Nessie continued…
Stories of Lake Monsters or Kelpies are as old as people.
Graeme Walla "The Kelpie's Wife" and Hellström "Kelpie"
Explanation
At first, it was a tale about the fears of deep water
Evolved into a tale about the wonders of nature
In realty, it could be an escaped circus elephant
Nessie in Pop Culture:
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Board game called "Nessie Hunt" in 1987
"X-Files" episode "Quagmire" in 1996
"Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster" in 2004
"The Water Horse" Movie in 2007. A child finds an egg that
hatches into a creature like Nessie
Kat Casey
Description:
Chimera
(aka Khimaira)
fire-breathing she-monster in Greek
mythology
lion's head, a goat's body, serpent's tail,
monstrous beast ravaged
Lykia
Significance:
 offspring of Typhon (Father of all Monsters)
and Echidna (Mother of all Monsters)
The offsprings of Typhon and Echidna were
left alive for future heroes to defeat after
Typhon was defeated by Zeus and imprisoned
under a mountain (Mount Etna).
 Sighting the Chimera was an omen of storms, shipwrecks,
and natural disasters (particularly volcanoes
First Mention:
 Homer's Iliad serves as earliest literary reference:
"a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in
the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire" .
Kat Casey
Chimera continued…
Literature/significance:
 Shakespeare’s, “Othello”
Valerio Manfredi’s novel "The Tower", where they are portrayed as the
murderous desert guardians of an ancient and terrible secret.
Virgil, in the Aeneid (book 5) employs Chimaera for the name of Gyas'
gigantic ship in the ship-race, with possible allegorical significance in
contemporary Roman politics.
The Theogony ("the birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th-7th century
BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks,
composed circa 700 BC.
“She [Ekhidna] bore the Khimaira (Chimera), who snorted raging fire, a beast
great and terrible, and strong and swift-footed. Her heads were three: one was
that of a glare-eyed lion, one of a goat, and the third of a snake, a powerful
drakon. But Khimaira (Chimera) was killed by Pegasos and gallant Bellerophon.
Chimera in Popular Culture
 In Mission: Impossible II (2000), a pharmaceutical company creates a virus
called Chimera in order to generate a market demand for the antidote it also
created, Bellerophon.
 A chimera or chimaera (genetics) is a single organism (usually an animal) that
is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells
that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction
 Chimeras were mentioned in the Harry Potter books. In "Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them," it is described to have a lion head, a goat body, and
dragon tail. The Ministry of Magic classifies them as XXXXX (very dangerous).
 My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a chimera named Discord is the main
antagonist of the season 2 opener. He uses hypnotic powers to drain the
elements of Harmony from the ponies.
 In Resident Evil 4, when first entering the castle stage of the game, there is
an obstacle that requires three ornaments to unlock it. After retrieving the
three pieces, one of Lion, Goat, and Snake, the puzzle reveals itself as a
Chimera.
Maria Harrington
Apotheothenai
Greek: αποθεωθηναι, or demi-god
Translation: those who have been deified
Description:
Men and women who were granted
immortality and a life amongst the gods
Some received this gift as a reward for
their benefactions to mankind, others
marriage to gods, or chance
Significance:
Fear of death --- hope for something
better to come
Idea - one’s virtues might be rewarded
A complete list of Deified Mortals
This work, its cited.
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http://www.theoi.com
http://vmmi.sumscorp.com/kavai/newmethod
s/pages/keyword.php?KeywordID=13047&ac
tion=showDefinitions
http://m.fanfiction.net/s/6645678/7/