From man-eating monstrosities to divine beasts
directed by the gods, today we look at Strange
Greek Mythical Creatures.
Number 14.
Cyclops
Known as towering giants equipped with just
a single eye, the legendary Cyclops appeared
in multiple myths throughout Greek history.
In Hesiod's poem Theogony , three cyclopes
are enlisted as weaponsmiths, crafting a thunderbolt
for the king of the gods, Zeus.
Odysseus , the hero and title character of
Homer's Odyssey, encounters a group of cyclopes
working as barbaric shepherds, including the
son of Poseidon named Polyphemus . Even the
architecture of the Greek archaeological site
Mycenae is attributed to these fabled gargantuans,
with the region's Cyclopean walls featuring
such massive boulders that legends surmise
only a giant could have built them.
Number 13.
Centaur
Half man, half horse, the centaur is one of
the most recognizable mythological creatures
to rise out of Greek lore as it continues
to appear in fantasy works to date.
According to legend, these beings were said
to have been born from either the Greek king
Ixion or his son Centauros , depending on
the source.
They are often depicted with a sense of duality,
torn between wild, untamed behavior and an
erudite sense of wisdom.
One of the most notable centaurs in mythology
is Chiron , known for acting against the lustful,
wild, and indulgent manner of his kin, instead
opting to instruct heroes like Asclepius , Ajax
, Theseus , Achilles , Jason, Perseus , and
Heracles among others.
Scholars believe the concept of the centaur
to have derived from cultures upon first encountering
other cultures on horseback, fusing the foreign
steeds and their riders together when recounting
their tales.
Number 12.
Sirens
Combining the physical aspects of birds with
the features of women, the dangerous Sirens
of the sea were said to seduce sailors with
their enthralling songs.
Originally depicted as having aviary appendages
such as taloned feet and wings, their appearance
changed over time with bodies matching the
seductiveness of their voices.
But rather than enticing mariners with romantic
interest, sirens would draw in sea-farers
in hopes of causing them to shipwreck along
rocky coasts.
Such was the curse handed to them by the Greek
harvest goddess Demeter . These creatures
were given lifespans, as the story goes, that
would cease should a sailor successfully pass
them and their alluring songs by.
Number 11.
Satyr
Depicted with the ears, tails, and sometimes
lower body of a horse, the Satyr was a symbol
of debauchery, decadence, and overindulgence
as representatives of the wine and fertility
god Dionysus . They are often portrayed in
artwork as drinking wine, playing instruments,
dancing and chasing nymphs, as well as engaging
in a number of unspeakably hedonistic activities.
These bearded creatures often played the role
of trickster when it came to Greek fables.
Satyrs would routinely get into mischief,
interfering in the lives of mortals and fellow
mythological creatures alike, often engaging
in some crude form of seduction along the
way.
A favorite among playwrights, Greek society
even developed a type of play revolving around
the beings, with satyrs forming the chorus
with the goal to elicit laughs from their
raucous, adult-themed humor.
Number 10.
Minotaur
Legend tells of the Cretan King Minos praying
to Poseidon , god of the sea, to send him
a white bull in support of his rise to the
throne.
Poseidon delivered with the stipulation that
Minos sacrifice the porcelain bovine in his
honor.
But when the zealous king decided to keep
the bull for his own due to its majestic beauty,
the sea god punished him by making his wife
fall in love with it!
Together, the woman and the bull produced
the monstrosity that would come to be known
as the Minotaur.
With the head of a bull, and the body of a
man, this mythic creature was banished to
a massive labyrinth due to its unnatural need
to consume humans for sustenance.
Here, it roamed the puzzling corridors of
its forced home, feeding on sacrificial offerings
until the Minotaur was slain by the hero Theseus
.
Number 9.
Pegasus
The glorious steed known as Pegasus is one
of the most heralded legendary beasts, having
served as a companion in the adventures of
heroes like Bellerophon and, in some accounts,
Perseus . Despite it being a winged horse,
Pegasus is said to have been the direct offspring
of Poseidon and the Gorgon Medusa.
He served Zeus directly, bringing the king
of gods lightning and thunder from the divine
oasis of Mount Olympus.
After years of service to Zeus, Pegasus was
immortalized when the king deity rewarded
him by transforming him into a constellation.
The winged horse can be seen outside of the
night sky in the form of emblems, logos, and
even company names due to its long-lasting
reputation as the most divine of all horses.
Number 8.
Basilisk
Born from the egg of a toad or serpent incubated
by a rooster, the Basilisk was a ferocious
horror and one of the most dreaded among ancient
societies.
The physical makeup of the Basilisk has changed
from culture to culture, but classically this
beast resembled a snake with the head and
wings of a rooster, possibly in small stature.
But it's also come to be known as the name
for a giant snake as well, with the main common
factor in both iterations being the Basilisk's
special abilities.
The serpentine terror was said to have a gaze
that could end lives, a putrid breath that
could incapacitate grown men, toxic venom,
and a paralyzing hiss.
Through these tools of destruction, the fabled
Basilisk posed a threat to mortals without
even needing to get close.
Number 7.
Harpy
Somewhere between fair maidens and vicious
vultures lies the folkloric Harpy.
This feathered, apparently female monstrosity
was known for carrying people away into the
sky, snatching them up from the ground as
punishment for whatever wrongs they might
have committed.
Harpies were treated as wind spirits and are
thought to have been ancient Greece's personification
of ruthless winds and their destructive nature.
Cursed with hunger, these beings would steal
food off their victims before carrying them
to the tortuous deities of vengeance known
as the Erinyes , or the Furies.
But, depending on the source, Harpies are
thought to have served many masters.
Sometimes they carried evildoers to Tartarus
, the abyssal prison of the Titans, and other
times served Zeus himself as "ministers of
the Thunderer".
However, in later writings, their duty was
to the Underworld, along with a litany of
other monsters.
Number 6.
Griffin
The majestic blend of a lion and an eagle,
the Griffin, or Gryps [grips] as it was sometimes
known in ancient Greece, is a legendary beast
whose image has endured the test of time.
Recognized in Greek mythology for guarding
gold deposits where they were said to make
their nests amid gilded nuggets, Griffins
were a common inclusion in Greek artworks.
It's believed the folkloric beast predates
the ancient Greeks, having been identified
in ancient Iranian and Egyptian artifacts
dating back to 3000 BC.
Then after the Greeks, the Griffin persisted
into the prestigious role of a heraldic symbol
during medieval times.
The belief during the Middle Ages was that
the lion was the king of beasts and that the
eagle was the king of birds, thus making the
Griffin one of the utmost exalted fabled creatures
by default.
Number 5.
Hippocampus
Poseidon was known as the god of the sea,
but he also reigned over other dominions as
well, serving as the god of earthquakes, and
even horses, as well.
So when the great ocean lord was described
as riding up from the sea, it made all the
more sense for his chariot to be pulled by
the Hippocampi . The Hippocampus is a creature
with the upper half of a horse and the lower
half of a fish.
While its name isn't quite as familiar as
others on the list, its imagery carried on
long after the ancient Greeks.
Depictions of the Hippocampus can be seen
in Etruscan wall-paintings in Italy, Pictish
carvings in Scotland, and in medieval heraldry
ranging from Ireland to France.
Number 4.
Echidna
From the waist up, Echidna was a beautiful
greek woman.
But her lower half revealed her true nature
as her legs were instead replaced with the
massive body of a snake.
Described as an irresistible yet fearsome
being, Echidna existed somewhere between the
Greek gods and mortals, with a supposed immunity
to age.
With the gargantuan creature Typhon as her
mate, who also had many physical features
relating to snakes, Echidna birthed many if
not most of the popular mythological creatures
to stand the test of time.
Thus she is widely regarded as a mother of
monsters, tolerated by the gods for her role
in challenging heroes by way of her offspring.
Eventually she was slain by a servant of Hera,
a hundred-eyed giant named Argos who defeated
Echidna at the request of his goddess.
Number 3.
Hydra
Making its home in the lake of Lerna , the
Hydra of Greek legend was a serpentine horror,
equipped with numerous heads, the number of
which varies with the source of the story.
This creature is said to have been born of
Echidna , like so many other monsters of Greek
myth, however the hydra in particular was
raised by the goddess Hera with the sole purpose
of vanquishing the hero Heracles . Its lair
in the swamps of Lake Lerna was shrouded in
poisonous gases, and within its waters was
said to be an entrance to the realm of the
afterlife, known as the Underworld.
Heracles would do battle with the Hydra as
the second of his twelve labours, but as he
cut off one head, two would grow back in its
place.
Enlisting the help of his nephew Iolaus , the
hero used his blade to decapitate the scaled
terror as his relative singed its necks shut
before it could regenerate, resulting in the
hydra's demise.
Number 2.
Cerberus
In the ancient Greek pantheon, Hades rules
over the Underworld.
The souls of those who have passed are kept
safe behind the gates of the Underworld, and
standing guard outside of these gates is the
notorious beast called Cerberus . Depicted
as a gigantic three-headed dog, sometimes
with snakes protruding from all over its body,
this hound of Hades is one of the most iconic
mythological monsters to spawn out of Greek
folklore.
The beast was virtually untouchable until
the hero Heracles , as his final of twelve
epic labours with which he was tasked, came
to capture the three-headed dog.
Heracles defeated the Cerberus by force, dragging
it back to the mortal world as proof of his
capability, before returning the creature
to its home aside Hades.
Number 1.
Chimaera
Perhaps the most nightmarish creature of Greek
Mythology, the Chimaera was another beast
spawned from the mother of monsters Echidna
and was often referred to as a sibling of
the Cerberus and Hydra.
This abomination features the head and body
of a lion, the fire-breathing head of a goat
branching out of its back, and the head and
body of a serpent in place of a tail!
A terrible monstrosity, the Chimaera was said
to have terrorized the region of Lycia before
the hero Bellerophon slayed it with the assistance
of the Pegasus.
