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Greek Mythology
Greek Myth Creatures
Cyclopes
The Cyclopes were gigantic one eyed monsters. The most famous is Polyphemus,
the Cyclops blinded by Odysseus. Hesiod mentions only three (not a race or
tribe): Arges (thunderbolt), Steropes (lightning), and Brontes (thunder),
obviously storm gods.They were born to Gaea and Uranus. They were also the first
smiths. When Cronus came to power he imprisoned the Cyclopes in Tartarus. The
were released by Zeus and fought with him against the Titans. As a reward for
their release the Cyclopes gave Zeus his weapons of lighting and thunder. They
continued as his workers at Mount Olympus forging his thunerbolts
Arges was killed by Hermes while he guarded Io for Hera
Apollo killed at least one of the Cyclopes to retribution for Zeus killing his
son Aesculapius.
Hecatoncheires
Hecatoncheires means "hundred handed". They were gigantic and had
fifty heads and one hundred arms each of great strength. There were three of
them: Briareus also called Aegaeon, Cottus, and Gyges also called Gyes. They
were born to Gaea and Uranus. Their mutual hatered of Uranus caused him to force
the Hecatoncheires back into Gaea's womb. This parcipatated Gaea's rebellion
against Uranus. When Cronus came to power he imprisoned the Cyclopes in Tartarus.
The were released by Zeus and fought with him against the Titans. They were able
to hurl huge boulders as many as a hundred at a time against their opponents.
One of them, Briareus, served as Zeus's bodygaurd
Giants
The Giants were generated from Uranus blood resulting from his castration by
Cronus. They became powerful enough to try to unseat Zeus and the Olympians
early in their rule. When the gods won they imprisoned the Giants in Tartarus.
Ash Tree Nymphs
The Ash Tree Nymphs were generated from Uranus blood resulting from his
castration by Cronus.
Typhoeus
Typhoeus, was a fire breathing dragon with a hundred heads that never rest.
It was birthed by Gaea as a last ditch effort to keep the Olympians from
defeating her children the Titans. It came close to succeeding, setting most of
the gods to flight and capturing Zeus. Hermes was able to free Zeus. Zeus was
then able to dispatch Typhoeus with his lighting bolts. Typhoeus is buried under
Mount Etna in Sicily.
Cerberus
Cerberus is the three headed dog with a dragon tail which guards the
entrance to the underworld. Allowing the dead to enter but, never leave.
Fetching Cerberus was the last labor of Heracles
Sirens
Beautiful half-woman, half-birdlike creatures who sang such sweet songs that
listeners forgot everything and died of hunger. The Sirens are sisters who lure
sailors to their death. The song of the Sirens is irrestable but, the they
reside beyound unpassable reefs which destroy the sailors boat when they try to
reach the Sirens. Among those tempted were Jason on the Argo and Odysseus.
Odysseus escaped from them by filling his crew's ears with wax while he tied
himself to the ship's mast. The Argonauts were saved by Orpheus' music. Aglaope
(beautiful face), Aglaophonos (beautiful voice), Himeropa, Leucosia (white
being), Ligeia (shrill), Molpe (music), Parthenope (maiden face), Peisino??
(persuading mind), Raidne (improvement), Teles (perfect), Thelchtereia,
Thelxepeia (soothing words), Thelxiope (persuasive face) are their names. The
three most famous were Parthenope, Ligea, and Leucosia.
Centaur
The Centaur's are half man, and half horse. They have the body of a horse
but, in place of the horse's head the have the torso, head and arms of a man.
Most are wild and savage, known for lustfulness and drunkeness. The exception is
the wise Centaur Chiron.
Chiron
Chiron was known for his exceptional goodness and wisdom. He was the only
immortal centaur. He became the tutor for a number of famous greek heros
including: Achilles, Aesculapius, Actaeon.
Despite his immortality he was to end up dying. Hercules stopped to vist Pholus.
Hercules was thirsty and persuaded Pholus to open a jar of wine that was the
common property of the centaurs. The other centaurs smelled the wine and came
running. A fight broke out between Hercules and the centaurs. Chiron took no
part in the fight but, was accedentally wounded by Hercules. As an immortal
Chiron could not die but, lived in terrible pain.
Chiron then chose to trade his life for the release of Prometheus.
THE MEDUSA
The medusa was an ugly creature. Let's have a look at how she came into
existance, for she wasn't always that ugly... Again, the Gods played their role.
The Medusa was the daughter of Phorkys and Keto, the children of Gaia (Earth)
and Okeanos (Ocean). She was one of the three sisters known as the Gorgons. The
other two sisters were Sthenno and Euryale. Medusa was the only mortal out of
the three. She was once very beautiful and lived far in the north were the sun
didn't visit. Being very curious, she wanted to see the sun, and asked the
Goddess Athena for permission to visit the south. Athena refused to allow her to
visit. The medusa got angry and dared to say that Athena hadn't given her
permission because she was jealous of her beauty. that was it! Athena was
angered and punished her by turning her hair into snakes and cursing her by
making her so ugly that who ever lookes at her eyes would turn into stone.
Argus Panoptes
The all seeing. A man with many eyes. Early accounts say he had four eyes,
later a hundred. There are many accounts of his parentage. He was in a number of
adventures: He killed a bull ravaging Arcadia. He killed a satyr for stealing
cattle. He killed Echidna. He avenged the death of Apis.
Argus was killed by Hermes while he guarded Io for Hera
Chimaera
Spawned by Typhoeus and Echidna, the Chimaera had three heads - lion, goat,
and snake .Its body was also mixed having the front part of a lion, middle of a
goat, and snake for a tail. It breathed fire. It ravaged Lycia, killing cattle
and setting fires until it was killed by Bellerophon
Echidna
A female monster consisting of half nymph, half speckled snake. It lived in
a cave coming out to snatch up and eat those passing. The critter was ageless
but, not immortal. It was killed by Argus Panoptes while sleeping. It mated
frequently with Typhoeus producing a variety of offspring.
Gorgons
These are female monsters with snakes for hair. Their faces are so ugly that
any man that see the face will turn to stone. Oddly the three gorgons have very
different origins. Stheno and Euryale were born as gorgons from Phorcys and Ceto.
They are immortal. Medusa was not.
Pegaus
Pegasus was a winged horse and good flyer. The Pegasus was the result of the
ill fated mating of Medusa and Poseidon. It was born from Medusa when her head
was cut off by Perseus. Tamed by Bellerophon it served as his mount during his
adventures including his slaying of the Chimaera. When Bellerophon attempted to
fly Pegasus to Mount Olympus he was dismounted by Zeus. Pegasus continued on and
made it to Mount Olympus. Here Pegasus spent his days carrying lighting bolts
for Zeus.
Chrysaor
Chrysaor was the result of the ill fated mating of Medusa and Poseidon. He
was born from Medusa when her head was cut off by Perseus. Little is known of
Chrysaor other then he was considered a stout hearted warrior. His name means
Golden Sword. He fathered Geryon. His appearance is unknown but, given his
family it is likely to have been unusual. He was possibly a giant.