• From one-eyed giants to terrifying three-headed hellhounds, we count fifteen incredible Greek
mythological creatures!
15 – Centaurs, • Centaurs are mythological creatures with
human heads, arms and torsos, and the legs and body of a horse.
• Centaurs are best known for instigating a fight with the Lapiths.
On the day of Hippodamia’s marriage to Pirithous, the king of the Lapithae, the centaurs barged
in and attempted to kidnap the Lapith women.
• The most renowned centaur in Greek mythology is Chiron, whose intelligence and impressive
medical skills contrast the violent and excessive drinking behaviours of most typical centaurs.
14 – Cerberus, • Cerberus is a massive three-headed hellhound
that guards the entrance to the underworld so none who’ve crossed the river Styx can
escape.
He’s also Hades’ loyal guard dog.
• Cerberus’s appetite extends only to living flesh; he’ll allow deceased spirits
to pass, but will consume any living mortal foolish enough to approach him.
• Cerberus’s three heads symbolise the past, present and future – although in other
versions of the myth the heads represent youth, adulthood, and old age.
• Cerberus is probably best known as Heracle’s twelfth and final labour.
Heracles must enter the underworld, wrestle the beast unarmed, and then bring Cerberus
to the surface world, alive, to present to King Eurystheus.
13 – Sirens, • Sirens, also called the Muses of the lower
world, are femme fatales who lure in sailors with their enchanting voices and music, bringing
them to shipwreck on rocky coastlines.
• Sirens are usually depicted as bird–women hybrids.
In early Greek art, they are represented as birds with large women's heads, feathers and
scaly feet.
However, they are later represented as winged or wingless female figures with the legs of
birds.
They are often seen playing a variety of musical instruments, particularly the harp.
• The term ‘siren song’ refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if
heeded, will lead to a bad conclusion.
• Some writers have implied that Sirens are cannibals; others have suggested the sailors
they lure die from starvation, unable to eat or leave due to their fixation.
12 – Pegasus, • Pegasus is the winged, pure white divine
stallion of Greek mythology.
The offspring of Medusa and Poseidon, legend says that an inspiring spring bubbles forth
every time Pegasus’s hooves impact the ground.
• Pegasus appears in an abundance of ancient Greek pottery, paintings and sculptures of
the Renaissance.
He is thought to symbolise poetry and inspiration.
• Pegasus is the brother of Chrysaor (chris-ee-yor) and was born when his mother was decapitated
by Perseaus.
After his birth, he ascended to heaven where he pledged allegiance to Zeus, the king of
the gods.
Zeus tasked him with bringing lightning and thunder from Olympus.
• Pegasus is renowned for creating Hippocrene, the fountain on Mt Helicon, and for allowing
the Greek hero Bellerophon (bellero-fun) to ride him into battle with the formidable Chimera.
After his death, Zeus transforms the winged horse into the constellation Pegasus and places
him in the sky.
11 – The Empusa, • The Empusa is not as well known as other
Greek legends; she does not appear in any traditional epic or popular legend.
However, her frightening appearance and penchant for human flesh make her a memorable addition
to any list of mythological creatures.
• The Empusa is described as a beautiful woman that can transform into a sharp-toothed,
flame-haired and bat-winged creature.
She is said to be a demigoddess under the control of the goddess Hecate (heck-at-ee),
a being commonly associated with crossroads and entrance ways.
• The Empusa seduces young men travelling alone.
Once the unsuspecting youth is asleep, the creature shifts into her hideous true form
to devour her victim’s flesh and drink his blood for sustenance.
• This horrific mythological being is best known for her appearance in Aristophanes’s
The Frogs, where she terrifies the god Dionysus as he travels to the underworld.
10 – Sphinx, • The mythical Sphinx is a monster with
the haunches of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the face of a woman.
She is known for her treachery and merciless nature, and for her terrifying habit of devouring
those who fail to correctly answer her riddles.
• The Sphinx famously appears in the legend of Oedipus.
In the story, Oedipus travels down the road to his kingdom of Thebes, but is confronted
by this strange and mysterious creature.
Blocking Oedipus’ path, the Sphinx confronts him with the following riddle: ‘What is
that which in the morning goeth upon four feet; upon two feet in the afternoon; and
in the evening upon three?’
• Oedipus correctly answers the riddle: ‘Man’, who crawls on all fours as a child,
stands on two feet as an adult, then, assisted by a cane, stands on three feet in the twilight
of his life.
Having been bested at her own game, the Sphinx devours herself in a frustrated rage.
9 – Harpies, • In Greek mythology, harpies are female
monsters resembling birds with human faces.
These former wind spirits drag evildoers to the Erinyes, the chthonic deities of vengeance.
• The name of these winged spirits literally translates to ‘that which snatches’, which
is apt considering their tendency to steal food.
In fact, Zeus, the father of Gods and men, used harpies to punish King Phineus.
Phineus was blinded and left on an island with a banquet of delicious food and a mob
of harpies for company.
Phineus endured torture by starvation; ravenous, he could never enjoy the delicious foods on
offer because the harpies would always get to it first.
• This is an example of the harpies’ cruelness.
They regularly abduct people for the purpose of torturing them, and are therefore considered
agents of punishment.
8 – Griffins/ Hippogriff, • The Griffin is a legendary creature with
the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle’s
talons for front feet.
Since it is comprised of two noble creatures – the king of beasts and the king of birds
– griffins are thought to hold great powerful, intellect and majesty.
• In ancient times, the griffin was considered a symbol of divine power and a guardian of
the divine.
• Hippogriffs – which did not, in fact, stem from J.K.
Rowling’s imagination – share physical and behavioural similarities with Griffins.
Hippogriffs are thought to be the outcome of breeding a male griffin with a mare.
Because of this, they have softer temperaments and are easier to tame.
In ancient times, knights rode hippogriffs into combat.
7 – The Chimera, • The Chimera is the feral, fire-breathing
monstrosity of Lycia (liss-ee-aa).
The Chimera possesses the body and head of a lion and a snake for a tail.
Additionally, the head of a goat protrudes from its back.
• The term chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional creature with parts
taken from various animals.
It’s also used to describe wildly imaginative or implausible concepts.
• The earliest recorded appearance of the Chimera is The Iliad.
It is traditionally considered female, and is thought to have birthed the Sphinx and
the Nemean lion.
It is an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling to such monsters as Cerberus and
the Lernaean (learn-ee-yan) Hydra.
• This feared monster was believed to have been an omen for storms, shipwrecks and other
natural disasters.
• It is best known for its legendary battle with Bellerophon (bellero-fun) and Pegasus.
6 – The Phoenix, • The phoenix of Greek mythology lives in
Arabia, near a cool well, where it bathes each morning at dawn.
It sings a song so beautiful that the Sun God stops his chariot to listen.
• Legends tell that phoenixes can live over 1,400 years before their fabled rebirth.
When a phoenix feels its death approaching, it builds a nest of aromatic wood and sets
it on fire, so that it can be consumed by the flames.
When burned, a new phoenix springs forth from the pyre.
It embalms the ashes of its predecessor in an egg of myrrh and flies with it to the city
of the sun, Heliopolis.
There it deposits the egg on the Sun God’s altar.
• In ancient Greece, the phoenix was sometimes associated with the similar-sounding Phoenicia,
a region where purple dye is famously manufactured from conch shells.
It is said that this version of the phoenix derived its name because of its allegedly
purple-red hue.
Because Phoenician purple dye has upper-class and even royal associations, the phoenix was
considered ‘the royal bird’.
• The phoenix is often depicted with a nimbus, emphasising its connection to the sun.
It is also described as having a crest of feathers on its head, much like a rooster.
5 – The Hydra, • The Hydra is a deadly serpent-like water
monster with multiple heads and venom so potent that even its breath is lethal to man.
Its blood is so potent that even its tracks are deadly.
• Ancient Greek poets describe it as having more heads than a vase-painter could paint.
It can instantaneously regenerate these heads, should they be severed, and it’s said that
for every head that’s removed, two more will grow in its place.
• The Hydra’s lair is the lake of Lerna in an ancient part of the Peloponnese (pell-oh-poe-knees).
The Hydra lurks in an underwater cave that is said to be an entrance to the underworld.
• The Hydra is the second monster Heracles faces during his twelve labours.
Realising conventional blows are fruitless, Heracles devises a plan.
He decapitates one of the Hydra’s heads and takes a torch to the remaining stump.
The wound is cauterised and the creature is unable to produce any more heads.
With this tactic, he is able to lob off the Hydra’s final head, killing the creature
and completing his second task.
4 – Gorgons, • Gorgons are grotesque creatures that faintly
resemble human women, but are depicted as having tusks, whiskers and snakes for hair.
• Medusa is the most popular and recognisable gorgon in Greek mythology.
She was born to the archaic marine deity, Ceto, and had snake tails for legs and writhing,
venomous snakes for hair.
Unlike her sisters, whose abilities include murderous screams, Medusa can turn any onlooker
who gazes her face to stone.
• Medusa was famously decapitated by Perseus.
Perseus wielded a scythe and was able to safely approach her by viewing her reflection in
his mirror shield.
• Medusa features in countless works of fiction, including video games, movies, cartoons
and books.
The designer Gianni Versace's (ver-sa-chey's) uses Medusa’s head as a symbol.
It is said to represent beauty, art and philosophy.
3 – Cyclops, • Cyclops are primordial giants said to
have been born from Gaia, the earth.
They possess great strength and ferocity, and are recognisable because of the single
bulging eye protruding from their foreheads.
• During their early years, the cyclops were imprisoned in the pits of Tartarus by
their father Uranus, who feared their power.
Eventually, the mighty Zeus released them.
To show gratitude, they crafted thunderbolts for the young Olympian.
• The most famous story involving cyclops involves Odysseus, who ends up trapped in
the cave of the mighty Polyphemus (pol-ee-phee-mus).
The monstrous cyclops blocks the exit to the cave and devours the flesh of his captives
day after day.
• The wily Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into overindulging on wine.
The jolly drunk monster then asks Odysseus for his name.
Odysseus replies that his name is ‘nobody’.
When Polyphemus falls asleep from intoxication, Odysseus and his men blind the cyclops with
a sharpened staff.
Polyphemus, now enraged, cries out to the other cyclops that ‘Nobody’ has blinded
him.
• Odysseus and his men then escape from the cave by harnessing themselves to the underbellies
of the Polyphemus’s sheep.
The blind Polyphemus is unaware of their ruse. 2 – The Minotaur,
• The Minotaur, whose name translates to ‘The Bull of Minos’, is a terrifying creature
with the head of a bull on the body of a very strong man.
• The Minotaur was born of bestial relations; the sea god Poseidon made Pasiphaë (pass-if-fay),
the wife of King Minos, fall in love with a bull as punishment for her husband’s disrespect.
The offspring consummated from this unholy union was the monstrous Minotaur.
• Because of his ferocious manner, the Minotaur was banished to the centre of the Cretan Labyrinth,
an elaborate maze designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus.
• Young Medians were fed to the Minotaur as a type of sacrifice.
It was said that this sacrifice would avert a terrible plague.
• This iconic bull-man was eventually slain by the Athenian hero Theseus.
1 – Typhon, • Typhon is the most ferocious creature
in all of Greek mythology.
• This beast of legend is gargantuan; his human upper half reaches as high as the stars,
and his hands stretch far out into the distance.
Instead of a human head, Typhon has a hundred menacing dragon heads that have erupted from
his neck and shoulders.
The lower half of his body consists of twin coiled and aggravated viper tails.
When spread, his wings blot out the sun, and his eyes flash with fire, striking fear into
the heart of any living creature, even the mighty Olympians.
• Typhon is the last son of Gaia, the earth, and is fathered by Tartarus, the depths of
hell.
He is considered the ‘Father of all Monsters’, and his wife Echidna is the ‘Mother of all
Monsters’.
• Typhon is so powerful that the only conceivable opponent to challenge him is Zeus himself.
While the other Olympians run in terror, Zeus stands strong against this monstrous being.
A legendary clash of titans ensues, causing countless earthquakes and tsunamis.
Their war threatens to break the planet in two.
• By casting one hundred well-aimed thunderbolts, Zeus eventually triumphs over Typhon, who
is then cast down into the pits of Tartarus, where he is sealed away for eternity.
However, the rage of this monster still cannot be contained.
His furious tantrums manifest in the form of volcanic eruptions.
In this way, Typhon continues to terrorise humanity from his underworld prison.