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GREEK MONSTERS (DEMONS)
Greek imagery is peopled with strange figures: major and
minor divinities, personifications, terrifying monsters
combining two or more species of animal. As ancient Greek
art evolved, each creature quickly developed its own
distinctive appearance, symbolizing its character and
function.
Monsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of
unnatural proportions or parts, usually regarded with
terror, as possessing immense strength and ferocity, which
they employed for the injury and annoyance of men. Some of
them were supposed to combine the members of different
animals; such were the Sphinx and the Chimera;
and to these all the terrible qualities of wild beasts were
attributed, together with human sagacity and faculties.
Others, as the giants, differed from men chiefly in
their size; and in this particular we must recognize a wide
distinction among them. The human giants, if so they may be
called, such as the Cyclopes, Antaeus,
Orion, and others, must be supposed not to be altogether
disproportioned to human beings, for they mingled in love
and strife with them. But the superhuman giants, who warred
with the gods, were of vastly larger dimensions. Tityus,
we are told, when stretched on the plain, covered nine
acres, and Enceladus required the whole of Mount
Aetna to be laid upon him to keep him down.
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Here is the partial list of Greek monsters (demons):
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ARGUS: Argus may have had as many as one hundred
eyes, which were located all over his body. Hera
employed him as a guard. He was killed by Hermes.
Afterward, Hera put Argus's eyes in the tail of the
peacock, her favorite bird.
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BASILISK: This creature has
the body and head of a huge, golden snake, with a comb of
a rooster on its head. It holds the front half of its body
upright. It hates humans and can kill them just by looking
at them or breathing on them. It can be killed by being
shown its reflection in a mirror. When it dies, it
releases an obnoxious, poisonous gas. It is known in
Greece, the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe and Russia.
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CENTAUR: |
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CERBERUS: The three headed dog with a dragon tail
which guards the entrance to the underworld. He allows
the dead to enter but, never leave. Fetching Cerberus
was the last labor of Heracles.
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CHIMERA: A monstrous creature made of the
parts of multiple animals. Chimera was one of the
offspring of Typhon and Echidna and sister
of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean
Hydra. Descriptions vary – some say it had the body
of a goat, the tail of a snake or dragon and the head of
a lion, though others say it had heads of both the goat
and lion, with a snake for a tail. It is generally
considered to have been female, despite the mane
adorning its lion's head. All descriptions, however,
agree that it breathed fire from one or more of its
heads.
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CYCLOPS (CYCLOPES): The Cyclops were
gigantic one eyed monsters. There were three of them
representing thunder, lighting, and the lighting bolt.
They are named Brontes, Steropes, and Arges.
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GIANTS: The Giants were generated from the god
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.
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GORGONS: Horrifyingly ugly monsters who lived at
the edge of the world. Their hair was made of serpents,
and one look from a Gorgon's eyes would turn a man to
stone. Perseus killed the Gorgon Medusa by
beheading her while looking only at her reflection.
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GRIFFON: |
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GRYPHON: |
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HARPIES: The Harpies appear in the story of
Jason and the Argonauts. The blind King Phineas
of Thrace is harassed by these bird women who
pollute his food every day until they are driven away.
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HECATONCHEIRES: The name 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.
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HYDRA: A massive and poisonous serpent with nine
heads. Every time one head was injured, another two grew
in its place. Hercules sought out the monster in
its dark marsh and succeeded in destroying it.
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MEDUSA: A glimpse of the face of the Gorgon
Medusa turned men to stone. |
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MINOTAUR: A man-eating monster with the head of a
bull. King Minos kept it hidden in a labyrinth (a
maze) in Knossos, on the island of Crete,
where he used it to frighten his enemies. Theseus
killed the Minotaur.
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NEMEAN LION: One of the many offspring of
half-woman and half-serpent Echidna and her
husband, the 100-headed Typhon. It lived in
Argolis terrifying people. The skin of the lion was
impenetrable, so when Hercules tried to shoot it
from a distance, he failed to kill it. It wasn't until
Hercules used his olive-wood club to stun the beast,
that he was then able to strangle it to death. Hercules
decided to wear the Nemean Lion skin as protection, but
couldn't skin the animal until he took one of the Nemean
Lion's own claws to rip up the skin.
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SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS: The powerful monsters
Scylla and Charybdis lived together in a sea
cave. Scylla had many fierce dog heads and ate sailors
alive; Charybdis created whirlpools by sucking in and
spitting out seawater. Both Jason and Odysseus
safely traveled by these monsters.
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SIRENS: The Sirens were giant, winged creatures
with the heads of women. They lived on rocks on the sea,
where their beautiful singing lured sailors to
shipwreck. Odysseus filled his sailors' ears with wax so
that they might sail safely past the Sirens.
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SPHINX: The sphinx is mostly familiar from ancient
Egypt, but shows up in Greek myth in the story of
Oedipus. The sphinx asks passers-by to solve a
riddle. If they fail, she destroys or devours them.
Oedipus got by the sphinx by answering her question.
Presumably that destroyed her, and that is why she
doesn't re-appear in Greek mythology.
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TYPHOEUS: A fire breathing dragon with a hundred
heads that never rest. It was birthed by the goddess
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.
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An open enemy is better
than a false friend.
Greek Proverb
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