Greek Monsters
The first Greek monsters mentioned in the Greek myths are the children that Gaea (also known as the Earth, Gaia, Ge, or Mother Earth) and Uranus (also known as the Sky, the Heavens, or Ouranos) gave birth to the 3 Cyclopes, the 3 Hecatonchires, and the monsters they conceived when Uranus was castrated by his son, Cronus, and his blood from the castration hit the Earth. The 3 cyclopes were giants and had one eye in the middle of their forehead. The Hecatonchires were also giants with 50 heads and 100 arms.
Other monsters mentioned in the Greek myths were: Argus, the monster with one hundred eyes all over his body. He guarded Hera and after Hermes killed Argus, Hera took its eyes and put them in the tail of a peacock, her favorite bird. Cerberus was a three headed dog. He was owned by Hades and he was used to guard the door of the Underworld. The Gorgons were monsters who lived at the edge of the world. Their hair was made of serpents and one look into the eyes of the Gorgon would turn the person to stone. The Hydra was a large poisonous serpent with nine heads. Each time a head was injured, two would grow in its place. Hercules destroyed this monster. Minotaur was a man eating monster with the head of a bull. Thesus killed this monster. Scylla and Charybdis were monsters who lived together in a sea cave. Scylla had many dog heads and ate sailors. Charybdis formed whirlpools by sucking it up and spitting it back out. Sirens were giant creatures with wings and who had heads of women. They stayed on rocks in the sea and sang to the sailors to lure them and cause them to wreck their ships. Odysseus filled the ears of his sailors so they could sail past the Sirens.
It is written that Hercules was given 12 labors by King Eurystheus of Tiryns. Hercules spent twelve years performing these tasks which involved destroying monsters. The first task was to kill the Nemean Loin. This lion was a monster with a tough hide that no arrow would penetrate. Hercules stunned the beast with his club then strangled it to death. His second task was to kill the Lernean Hydra. The Hydra was a very large giant snake with nine heads. Hercules quickly chopped off the heads of the snake and Iolaus sealed the wounds with a torch. Hercules then dipped his arrows in the snakes blood to make them poisonous. Task three was to capture the Cerynian Hind. The Hind was a stubborn little deer with gold horns Artemis protected the deer but Hercules followed it for a year then carried it away. Task four was to capture the Erymanthian Boar. Hercules chased the wild boar into the mountains into a snowdrift and captured it in a net. Other tasks Hercules had to perform involved the monsters, Cerberus, Nymphs, Cattle of Geryon (winged monster with 3 human bodies), Horses of Diomeded (ate human flesh), the Cretan Bull, and the Stymphalian birds.
|