Greek Mythology


Hey everybody and welcome back to Raisa's Mythological Creature Blog! Today I'll introduce to you 10 beasts from Greek Mythology!



The first Greek Mythological creature is Cerberus. Cerberus is a 3 headed dog that guards the underworld and has a serpent as a tail. He is the god Hades' pet. One myth tells a story when the hero Heracles had to capture Cerberus for one of his 12 labours. After Heracles captured Cerberus, he brought the beast to Eurystheus, but unlike the other creatures Heracles captured, Cerberus returned safely to the world of his master.

Centaur is another famous Greek creature. It has a human's head, and the body of a horse. We found out how centaurs were born from two different myths. One myth was that their mother and father were Ixion (king of the Lapiths) and Nephele (a cloud that resembled the goddess Hera). The other myth about how they were created were that Magnesian mares mated with a male Centaurus.

Minotaur is a beast with a human's body and a head of a bull. Parsiphae, the wife of a Cretan King Minos, fell in love with a bull that her husband refused to sacrifice, and their offspring was a monstrous, human eating bull, known as the Minotaur. He was then locked inside the labyrinth and every year the Cretans gave the Minotaur a human sacrifice. One year, the hero Theseus fought with the creature and killed him.

The next creature for today is Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, which means 'The Great Dog', but it is also the name of an actual dog. I found out a myth about this canine. A hunter, Orion, named a constellation after his beloved pet, Sirius (Orion's pet apparently looks like a greyhound).

The next interesting creature is the Chimera. The Chimera is a beast that was created with parts from multiple animals. It had the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a snake. One tale about the Chimera says that the beast was the sibling of the 3 headed guard dog Cerberus and the sea monster Hydra. (This is very similar to Norse myths; the wolf Fenrir has a serpent brother, Jormungand, and he also has a sister, Hel, the goddess of the underworld. This is very common in Indo-European cultures influence from different mythologies.) 

Argos is a city in Greece, but it is also the name of a dog! In Greek myths, this was the name of Odysseus' loyal pet. A very sad myth about Argos is that once Odysseus returns, the poor dog sadly passes away; he was an old dog and was exiled from home, leaving to the heavens, howling into the darkness.

Pegasus is another beautiful creature. It is a winged horse, all white in colour. A myth about him says that he was born from the blood of Medusa after her head was cut off by Perseus. Another one states that Pegasus helped Greek hero Bellerophon defeat the monstrous beast Chimera. 

The next creature is the Hippocampus. It is the Greek name for a sea horse. In Greek Mythology, it is described as having the upper body of a horse and the lower body of a fish. According to myth, Poseidon had a chariot under the sea that is drawn by hippocampi.

Next is the Hippogriff. This is a creature that has the front half of an eagle, and the back half of a horse. According to ancient Greek myths, the hippogriff was created when a female horse mated with a male griffin. One myth about a hippogriff is that it can travel faster than lightning.

Lastly, we have the Erymanthian boar. It is a wild boar that Adonis sent to blind Erymantheus, Apollo's, the god of the sun and music, son. A myth about the boar is that Hera and Zeus asked Heracles to capture the beast for one of his 12 labours. But wait! There is a second part to this myth! After capturing the boar, Heracles brought it back home and as soon as he saw the deadly creature, the king hid inside a jar for safety.

That's it for today! See you tomorrow for more beasts! Bye!