A host oflegendary creatures, animals, andmythic humanoids occur in ancientGreek mythology. Anything related to mythology is mythological. A mythological creature (also mythical or fictional entity) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accounts before modernity. Something mythological can also be described as mythic, mythical, or mythologic.
Aeternae: Giants who use bones as tools, their most notable feature is the saw-toothed protuberances sprouting from their heads.
Amphisbaena: A serpent born from Medusa's blood over the Libyan Desert, famous for having two heads one on ether end of its body. The Amphisbaena also has dragon wings and chicken feet.
Arae: A female demon that personifies curses usually placed by the dead upon their murderers. They would leave the underworld to fulfill the curse.
Basilisk: A serpent often called the king of snakes whose gaze could petrify or kill and it's toxic breath could break stones.
Catoblepas: A buffalo-like creature with shaggy fur, large horns, and a heavy head whose toxic breath and ugly looks could kill.
Centaur andCentauride: Creatures with a head and the torso of a human, and the body of a horse.
Eurynomos: one of the Centaurs who fought against the Lapiths at the wedding of Hippodamia.
Eurytion: two different Centaurs bearing the same name.
Eurytus: a centaur present at the wedding ofPirithous andHippodamia, who caused the conflict between theLapiths and the centaurs by trying to carry the bride off.
Cyprian centaurs: bull-horned centaurs native to the island ofCyprus.
Ichthyocentaurs: a pair of marine centaurs with the upper bodies of men, the lower fronts of horses, and the tails of fish.
Aphros
Bythos
Lamian centaurs or Lamian Pheres: twelve rustic spirits of theLamos river. They were instructed byZeus to guard the infantDionysus, protecting him from the machinations ofHera, but the enraged goddess transformed them into ox-horned centaurs. They accompanied Dionysus in his campaign against the Indians.
Charon: the ferryman of Hades, who transports the dead across theRiver Styx.
Charybdis: a sea monster whose inhalations formed a deadly whirlpool or a huge water mouth.
Chimera: a fire-breathing, three-headed monster with one head of a lion, one of a snake, and another of a goat, lion claws in front and goat legs behind, and a long snake tail.
Crocotta or Cynolycus: a creature with the body of a stag, a lion's neck, cloven hooves, and a wide mouth with a sharp, bony ridge in place of teeth. It imitates the human voice, calls men by name at night, and devours those who approach it.
Empousa, seductive female vampire demons with fiery hair, a leg of bronze, and a donkey's foot. They are especially good at ensnaring men with their beauty before devouring them.
Mormo or Mormolyceae or Mormolyce, a vampiric creature that preyed on children.
Graeae: three old women with one tooth and one eye among them. Also known as the Graeae sisters.
Deino
Enyo
Pemphredo
Griffin or Gryphon or Gryps or Grypes: a creature that combines a lion's body and an eagle's head and wings.
Harpies: a creature with the torso, head, and arms of a woman, and the talons, tail, and wings (mixed with the arms) of a bird. Very small but can be vicious when provoked.
Hippalectryon: a creature with the fore parts of a horse and the hind parts of a cockerel/rooster.
Hippocampus: a creature with the upper body of a horse and the lower body of a fish. Created by Poseidon when he offered them to Athens.
Hydras
Lernaean Hydra: a many-headed, serpent-like creature that guarded an Underworld entrance beneath LakeLerna. It was destroyed byHeracles, in his secondLabour. Son of Typhon and Echidna.
Ipotane: a race of half-horse, half-humans. The Ipotanes are considered the original version of the centaurs.
Achlys: who may have been numbered amongst the Keres. She was represented on the shield ofHeracles.
Kobaloi: a mischievous creature fond of tricking and frightening mortals.
Lamia: a vampiric demon who by voluptuous artifices attracted young men, to enjoy their fresh, youthful, and pure flesh and blood.
Corinthian Lamia: a vampiric demon who seduced the handsome youth Menippos in the guise of a beautiful woman to consume his flesh and blood.
Leontophonos (meaning "lion-killer"): a small animal whose urine was said to be fatal to lions.[1]
Manticore or Androphagos: having the body of a red lion, a human face with three rows of sharp teeth, and the wings of a bat ordragon. The manticore can shoot spikes out of its tail, making it a deadly foe.
Merpeople: humans with fish tail after torso (Mermaid as female,Merman as male). They lure adventurers to drown them.
Minotaur: a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man; slain byTheseus in the Labyrinth created by Daedelus.
Multi-headed Dogs
Cerberus (Hellhound): the three-headed giant hound that guarded the gates of the Underworld.
Orthrus: a two-headed dog, brother of Cerberus, slain by Heracles.
Odontotyrannos: a beast with a black, horse-like head, with three horns protruding from its forehead, and exceeded the size of an elephant.
Ophiotaurus (Bull-Serpent): a creature part bull and part serpent.
Ouroboros: an immortal self-eating, circular being. The being is a serpent or a dragon curled into a circle or hoop, biting its tail.
Panes: a tribe of nature spirits that had the heads and torsos of men, the legs and tails of goats, goatish faces, and goat-horns.
Philinnion: an unwed maiden who died prematurely and returned from the tomb as the living dead to consort with a handsome youth named Makhates. When her mother discovered the girl she collapsed back into death and was burned by the terrified townsfolk beyond the town boundaries.
Phoenix: a golden-red firebird of which only one could live at a time, but would burst into flames to rebirth from ashes as a new phoenix.
Satyrs andSatyresses: creatures with upper human bodies, and the horns and hindquarters of a goat. Some were companions ofPan andDionysus.
Silenus or Papposilenus: companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus.
Scylla: once anereid, transformed byCirce into a many-headed, tentacled monster who fed on passing sailors in the straits between herself andCharybdis by plucking them off the ship and eating them.
Scythian Dracanae: upper body of a woman, lower body composed of two snake tails.
Sea goats: creatures having the back end of a fish and the front parts of a goat.[2]
Sirens: bird-like women whose irresistible song lured sailors to their deaths.
Skolopendra: a giant sea monster said to be the size of a Greek trireme. It has a crayfish-like tail, numerous legs along its body which it uses like oars to move, and extremely long hairs that protrude from its nostrils. Child of Phorcys and Keto.[3]
Spartae: a malevolent spirit born from violence.Argo crew memberJason fought alongside these creatures after discovering the dragon teeth could create these violent spirits. Spartae is generally depicted as skeletal beings with some form of weapon and military attire.
Androsphinx or simply Sphinx: a creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion.[4]
Criosphinx: a creature with the head of a ram and the body of a lion.[4]
Hieracosphinx: a creature with the head of a hawk and the body of a lion.[4]
Stymphalian birds: man-eating birds with beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims.
Tarandos: a rare animal with the size of anox and the head of adeer. It could change the color of its hair according to the environment that it was, like achameleon. It was living at the land of the Scythians.[5]Solinus, wrote about a similar creature inAethiopia and called it Parandrus.[6]
Typhon or Typhoeus: a humongous savage monster with snake coils instead of limbs; father of several other monsters with his mate Echidna. Almost destroyed the gods but was foiled by Hermes and Zeus.
Unicorns orMonocerata: creatures as large or larger than horses with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from their forehead.
Vrykolakas: shares similarities with numerous otherlegendary creatures, but is generally equated with thevampire of the folklore of the neighbouringSlavic countries. While the two are very similar, avrykolakas eats flesh, particularly livers, rather than drinking blood, which combined with other factors such as its appearance bring it more in line with the modern concept of azombie orghoul.
Agriopas: he tasted the viscera of a human child and was turned into a wolf for ten years.
Damarchus: a boxer fromParrhasia (Arcadia) who is said to have changed his shape into that of a wolf at the festival ofLykaia, became a man again after ten years.
Lycaon: turned into a wolf by the gods as punishment for serving them his murdered sonNyctimus' flesh at a feast.
Lykos (Λύκος) of Athens: a wolf-shaped herο whose shrine stood by the jury court, and the first jurors were named after him.[7]
TheGigantes were a race of great strength and aggression. They were the offspring ofGaia (Earth), born from the blood that fell whenUranus (Sky) was castrated by theirTitan sonCronus, who fought the Gigantomachy, their war with theOlympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos. Archaic and Classical representations show Gigantes as human in form, while later representations show Gigantes with snakes for legs. Among the Gigantes whose names survive in literary or epigraphic sources are:
Alcyoneus (Ἀλκυονεύς): According to Apollodorus, he was (along with Porphyrion), the greatest of the Giants. Immortal while fighting in his native land, he was dragged from his homeland and killed by Heracles.
Cyclopes (Hesiodic): three one-eyed giants who forged the lightning bolts of Zeus and Helmet andBident of Hades. Some assisted the godHephaestus at his workshops. Children ofGaia andUranus, who were locked by Uranus inTartarus.
Cyclopes (Homeric), a tribe of one-eyed, man-eating giants who herded flocks of sheep on the island of Sicily.
Polyphemus (Πολύφημος), a Cyclops, and son of Poseidon. He briefly capturedOdysseus and his men, only to be overcome and blinded by the hero.
Echion: known for great strength (though not necessarily great size) and having an ability to change the course or direction of winds.
TheGegenees (Γηγενέες), a tribe of six-armed giants fought by the Argonauts on Bear Mountain in Mysia.
Geryon (Γηρυων): according to Hesiod, Geryon was a giant with one body and three heads, whereas the tradition followed by Aeschylus gave him three bodies. A lost description by Stesichorus said that he has six hands and six feet and is winged; there are some mid-sixth-century Chalcidian vases portraying Geryon as winged. Some accounts state that he had six legs as well, while others state that the three bodies were joined to one pair of legs.
TheHekatoncheires (Ἑκατόγχειρες), or Centimanes (Latin), the Hundred-Handed Ones, giant gods of violent storms and hurricanes. Three sons of Uranus and Gaia, each with his own distinct characters.[9]
Briareus (Βριάρεως) or Aigaion (Αἰγαίων), The Vigorous.
Cottus (Κόττος), The Furious.
Gyges (Γύγης), The Big-Limbed.
TheLaestrygonians (Λαιστρυγόνες), a tribe of man-eating giants encountered by Odysseus on his travels.
Talos (Τάλως), a giant forged from bronze by Hephaestus, and given by Zeus to his lover Europa as her personal protector.
Tityos (Τίτυος), a giant slain by Apollo and Artemis when he attempted to violate their mother Leto.
Typhon (Τυφῶν), a monstrous immortal storm-giant who attempted to launch an attack onMount Olympus but was defeated by the Olympians and imprisoned in the pits of Tartarus.
Alectryon (Rooster). Alectryon was a youth, charged byAres to stand guard outside his door while the god indulged in illicit love withAphrodite. He fell asleep, andHelios, the sun god, walked in on the couple. Ares turned Alectryon into a rooster, which never forgets to announce the arrival of the sun in the morning.
Birds of Ares or Ornithes Areioi were a flock of birds that guarded the Amazons' shrine of the god on a coastal island in the Black Sea. TheArgonauts encountered them in their quest for theGolden Fleece.
Aethon orCaucasian Eagle, a giant eagle, offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Zeus condemned Prometheus to having his liver eaten by the Caucasian Eagle for giving the Flames of Olympus to the mortals.
Corone, a woman transformed into a crow by Athena.
Corvus, acrow orraven which servedApollo. Apollo was about to make a sacrifice on the altar and he needs some water to perform the ritual. The god sends the raven to fetch some water in his cup, but the bird gets distracted by a fig tree and spends a few days lazily resting and waiting for the figs to ripen. After feasting on the figs, the raven finally brings Apollo the cup filled with water and he also brings a water snake (Hydra) as an excuse for being so late. Apollo sees through the raven's lies and angrily casts all three – the cup (Crater,Crater (constellation)), the water snake (Hydra,Hydra (constellation)), and the raven (Corvus,Corvus (constellation)) into the sky. Apollo also casts a curse on the raven, scorching its feathers and making the bird eternally thirsty and unable to do anything about it. According to the myth, this is how crows and ravens came to have black feathers and why they have such raspy voices.
Cycnus (Swan), Cycnus, was a good friend ofPhaethon, when Phaethon died, he sat by the riverEridanos mourning his death. The gods turned him into a swan to relieve him of his pity.
Swans ofApollo, the swans drawing the chariot of Apollo.
Strix, birds of ill omen, a product of metamorphosis, that fed on human flesh and blood.
Calydonian Boar, a gigantic boar sent by Artemis to ravage Calydon. Was slain in the Calydonian Boar Hunt.
Clazomenae Boar, gigantic winged sow which terrorized the Greek town ofKlazomenai inIonia,Asia Minor.
Crommyonian Sow, the Crommyonian Sow was a wild pig that ravaged the region around the village ofCrommyon between Megara and Corinth and was eventually slain by Theseus in his early adventures.
Erymanthian Boar, a gigantic boar that Heracles was sent to retrieve as one of his labors.
Bugs
Gadflies, mythical insects sent by the gods to sting wicked mortals for their cruel acts.
Myrmekes, large ants that can range in size from small dogs to giant bears which guarded a hill that had rich deposits of gold.
Artemis's pack of 14 exquisite hunting dogs, given to her as a child byPan.
Dolphins
Delphin, a dolphin who foundAmphitrite, when Poseidon was looking for her. For his service, Poseidon placed him in the sky as the constellationDelphinus.
Trojan Horses or Trojan Hippoi, twelve immortal horses owned by the Trojan kingLaomedon.
Karkinos or Carcinus, a giant crab that fought Heracles alongside the Lernaean Hydra.
Leopards
Ampelus,Claudius Aelianus in the "Characteristics of Animals" writes that there is aleopard called theAmpelus, it is not like the other leopards and has no tail. If it is seen by women it afflicts them with an unexpected ailment.[12]
Dionysus' Leopard: Dionysus is often shown riding a leopard.
Lions
Nemean Lion, a gigantic lion whose skin was impervious to weapons; was strangled by Heracles.
Rhea's Lions, the lions drawing the chariot ofRhea.
Snakes
Gigantic snakes of Libya, according to Diodorus,Amazons used the skins of large snakes for protective devices, since Libya had such animals of incredible size.[13]
Snakes ofHera, Hera sent two big snakes to killHerakles when he was an infant.
Water-snake, god Apollo was about to make a sacrifice on the altar and he needs some water to perform the ritual. The god sends the raven to fetch some water in his cup, but the bird gets distracted by a fig tree and spends a few days lazily resting and waiting for the figs to ripen. After feasting on the figs, the raven finally brings Apollo the cup filled with water and he also brings a water snake (Hydra) as an excuse for being so late. Apollo sees through the raven's lies and angrily casts all three – the cup (Crater,Crater (constellation)), the water snake (Hydra,Hydra (constellation)), and the raven (Corvus,Corvus (constellation)) into the sky.
Teumessian fox, a gigantic fox destined never to be hunted down.
Tortoises/Turtles
Giant turtle:Sciron robbed travelers passing the Sceironian Rocks and forced them to wash his feet. When they knelt before him, he kicked them over the cliff into the sea, where they were eaten by the giant sea turtle. Theseus killed him in the same way.
Tortoise from which Hermes created his tortoiseshell lyre, whenHermes was a mere babe, found a tortoise, which he killed, and, stretching seven strings across the empty shell, invented a lyre.
Libyan beast (Λιβυκὸν θηρίον), was a term which referred to a kind of degenerate creature. It is said that while Libya is home to many animals, it is dry and lacks water. When various animals gather at a single water source, they intermingle and mate with each other, resulting in offspring that are deformed or hybrid creatures.[14]
Libyan bird (Λιβυκὸν ὄρνεον), was a term used forostrich, but sometimes it was used to describe a big bird (according toSuda because in Libya there were many unusual birds).[15][16]
Thedragons of Greek mythology were serpentine monsters. They include the serpent-like Drakons, the marine-dwelling Cetea, and the she-monster Dracaenae. Homer describes the dragons with wings and legs.
TheColchian Dragon, an unsleeping dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.
Cychreides, a dragon that terrorized Salamis before being slain, tamed, or driven out byCychreus.
Demeter's dragons, a pair of winged dragons that drew Demeter's chariot and, after having been given as a gift, that ofTriptolemus.
Giantomachian dragon, a dragon that was thrown at Athena during the Giant war. She threw it into the sky where it became the constellation Draco.
TheIsmenian Dragon, a dragon which guarded the sacred spring of Ares near Thebes; it was slain byCadmus.
Ladon, a serpent-like dragon that guarded the golden apples of the immortality of theHesperides.
Lernaean Hydra, also known as King Hydra, is a many-headed, serpent-like creature that guarded an Underworld entrance beneath Lake Lerna. It was destroyed by Heracles, in his second Labour. Son of Typhon and Echidna.
Maeonian Drakon, a dragon that lived in the kingdom ofLydia and was killed by Damasen.
Medea's dragons, a pair of flying dragons that pulled Medea's chariot. Born from the blood of the Titans.
Nemean dragon, a dragon that guarded Zeus' sacred grove inNemea.
Ophiogenean dragon, a dragon that guarded Artemis' sacred grove inMysia.
Pitanian dragon, a dragon inPitane, Aeolis, that was turned to stone by the gods.
Pyrausta, a four-legged insect with filmy wings and a dragon's head.
Python, a dragon that guarded the oracle of Delphi; it was slain by Apollo.
Rhodian dragons, serpents that inhabited the island ofRhodes; they were killed by Phorbus.
Thespian dragon, a dragon that terrorized the city ofThespiae inBoeotia.
Trojan dragons, a pair of dragons or giant serpents fromTenedos sent by various gods to killLaocoön and his sons in order to stop him from telling his people that the Wooden Horse was a trap.
Drakons ("δράκους" in Greek, "dracones" in Latin) were giant serpents, sometimes possessing multiple heads or able to breathe fire (or even both), but most just spit deadly poison. They are usually depicted without wings.
The Ethiopian Dragon was a breed of giant serpent native to the lands ofEthiopia. They killed elephants and rivaled the longest-lived animals. They are mentioned in the work ofAelian, On The Characteristics Of Animals (Greek:Περί ζώων ιδιότητος)[17]
The Indian Dragon was a breed of the giant serpent which could fight and strangle the elephants of India.[18][19]
The Laconian Drakon was one of the most fearsome of all the drakons.
The Dracaenae were monsters that had the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of any sort of dragon. Echidna, the mother of monsters, and Ceto, the mother of sea monsters, are two famous dracaenae. Some Dracaenae were even known to have had in place two legs, and one (or two) serpent tails.
Ceto (or Keto), a marine goddess who was the mother of all sea monsters as well as Echidna and other dragons and monsters.
Kampê, a dracaena that was charged by Cronus with the job of guarding the gates of Tartarus; she was slain by Zeus when he rescued the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires from their prison.
Poena, a dracaena sent by Apollo to ravage the kingdom of Argos as punishment for the death of his infant son Linos; killed by Coraebus.
Scylla, a dracaena that was the lover of Poseidon, transformed by Circe into a multi-headed monster that fed on sailors on vessels passing between her andCharybdis.
Scythian Dracaena, the Dracaena queen ofScythia; she stole Geryon's cattle that Heracles was herding through the region and agreed to return them on condition he mate with her.
Sybaris, a dracaena that lived on a mountain near Delphi, eating shepherds and passing travelers; she was pushed off the cliff by Eurybarus.
Automatons, or Colossi, were men/women, animals and monsters crafted out of metal and made animate in order to perform various tasks. They were created by the divine smith,Hephaestus. The Athenian inventorDaedalus also manufactured automatons.
The Hippoi Kabeirikoi, four bronze horse-shaped automatons crafted by Hephaestus to draw the chariot of theCabeiri.
The Keledones (Χρυσεαι Κηληδονες, lit. "Golden Charmers"), singing maidens sculpted out of gold by Hephaestus.
TheKhalkotauroi also known as the Colchis Bulls, fire-breathing bulls created by Hephaestus as a gift forAeëtes.
The Kourai Khryseai, golden maidens sculpted by Hephaestus to attend him in his household.
Talos, a giant man made out of bronze to protectEuropa.
Acephali/Headless men (Greek ἀκέφαλοςakephalos, plural ἀκέφαλοι akephaloi, from ἀ-a-, "without", and κεφαλήkephalé, "head") are humans without a head, with their mouths and eyes being in their breasts.
Lotus-eaters, people living on an island dominated by lotus plants. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy.
Machlyes, hermaphrodites whose bodies were male on one side and female on the other.
In addition to the famous deities, the ancient Greeks also worshiped a number of deified human beings. For example,Alabandus atAlabanda,Tenes atTenedos,Leucothea and her sonPalaemon were worshiped throughout Greece.[23]
^Cicero, De Natura Deorum. "In Greece they worship a number of deified human beings, Alabandus at Alabanda, Tennes at Tenedos, Leucothea, formerly Ino, and her son Palaemon throughout the whole of Greece."
