Mythical creatures. Mythological creatures

World folklore is populated by a huge number of amazing fantastic animals. In different cultures, incredible properties or skills were attributed to them. Despite their diversity and dissimilarity, all mythical creatures have an undeniable commonality - there is no scientific confirmation of their existence in real life.

This did not stop the writers of treatises telling about the animal world of the planet, where real facts were intertwined with fiction, fables and legends. Most of them are described in a collection of articles on zoology, also called “Bestiary of Mythical Creatures.”

Causes

The surrounding nature with its cataclysms, often not always understandable phenomena, inspired horror. Unable to find an explanation or somehow logically understand the chain of events, the person interpreted this or that incident in his own way. Mythical creatures, who, according to people, were guilty of what was happening, were called to help.

In the old days, the forces of nature stood on the highest pedestal. Faith in them was unconditional. Ancient mythical creatures served as gods. They were worshiped, sacrifices were made in gratitude for a rich harvest, a successful hunt, and a successful outcome of any business. They were afraid to anger and offend mythical creatures.

But there is another theory for their appearance. Probability of coexistence of several parallel worlds some scientists admit, relying on Einstein's theory of probability. There is an assumption that all these amazing individuals actually exist, just not in our reality.

What were they like?

The "Bestiary of Mythical Creatures" was among the main sources of information. There weren't many publications systematizing animal world planets. It is difficult to talk about its reliability. Completely mythical creatures were listed there and described in great detail. The illustrations made in pencil were amazing; the smallest details of the monsters were drawn so carefully and in detail.

Usually these individuals combined the features of several, sometimes logically incompatible, representatives of the animal world. These were basically the mythical creatures of Ancient Greece. But they could also combine human traits.

Many mythical creatures' skills are borrowed from their environment. The ability to grow new heads echoes the ability of lizards to restore a severed tail. The ability to spew fire can be compared to how some snakes can spit venom at a distance of up to 3 meters.

Serpentine and dragon-like monsters stand out as a separate group. Perhaps ancient people lived at the same time as the last extinct dinosaurs. The remains of huge animals could also provide food and freedom for the imagination to imagine what mythical creatures looked like. Different nationalities have pictures with their images.

Demi-humans

The fictional images also contained human traits. They were used in different options: an animal with human body parts, or vice versa - a person with the characteristics of some animal. A separate group in many cultures is represented by demihumans (mythical creatures). The list is headed by perhaps the most famous character - the centaur. The human torso on the body of a horse - this is how the ancient Greeks depicted it. Strong individuals were distinguished by a very violent disposition. They lived in the mountains and forest thickets.

In all likelihood, his close relatives are an onocentaur, half-man, half-donkey. He had a mean character and was considered a rare hypocrite, often compared to Satan.

The famous minotaur is directly related to the “mythical creatures” group. Pictures with his image are found on household items from the times of Ancient Greece. A terrible creature with a bull's head, according to myth, kept Athens in fear, demanding an annual sacrifice in the form of seven young men and women. The monster devoured the unfortunate in his labyrinth on the island of Crete.

An individual of enormous strength with the torso of a man, with powerful horns and the body of a bull was called a bocentaur (bull-man). He had the ability to cause hatred between representatives of different sexes based on jealousy.

Harpies were considered wind spirits. Colorful half-women, half-birds, wild, predatory, with a disgusting, unbearable smell. The gods sent them to punish guilty people. It consisted in the fact that these swift creatures took food from a person, dooming him to starvation. They were credited with stealing children and human souls.

The half-maiden, half-snake is vicious, attractive in appearance, but terrible in its serpentine essence. She specialized in kidnapping travelers. She was the mother of a number of monsters.

Sirens appeared to travelers in the form of predatory beauties, with the head and body of an elegant woman. Instead of hands, they had terrible bird paws with huge claws. The beautiful melodic voice they inherited from their mother served as a lure for people. Sailing towards the mesmerizing singing, the ships crashed on the rocks, and the sailors died, torn to pieces by the sirens.

The Sphinx was a rare monster - the breasts and face of a woman, the body of a lion with sweeping wings. His craving for riddles caused the death of masses of people. He killed everyone who could not give the correct answer to his question. According to the Greeks, the sphinx was the personification of wisdom.

Water creatures

Mythical creatures of Greece also lived in the waters of oceans, seas, rivers, and swamps. They were inhabited by naiads. The springs in which they lived were almost always healing. For disrespectful attitude towards nature, for example, polluting a source, a person could be punished with insanity.

Scylla and Charybdis were once attractive nymphs. The wrath of the gods made them terrible monsters. Charybdis knew how to create a powerful whirlpool that appeared three times a day. It sucked in all the ships passing by. Scylla lay in wait for sailors near a cave in the rock of the Strait of Sicily. There was trouble on both sides of the narrow strip of water. And today the expression “falling between Charybdis and Scylla” means a threat from two sides.

Another colorful representative of the deep sea is the hippocamus, or water horse. According to the description, he really looked like a horse, but his body ended with a fish tail. It served as a means of transportation for sea gods - Nereids and Tritons.

Flying creatures

Some mythical creatures could fly. Only a person with a rich imagination could dream of a griffin. It is described as a bird with the body of a lion, the front legs replacing bird feet with huge claws, and the head resembling that of an eagle. Every living thing died from his scream. People believed that griffins guarded the treasures of the Scythians. They were also used by the goddess Nemesis as draft animals for her cart, which symbolized the inevitability and speed of punishment for sins committed.

The phoenix was a mixture of different types of birds. In his appearance one could detect features of a crane, peacock, and eagle. The ancient Greeks considered him immortal. And the phoenix’s ability to be reborn symbolized man’s desire for self-improvement.

There is no more noble creature in mythology capable of self-sacrifice. Once every five hundred years, in the Temple of the Sun, a phoenix voluntarily throws itself into the flames. His death returns harmony and happiness to the human world. Three days later, a renewed bird is reborn from the ashes, ready to repeat its fate for the well-being of the human race.

Stymphalian birds, covered with bronze feathers, with copper claws and beaks, inspired fear in everyone who saw them. Their rapid reproduction did not give a chance for the surrounding area to survive. Like locusts, they ate everything they came across, turning flowering valleys into deserts. Their feathers were formidable weapons. The birds hit them like arrows.

The winged horse Pegasus, although born from the head of a dying gorgon, became a symbol of a reliable friend, talent and boundless intelligence. He combined the power of an independent creature from gravity, a horse and life force. The graceful, swift, free, beautiful winged horse still serves people of art.

Female mythical creatures

In Slavic culture, female mythical creatures served to destroy people. A whole army of kikimoras, mermaids, and witches tried to drive people away from the world at the first opportunity.

No less scary and evil female mythical creatures of Ancient Greece. Not everyone was originally born as a monster. Many became such by the will of the gods, taking on a terrible image as punishment for any misdeeds. They differ in their “place of residence” and way of life. They are united by the desire to destroy man, and this is how evil mythical creatures live. The list is long:

• chimera;
• Gorgon;
• siren;
• salamander;
• puma;
• nymph;
• harpy;
• Valkyrie and other “nice” ladies.

Slavic mythology

Unlike other cultures, Slavic mythical creatures carry the experience and wisdom of all generations of ancestors. Traditions and legends were passed down orally. The lack of writing did not affect the description of the unusual creatures that, according to the ancient Slavs, inhabited their world.

Mostly Slavic mythical creatures have a human appearance. All of them are endowed with supernatural abilities and are clearly divided by habitat.

A semi-mythical creature - a werewolf (werewolf) - lived among people. He was credited with the ability to transform into a wolf. Moreover, unlike the legends of other peoples, this did not necessarily happen on a full moon. It was believed that Cossack army invincible precisely because the Cossack warriors could take the form of a wolf at any moment and attack their enemies.

"Domestic" creatures

The brownie, the spirit of a human home, protected the house from all sorts of troubles and troubles, including thieves and fires. He had the power of invisibility, but cats noticed him. When a family moved to another place, the brownie was always invited with them, carrying out the appropriate rituals. The custom of letting a cat into the house first has a simple explanation - the brownie rides in on it.

He always treats his household well, but does not tolerate lazy and grumpy people. Broken dishes or scattered cereals make it clear that he is dissatisfied. If the family does not listen to him and does not correct himself, the brownie may leave. Then the house is doomed to destruction; a fire or other misfortune will not keep you waiting.

The yard servant is directly subordinate to the brownie. His responsibilities include looking after the household outside the house: the barn, barns, and yard. He is rather indifferent to people, but it is not recommended to anger him.

Another spirit - anchutka - is divided according to place of residence: field, water and home. A little dirty trickster, not recommended for communication. Anchutka does not possess any useful information; hypocrisy and the ability to deceive are inherent in him at the genetic level. His main entertainment is making various sounds, which can drive a person with a weak psyche to madness. It is impossible to drive the spirit out of the house, but it is completely harmless to a balanced person.

Kikimora lives in the right corner from the entrance, where, according to custom, all the garbage was swept away. This is an energetic creation, devoid of flesh, but with the ability to influence the physical world. It is believed that she can see very far, run fast and become invisible. The versions of the appearance of kikimoras are also curious; there are several of them and all are considered correct:

• a deceased baby can become a kikimora; this group includes all stillborn, premature babies or miscarriages;
• children born from the sinful relationship of a fiery serpent and an ordinary woman;
• children cursed by their parents, the reason can be very different.

Kikimors use nightmares for children as their weapons, and give adults terrible hallucinations. Thus, they can deprive a person of reason or drive him to suicide. But there are special conspiracies against them, which were used by witches and magicians. A simpler method will also work: a buried silver object under the threshold will not allow the kikimora into the house.

It should be noted that, despite the widely used expression “swamp kikimora,” this does not apply to real representatives of this kind of entity. Apparently, we are talking about mermaids or dashing creatures, who live in the swamps.

Mythical creatures of nature

One of the most famous mythical forest-dwelling creatures in Slavic mythology is the goblin. He, as the owner, owns everything - from a blade of grass with berries and mushrooms to trees and animals.

As a rule, the goblin is friendly towards people. But such an attitude will only be towards people with a pure and bright soul. He and mushrooms berry places will point out and lead you to a shortcut. And if a traveler shows respect to the devil and pampers him with a gift, an egg or a piece of cheese, he can count on protection from fierce animals or dark forces.

By the appearance of the forest itself, one could determine whether the light goblin was in charge, or whether he had switched to Chernobog’s side. In this case, the property is unkempt, overgrown, dense and impassable. Such careless “owners” are punished by God Veles himself. He expels them from the forest and transfers possession to another goblin.

Dashing, oddly enough, lives in a swamp. In essence, it is a complex allegory of an unfavorable combination of circumstances associated with specific human actions. From this we can conclude that everyone himself provokes the appearance of dashing. It never attacks first; its appearance is adequate reaction on human actions.

As they describe, this is a strong, vindictive and ferocious creature in different guises - sometimes in the form of a giant, sometimes in the form of a tall, stooped undead woman. They are similar in one thing - the dashing man has only one eye, but despite this, no one managed to escape from him.

Meeting with a dashing person is dangerous. His curses and ability to send trouble to a person can ultimately lead to death.

A whole group of aquatic mythical creatures are represented by mermaids. There are:

• Vodyanitsa. They live only in water, never come to land, serve the merman, are absolutely harmless, and can only scare with their tickling. They look like ordinary naked girls, but can briefly turn into fish or swans.
• Loskotukhi. A special type of mermaid. Their time is at night, they can go to the banks of rivers and lakes. Naked beauties lure careless travelers and drown them. For their own amusement, they can tickle a person to death. Through their transparent backs you can see their internal organs.
• Mavki. This type of mermaid is the most common and has a specific reason for its appearance. Legend has it that Kostroma found out that her husband Kupala was her brother. Realizing that they could not be together, the girl threw herself off a cliff into the river and drowned. Since then he has been wandering along the river bank, looking for his husband. Every handsome guy gets sucked into the pool. There, having looked closely and realized that she had pulled the wrong person into the pool, she lets go. True, this no longer helps the young man; by that time he manages to drown. This is the only type of mermaid that “specializes” exclusively in young men.
• Lobasta. The most terrible type of mermaids. They sell their soul to Chernobog. They look creepy, like monsters with some female body parts. Strong and evil creatures that can attack individually or in groups. The best means of salvation is to run away from them.

Despite such diversity, all mermaids are related to the female gender. It is generally accepted that girls whose death is somehow connected with water turn to them.

All bodies of water, be it a river or a lake, needed their own caretaker. This was the merman. He was responsible for order on the shore and the cleanliness of the water. He led all the mermaids, and if necessary, he could assemble a fairly powerful army from them. This was required to protect the reservoir from waterlogging (this is how the onset of dark forces manifested itself).

The merman was revered as a wise keeper of knowledge. People often turned to him for advice. The power of the merman is great - he could both give life (water is its main source) and take it away, sending terrible natural disasters: floods and floods. But the water man did not show his anger without reason and always treated people kindly.

Mythical creatures and cinema

Modern computer graphics allows you to make films on the theme of mythical creatures without any restrictions. The fertile, inexhaustible theme inspires an entire army of filmmakers.

Scenarios are written based on famous epics, myths, legends with an admixture of mysticism and superstition. Films about mythical creatures are also made in the genres of fantasy, horror, and mysticism.

But it’s not only feature films that attract viewers. Scientists are still trying to unravel the nature of the entities. There are documentaries about mythical creatures that are very interesting in content, assumptions, and scientific conclusions.

Mythical creatures in the modern world

A person's delving into himself, trying to find out as much as possible about his personality led to the creation of a lot of different tests. The “What mythical creature are you?” test has been developed and is widely popular. After answering a number of questions, the test taker receives his characteristics. It also indicates the mythical creature to which it most closely corresponds.

Attempts to explain the incredible phenomena associated with brownies, barabashkas and other “neighbors” push researchers into desperate attempts to take photos of mythical creatures. Modern sensitive technology gives researchers hope to capture the desired objects. Sometimes some light spots or shadows appear in photographs. No expert can say anything for sure. It is difficult to say with certainty that the photo of the mythical creatures is clearly visible, and confirms their undeniable presence.

History knows many mythical creatures of the world that live only in people's imaginations. Some of them are absolutely fictional, some resemble real animals. The variety of mythical creatures is difficult to describe - if you collect them in one book only by names, you will get a volume of more than 1000 pages. In each country, the creatures are different - depending on the territory of residence, the legends also differ. Some legends are dominated by good mythical creatures, while others are dominated by beautiful but dangerous ones.

Varieties of mythical creatures

Each creature has such different and sometimes contradictory characteristics that it is extremely difficult to classify it into any species. But experts in the field of mythology were able to combine all the diversity of creatures into one list, which includes 6 main categories.

The first group includes humanoid creatures, i.e. those who look like humans. They have the classic characteristics of people - upright walking, a similar body structure, the ability to do manual labor, and the use of intelligence in difficult life situations. Such creatures usually differ from people in strength, height and magical abilities.

1. Giants are distinguished by their gigantic size. In legends they are described as huge, menacing, embittered creatures. Relationships with people are usually bad - hostile. Intellect is reduced, temperament is hot-tempered. The main types of giants are orcs, cyclops, cavemen.
2. Dwarfs are the opposite of giants. Their height is usually about 1 m or less depending on the species. For example, hobbits reach more than 1 m, and fairies can be very tiny and fit in the palm of a child. Dwarfs include boggarts and leprechauns.
3. A separate point is worth highlighting human-created creatures. These include golems and homunculi. Alchemists have long been working on their creation, and mythology tells of successful attempts that are not officially confirmed.

This is only the first of all the many creatures ever described in mythology. Naturally, there are much more humanoids than those listed in the list; here are only the most famous ones. The creatures that are most similar to humans deserve a separate description.

The subtype of people is the most extensive. It includes various creatures that are most similar in anatomy to humans. Large creatures include yetis, orcs and trolls.

1. The Yeti, or as it is also called - Bigfoot, appeared in mythology relatively recently. Its height exceeds 2-3 m, and its entire body is covered with thick hair, white or gray. Bigfoot tries not to go out to people, avoids them. There are eyewitnesses who claim that they met Bigfoot. But science has not yet confirmed its existence - this automatically makes it mythical. The Yeti is very popular in the culture of the peoples of the north - many souvenirs with its image are produced there.
2. Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures native to Europe, with slight similarities to trolls and goblins. Orcs are usually depicted as small creatures with ugly facial features. The body is unevenly covered with hair, the arms and legs are disproportionately large in relation to the body. Orcs were mentioned in Tolkien's legendarium, where they are presented as a cruel people who served dark forces. Their peculiarity was their absolute intolerance to light, since they were created in complete darkness.
3. Trolls are huge creatures native to Switzerland. They live on rocks, in forests or in caves. Legends describe trolls as huge, ugly creatures that intimidate people if they enter their territory. Trolls, according to legend, could kidnap human women and children and eat them among the rocks. You can only protect yourself from monsters with the help of Christian symbols - crosses, holy water and bells. At the sight of these things, the trolls run away. This is what it says in the encyclopedias of the monks.

Of the famous creatures, it is worth highlighting gnomes, which are mountain, ravine and dark. These creatures are similar to humans, but smaller in stature. Dwarves are depicted as spirits of the earth and rocks who work in the mines to extract precious stones. The attitude towards people is rather friendly. However, if a person shows aggression, the gnome can fly into a rage and injure the offender.

Elves are classified as a separate subgroup and are most similar to humans. They are usually fair-haired, tall and intellectually gifted, easily blending in with people in a crowd. In some tales, elves have translucent wings. In Tolkien's books, elves are warriors who are skilled with bows and swords.

Winged creatures

Such creatures have wings of different colors and sizes and are capable of flying over long or short distances.

The most famous winged mythical creatures are angels. These are God's messengers, according to legend, they help maintain order in the world. In all cultures they look like people who have large white wings behind their backs.

Although angels are usually depicted as men, they are asexual. Creatures do not have a physical body, are weightless and invisible to the human eye. They materialize only when they need to convey some information to people.

Angels, as the highest winged creatures close to God, can control the elements, natural phenomena and the destinies of people - these are very powerful mythical creatures.

There is a belief that each person has his own Guardian Angel, who is called upon to protect and protect “his” ward.

There are subclasses of angels. Cupid is not a classic angel, but he is one. He is a messenger of love and helps lonely souls find their soulmate.

Winged creatures include bats - usually their wings are not behind their backs, like the previous subgroup, but are, as it were, connected to their arms by fusion. Harpies belong to this group. They look like humanoid birds. Their body is female, as is their head, but the arms and legs are replaced by vulture paws with long sharp claws.

They are usually aggressive towards people, kidnapping women and children. They tend to rob people, taking their food, clothing and jewelry. Harpies fear only one thing in the world - the sound of wind instruments made of copper. From the melody on the trumpets, they fly away in horror and hide.

Group of demihumans

These creatures, unlike humanoid ones, combine features of both humans and animals. They are present in the legends of almost all countries and nationalities of the world. Habitat - as far as possible from people, somewhere in hard-to-reach places:

• in the mountains;
• in the centers of deserts;
• on the seabed.

The group of demihumans can be divided into several small subgroups.

1. Creatures with the head of a beast. Many creatures are described in ancient times Egyptian mythology, where all the deities had both human and animal forms. They took the best features from animals, combining them with human intelligence - the result was creatures that were an order of magnitude more developed than ordinary people, that's why the Egyptians worshiped them. The Minotaur, which belongs to the group of beast-heads, is a creature from ancient greek mythology. He had the head of a bull, large horns, and was unusually fast and strong. He lived in a labyrinth named after him. This labyrinth was impossible to pass through, because the Minotaur killed and ate anyone who got inside.
2. Werewolves are people who, under special circumstances, could turn into animals. The most famous are werewolves. These are wolf people whose transformation occurs during the full moon.
3. Having the body of a human and an animal. There are a lot of such creatures; dozens of similar images are found in different cultures. These include mermaids, newts and centaurs. All of them have part of the body from an animal, and part from a person. Their intelligence is higher, and their relationships with people are ambiguous. Depending on the mood, they can either help or harm a person.
4. Furries are creatures that have the body of an animal and the consciousness of a human; there are furries of dogs, wolves and foxes. Some legends feature dragonoids.

Group of animals and birds

Animals in collections of legends were sometimes endowed with supernatural powers. Many of them had developed intelligence, thanks to which they made contact with humans. Some of these creatures had mystical properties, or the organs of these animals were valued as medicine. Many generations of ancient people spent years finding such animals. The rulers promised a huge reward for them.

The largest subgroup consists of chimeras - ancient mythical creatures.

Horse-like creatures had a structure similar to a horse. They were often depicted with wings. This subgroup includes:

• griffins;
• hippogriffs;
• pegasi.

All of them have the ability to fly. Many people of ancient times dreamed of riding such a horse. Seeing a winged horse was considered great luck. According to legends, they lived high in the mountains, so brave souls went there to receive a little happiness as a gift. Many of them did not return.

Sphinxes are often found in Egyptian mythology. They were a symbol of wisdom and were considered guards who protected the tombs of the pharaohs. Sphinxes look like cats or lions with a human head.

Manticores are fictional, rare creatures that have the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. Sometimes their heads were crowned with horns. These creatures are extremely aggressive towards people, like lions, and are poisonous. According to legend, anyone who met a manticore died in its teeth.

In addition to chimeras, this group includes unicorns, which are distinguished separately from the rest. The creatures have the body and head of a horse, but their difference is a horn from the middle of their forehead. According to legends, crushed unicorn horn has magical properties - it was added to various potions to improve health. The blood of the creature gave longevity, even immortality, if a person took it constantly. However, according to legend, anyone who drinks the blood of a unicorn will be damned forever, so there were no people willing to do it.

There is a separate subgroup of dragons. In ancient times, they were considered the most powerful on the planet. Their prototype was dinosaurs - majestic lizards. Dragons are divided into European and Slavic. In ancient Russian folklore, dragons could have up to 12 heads. Slavic dragons were more willing to interact with people and had higher social skills. Sometimes they were depicted with many eyes, as a symbol of the fact that all knowledge is available to them, and they observe everything that happens in the world.

Elemental creatures and elemental group

In the Middle Ages, elementals were those that were directly related to the forces of nature. Such creatures could influence the elements and control them for the benefit or harm of people.

1. Gargoyles are artificially created mythical creatures. At first, people built gargoyles from stone and clay to scare away evil spirits and demons, but one day some inexperienced young wizard brought them to life, thus creating dangerous creatures. Gargoyles can fly and move quickly on land and in water. They are very dangerous for humans, because they like to attack people and tear them into small pieces.
2. Mermaids are sea creatures associated directly with the element of water. They are divided into sea and river mermaids. These creatures have the body of a girl and instead of legs, a powerful scaly tail. In legends, mermaids look different - from unimaginable beautiful sirens who lure unlucky fishermen to the bottom, to unsightly ones from the legends of the Japanese, who usually did not harm people. In many cultures, girls who drowned from unhappy love became mermaids.
3. Nymphs represent the elements of nature and also represent fertility. There are a great many nymphs in mythology. In the legends of the ancient Greeks, there are more than 3,000 nymphs. Their habitats are almost any piece of land - seas, rivers, and forests. They all have proper names. For example, the cute nymphs of the sea are called Nereids, and the rivers are called Naiads. Nymphs treat humans favorably and, if necessary, are able to provide a little help. However, if a person treated them or nature with disrespect, he could be punished by insanity.
4. Golems are earth elementals. These creatures were created by ancient magicians using one or more elements. Golem comes from Jewish mythology, where it was believed that they were created for protection and battles. Golems do not have intelligence - they only blindly obey the creator, who gives them his blood to fuel their vitality. Defeating the Golem is difficult; it requires great physical strength and the will to live. These creatures can be made of sand, clay or earth.

Forest creatures

A separate group of nature guardians is distinguished. They are very common in Slavic mythology - these are mermen, swampers, kikimoras, goblins and boletus. They all live in places inaccessible to ordinary people, protecting nature and preserving it. These creatures are neutral towards people as long as they do not violate territorial boundaries.

Wood goblins live in the forests. These are creatures from Slavic mythology, which have long been considered the masters of the forest. They are usually depicted as wizened old men with emerald green eyes. They look harmless. But if you offend nature and behave inappropriately in the forest, you can receive punishment from the forest spirit.

You can distinguish a goblin from an ordinary person by the way he dresses - he likes to wear all his clothes inside out, even the bast shoes on his feet are mixed up.

Boletuses live in forests and are guardians of mushrooms. They are usually depicted as short people who live near mushroom places. Boletus are usually friendly with goblin and conduct forestry together.

Kikimora

Kikimoras live in swamps and forests, luring unlucky travelers into the quagmire. They are depicted as scary women, with one leg, long and thin, which holds them above the marshy area. Swampmen - male spirits - live next to them.

Mermen usually live in rivers and lakes. They have a neutral attitude towards people, but can lure into the water someone who seems dangerous to them.

Fiery mythical creatures

These creatures are inextricably linked with flame. Fire is the element of purification and bright thoughts, therefore all creatures associated with it are revered by people.

1. Phoenixes - they are subject to fire. They are born in the flame and die in it. Phoenixes are immortal creatures; after spontaneous combustion, they are reborn again in the form of a small chick. Their feathers are hot to the touch, and their tears have healing properties - they can heal even the most serious wounds and injuries. In Christianity, the phoenix bird signifies the victory of life over death. These creatures are described in literature, they are mentioned in the treatises of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers such as Herodotus and Tacitus.
2. Salamanders are small fire spirits that can live in ovens or fires, feeding on fire. They do this thanks to their icy body, which cannot be warmed by any method. The salamander has a neutral attitude towards humans and brings neither happiness nor grief. The appearance of the salamander varies - from a small lizard to a large reptile the size of a house. The salamander is not only a symbol of fire, but also of the philosopher's stone. In alchemical literature it is described as a lizard and can transform into stone and back.

Group of demons and imps

Different cultures have ambiguous attitudes towards demons. In Greek mythology, demons are a bundle of energy endowed with intelligence that is capable of changing a person's destiny both for good and for bad.

In the mythology of the ancient Slavs, demons are evil forces that wreak havoc and destruction. Translated, the word “demons” means “carrying fear.” Demons are hellish creatures, but they used to be angels, as evidenced by the presence of wings. Unlike angels, demons have dark-colored wings and resemble webbed rather than feathered wings. Demons can take on any form and disguise themselves. More often they turn into humans, but the most arrogant ones can take on the appearance of angels. It is not difficult to distinguish them - it is unpleasant to be in their presence, causing unreasonable melancholy and sadness, or an attack of uncontrollable hysterical laughter.

Among demons, there are two types of lovers: incubi and succubi. They need a constant supply of energy, which they can only obtain through sexual contact with a person. During an act with a demon lover, the victim is in a zombified state and is unable to resist. She feels great pleasure at the same time.

An incubus was a male demon who entered the homes of women, virgins and nuns, and raped them in their sleep. A succubus is a female demon whose prey was strong, attractive men. The greatest success for a succubus was to seduce a priest, preferably one who had only recently been ordained.

Incubi are able to reproduce by transferring their seed to a woman. From such a union, according to legend, disgustingly deformed children were born with animal body parts or having extra limbs. They tried to kill such children immediately after birth, because, according to legend, evil forces were hidden in them.

Fighting succubi and incubi is not easy, but it is possible. They cannot stand the smell of incense, so if you leave a small lamp overnight, the demons will not come. Prayers help from them.

Fauns also belong to the family of demons. These are deities that are characteristic of Italian culture. They are considered favorable to people. Fauns live in forests and mountains. They can warn people from possible danger by appearing in their dreams. Usually fauns protect herds and livestock from attacks by wild animals, helping shepherds. Some animal mythical creatures can only be seen by fauns.

Undead

This group includes the so-called living dead. They differ from each other - depending on the species, undead can be incorporeal or tangible. In the modern world, the image of the undead is actively used in games and films of such a genre as horror.

The bulk of the undead are vampires - creatures with sharp fangs that drink human blood. They can turn into bats or bats at will. They come to people at night while they are sleeping and suck out every last drop of blood from the victim. Sometimes vampires like to torture the victim - then they drink blood gradually, over several days, watching with sadistic pleasure the torment of the unfortunate person. The image of vampires is widely covered in literature. Bram Stoker first did this in his novel Dracula. Since then, the theme of vampires has become popular - books, plays, and films are based on it.

Zombies can also be considered undead - these are dead people who feed on human flesh. Description of zombies in literature: creatures devoid of consciousness and intelligence, extremely slow, but deadly. According to legend, zombies make people like themselves through a bite. To kill a zombie, you need to cut off its head and burn its body. Then they won't be able to regenerate.

Mummies are considered undead. They were once human, but after death their bodies were embalmed, so they remained in the earthly world. Mummies are in a state of sleep and therefore harmless. However, if anyone wakes them up, ancient power will be reborn and chaos will begin. Egyptian mummies are divided into several categories.

1. Pharaohs are strong and fast, have good physical fitness. They have enormous fortitude, so they are capable of subjugating ghosts. It is not easy to neutralize such creatures; you need to have strength and endurance, and possess secret knowledge from ancient Egyptian treatises.
2. Priests are not as strong as pharaohs, but they have magic and are able to influence a person without resorting to physical contact. There are much fewer of them than pharaohs.
3. Bodyguards are the personal security of the pharaoh. They are extremely slow, but have remarkable strength, so it is better to flee from them rather than engage in battle.

Dangerous magical creatures

Mythical creatures are not always neutral towards people; many of them pose a real danger to humans.

1. Furies. In ancient times, people were in awe of them, afraid to even name them out loud, but if they had to do this, they usually added some epithet before the name. The furies look truly terrifying - their heads are like dogs, and their bodies are like those of hundred-year-old women. The hair is unusual: instead of the usual hair, the furies have a hairstyle of long snakes. These creatures attack everyone who, in their opinion, has done something wrong. As punishment, they beat the unfortunate man to death with metal sticks.
2. Sirens, although considered the most beautiful creatures on the planet, do not become any less deadly. Sirens look like birds with the heads of women, and their voices can cloud the mind of even the most experienced and stern sailor. They lure travelers to caves and rocks with angelic singing and then kill them. It is almost impossible to get out of their captivity.
3. The Basilisk is a deadly monster from ancient legends. According to legend, the basilisk is a giant snake, up to 50 m long. It is born from a chicken or duck egg, which was hatched by a toad. The head of the basilisk is decorated with huge curved horns, and fangs of varying lengths protrude from its mouth. The snake is so poisonous that it can poison rivers if it drinks from them. You can fight against the basilisk only with the help of a mirror - if the creature sees its reflection, it will turn to stone. He is also afraid of roosters - their singing is disastrous for the snake. You can tell about the approach of a basilisk by the behavior of spiders - if they quickly leave their home, you can expect the appearance of a snake.
4. Will-o'-the-wisps in marshy areas are small, little-known spirits that are not at all dangerous. However, travelers mistake them for the lights of houses, which they try to follow. These creatures are insidious and lure people either into an impenetrable thicket or into a quagmire. People usually come to their senses too late, when they can no longer get out of the swamp.

Good creatures from legends

Creatures from ancient legends can also be kind to humans or help them. There are especially many of them in Greek and Japanese mythology.

1. The unicorn is a fairy-tale creature that has a gentle disposition and a kind heart. He is very peaceful and never attacks people. Seeing a unicorn is good luck. If you feed him an apple or a piece of sugar, you can gain good luck for the whole year.
2. Pegasus is a real flying horse that emerged from the body of the Gorgon Medusa after her death. Usually depicted as a snow-white horse. Has the ability to save those in trouble. Pegasus will help only those who have pure thoughts - he simply ignores the rest.
3. Tanuki is a creature from Japanese mythology, which is depicted as a raccoon or a bear cub. According to legend, a person who saw a tanuki called good luck and wealth into his home. To lure them into the house, the Japanese usually place a small bottle of sake near the figurine of the deity. In almost every Japanese home you can find a small image or figurine of this creature.
4. Centaurs, although considered tough warriors, are usually favorably disposed towards humans. These are creatures with the torso and head of a man and the croup of a horse. All centaurs are educated, know how to navigate by the stars and cardinal directions, and are soothsayers. Based on the location of the planets, centaurs are able to determine the future.
5. Fairies - look like little girls with translucent wings, living in flower buds. They feed on pollen and drink dew in the morning. Fairies usually help people with minor everyday problems, but they can also regulate the elements and protect pets.
6. Brownies are magical representatives of Slavic mythology. Brownies have long lived side by side with humans and protect them and their homes. Brownies help protect the house from invasion evil forces, get along well with pets, especially cats. Brownies look like little elderly people. Dressed in red trousers and caftan, like characters from ancient Russian fairy tales. To ensure that the house is always cozy, it is worth appeasing the brownie from time to time by offering him milk on a saucer or candy.

Conclusion

There are thousands of creatures in mythology. It is not known whether these animals exist - we know about them only from legends. However, I would like to believe that there is still room for a fairy tale in this world. Various mythical creatures - interesting, good, evil, big or small.

To interact with them, you need to thoroughly study their preferences and habits, but the main thing in communicating with legendary creatures is respect - then they can not only make contact, but also help. You should not deal with potentially dangerous animals; it is better to choose safe creatures in this regard. You can read about the classification of these creatures and their danger in a special alphabetical reference book or atlas dedicated to mythology.

I already told you once in a section about this and even provided comprehensive evidence in the form of photographs in this article. Why did I talk about mermaids, yes because mermaid is a mythical creature found in many stories and fairy tales. And this time I want to talk about mythical creatures that existed at one time according to legends: Grants, Dryads, Kraken, Griffins, Mandrake, Hippogriff, Pegasus, Lernaean Hydra, Sphinx, Chimera, Cerberus, Phoenix, Basilisk, Unicorn, Wyvern. Let's get to know these creatures better.

Video from the channel "Interesting Facts"

1. Wyvern

Wyvern-This creature is considered a "relative" of the dragon, but it only has two legs. instead of the front one there are bat wings. It is characterized by a long snake-like neck and a very long, movable tail, ending with a sting in the form of a heart-shaped arrow or spear tip. With this sting, the wyvern manages to cut or stab the victim, and under the right conditions, even pierce it right through. In addition, the sting is poisonous.
The wyvern is often found in alchemical iconography, in which (like most dragons) it personifies primordial, raw, unprocessed matter or metal. In religious iconography, it can be seen in paintings depicting the struggle of Saints Michael or George. The wyvern can also be found on heraldic coats of arms, for example, on the Polish coat of arms of the Latskys, the coat of arms of the Drake family or the Enmity of Kunvald.

2. Asp

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Aspid- In the ancient Alphabet Books there is a mention of the asp - this is a serpent (or snake, asp) “winged, with a bird’s nose and two trunks, and in the land in which it is committed, that land will be devastated.” That is, everything around will be destroyed and devastated. The famous scientist M. Zabylin says that the adder, according to popular belief, can be found in the gloomy northern mountains and that it never sits on the ground, but only on a stone. The only way to speak and exterminate the destroyer serpent is with a “trumpet voice” that makes the mountains shake. Then the sorcerer or healer grabbed the stunned asp with red-hot pincers and held it “until the snake died.”

3. Unicorn

Unicorn- Symbolizes chastity, and also serves as an emblem of the sword. Tradition usually represents him as a white horse with one horn protruding from his forehead; however, according to esoteric beliefs, it has a white body, a red head and blue eyes. In early traditions, the unicorn was depicted with the body of a bull, in later traditions with the body of a goat, and only in later legends with the body of a horse. Legend claims that he is insatiable when pursued, but obediently lies down on the ground if a virgin approaches him. In general, it is impossible to catch a unicorn, but if you do, you can only hold it with a golden bridle.
"His back was curved and his ruby ​​eyes glowed; at the withers he reached 2 meters. Just above his eyes, almost parallel to the ground, his horn grew; straight and thin. His manes and tail were scattered in small curls, and drooping and unnaturally for albinos were black eyelashes cast fluffy shadows on pink nostrils." (S. Drugal "Basilisk")
They feed on flowers, especially rosehip flowers, and honey, and drink morning dew. They also look for small lakes in the depths of the forest in which they swim and drink from there, and the water in these lakes usually becomes very clean and has the properties of living water. In Russian "alphabet books" of the 16th -17th centuries. The unicorn is described as a terrible and invincible beast, like a horse, all the strength of which lies in the horn. Healing properties were attributed to the unicorn's horn (according to folklore, the unicorn uses its horn to purify water poisoned by a snake). The unicorn is a creature of another world and most often foreshadows happiness.

4. Basilisk

Basilisk- a monster with the head of a rooster, eyes of a toad, wings bat and the body of a dragon (according to some sources, a huge lizard) which exists in the mythologies of many peoples. His gaze turns all living things to stone. Basilisk - is born from an egg laid by a seven-year-old black rooster (in some sources from an egg hatched by a toad) into a warm dung heap. According to legend, if the Basilisk sees its reflection in the mirror, it will die. The Basilisk's habitat is caves, which are also its source of food, since the Basilisk only eats stones. He can only leave his shelter at night because he cannot stand the crowing of a rooster. And he is also afraid of unicorns because they are too “pure” animals.
“He moved his horns, his eyes were so green with a purple tint, his warty hood was swelling. And he himself was purple-black with a spiky tail. The triangular head with a black-pink mouth opened wide...
Its saliva is extremely poisonous and if it gets on living matter, it will immediately replace carbon with silicon. Simply put, all living things turn into stone and die, although there are disputes that the Basilisk’s gaze also petrifies, but those who wanted to check this did not return...” (“S. Drugal “Basilisk”).
5. Manticore

Manticore- The story about this creepy creature can be found in Aristotle (IV century BC) and Pliny the Elder (1st century AD). The manticore is the size of a horse, has a human face, three rows of teeth, a lion's body and a scorpion's tail, and red, bloodshot eyes. The manticore runs so fast that it covers any distance in the blink of an eye. This makes it extremely dangerous - after all, it is almost impossible to escape from it, and the monster feeds only on fresh human meat. Therefore, in medieval miniatures you can often see an image of a manticore with a human hand or foot in its teeth. In medieval works on natural history, the manticore was considered to be real, but living in deserted places.

6. Valkyries

Valkyries- beautiful warrior maidens who fulfill the will of Odin and are his companions. They invisibly take part in every battle, granting victory to those to whom the gods award it, and then take the dead warriors to Valhala, the castle of the extra-celestial Asgard, and serve them at the table there. Legends also call heavenly Valkyries, who determine the fate of each person.

7. Anka

Anka- In Muslim mythology, wonderful birds created by Allah and hostile to people. It is believed that anka exist to this day: there are simply so few of them that they are extremely rare. Anka is in many ways similar in its properties to the phoenix bird that lived in the Arabian desert (one can assume that anka is a phoenix).

8. Phoenix

Phoenix- In monumental sculptures, stone pyramids and buried mummies, the Egyptians sought to find eternity; It is quite natural that it was in their country that the myth of a cyclically reborn, immortal bird should have arisen, although the subsequent development of the myth was carried out by the Greeks and Romans. Adolv Erman writes that in the mythology of Heliopolis, the Phoenix is ​​the patron of anniversaries, or large time cycles. Herodotus, in a famous passage, expounds with marked skepticism the original version of the legend:

“There is another sacred bird there, its name is Phoenix. I myself have never seen it, except as a drawing, for in Egypt it appears rarely, once every 500 years, as the inhabitants of Heliopolis say. According to them, it flies when it dies father (that is, she herself) If the images correctly show her size and size and appearance, her plumage is partly golden, partly red. Her appearance and size resemble an eagle."

9. Echidna

Echidna- half-woman, half-snake, daughter of Tartarus and Rhea, gave birth to Typhon and many monsters (Lernaean Hydra, Cerberus, Chimera, Nemean Lion, Sphinx)

10. Sinister

Sinister- pagan evil spirits of the ancient Slavs. They are also called krixes or khmyri - swamp spirits, which are dangerous because they can stick to a person, even move into him, especially in old age, if the person has never loved anyone in his life and has not had children. Sinister has an indefinite appearance (speaks, but is invisible). She can turn into a little man, a small child, or an old beggar. In the Christmas game, the evil one personifies poverty, misery, and winter darkness. In the house, evil spirits most often settle behind the stove, but they also love to suddenly jump on a person’s back or shoulders and “ride” him. There may be several more evil ones. However, with some ingenuity, you can catch them by locking them in some kind of container.

11. Cerberus

Cerberus- one of Echidna's children. A three-headed dog, on whose neck snakes move with a menacing hiss, and instead of a tail he has a poisonous snake... Serves Hades (the god of the Kingdom of the Dead) stands on the threshold of Hell and guards its entrance. He made sure that no one left the underground kingdom of the dead, because there is no return from the kingdom of the dead. When Cerberus was on earth (This happened because of Hercules, who, on the instructions of King Eurystheus, brought him from Hades) the monstrous dog dropped drops of bloody foam from his mouth; from which the poisonous grass aconite grew.

12. Chimera

Chimera- in Greek mythology, a monster that spewed fire with the head and neck of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a dragon (according to another version, the Chimera had three heads - a lion, a goat and a dragon). Apparently, the Chimera is the personification of a fire-breathing volcano. IN figuratively chimera - fantasy, unfulfilled desire or action. In sculpture, chimeras are images of fantastic monsters (for example, chimeras of Notre Dame Cathedral), but it is believed that stone chimeras can come to life to terrify people.

13. Sphinx

Sphinx s or Sphinga in ancient Greek mythology, a winged monster with the face and breasts of a woman and the body of a lion. She is the offspring of the hundred-headed dragon Typhon and Echidna. The name of the Sphinx is associated with the verb "sphingo" - "to squeeze, suffocate." Sent by Hero to Thebes as punishment. The Sphinx was located on a mountain near Thebes (or in the city square) and asked everyone who passed a riddle (“Which living creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?”). The Sphinx killed the one who was unable to give a solution and thus killed many noble Thebans, including the son of King Creon. The king, overcome with grief, announced that he would give the kingdom and the hand of his sister Jocasta to the one who would deliver Thebes from the Sphinx. Oedipus solved the riddle, the Sphinx in despair threw herself into the abyss and fell to her death, and Oedipus became the Theban king.

14. Lernaean Hydra

Lernaean Hydra- a monster with the body of a snake and nine heads of a dragon. The hydra lived in a swamp near the city of Lerna. She crawled out of her lair and destroyed entire herds. The victory over the hydra was one of the labors of Hercules.

15. Naiads

Naiads- Every river, every source or stream in Greek mythology had its own leader - a naiad. This cheerful tribe of water patrons, prophetesses and healers was not covered by any statistics; every Greek with a poetic streak heard the carefree chatter of the naiads in the murmur of the waters. They belong to the descendants of Oceanus and Tethys; there are up to three thousand of them.
“No one can name all their names. Only those who live nearby know the name of the stream.”

16. Rukhh

Rukhh- In the East, people have long been talking about the giant bird Rukh (or Ruk, Fear-rah, Nogoi, Nagai). Some people even met her. For example, the hero of Arabian fairy tales, Sinbad the Sailor. One day he found himself on a desert island. Looking around, he saw a huge white dome without windows or doors, so large that he could not climb onto it.
“And I,” Sinbad narrates, “walked around the dome, measuring its circumference, and counted fifty full steps. Suddenly the sun disappeared, and the air darkened, and the light was blocked from me. And I thought that a cloud had come over the sun (and it was summer time), and I was surprised, and raised my head, and saw a bird with a huge body and wide wings flying through the air - and it was she who covered the sun and blocked it over the island . And I remembered one story that was told long ago by people wandering and traveling, namely: on some islands there is a bird called Rukh, which feeds its children with elephants. And I became convinced that the dome I walked around was the Rukh egg. And I began to marvel at what the great Allah has created. And at this time the bird suddenly landed on the dome, and hugged it with its wings, and stretched out its legs on the ground behind it, and fell asleep on it, may Allah be praised, who never sleeps! And then I, untying my turban, tied myself to the feet of this bird, saying to myself: “Perhaps she will take me to countries with cities and populations. It will be better than sitting here on this island." And when the dawn rose and the day rose, the bird took off from the egg and soared into the air with me. And then it began to descend and landed on some ground, and, having reached the ground, I I quickly got rid of her legs, afraid of the bird, but the bird didn’t know about me and didn’t feel me.”

Not only the fabulous Sinbad the Sailor, but also the very real Florentine traveler Marco Polo, who visited Persia, India and China in the 13th century, heard about this bird. He said that the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan once sent loyal people to catch a bird. The messengers found her homeland: the African island of Madagascar. They did not see the bird itself, but they brought its feather: it was twelve steps long, and the diameter of the feather shaft was equal to two palm trunks. They said that the wind produced by the wings of Rukh knocks a person down, her claws are like bull horns, and her meat restores youth. But try to catch this Rukh if ​​she can carry off a unicorn along with three elephants impaled on her horn! author of the encyclopedia Alexandrova Anastasia They knew this monstrous bird in Rus', they called it Fear, Nog or Noga, and gave it even new fabulous features.
“The leg-bird is so strong that it can lift an ox, flies through the air and walks on the ground with four legs,” says the ancient Russian “Azbukovnik” of the 16th century.
I tried to explain the mystery of the winged giant again famous traveler Marco Polo: “This bird is called Ruk on the islands, but it’s not called in our language, but it’s a vulture!” Only... greatly grown in the human imagination.

17. Khukhlik

Khukhlik in Russian superstitions there is a water devil; mummer. The name hukhlyak, hukhlik, apparently comes from the Karelian huhlakka - “to weird”, tus - “ghost, ghost”, “strangely dressed” (Cherepanova 1983). The appearance of the hukhlyak is unclear, but they say that it is similar to the shilikun. This unclean spirit most often appears from water and becomes especially active during Christmas time. Likes to make fun of people.

18. Pegasus

Pegasus- V Greek mythology winged horse. Son of Poseidon and the gorgon Medusa. He was born from the body of the gorgon killed by Perseus. He received the name Pegasus because he was born at the source of the Ocean (Greek “source”). Pegasus ascended to Olympus, where he delivered thunder and lightning to Zeus. Pegasus is also called the horse of the muses, since he knocked Hippocrene out of the ground with his hoof - the source of the muses, which has the property of inspiring poets. Pegasus, like a unicorn, can only be caught with a golden bridle. According to another myth, the gods gave Pegasus. Bellerophon, and he, taking off on it, killed the winged monster chimera, which was devastating the country.

19 Hippogriff

Hippogriff- in the mythology of the European Middle Ages, wanting to indicate the impossibility or incongruity, Virgil speaks of an attempt to cross a horse and a vulture. Four centuries later, his commentator Servius claims that vultures or griffins are animals whose front part is eagle-like and the back part lion-like. To support his statement, he adds that they hate horses. Over time, the expression “Jungentur jam grypes eguis” (“crossing vultures with horses”) became a proverb; at the beginning of the sixteenth century, Ludovico Ariosto remembered him and invented the hippogriff. Pietro Michelli notes that the hippogriff is a more harmonious creature, even than the winged Pegasus. In "Roland the Furious" a detailed description of the hippogriff is given, as if intended for a textbook of fantastic zoology:

Not a ghostly horse under the magician - a mare
Born into the world, his father was a vulture;
Like his father, he was a wide-winged bird, -
He was in front of his father: like that one, zealous;
Everything else was like the uterus,
And that horse was called a hippogriff.
The borders of the Riphean mountains are glorious for them,
Far beyond the icy seas

20 Mandrake

Mandrake. The role of Mandrake in mythopoetic ideas is explained by the presence of certain hypnotic and stimulating properties in this plant, as well as the similarity of its root with the lower part human body(Pythagoras called Mandrake a “human-like plant,” and Columella called “half-human grass”). In some folk traditions Based on the type of Mandrake root, they distinguish between male and female plants and even give them appropriate names. In old herbalists, Mandrake roots are depicted as male or female forms, with a tuft of leaves growing from the head, sometimes with a dog on a chain or an agonizing dog. According to legends, anyone who hears the groan made by the Mandrake as it is dug out of the ground must die; to avoid the death of a person and at the same time satisfy the thirst for blood supposedly inherent in Mandrake. When digging Mandrake, they tied a dog, which was believed to die in agony.

21. Griffins

Griffin- winged monsters with a lion's body and an eagle's head, guardians of gold. In particular, it is known that the treasures of the Riphean Mountains are protected. From his scream the flowers wither and the grass withers, and if there is anyone alive, then everyone falls dead. The griffin's eyes have a golden tint. The head was the size of a wolf's with a huge, terrifying-looking beak a foot long. Wings with a strange second joint to make them easier to fold. In Slavic mythology, all approaches to the Irian Garden, Alatyr Mountain and an apple tree with golden apples are guarded by griffins and basilisks. Whoever tries these golden apples will receive eternal youth and power over the Universe. And the apple tree itself with golden apples is guarded by the dragon Ladon. There is no passage here for either foot or horse.

22. Kraken

Kraken is the Scandinavian version of Saratan and the Arabian dragon, or sea serpent. The Kraken's back is one and a half miles wide, and its tentacles are capable of enveloping the largest ship. This huge back protrudes from the sea, like a huge island. The Kraken has a habit of darkening the sea water by spewing some liquid. This statement gave rise to the hypothesis that the Kraken is an octopus, only enlarged. Among Tenison's youthful works one can find a poem dedicated to this remarkable creature:

From time immemorial in the depths of the ocean
The giant Kraken sleeps soundly
He is blind and deaf, over the carcass of a giant
Only from time to time a pale ray glides.
Giant sponges sway above him,
And from deep, dark holes
Polyps innumerable choir
Extends tentacles like hands.
The Kraken will rest there for thousands of years,
So it was and so it will be in the future,
Until the last fire burns through the abyss
And the heat will scorch the living firmament.
Then he will wake up from sleep,
Will appear before angels and people
And, emerging with a howl, he will meet death.

23. Golden dog

golden dog.- This is a dog made of gold that guarded Zeus when he was pursued by Kronos. The fact that Tantalus did not want to give up this dog was his first strong offense before the gods, which the gods later took into account when choosing his punishment.

“...In Crete, the homeland of the Thunderer, there was a golden dog. She once guarded the newborn Zeus and the wonderful goat Amalthea who fed him. When Zeus grew up and took away the power over the world from Cronus, he left this dog in Crete to guard his sanctuary. The king of Ephesus, Pandareus, seduced by the beauty and strength of this dog, secretly came to Crete and took it away on his ship from Crete. But where to hide this wonderful animal? Pandarey thought about this for a long time during his journey across the sea and finally decided to give the golden dog to Tantalus for safekeeping. King Sipila hid the wonderful animal from the gods. Zeus was angry. He called his son, the messenger of the gods Hermes, and sent him to Tantalus to demand the return of the golden dog. In the blink of an eye, fast Hermes rushed from Olympus to Sipylus, appeared before Tantalus and said to him:
- The king of Ephesus, Pandareus, stole a golden dog from the sanctuary of Zeus in Crete and gave it to you for safekeeping. The gods of Olympus know everything, mortals cannot hide anything from them! Return the dog to Zeus. Beware of incurring the wrath of the Thunderer!
Tantalus answered the messenger of the gods this way:
- It is in vain that you threaten me with the wrath of Zeus. I have not seen a golden dog. The gods are wrong, I don’t have it.
Tantalus swore a terrible oath that he was telling the truth. With this oath he angered Zeus even more. This was the first insult inflicted by tantalum on the gods...

24. Dryads

Dryads- in Greek mythology, female tree spirits (nymphs). they live in a tree which they protect and often die along with this tree. Dryads are the only nymphs who are mortal. Tree nymphs are inseparable from the tree in which they live. It was believed that those who plant and care for trees enjoy the special protection of dryads.

25. Grants

Grant- In English folklore, a werewolf, who most often appears as a mortal in the guise of a horse. At the same time, he walks on his hind legs, and his eyes glow with fire. Grant is a city fairy, he can often be seen on the street, at noon or towards sunset. Meeting with a grant portends misfortune - a fire or something else in the same vein.

Ancient Greece is considered the cradle of European civilization, which gave modernity many cultural riches and inspired scientists and artists. The myths of Ancient Greece hospitably open the doors to a world inhabited by gods, heroes and monsters. The intricacies of relationships, the insidiousness of nature, divine or human, unimaginable fantasies plunge us into the abyss of passions, making us shudder with horror, empathy and admiration for the harmony of that reality that existed many centuries ago, but so relevant at all times!

1) Typhon

The most powerful and terrifying creature of all those generated by Gaia, the personification of the fiery forces of the earth and its vapors, with their destructive actions. The monster has incredible strength and has 100 dragon heads on the back of its head, with black tongues and fiery eyes. From his mouth comes the ordinary voice of the gods, the roar of a terrible bull, the roar of a lion, the howl of a dog, or a sharp whistle echoing in the mountains. Typhon was the father of mythical monsters from Echidna: Orphus, Cerberus, Hydra, Colchis Dragon and others, who on earth and underground threatened the human race until the hero Hercules destroyed them, except for the Sphinx, Cerberus and Chimera. All the empty winds came from Typhon, except Notus, Boreas and Zephyr. Typhon, crossing the Aegean Sea, scattered the islands of the Cyclades, which had previously been closely located. The fiery breath of the monster reached the island of Fer and destroyed its entire western half, and turned the rest into a scorched desert. The island has since taken on a crescent shape. Giant waves raised by Typhon reached the island of Crete and destroyed the kingdom of Minos. Typhon was so terrifying and powerful that the Olympian gods fled from their monastery, refusing to fight him. Only Zeus, the bravest of the young gods, decided to fight Typhon. The duel lasted a long time; in the heat of battle, the opponents moved from Greece to Syria. Here Typhon plowed the earth with his gigantic body; subsequently, these traces of the battle filled with water and became rivers. Zeus pushed Typhon north and threw him into the Ionian Sea, near the Italian coast. The Thunderer incinerated the monster with lightning and cast him into Tartarus under Mount Etna on the island of Sicily. In ancient times, it was believed that the numerous eruptions of Etna occur due to the fact that lightning, previously thrown by Zeus, erupts from the crater of the volcano. Typhon served as the personification of the destructive forces of nature, such as hurricanes, volcanoes, and tornadoes. From English version The word “typhoon” comes from this Greek name.

2) Dracaines

They are a female snake or dragon, often with human features. Dracains include, in particular, Lamia and Echidna.

The name "lamia" etymologically comes from Assyria and Babylon, where it was the name given to demons who kill infants. Lamia, daughter of Poseidon, was the queen of Libya, beloved of Zeus and gave birth to children from him. The extraordinary beauty of Lamia herself ignited the fire of revenge in Hera’s heart, and Hera, out of jealousy, killed Lamia’s children, turned her beauty into ugliness and deprived her beloved husband of sleep. Lamia was forced to take refuge in a cave and, at the behest of Hera, turned into a bloody monster, in desperation and madness, kidnapping and devouring other people's children. Since Hera deprived her of sleep, Lamia wandered tirelessly at night. Zeus, who took pity on her, gave her the opportunity to take out her eyes to fall asleep, and only then could she become harmless. Having become in a new form half woman, half snake, she gave birth to eerie offspring called lamias. Lamia have polymorphic abilities and can act in various forms, usually as animal-human hybrids. However, more often they are likened to beautiful girls, since it is easier to charm unwary men. They also attack sleeping people and deprive them of their vitality. These night ghosts, disguised as beautiful maidens and youths, suck the blood of young people. Lamia in ancient times was also called ghouls and vampires, who, according to the popular belief of the modern Greeks, hypnotically lured young men and virgins and then killed them by drinking their blood. With some skill, a lamia can be easily exposed; to do this, it is enough to make it give a voice. Since lamias have a forked tongue, they are deprived of the ability to speak, but they can whistle melodiously. In later legends of European peoples, Lamia was depicted in the guise of a snake with the head and chest of a beautiful woman. She was also associated with a nightmare - Mara.

The daughter of Forkis and Keto, the granddaughter of Gaia-Earth and the god of the sea Pontus, she was depicted as a gigantic woman with a beautiful face and a spotted snake body, less often a lizard, combining beauty with an insidious and evil disposition. From Typhon she gave birth to a whole host of monsters, different in appearance, but disgusting in their essence. When she attacked the Olympians, Zeus drove her and Typhon away. After the victory, the Thunderer imprisoned Typhon under Mount Etna, but allowed Echidna and her children to live as a challenge to future heroes. She was immortal and ageless and lived in a dark cave underground, far from people and gods. Crawling out to hunt, she lay in wait and lured travelers, then mercilessly devouring them. The mistress of snakes, Echidna, had an unusually hypnotic gaze, which not only people, but also animals were unable to resist. In various versions of the myths, Echidna was killed by Hercules, Bellerophon or Oedipus during her tranquil sleep. Echidna is by nature a chthonic deity, whose power, embodied in his descendants, was destroyed by the heroes, marking the victory of ancient Greek heroic mythology over primitive teratomorphism. The ancient Greek legend about Echidna formed the basis of medieval legends about the monstrous reptile as the most vile of all creatures and the absolute enemy of humanity, and also served as an explanation for the origin of dragons. The name of Echidna is given to an egg-laying, spine-covered mammal native to Australia and the Pacific Islands, as well as to the Australian snake, the largest venomous snake in the world. Echidna is also called an evil, sarcastic, treacherous person.

3) Gorgons

These monsters were the daughters of the sea deity Forkis and his sister Keto. There is also a version that they were the daughters of Typhon and Echidna. There were three sisters: Euryale, Stheno and Medusa Gorgon - the most famous of them and the only mortal of the three monstrous sisters. Their appearance was terrifying: winged creatures, covered with scales, with snakes instead of hair, fanged mouths, with a gaze that turned all living things to stone. During the duel between the hero Perseus and Medusa, she was pregnant by the god of the seas, Poseidon. From the headless body of Medusa, with a stream of blood, came her children from Poseidon - the giant Chrysaor (father of Geryon) and the winged horse Pegasus. From drops of blood that fell into the sands of Libya, poisonous snakes appeared and destroyed all life in it. Libyan legend says that red corals appeared from a stream of blood that spilled into the ocean. Perseus used the head of Medusa in a battle with a sea dragon sent by Poseidon to devastate Ethiopia. Showing the face of Medusa to the monster, Perseus turned him into stone and saved Andromeda, the royal daughter, who was destined to be sacrificed to the dragon. The island of Sicily is traditionally considered the place where the Gorgons lived and Medusa, depicted on the flag of the region, was killed. In art, Medusa was depicted as a woman with snakes instead of hair and often boar tusks instead of teeth. In Hellenic images there is sometimes a beautiful dying gorgon girl. Separate iconography includes images of the severed head of Medusa in the hands of Perseus, on the shield or aegis of Athena and Zeus. The decorative motif - the gorgoneion - still adorns clothing, household items, weapons, tools, jewelry, coins and building facades. It is believed that the myths about the Gorgon Medusa have a connection with the cult of the Scythian snake-footed ancestral goddess Tabiti, evidence of whose existence are references in ancient sources and archaeological finds of images. In Slavic medieval book legends, Medusa Gorgon turned into a maiden with hair in the form of snakes - the maiden Gorgonia. The animal jellyfish got its name precisely because of its resemblance to the moving hair-snake of the legendary Gorgon Medusa. In a figurative sense, a “gorgon” is a grumpy, angry woman.

Three goddesses of old age, granddaughters of Gaia and Pontus, sisters of the Gorgons. Their names were Deino (Trembling), Pefredo (Anxiety) and Enyo (Terror). They were gray-haired from birth, and the three of them had one eye, which they used alternately. Only the Grays knew the location of the island of Medusa the Gorgon. On the advice of Hermes, Perseus headed towards them. While one of the grays had an eye, the other two were blind, and the sighted grayya led the blind sisters. When, having taken out the eye, Graya passed it on to the next in line, all three sisters were blind. It was this moment that Perseus chose to take the eye. The helpless Grays were horrified and were ready to do anything if only the hero would return the treasure to them. After they had to tell how to find the Gorgon Medusa and where to get winged sandals, a magic bag and an invisibility helmet, Perseus gave the eye to the Grays.

This monster, born of Echidna and Typhon, had three heads: one was a lion's, the second was a goat's, growing on its back, and the third, a snake's, ended with a tail. It breathed fire and burned everything in its path, devastating the houses and crops of the inhabitants of Lycia. Repeated attempts to kill the Chimera made by the king of Lycia were invariably defeated. Not a single person dared to come close to her home, surrounded by the decaying carcasses of headless animals. Fulfilling the will of King Iobates, the son of the King of Corinth, Bellerophon, on the winged Pegasus, headed to the cave of the Chimera. The hero killed her, as predicted by the gods, hitting the Chimera with an arrow from a bow. As proof of his feat, Bellerophon delivered one of the severed heads of the monster to the Lycian king. The chimera is the personification of a fire-breathing volcano, at the base of which snakes teem, on the slopes there are many meadows and goat pastures, flames blaze from the top and there, at the top, are the lairs of lions; The Chimera is probably a metaphor for this unusual mountain. The Chimera Cave is considered to be the area near the Turkish village of Cirali, where there are exits to the surface natural gas in concentrations sufficient for its open combustion. A detachment of deep-sea cartilaginous fish is named after the Chimera. In a figurative sense, a chimera is a fantasy, an unfulfilled desire or action. In sculpture, chimeras are images of fantastic monsters, and it is believed that stone chimeras can come to life to terrify people. The prototype of the chimera served as the basis for creepy gargoyles, considered a symbol of horror and extremely popular in the architecture of Gothic buildings.

The winged horse that emerged from the dying Gorgon Medusa at the moment when Perseus cut off her head. Since the horse appeared at the source of the Ocean (in the ideas of the ancient Greeks, the Ocean was a river encircling the Earth), it was called Pegasus (translated from Greek as “stormy current”). Swift and graceful, Pegasus immediately became the object of desire for many heroes of Greece. Day and night, the hunters set up ambushes on Mount Helikon, where Pegasus, with one blow of his hoof, caused clear, cool water of a strange dark violet color, but very tasty, to flow. This is how the famous source of Hippocrene’s poetic inspiration appeared - the Horse Spring. The most patient happened to see a ghostly horse; Pegasus allowed the luckiest ones to come so close to him that it seemed that just a little more - and you could touch his beautiful white skin. But no one was able to catch Pegasus: at the last moment this indomitable creature flapped its wings and, with the speed of lightning, was carried away beyond the clouds. Only after Athena gave young Bellerophon a magic bridle was he able to saddle the wonderful horse. Riding on Pegasus, Bellerophon was able to get close to the Chimera and struck the fire-breathing monster from the air. Intoxicated by his victories with the constant help of the devoted Pegasus, Bellerophon imagined himself equal to the gods and, riding Pegasus, went to Olympus. The angry Zeus struck down the proud man, and Pegasus received the right to visit the shining peaks of Olympus. In later legends, Pegasus was included in the ranks of the horses of Eos and in the society of strashno.com.ua muses, in the circle of the latter, in particular, because he stopped Mount Helicon with the blow of his hoof, which began to waver at the sounds of the songs of the muses. From a symbolic point of view, Pegasus combines the vitality and power of a horse with liberation, like a bird, from earthly heaviness, so the idea is close to the unfettered spirit of the poet, overcoming earthly obstacles. Pegasus personified not only a wonderful friend and faithful comrade, but also boundless intelligence and talent. The favorite of the gods, muses and poets, Pegasus often appears in the visual arts. A constellation in the northern hemisphere, a genus of marine ray-finned fish, and a weapon are named after Pegasus.

7) Colchis dragon (Colchis)

The son of Typhon and Echidna, a vigilant, fire-breathing huge dragon who guarded the Golden Fleece. The name of the monster was given to the area where it was located - Colchis. King Eet of Colchis sacrificed a ram with a golden skin to Zeus, and hung the skin on an oak tree in the sacred grove of Ares, where Colchis guarded it. Jason, a pupil of the centaur Chiron, on behalf of Pelias, king of Iolcus, went to Colchis for the Golden Fleece on the ship "Argo", built specifically for this journey. King Eetus gave Jason impossible tasks so that the Golden Fleece would remain in Colchis forever. But the god of love, Eros, kindled love for Jason in the heart of the sorceress Medea, daughter of Eetus. The princess sprinkled Colchis with a sleeping potion, calling on the god of sleep Hypnos for help. Jason stole the Golden Fleece, hastily sailing with Medea on the Argo back to Greece.

Giant, son of Chrysaor, born from the blood of the Gorgon Medusa, and the oceanid Callirhoe. He was known as the strongest on earth and was a terrible monster with three bodies fused at the waist, had three heads and six arms. Geryon owned wonderful cows of unusually beautiful red color, which he kept on the island of Erithia in the Ocean. Rumors about the beautiful cows of Geryon reached the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, and he sent Hercules, who was in his service, to get them. Hercules walked all of Libya before reaching the extreme West, where, according to the Greeks, the world ended, which was bordered by the Oceanus River. The path to the Ocean was blocked by mountains. Hercules pushed them apart with his mighty hands, forming the Strait of Gibraltar, and installed stone steles on the southern and northern shores - the Pillars of Hercules. On the golden boat of Helios, the son of Zeus sailed to the island of Erithia. Hercules killed the watchdog Orff, who was guarding the herd, with his famous club, killed the shepherd, and then fought with the three-headed owner who arrived in time. Geryon covered himself with three shields, three spears were in his mighty hands, but they turned out to be useless: the spears could not pierce the skin of the Nemean Lion, thrown over the hero’s shoulders. Hercules fired several poisonous arrows at Geryon, and one of them turned out to be fatal. Then he loaded the cows into Helios's boat and swam across the Ocean in the opposite direction. Thus the demon of drought and darkness was defeated, and the heavenly cows - the rain-bearing clouds - were freed.

A huge two-headed dog guarding the cows of the giant Geryon. The offspring of Typhon and Echidna, the elder brother of the dog Cerberus and other monsters. He is the father of the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion (from the Chimera), according to one version. Orff is not as famous as Cerberus, therefore much less is known about him and information about him is contradictory. Some myths say that in addition to two dog heads, Orff also had seven dragon heads, and in place of the tail there was a snake. And in Iberia the dog had a sanctuary. He was killed by Hercules during his tenth labor. The plot of the death of Orff at the hands of Hercules, who was leading away the cows of Geryon, was often used by ancient Greek sculptors and potters; presented on numerous antique vases, amphoras, stamnos and skyphos. According to one very adventurous version, Orff in ancient times could simultaneously personify two constellations - Canis Major and Canis Minor. Now these stars are combined into two asterisms, but in the past their two brightest stars (Sirius and Procyon, respectively) could well have been seen by people as fangs or the heads of a monstrous two-headed dog.

10) Cerberus (Kerberus)

The son of Typhon and Echidna, a terrible three-headed dog with a terrible dragon tail, covered with menacing hissing snakes. Cerberus guarded the entrance to the dark, horror-filled underground kingdom of Hades, making sure that no one came out. According to the most ancient texts, Cerberus greets those entering hell with his tail and tears into pieces those who try to escape. In a later legend, he bites new arrivals. To appease him, honey gingerbread was placed in the coffin of the deceased. In Dante, Cerberus torments the souls of the dead. For a long time, at Cape Tenar, in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula, they showed a cave, claiming that here Hercules, on the instructions of King Eurystheus, descended to the kingdom of Hades in order to bring Cerberus out of there. Presenting himself before the throne of Hades, Hercules respectfully asked the underground god to allow him to take the dog to Mycenae. No matter how harsh and gloomy Hades was, he could not refuse the son of the great Zeus. He set only one condition: Hercules must tame Cerberus without weapons. Hercules saw Cerberus on the banks of the Acheron River - the border between the world of the living and the dead. The hero grabbed the dog with his powerful hands and began to strangle him. The dog howled menacingly, trying to escape, the snakes wriggled and stung Hercules, but he only squeezed his hands tighter. Finally, Cerberus gave in and agreed to follow Hercules, who took him to the walls of Mycenae. King Eurystheus was horrified at one glance at the terrible dog and ordered to quickly send him back to Hades. Cerberus was returned to his place in Hades, and it was after this feat that Eurystheus gave Hercules freedom. During his stay on earth, Cerberus dropped drops of bloody foam from his mouth, from which the poisonous herb aconite later grew, otherwise called hecatina, since the goddess Hecate was the first to use it. Medea mixed this herb into her witchcraft potion. The image of Cerberus reveals teratomorphism, which heroic mythology fights against. The name of the evil dog has become a common noun to denote an overly harsh, incorruptible watchman.

11) Sphinx

The most famous Sphinx in Greek mythology was from Ethiopia and lived in Thebes in Boeotia, as mentioned by the Greek poet Hesiod. It was a monster, born of Typhon and Echidna, with the face and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird. Sent by Hero to Thebes as punishment, the Sphinx settled on a mountain near Thebes and asked everyone who passed by a riddle: “Which living creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?” The Sphinx killed the one who was unable to give a solution and thus killed many noble Thebans, including the son of King Creon. Dejected with grief, Creon announced that he would give the kingdom and the hand of his sister Jocasta to the one who would rid Thebes of the Sphinx. Oedipus solved the riddle by answering the Sphinx: “Man.” The monster, in despair, threw itself into the abyss and fell to its death. This version of the myth superseded the more ancient version, in which the original name of the predator who lived in Boeotia on Mount Fikion was Fix, and then Orphus and Echidna were named as his parents. The name Sphinx arose from a connection with the verb “to squeeze”, “to strangle”, and the image itself was influenced by the Asia Minor image of a winged half-maiden-half-lioness. Ancient Fix was a ferocious monster, capable of swallowing prey; he was defeated by Oedipus with a weapon in his hands during fierce battle. Images of the Sphinx abound in classical art, from 18th-century British interiors to Empire furniture of the Romantic era. Masons considered sphinxes a symbol of the mysteries and used them in their architecture, considering them as guardians of the temple gates. In Masonic architecture, the sphinx is a frequent decorative detail, for example, even in the version of the image of its head on the form of documents. The Sphinx personifies mystery, wisdom, the idea of ​​man's struggle with fate.

12) Siren

Demonic creatures born from the god of fresh waters Achelous and one of the muses: Melpomene or Terpsichore. Sirens, like many mythical creatures, are mixanthropic in nature, they are half-birds, half-women or half-fish, half-women, who inherited wild spontaneity from their father, and a divine voice from their mother. Their number ranges from a few to a whole lot. Dangerous maidens lived on the island's rocks, strewn with the bones and dried skin of their victims, whom the sirens lured with their singing. Hearing their sweet singing, the sailors, losing their minds, steered the ship straight towards the rocks and eventually died in the depths of the sea. After which the merciless virgins tore the bodies of the victims into pieces and ate them. According to one of the myths, Orpheus on the ship of the Argonauts sang sweeter than the sirens, and for this reason the sirens, in despair and furious anger, threw themselves into the sea and were turned into rocks, for they were destined to die when their spells were powerless. The appearance of sirens with wings makes them similar in appearance to harpies, and sirens with fish tails are similar to mermaids. However, sirens, unlike mermaids, are of divine origin. Attractive appearance is also not a mandatory attribute. Sirens were also perceived as muses of another world - they were depicted on tombstones. In classical antiquity, wild chthonic sirens turn into sweet-voiced wise sirens, each of whom sits on one of the eight celestial spheres of the world spindle of the goddess Ananke, creating with their singing the majestic harmony of the cosmos. To appease sea deities and avoid shipwreck, sirens were often depicted as figures on ships. Over time, the image of sirens became so popular that a whole order of large marine mammals was called sirens, which included dugongs, manatees, and sea (or Steller's) cows, which, unfortunately, were completely exterminated by the end of the 18th century.

13) Harpy

Daughters of the sea deity Thaumant and the oceanid Electra, archaic pre-Olympic deities. Their names - Aella ("Whirlwind"), Aellope ("Whirlwind"), Podarga ("Swift-footed"), Okipeta ("Fast"), Kelaino ("Gloomy") - indicate a connection with the elements and darkness. The word "harpy" comes from the Greek "to seize", "to kidnap". In ancient myths, harpies were deities of the wind. The proximity of the strashno.com.ua harpies to the winds is reflected in the fact that the divine horses of Achilles were born from Podarga and Zephyr. They interfered little in the affairs of people; their duty was only to take the souls of the dead to the underworld. But then the harpies began to kidnap children and harass people, swooping in suddenly like the wind and disappearing just as suddenly. In various sources, harpies are described as winged deities with long flowing hair, flying faster than birds and winds, or as vultures with female faces and sharp hooked claws. They are invulnerable and smelly. Always tormented by a hunger that they cannot satisfy, the harpies descend from the mountains and, with piercing screams, devour and dirty everything. Harpies were sent by the gods as punishment for people who had offended them. The monsters took food from a person every time he started eating, and this continued until the person died of hunger. Thus, there is a well-known story about how the harpies tortured King Phineus, who was cursed for an involuntary crime, and, stealing his food, doomed him to starvation. However, the monsters were driven out by the sons of Boreas - the Argonauts Zetus and Kalaid. The heroes were prevented from killing the harpies by the messenger of Zeus, their sister, the rainbow goddess Iris. The Strophada Islands in the Aegean Sea were usually called the habitat of harpies; later, along with other monsters, they were placed in the kingdom of gloomy Hades, where they were considered one of the most dangerous local creatures. Medieval moralists used harpies as symbols of greed, gluttony and uncleanliness, often combining them with the furies. Harpies are also called evil women. The harpy is the name given to a large bird of prey from the hawk family that lives in South America.

The brainchild of Typhon and Echidna, the hideous Hydra had a long serpentine body and nine dragon heads. One of the heads was immortal. Hydra was considered invincible, since two new ones grew from its severed head. Coming out of the gloomy Tartarus, Hydra lived in a swamp near the city of Lerna, where murderers came to atone for their sins. This place became her home. Hence the name - Lernaean Hydra. The hydra was always hungry and devastated the surrounding area, eating herds and burning crops with its fiery breath. Her body was thicker than the thickest tree and covered with shiny scales. When she rose on her tail, she could be seen far above the forests. King Eurystheus sent Hercules with the task of killing the Lernaean Hydra. Iolaus, Hercules' nephew, during the hero's battle with the Hydra, burned her necks with fire, from which Hercules knocked off the heads with his club. Hydra stopped growing new heads, and soon she had only one immortal head left. In the end, she too was demolished with a club and buried by Hercules under a huge rock. Then the hero cut the Hydra’s body and plunged his arrows into its poisonous blood. Since then, the wounds from his arrows have become incurable. However, this heroic feat was not recognized by Eurystheus, since Hercules was helped by his nephew. The name Hydra is borne by the satellite of Pluto and the constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky, the longest of all. The unusual properties of Hydra also gave their name to the genus of freshwater sessile coelenterates. Hydra is a person with an aggressive character and predatory behavior.

15) Stymphalian birds

Birds of prey with sharp bronze feathers, copper claws and beaks. Named after Lake Stymphala near the city of the same name in the mountains of Arcadia. Having multiplied with extraordinary speed, they turned into a huge flock and soon turned all the surroundings of the city almost into a desert: they destroyed the entire crop of the fields, exterminated the animals grazing on the rich shores of the lake, and killed many shepherds and farmers. As they took off, the Stymphalian birds dropped their feathers like arrows and struck with them everyone who was in the open area, or tore them apart with their copper claws and beaks. Having learned about this misfortune of the Arcadians, Eurystheus sent Hercules to them, hoping that this time he would not be able to escape. Athena helped the hero by giving him copper rattles or kettledrums forged by Hephaestus. Having alarmed the birds with the noise, Hercules began to shoot his arrows poisoned with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra at them. The frightened birds left the shores of the lake, flying to the islands of the Black Sea. There the Stymphalidae were met by the Argonauts. They probably heard about the feat of Hercules and followed his example - they drove away the birds with noise, hitting their shields with swords.

Forest deities who formed the retinue of the god Dionysus. Satyrs are shaggy and bearded, their legs end in goat (sometimes horse) hooves. Other characteristic features of the appearance of satyrs are horns on the head, a goat or ox tail and a human torso. Satyrs were endowed with the qualities of wild creatures, possessing animal qualities, thinking little about human prohibitions and moral norms. In addition, they were distinguished by fantastic endurance, both in battle and for festive table. A great passion was dancing and music; the flute is one of the main attributes of satyrs. Also considered attributes of satyrs were a thyrsus, a pipe, leather wineskins or vessels with wine. Satyrs were often depicted in the paintings of great artists. Often the satyrs were accompanied by girls, for whom the satyrs had a certain weakness. According to a rationalist interpretation, the image of a satyr could reflect a tribe of shepherds who lived in forests and mountains. A satyr is sometimes called a lover of alcohol, humor and female company. The image of a satyr resembles a European devil.

17) Phoenix

Magic bird with golden and red feathers. In it you can see a collective image of many birds - an eagle, a crane, a peacock and many others. The most amazing qualities of the Phoenix were its extraordinary lifespan and the ability to be reborn from the ashes after self-immolation. There are several versions of the Phoenix myth. In the classical version, once every five hundred years the Phoenix, bearing the sorrows of people, flies from India to the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis, in Libya. The chief priest lights a fire from the sacred vine, and Phoenix throws himself into the fire. His incense-soaked wings flare and he quickly burns. With this feat, Phoenix, with her life and beauty, returns happiness and harmony to the world of people. Having experienced torment and pain, three days later a new Phoenix rises from the ashes, which, thanking the priest for the work done, returns to India, even more beautiful and shining with new colors. Experiencing cycles of birth, progress, death and renewal, Phoenix strives to become more and more perfect over and over again. The Phoenix was the personification of the ancient human desire for immortality. Even in the ancient world, the Phoenix began to be depicted on coins and seals, in heraldry and sculpture. The phoenix has become a favorite symbol of light, rebirth and truth in poetry and prose. A constellation in the southern hemisphere and a date palm were named after Phoenix.

18) Scylla and Charybdis

Scylla, the daughter of Echidna or Hecate, a once beautiful nymph, rejected everyone, including the sea god Glaucus, who asked for help from the sorceress Circe. But Circe, who was in love with Glaucus, out of revenge on him, turned Scylla into a monster, which began to lie in wait for sailors in a cave, on a steep cliff of the narrow Strait of Sicily, on the other side of which lived another monster - Charybdis. Scylla has six dog heads on six necks, three rows of teeth and twelve legs. Translated, her name means “barking.” Charybdis was the daughter of the gods Poseidon and Gaia. Zeus himself turned her into a terrible monster, throwing her into the sea. Charybdis has a gigantic mouth into which water pours without stopping. She personifies a terrible whirlpool, the gaping depths of the sea, which appears three times in one day and absorbs and then spews out water. No one saw her, since she was hidden by the thickness of the water. This is exactly how she ruined many sailors. Only Odysseus and the Argonauts managed to sail past Scylla and Charybdis. In the Adriatic Sea you can find the Skyllei Rock. As local legends say, this is where Scylla lived. There is also a shrimp of the same name. The expression “being between Scylla and Charybdis” means being exposed to danger from different sides at the same time.

19) Hippocampus

A sea animal that has the appearance of a horse and ends in a fish tail, also called hydrippus - a water horse. According to other versions of myths, the hippocampus is a sea creature in the form of a seahorse with the legs of a horse and a body ending with a snake or fish tail and webbed paws instead of hooves on the front legs. The front of the body is covered with thin scales, in contrast to the large scales on the back of the body. According to some sources, the hippocampus uses lungs for breathing, while others use modified gills. Sea deities - Nereids and Tritons - were often depicted on chariots drawn by hippocampuses, or seated on hippocampuses cutting through the abyss of water. This amazing horse appears in the poems of Homer as a symbol of Poseidon, whose chariot was drawn by fast horses and glided along the surface of the sea. In mosaic art, hippocampi were often depicted as hybrid animals with a green, scaly mane and appendages. The ancients believed that these animals were already adult form seahorse. Other land animals with fish tails that appear in Greek myth include leocampus - a lion with a fish tail), taurocampus - a bull with a fish tail, pardalocampus - a leopard with a fish tail, and aegicampus - a goat with a fish tail. The latter became a symbol of the constellation Capricorn.

20) Cyclops (Cyclopes)

Cyclops in the 8th-7th centuries BC. e. were considered the creation of Uranus and Gaia, the titans. The Cyclopes included three immortal one-eyed giants with ball-shaped eyes: Arg (“flash”), Bront (“thunder”) and Steropus (“lightning”). Immediately after their birth, the Cyclopes were thrown by Uranus into Tartarus (the deepest abyss) together with their violent brothers with one hundred arms (Hecatoncheires), who were born shortly before them. The Cyclopes were freed by the remaining Titans after the overthrow of Uranus, and then thrown back into Tartarus by their leader Kronos. When the leader of the Olympians, Zeus, began to struggle with Kronos for power, he, on the advice of their mother Gaia, freed the Cyclops from Tartarus to help the Olympian gods in the war against the Titans, known as Gigantomachy. Zeus used lightning and thunder arrows made by the Cyclopes, which he threw at the Titans. In addition, the Cyclops, being skilled blacksmiths, forged a trident and a manger for Poseidon's horses, an invisibility helmet for Hades, a silver bow and arrows for Artemis, and also taught Athena and Hephaestus various crafts. After the end of the Gigantomachy, the Cyclops continued to serve Zeus and forge weapons for him. Like the henchmen of Hephaestus, forging iron in the depths of Etna, the Cyclops forged the chariot of Ares, the aegis of Pallas and the armor of Aeneas. Cyclopes were also the name given to the mythical people of one-eyed cannibal giants who inhabited the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. Among them, the most famous is the ferocious son of Poseidon, Polyphemus, whom Odysseus deprived of his only eye. Paleontologist Othenio Abel in 1914 suggested that the discovery of dwarf elephant skulls in ancient times gave rise to the myth of the Cyclops, since the central nasal opening in the elephant's skull could be mistaken for a giant eye socket. The remains of these elephants were found on the islands of Cyprus, Malta, Crete, Sicily, Sardinia, the Cyclades and the Dodecanese.

21) Minotaur

Half-bull, half-man, born as the fruit of the passion of Queen Pasiphae of Crete for the white bull, the love of which Aphrodite instilled in her as punishment. The real name of the Minotaur was Asterius (that is, “starry”), and the nickname Minotaur means “bull of Minos.” Subsequently, the inventor Daedalus, the creator of many devices, built a labyrinth in order to imprison her monster son in it. According to ancient Greek myths, the Minotaur ate human flesh, and in order to feed him, the king of Crete imposed a terrible tribute on the city of Athens - seven young men and seven girls were to be sent to Crete every nine years to be devoured by the Minotaur. When Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, had the lot to become a victim of an insatiable monster, he decided to rid his homeland of such a duty. Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos and Pasiphae, in love with the young man, gave him a magic thread so that he could find his way back from the labyrinth, and the hero managed not only to kill the monster, but also to free the rest of the captives and put an end to the terrible tribute. The myth of the Minotaur was probably an echo of ancient pre-Hellenic bull cults with their characteristic sacred bull fights. Judging by the wall paintings, human figures with bull heads were common in Cretan demonology. In addition, the image of a bull appears on Minoan coins and seals. The Minotaur is considered a symbol of anger and bestial savagery. The phrase “Ariadne’s thread” means a way to get out of a difficult situation, to find the key to solving a difficult problem, to understand a difficult situation.

22) Hecatoncheires

The hundred-armed, fifty-headed giants named Briareus (Egeon), Kott and Gies (Gius) personify the underground forces, the sons of the supreme god Uranus, the symbol of Heaven, and Gaia-Earth. Immediately after birth, the brothers were imprisoned in the bowels of the earth by their father, who feared for his dominion. In the midst of the struggle with the Titans, the gods of Olympus called on the Hecatoncheires, and their help ensured victory for the Olympians. After their defeat, the Titans were cast into Tartarus, and the Hecatoncheires volunteered to guard them. The ruler of the seas, Poseidon, gave Briareus his daughter Kimopoleia as his wife. Hecatoncheires are present in the book by the Strugatsky brothers “Monday Begins on Saturday” as loaders at the Research Institute FAQ.

23) Giants

The sons of Gaia, who were born from the blood of castrated Uranus, absorbed into the Mother Earth. According to another version, Gaia gave birth to them from Uranus after the Titans were thrown into Tartarus by Zeus. The pre-Greek origin of the Giants is obvious. The story of the birth of the Giants and their death is told in detail by Apollodorus. The giants inspired horror with their appearance - thick hair and beards; their lower body was snake-like or octopus-like. They were born on the Phlegrean Fields in Chalkidiki, in northern Greece. It was there that the battle of the Olympian gods with the Giants took place - Gigantomachy. Giants, unlike titans, are mortal. As fate would have it, their death depended on the participation in the battle of mortal heroes who would come to the aid of the gods. Gaia was looking for a magic herb that would keep the Giants alive. But Zeus got ahead of Gaia and, sending darkness to the earth, cut off this grass himself. On the advice of Athena, Zeus called Hercules to participate in the battle. In the Gigantomachy, the Olympians destroyed the Giants. Apollodorus mentions the names of 13 Giants, who generally number up to 150. The Gigantomachy (as well as the Titanomachy) is based on the idea of ​​ordering the world, embodied in the victory of the Olympian generation of gods over the chthonic forces and the strengthening of the supreme power of Zeus.

This monstrous serpent, generated by Gaia and Tartarus, guarded the sanctuary of the goddesses Gaia and Themis in Delphi, at the same time devastating their surroundings. That's why he was also called Dolphinius. By order of the goddess Hera, Python raised an even more terrible monster - Typhon, and then began to pursue Latona, the mother of Apollo and Artemis. The grown-up Apollo, having received a bow and arrows forged by Hephaestus, went in search of the monster and overtook him in a deep cave. Apollo killed Python with his arrows and had to remain in exile for eight years to appease the angry Gaia. The huge dragon was periodically mentioned in Delphi during various sacred rites and processions. Apollo founded a temple on the site of the ancient oracle and established the Pythian Games; this myth reflected the replacement of chthonic archaism with a new, Olympian deity. The plot, where a luminous deity kills a snake, a symbol of evil and the enemy of humanity, has become a classic for religious teachings and folk tales. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi became famous throughout Hellas and even beyond its borders. From a crevice in the rock located in the middle of the temple, fumes rose, which had a strong effect on human consciousness and behavior. The priestesses of the Pythian temple often gave confusing and vague predictions. From Python comes the name of a whole family of non-venomous snakes - pythons, sometimes reaching up to 10 meters in length.

25) Centaur

These legendary creatures with a human torso and equine torso and legs are the embodiment of natural strength, endurance, and are distinguished by cruelty and unbridled temper. Centaurs (translated from Greek as “killers of bulls”) drove the chariot of Dionysus, the god of wine and winemaking; they were also ridden by the god of love Eros, which implied their penchant for libations and unbridled passions. There are several legends about the origin of centaurs. A descendant of Apollo named Centaur entered into a relationship with a Magnesian mare, which gave the appearance of a half-man, half-horse to all subsequent generations. According to another myth, in the pre-Olympic era, the smartest of the centaurs, Chiron, appeared. His parents were the oceanid Felira and the god Kron. Kron took the form of a horse, so the child from this marriage combined the features of a horse and a man. Chiron received an excellent education (medicine, hunting, gymnastics, music, divination) directly from Apollo and Artemis and was the mentor of many heroes of the Greek epics, as well as a personal friend of Hercules. His descendants, the centaurs, lived in the mountains of Thessaly next to the Lapiths. These wild tribes lived peacefully with each other until, at the wedding of the Lapithian king Pirithous, centaurs tried to kidnap the bride and several beautiful Lapithian women. In a violent battle called the centauromachy, the Lapiths won, and the centaurs were scattered across mainland Greece, driven into mountainous regions and remote caves. The appearance of the image of a centaur more than three thousand years ago suggests that even then the horse played an important role in human life. It is possible that the ancient farmers perceived horse riders as a whole being, but most likely the Mediterranean inhabitants, who were prone to inventing “composite” creatures, simply reflected the spread of the horse when they invented the centaur. The Greeks, who bred and loved horses, were well acquainted with their temperament. It is no coincidence that it was the nature of the horse that they associated with unpredictable manifestations of violence in this generally positive animal. One of the constellations and zodiac signs is dedicated to the centaur. To designate creatures that are not similar in appearance to a horse, but retain the features of a centaur, the term “centauroids” is used in the scientific literature. There are variations in the appearance of centaurs. Onocentaur - half-man, half-donkey - was associated with a demon, Satan or a hypocritical person. The image is close to satyrs and European devils, as well as the Egyptian god Set.

The son of Gaia, nicknamed Panoptes, that is, the all-seeing, who became the personification of the starry sky. The goddess Hera forced him to guard Io, the beloved of her husband Zeus, whom he turned into a cow in order to protect her from the wrath of her jealous wife. Hera begged Zeus for a cow and assigned her an ideal caretaker, the hundred-eyed Argus, who vigilantly guarded her: only two of his eyes were closed at the same time, the others were open and vigilantly watched Io. Only Hermes, the crafty and enterprising messenger of the gods, managed to kill him, freeing Io. Hermes put Argus to sleep with poppy seeds and cut off his head with one blow. The name Argus has become a household name for a vigilant, vigilant, all-seeing guard, from whom no one and nothing can hide. Sometimes this is what is called, following an ancient legend, the pattern on the feathers of a peacock, the so-called “peacock eye”. According to legend, when Argus died at the hands of Hermes, Hera, regretting his death, collected all his eyes and attached them to the tails of her favorite birds, peacocks, which were always supposed to remind her of her devoted servant. The myth of Argus was often depicted on vases and in Pompeian wall paintings.

27) Griffin

Monstrous birds with the body of a lion and an eagle's head and front legs. From their cry, flowers wither and grass withers, and all living creatures fall dead. The griffin's eyes have a golden tint. The head was the size of a wolf's head with a huge, terrifying-looking beak, and the wings had a strange second joint to make them easier to fold. The griffin in Greek mythology personified insightful and vigilant power. Closely associated with the god Apollo, he appears as the animal that the god harnesses to his chariot. Some of the myths say that these creatures were harnessed to the carriage of the goddess Nemesis, which symbolizes the speed of retribution for sins. In addition, griffins turned the wheel of fate, and were genetically linked to Nemesis. The image of a griffin personified dominance over the elements of earth (lion) and air (eagle). The symbolism of this mythical animal is connected with the image of the Sun, since both the lion and the eagle in myths are always inextricably linked with it. In addition, the lion and eagle are associated with mythological motifs of speed and courage. The functional purpose of the griffin is security, in this it is similar to the image of a dragon. As a rule, it protects treasures or some secret knowledge. The bird served as an intermediary between the heavenly and earthly worlds, gods and people. Even then, ambivalence was inherent in the image of the griffin. Their role in various myths is ambiguous. They can act both as defenders, patrons, and as evil, unrestrained animals. The Greeks believed that griffins guarded the gold of the Scythians in northern Asia. Modern attempts to localize griffins vary widely and place them from the northern Urals to the Altai Mountains. These mythological animals are widely represented in antiquity: Herodotus wrote about them, their images were found on monuments from the period of prehistoric Crete and in Sparta - on weapons, household items, coins and buildings.

28) Empusa

A female demon of the underworld from Hecate's retinue. Empusa was a vampire night ghost with donkey legs, one of which was copper. She took the form of cows, dogs or beautiful maidens, changing her appearance in a thousand ways. According to existing beliefs, the empousa often carried away small children, sucked the blood from beautiful young men, appearing to them in the form of a lovely woman, and, having had enough of the blood, often devoured their meat. At night, on deserted roads, the empousa would lie in wait for lonely travelers, either frightening them in the form of an animal or a ghost, or captivating them with the appearance of a beauty, or attacking them in her true terrible form. According to legend, an empusa could be driven away with abuse or a special amulet. In some sources, the empusa is described as being close to a lamia, onocentaur or female satyr.

29) Triton

The son of Poseidon and the mistress of the seas, Amphitrite, depicted as an old man or youth with a fish tail instead of legs. Triton became the ancestor of all newts - marine mixanthropic creatures frolicking in the waters, accompanying the chariot of Poseidon. This retinue of lower sea deities was depicted as half-fish and half-man, blowing a snail-shaped shell to excite or tame the sea. to his appearance they resembled classic mermaids. Tritons in the sea became, like satyrs and centaurs on land, minor deities serving the main gods. The following are named after tritons: in astronomy - the satellite of the planet Neptune; in biology - the genus of tailed amphibians of the salamander family and the genus of prosobranch mollusks; in technology - a series of ultra-small submarines USSR Navy; in music, an interval formed by three tones.

Are you familiar with Greek mythology? This list will help you test your knowledge or even enrich it. It was not without reason that the legendary creatures from ancient Greek folklore became famous throughout the world, because they had simply extraordinary qualities. These mythical monsters are some of the most bizarre, terrifying and incredible creatures, including not only amazing animals, but also the strangest humanoids imaginable. Are you ready for an educational program?

25. Python or Python

Usually depicted as a serpent guarding the entrance to the Delphic Oracle. According to legend, the cruel Python was killed by Apollo himself, one of the famous Olympian gods. After the death of the serpent, Apollo founded his own oracle on the site of the Delphic oracle.

24. Orff, Orth, Ortr, Orthros, Orfre


Photo: wikimedia commons

A two-headed dog whose task was to guard a huge herd of magical red bulls. This monster was killed by the Greek hero Hercules, who took the entire herd for himself as proof of his victory over Orff. According to rumors, Orff was the father of several other monsters, including the Sphinx and the Chimera, and his brother was the legendary Cerberus.

23. Ichthyocentaurs


Photo: Dr Murali Mohan Gurram

These were sea gods, centaurs-tritons, whose upper body looked like a human, the lower pair of limbs were like a horse, and behind them was a fish tail. They were often depicted next to Aphrodite during her birth. Perhaps you could also meet these ichthyocentaurs in paintings dedicated to the zodiac constellation Pisces.

22. Skilla


Photo: wikimedia commons

The six-headed Skilla was a sea monster that lived on one side of a narrow strait under a rock, while on the other side the no less dangerous Charybdis awaited the sailors (13th point). The distance between the shores of this narrow strait and the shelters of evil mythical creatures was equal to the flight of a launched arrow, so travelers very often sailed too close to one of the monsters and died.

21. Typhon


Photo: wikimedia commons

Typhon was the personification of the volcanic forces of the Earth and at the same time was considered the most deadly demon in all of Greece. His upper body was human, and this character was so huge that he supported the starry sky, and his arms reached to the eastern and western ends of the world. Instead of an ordinary human head, a hundred dragon heads erupted from Typhon's neck and shoulders.

20. Ophiotaurus


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Ophiotaurus was another Greek hybrid monster that was more feared than death. According to legend, killing and ritually burning the entrails of this half-bull, half-snake gave strength with which one could defeat any gods. For the same reason, the Titans killed the monster in order to overthrow the Olympian gods, but Zeus managed to send the Eagle to peck the offal of the defeated creature before they were burned on the altar, and Olympus was saved.

19. Lamia

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They say that Lamia was once a beautiful ruler of the Libyan kingdom, but later became a cruel child eater and a most dangerous demon. According to the myth, Zeus fell in love with the charming Lamia so much that his wife Hera, out of jealousy, killed all the children of Lamia (except for the cursed Skilla) and transformed the Libyan queen into a monster who hunts other people’s children.

18. Graia or Forkiades


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The Grays were three sisters who shared one eye and one tooth. It is not surprising that they were famous not for their beauty at all, but rather for their gray hair and ugliness, instilling fear in everyone. In addition, their names were very eloquent: Deino (trembling or death), Enyo (terror) and Pemphredo (anxiety).

17. Echidna

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Half woman, half snake. The echidna was called the mother of all monsters, since most of the monsters from ancient Greek myths were considered her offspring. According to legend, Echidna and Typhon passionately loved each other, and it was their union that gave birth to many insidious creatures. The Greeks believed that it produced a poison that caused madness.

16. Nemean Lion


Photo: Yelkrokoyade

The Nemean Lion was a vicious monster that lived in the Nemea region. As a result, he was killed by the famous ancient Greek hero Hercules. It was impossible to kill this mythical creature with a simple weapon because of its extraordinary golden fur, which was impossible to pierce with ordinary swords, arrows or stakes, and therefore Hercules had to strangle the Nemean Lion with his bare hands. The strongman managed to tear the skin off the beast only with the help of the claws and teeth of the defeated lion itself.

15. Sphinx


Photo: Tilemahos Efthimiadis / Athens, Greece

The Sphinx was a zoomorphic creature with the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, the tail of a bull and the head of a woman. According to legend, this character was a ruthless and treacherous monster. Those who could not solve the riddles, according to the tradition of all myths, died a painful death in the mouth of the furious Sphinx. The monster itself died only after the brave King Oedipus solved its riddle.

14. Erinyes

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Erinia is translated from Greek as “wrathful.” These were avenging goddesses. According to legend, they punished anyone who uttered false oaths, committed any atrocity, or spoke anything against one of the gods.

13. Charybdis


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The daughter of Poseidon and Gaia, Charybdis was a huge sea monster with a mouth all over her face and fins or flippers instead of arms and legs. Three times a day, she absorbed huge amounts of sea water and then spat it back, thus creating powerful whirlpools that easily sucked in large ships. It was she who was the neighbor of the deadly Skilla from 22 points.

12. Harpies


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These were creatures with the bodies of birds and women's faces. They stole food from innocent victims and sent sinners straight to the vengeful Erinyes (point 14). Harpy is translated as “kidnapper” or “predator”. Zeus often turned to them so that these creatures would punish or torture someone.

11. Satires


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Satyrs are often depicted as human-goat hybrids. They usually have goat horns and hind legs. Satyrs loved to drink, play the flute, and served the god of wine, Dionysus. These forest demons were true lazy people and led the most careless and unbridled lifestyle.

10. Sirens


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Beautiful and very dangerous mythical characters. These fatal goddesses with fish tails lured sailors with their sweet voices, and because of their spell, ships more than once flew into rocks and crashed off the coast. These creatures tore the drowning travelers into pieces and ate them.

9. Griffin


Photo: shutterstock

The griffin is a mythical creature with the body, tail and hind legs of a lion, and its head, wings and claws on its front legs were those of an eagle. The lion was traditionally considered the king of all land monsters, and the eagle was the king of all birds, so in ancient Greek mythology the griffin was an incredibly powerful and majestic character.

8. Chimera


Photo: wikimedia commons

The chimera was a fire-breathing monster whose body consisted of 3 different animals: a lion, a snake and a goat. The monster was from Lycia (an ancient state of Asia Minor). Most often, a chimera was any mythical or fictional creature with body parts from different animals. In a figurative sense, a chimera is considered to be the personification of any unfulfilled desire or fantasy.

7. Cerberus


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Cerberus is one of the most famous characters in ancient Greek mythology. According to legend, it was a three-headed dog with a snake tail that guarded the gates to the Underworld. No one who crossed the River Styx could escape from the afterlife, and this was strictly monitored by the ferocious Cerberus, until one day Hercules defeated him.

6. Cyclops

Photo: Odilon Redon

The Cyclopes were a distinct race of one-eyed giants. But these creatures were cruel and ferocious monsters who were not afraid even of the gods, but at the same time they served the god of fire and blacksmithing, Hephaestus.

5. Hydra


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The Hydra was an ancient sea monster that resembled a huge serpent with reptilian features, with countless heads growing from its body. Instead of one severed head, she always grew 2 new heads. The hydra had poisonous breath, and even its blood was so dangerous that the slightest contact with it was fatal.

4. Gorgons


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Probably the most famous of all the ancient Greek gorgons was Medusa. She was also the only mortal gorgon among her evil sisters. Medusa had snakes instead of hair, and one glance from her was enough to turn a person to stone. According to legend, Perseus managed to behead her, armed with a mirror instead of a shield.

3. Minotaur


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The Minotaur was mythical creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man eating innocent people. He lived in the Knossos labyrinth, built by the ancient Greek engineer and artist Daedalus and his son Icarus. The monster was eventually defeated by an Attic hero named Theseus.

2. Centaur


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The centaur was a fairy-tale creature with the head, arms and torso of a man, and below the waist he resembled an ordinary horse. Chiron was considered one of the most famous centaurs in Greek mythology. Most centaurs were violent and hostile creatures who loved to drink and worshiped only the god of wine, Dionysus. However, Chiron was a wise and kind creature and even a mentor to such ancient Greek heroes as Hercules and Achilles.

1. Pegasus


Photo: shutterstock

This is one of the most famous mythical creatures of the ancient world. The Greeks believed that Pegasus was a divine stallion of snow-white color, and that he had huge wings. According to legend, Pegasus was the child of Poseidon and the gorgon Medusa. According to one legend, every time this fabulous horse hit the ground with its hoof, a new source of water was born.