12 Powerful Creatures In Greek Mythology

Pronunciation: [sur-buh-rus]

Cerberus aka The Hound of Hades, is a 3-headed dog who guarded the gates of the Underworld. It was at the river Styx which was the boundary between the realm of the dead and Earth. He was a child of Typhon and Echidna, and the siblings of multi-headed monsters including Orthus, Lernaen Hydra, and Chimaera. The jobs of this hellhound were to prevent the dead and whoever went past the gate from leaving. Cerberus was feared by the spirits in the Underworld for he would devour anyone that dared to pass him. However, he was often calm to the dead or new spirits that entered the realm. Along with his 3 heads, this fearsome hellhound also had a hissing serpent mane and a spiky dragon-like tail. Throughout his life, Cerberus was tricked 3 times by Heracles (his strength), Orpheus (his music), and Sybil of Cumae (honey cake).

Pronunciation: [kuh-rib-dis]

Charybdis, a deadly whirlpool, was the daughter of the sea god Poseidon and the earth goddess Gaia. She was a sea monster who dwelt in the Strait of Messina, terrorizing any ship that went past her territory. Charybdis was very loyal to her father, even in his endless feud with his brother Zeus. Three times a day, Charybdis would pull in and push out water with such force that ships would sink. She had the task of flooding dry land in the name of her father’s kingdom. She was responsible for the ebb and flow of the daily tides throughout the world before she angered the mighty Zeus. This powerful monster from Greek Mythology was originally a beautiful nymph who was cursed by the King of God, Zeus.

Charybdis became overzealous in her duties to her father and started flooding the land. Then Zeus trapped and transformed her then forced her to live in the Strait of Messina close to Italy. Another possible reason that enraged Zeus was that she stole and ate sheep belonging to his son Heracles. He had stolen the sheep from Geryon in his tenth labor, and that was also why Zeus cursed her. Zeus trapped her under the rock on which a huge fig tree grew, allowing her to continue her duties with rules. She could create ebb 3 times a day and flow 3 times a day. That was when she used her huge mouth to swallow great amounts of water and debris, creating multiple massive whirlpools.

Pronunciation: [kai-mere-ra]

As a sibling of Cerberus, Chimera was a hybrid monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a snake’s tail. Despite having a mane, Chimera was believed to be a female monstrous creature in Greek Mythology. She was a powerful and vicious creature who possessed the ability of 3 separate animals. With her strong jaw, Chimera could rib the enemies apart and shred them into pieces. Some said this fearsome-looking beast could also breathe fire from her mouth which aid her in long-distance attacks. The scorching heat from her fiery breath was so hot it could melt armor and weaponry in any battle. Another dangerous part about Chimera was her serpent tail which was capable of injecting deadly venom. She once had the reputation of being invincible but her reign of terror came to an end in the battle with Bellerophon.

Pronunciation: [ky-ron]

Half horse, half human, Chiron was the wisest of centaurs in Greek Mythology due to his origin. Chiron was the son of the Titan Cronus and the Oceanid Philyra while most centaurs were children of Ixion and Nephele. Because Titan Cronus took the form of a steed when he mated with Philyra, Chiron was born a centaur. According to the myths, Chiron was so outstanding in many fields including hunting, medicine, music, and prophecy. Some even claimed that Chiron was the inventor of medicine and surgery due to his vast knowledge. As a hardworking being, he spends most of his time learning in his cave on Mount Pelion. Chiron was also the teacher of Achilles, spending years raising and teaching him hunting and medicine. Although people believed that Chiron was immortal, he died from his wound unintentionally struck by Heracles.

Pronunciation: [sai-klaaps]

Cyclopes (plural) were gigantic beings with one eye who had enormous strength. Originally, there were 3 of them including Arges, Steropes, and Brontes who were capable blacksmiths. They were the sons of Uranus and Gaia, who served Zeus by forging his famous thunderbolt as a sign of gratitude. There were 2 types of cyclopes in Greek Mythology, Hesiod’s Cyclopes and Homer’s Cyclopes. Both types have a single eye in the middle of their foreheads and tremendous strength due to their large size. The former are the divine and gigantic blacksmiths while the latter are enormous and violent shepherds related to Poseidon. Homer’s cyclopes were neither blacksmiths nor obedient, and they were more of violent cannibals who had an unruly life.

Hesiod’s Cyclopes were blacksmiths at Mount Olympus who also forged Hades’s helmet of invisibility and Artemis’s bow and arrow of moonlight. That is not all, they also forged Apollo’s bow and arrows of sun rays and even Poseidon’s trident. In the end, the 3 original cyclopes met their ultimate death at the hands of the Olympians. Sadly, the weapons that they forged for the Greek gods turned out to be the means of their deaths. Hermes killed Arges, Apollo killed both Steropes and Brontes while the brothers did nothing wrong to deserve their death. For his crime, Zeus sentenced Apollo to the servitude of Admetus for one year.

Pronunciation: [gri-fn]

Griffin was one of the most powerful beasts in Greek Mythology with a lion’s body and the head and wings of an eagle. This mythical creature represented cunningness, strength, and wisdom in so many tales that guided and inspired the Greek people. Because Griffin had the combination of the king of the beasts and birds, he was considered to be king of all creatures. This majestic and powerful creature were the guardians of gold mines, hidden treasures, and other priceless objects. Griffins were highly monogamous, and the other would continue throughout the rest of its life alone if one partner died. These legendary creatures are present in so many cultures and their appearance also exists in various types of literature until today.

Pronunciation: [hai-druh]

This gigantic nine-headed water-serpent is another sibling of Cerberus who was one of the most powerful creatures in Greek Mythology. Hydra haunted the swamps of Lerna, and it was one of the monsters encountered by gods and heroes. Killing it was a very challenging task because each time a cut was cut off, two would grow in its place. In fact, some said that Hydra had 8 mortal heads one immortal head that is in the middle. Heracles killed this monster by using burning arrows and sickle then he managed to burn away Hydra’s head. He buried the immortal head under a huge rock before poisoning his arrows with bile to shoot the beast. Because of the poison, the wounds became incurable and Heracles won the battle with the help of Iolaus.

Pronunciation: [lay-dn]

Ladon was a monster in Greek mythology who guarded the Golden Apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. As the guardian of the precious golden apples, this serpent-like dragon twined and twisted around the golden apple trees. Artists depicted this hundred-headed dragon circling a single tree within its coil to protect the golden apples. The duty of Ladon came to an end after Heracles killed him with a poisoned arrow. It was when Heracles has to recover the golden apples as one of his twelve labors.

Pronunciation: [muh-doo-suh]

Medusa is one of the most famous and powerful creatures in Greek Mythology. This gorgon was the sister of Echina, Ladon, and Graeae who were also dreadful and fearsome beasts. While all of her siblings were immortal and monsters by birth, she was not. However, she had a misfortune life as she turned into the most hideous monster among her siblings. Originally, was a beautiful mortal who was impregnated by Poseidon in the temple of Athena. Athena cursed and transformed her into a vicious monster with snakes for hair and eyes who would turn men into stones. She was still pregnant by the time Perseus cut her head off, and Chrysaor and Pegasus sprang from her neck. Both brothers were also powerful, and Medusa’s legacies went on.

Pronunciation: [or-thruhs]

This two-headed dog is the brother of the three-headed dog Cerberus, and Orthrus was one among the famous monsters in Greek Mythology. This monstrous hound had enormous size, and he had a snake for a tail rather than a normal dog tail. Orthrus was the dog of the giant Geryon, a three-bodied and three-headed creature that owned cattle in the land of Erythea. He was in charge of protecting the herd of red cattle that Geryon owned with his master Eurytion. Just like most creatures and monsters on the list, Heracles was the slayer of these two beings in his Tenth Labor.

Pronunciation: [skai-luh]

Similar to Charybdis, Scylla was also a terror to seamen in Greek Mythology who created large whirlpools. In fact, she lived on the opposite side of Charybdis, making sailors unable to avoid both. She was a sea monster with 6 heads and sharp teeth who fed on sailors who came close to her. Scylla was the daughter of deities of the sea Phorycs and Ceto, and the siblings of Gorgons and Graeae. Before she became a monster, Scylla was also a beautiful girl; and there are 2 believable theories behind her transformation. One, Poseidon’s wife Amphitrite was jealous of the nymph and poisoned the pool in which she bathed. Two, sea god Glaucus fell in love with her and asked the sorceress Circe for a love poison. However, Circe was in love with Glaucus so she gave him a drink that turned Scylla into a monster instead.

Pronunciation: [tai-faan]

The Father Of All Monsters, Typhon was both a god and a monster that was so powerful in Greek Mythology. Some myths said that Hera wanted to create a god more powerful than Zeus, so she had Gaia and Tartarus give birth to Typhon. He was one of the most fearsome deities whose name stirred up so much awe and fright. Typhon was a tall giant who had a torso of a man with coils of vipers as legs. The legs would hiss and attack as he moved, and he also had 100 snakeheads on his main head. This ferocious and powerful god had glowing red eyes that would terrify anyone who dared to look upon them. He married Echidna, the mother of all monsters, then gave birth to many fearsome monsters.

Typhon wreaked havoc on Mount Olympus, and scared many Olympian gods to the point they changed into their animal forms. During those battles, Typhon actually destroyed cities and even threw mountains in his absolute rage. He spent years battling with Zeus, and injured the Father of all the Gods numerous times in the process. The last battle involved Zeus hitting Typhon with 100 lightning bolts and cornering him. Then Zeus cast Typhon into the bottomless pit of Tartarus and put an entire mountain on top of it. In the end, the battle finally ended with Zeus trapping him under Mount Etna so that would not escape. It was where he would forever be trapped to be a volcano for the rest of his life. Some believed that volcanic eruptions or earthquakes are the results of Typhon trying to escape from the mountain.

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