MOST Deadly

Greek Monsters

Most Deadly Greek

Monsters

Published at Petitcodiac Regional School

May 2016

Contents

1.Introduction:

Malicious Monsters

#5 – Minotaur

The half-man half-bull monster that was trapped in the

labyrinth.

#4 – Chimera

The hybrid monster that ravaged the lands with its fire

breath.

#3 – Scylla

The giant sea monster that ate anything she could get

into her mouth.

#2 – Hydra

The poisons sea snake that would grow back every

head that was cut off.

#1 – Medusa

The creature that would turn you to stone with only one

look.

I Thought…

What do you think?

Mythology

Madness

There are tons of monsters in stories, like the one

under your bed or in your closet…

But the ones that you are going to be told about were

actually believed to be true.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t make some great

stories!

Find out which monsters made the list of the top 5

most deadly Greek monsters

THE MINOTAUR

WHERE: The labyrinth of Crete KILLED BY: Theseus WHAT IT DID: Ate youth and maid

The Minotaur was a half

man, half bull creature

that was trapped in a

maze, but was it his fault?

In the story, it will tell

that he was born and

imprisoned in the maze

because the King of Crete

didn’t listen to Poseidon.

5

Minotaur

In ancient times a maze was called a labyrinth A-Maze-ing, right?

Quick Fact

STARTING

King Minos vowed to Poseidon that if he made a bull appear that Minos would

sacrifice it to Poseidon. Once the bull appear, Minos decided to keep it instead.

Angered at Minos for keeping the bull, Poseidon blotted to punish him for his

arrogance. He made Pasiphe, Mino’s wife, fall in love with the bull.

As she fell in love, the queen went to see Daedaus, the inventor, to assist her in the

endeavor to build a hollow wooden cow.

While she was hidden inside the lifelike man-made cow, the bull impregnated her.

That was how the bullheaded Minotaur was born.

# 5 4 3 2 1

Death

The Minotaur was placed in a maze to stop him from terrorizing the kingdom. Sacrifices

of men and women from Athens. In the third year, Theseus offered to go into the maze

to kill the Minotaur.

He fell in love with King Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, who gave him a thread to help him

from getting lost in the maze. Theseus was able to slay the beast and followed the

unraveled thread back out of the maze.

THE CHIMERA

WHERE: Lycia (A place in Asia Miror) KILLED BY: Bellerophon WHAT IT DID: Breathing fire

The Chimera was a hybrid

monster with the head

and body of a lion and the

fire-breathing goat-head

attached to its back plus a

tail ending in a snake’s

head.

In some stories it was

said to have the wings of

a dragon, but did it really

need to be beheaded?

4

Chimera

Bellerophon’s father-in-law was ordered by King Proteus to kill Bellerophon.

Quick Fact

WARNING

Merely seeing the Chimera was a bad omen. The monster regularly appeared before

disasters such as shipwrecks, violent storms and volcanic eruptions.

DEATH

Bellerophon was told by his father-in-law to kill the Chimera. Bellerophon

met with a well-known seer who told him that he would need to gain

Athena’s help to be able to fly on the winged horse name Pegasus. Once he set the

golden bridle that Athena gave him on Pegasus while the winged horse was drinking,

he was then able to fly to the Chimera’s lair. Upon seeing all the burnt land, it gave

Bellerophon the idea to put a piece of lead on his spear and stabbed the Chimera is its

throat. The Chimera tried to create fire and ended up melted the lead which choked

the Chimera to death.

# 5 4 3 2 1

THE SCYLLA

WHERE: Strait of Messina KILLED BY: Heracles (But she came back to life) WHAT IT DID: Ate anything she could

An immortal twelve

footed monster with six

heads on long snake

necks, each head had

three rows of shark teeth.

If that doesn’t scare you,

what about the heads of

baying dogs in her loins?

3

Scylla

Charybdis was turned into a monster by Zeus. She swallowed lots of saltwater which created funnels and sucked in passing ships. Talk about being water logged!

Quick Fact

ABOUT

Scylla was a monstrous sea goddess who haunted the rocks of a certain narrow strait

on the opposite side of Charybdis.

Ships who sailed too close to her rocks would lose six men to her ravenous heads.

STARTING

She was once a beautiful nymph who was loved by the sea-god, Glaucus. He went to

see the witch named Circe to cast a love spell on Scylla.

Circe became jealous of his love and instead made a vial of poison which she poured it

into the pool where Scylla bathed. When Scylla walked into the bath she became a

ferocious sea monster.

AFTER

Scylla couldn’t move from her rock, so was forever stuck on the Strait of Messina as a

monster. Instinctively, she would devour anything or anyone edible that sailed by.

# 5 4 3 2 1

THE HYDRA

WHERE: Swamps of Lerna KILLED BY: Slayed by Heracles WHAT IT DID: Growing heads back

The hydra was a water

snake which was

originally believed to have

nine heads, but once one

was cut off two more

grew back.

So how was anyone able

to kill it?

2

Hydra

Heracles did indeed use the poison tipped arrows to shoot Nessus, who kidnapped Heracles’ wife. I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side!

Quick Fact

STARTING

The Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echnidra. Hera raised the monster to kill

Heracles.

It could only live if it had at least one head. He also had poisonous blood and breath

that was so bad even his scent was deadly.

DEATH

Heracles killed the Hydra as a second labor. He covered his mouth and nose with a

cloth to stop him from being poisoned.

Heracles confronted the Hydra wielding his famed club every time Heracles

decapitated one of its heads, two more grew back.

After realizing that he couldn’t stop the Hydra that way, he asked his nephew, Lolaus,

for help.

Lolaus came up with the idea to burn the heads. Once the heads were burnt, they

didn’t grow back.

AFTER

After Heracles cut off the immortal head, he buried it in the ground.

Since the blood was poisonous, Heracles took some arrows and dipped them in the

poison just in case he needed it for later.

# 5 4 3 2 1

MEDUSA

WHERE: Athena’s temple KILLED BY: Slayed by Perseus WHAT IT DID: Turning mortals to stone

Medusa was a green

skinned monster that

turned any mortal to

stone, but was she always

like that?

In some stories it states

she was born as the

monster, but the one I’m

going to tell in the

beginning she started as a

pretty young girl.

1

Medusa

Parthenon– The biggest temple in

Greece where you went to worship Athena.

STARTING

Medusa was one of the three Gorgon

sisters. Unlike her sisters she was mortal.

They were the daughters of Phorcus and

Celo.

Medusa loved her looks and the beauty of

her hair. Any time she could she would

boast about herself.

Poseidon fell in love with her. So one day

they met up in the Parthenon.

PUNISHMENT

To punish Medusa for having

relations inside her temple, Athena

transformed her into a beast with

writhing snake hair. The face of an

ugly human female, with old and

powerful bat-like wings and to top

that off, looking upon her would

immediately turn any mortal to

stone.

# 5 4 3 2 1

DEATH

Perseus was able to slay Medusa by looking

at her reflection rather than looking

directly at her. By doing that it stopped

him from being petrified like all the other

heroes that tried to kill her before him.

Since Medusa was pregnant by Poseidon,

upon her decapitation, Pegasus, the

winged horse, and Chrysaor, a golden

sword wielding giant, sprang from her

corse.

Since Medusa was mortal, if she looked upon herself, she would turn to stone. I wonder how she did her snakes in the morning.

Quick Fact

AFTER

After decapitation, Medusa’s head

would still turn any mortal to stone.

The blood from her head created the

poisonous vipers of the Sahara desert.

Some of the blood fell on to seaweed

and created Red Sea coral.

It was said that Athena place the head

in the center of her shield called the

Aegis.

Here are the criteria I used in ranking the Most Deadly Greek Monsters. The movie:

The most known

Killings

The most damage made

I thought…

1. Do you agree with my ranking? If you don’t, try ranking them yourself. Justify your ranking with data. You may use my criteria or you may use your own. 2. Here are others to consider: The Cyclops, the Empusa and the Sphinx. Find out more about them. Should they have made my list? Are there others that should be considered?

What do you think?