Muse Melete
Greek mythology is also not without
its share of monsters and mythical creatures. Some of the more common ones
include the Centaurs, the Cyclopses, the Minotaur, the Gorgon, and the
Sirens.
CENTAURS, in Greek mythology,
a race of monsters believed to have inhabited the mountain regions of Thessaly
and Arcadia. They were usually represented as human down to the waist, with
the lower torso and legs of a horse. The centaurs were characterized by
savageness and violence; they were known for their drunkenness and lust and
were often portrayed as followers of Dionysus, the god of wine. They were
driven from Thessaly when, in a drunken frenzy, they attempted to abduct
the bride of the king of the Lapiths from her wedding feast. The centaur
Chiron, noted for his goodness and wisdom, was an exception. Several Greek
heroes, including Achilles and Jason, were educated by him.
CYCLOPS, in Greek mythology, giants
with one enormous eye in the middle of the forehead. In Hesiod, the three
sons Arges, Brontes, and Steropes of Uranus and Gaea, the personifications
of heaven and earth, were Cyclopses. They were thrown into the lower world
by their brother Cronus, one of the Titans, after he dethroned Uranus. But
Cronus's son, the god Zeus, released the Cyclopses from the underworld, and
they, in gratitude, gave him the gifts of thunder and lightning with which
he defeated Cronus and the Titans and thus became lord of the universe.
In Homer's Odyssey, the Cyclopses were shepherds living in Sicily. They were
a lawless, savage, and cannibalistic race fearing neither gods nor humans.
The Greek hero Odysseus was trapped with his men in the cave of the Cyclops
Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon, god of the sea. In order to escape from the
cave after the giant devoured several men, Odysseus blinded him.
MINOTAUR, in Greek mythology,
monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. It was the offspring
of Pasiphaë, queen of Crete, and a snow-white bull the god Poseidon
had sent to Pasiphaë's husband, King Minos. When Minos refused to sacrifice
the beast, Poseidon made Pasiphaë fall in love with it. After she gave
birth to the Minotaur, Minos ordered the architect and inventor Daedalus
to build a labyrinth so intricate that escape from it without assistance
would be impossible. Here the Minotaur was confined and fed with young human
victims Minos forced Athens to send him as tribute. The Greek hero Theseus
was determined to end the useless sacrifice and offered himself as one of
the victims. When Theseus reached Crete, Minos's daughter Ariadne fell in
love with him. She helped him escape by giving him a ball of thread, which
he fastened to the door of the maze and unwound as he made his way through
it. When he came upon the sleeping Minotaur, he beat the monster to death
and then led the other sacrificial youths and maidens to safety by following
the thread back to the entrance.
GORGON, in Greek mythology, one
of three monstrous daughters of the sea god Phorcys and his wife, Ceto. The
Gorgons were terrifying, dragonlike creatures, covered with golden scales
and having snakes for hair. They lived on the farthest side of the western
ocean, shunned because their glance turned people to stone. Two of the Gorgons,
Stheno and Euryale, were immortal; Medusa alone could be killed. The hero
Perseus killed Medusa and brought back her head, with the help of the deities
Hermes and Athena. From her blood sprang the winged horse Pegasus, her son
by the god Poseidon.
SIRENS, in Greek mythology, sea
nymphs, with the bodies of birds and the heads of women, the daughters of
the sea god Phorcys. They had voices of such sweetness that mariners who
heard their songs were lured onto the rocks on which the nymphs sang. The
Greek hero Odysseus was able to pass their island with safety because, following
the advice of the sorceress Circe, he stopped the ears of his companions
with wax and had himself bound to the mast of the ship so that he might hear
the songs without danger. In another legend the Argonauts escaped the Sirens
because Orpheus, who was on board the Argo, sang so sweetly that he drowned
out the song of the nymphs. According to later legends, the Sirens, in vexation
at the escape of Odysseus or at the victory of Orpheus, threw themselves
into the sea and perished.
Source:
Exploring Ancient Worlds and
Cultures
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