groovy greek mythology creatures by ali greenholt

Groovy Greek Mythology Creatures

BY Ali Greenholt

–MONSTERS

SirensPersonality• destructive and wicked sisters Distinguishing Features• beautiful female faces and voices• have birdlike bodies with wings and claws• irresistible voices lure sailors to the impassable reefStory• friends of Persephone • when Sirens didn’t protect their friend when she was being carried off by

Pluto, they were transformed into half-woman, half-bird creatures• then lived on a barren island that was one of the entrances to the

underworld • whenever a ship would pass, they sang, hoping it was Persephone• no one could resist the beautiful voices, so they sailed closer to the gates to

the underworld • every time the Sirens realized Persephone was not on board, they tore the

crew limb from limb and sent them to the underworld

ChimaeraPersonality• fierce and lethal to mortalsCareer• killing and devouring humansDistinguishing Features• head of a lion • the body of a goat • a serpent tailSupernatural Attributes• Fire breathing

Cerberus

Personality• ferociousCareer• guards the gates of the underworld Distinguishing Features• dog• 3 headsSupernatural Attributes• immortality• his spit produces the aconite flower which contains a

poison

Cerberus

Argus

Career

• Hera’s (Zeus’s wife) servant

Distinguishing Features

• 100 eyes, never all closed at once

Echidne

Distinguishing Features

• half woman

• half serpent

Supernatural Attributes

• gives birth to other monsters; Orthus Cerberus, Hydra, Chimaera, Sphinx, Nemean Lion

GorgonStory• offended Athene • once beautiful creatures were turned into monstersPersonality• evil • destructive Distinguishing Features• wings • bronze claws • hissing serpents for hair Supernatural Attribute• turn anyone who looks at them to stone • Their den could be easily recognized because it has the statues of

its many victims

Scylla

Distinguishing Features• female • six heads • tentacles/fish tail• ring of snarling dogs around her waistStory• lives under a rock right across from the rock Charybdis, another creature,

lives under • Scylla and Charybdis are always near each other • whenever sailors try to pass between both the rocks, they have to stay

midway • if they go too the right six sailors will be pulled off her tentacles and eaten

by one of the six heads.• Odysseus was one of the few that actually made it through safely.

•DEMI-GODS AND GODDESSES

• ( born from a god and a mortal)

Centaurs

Distinguishing Features• half man • half horsePersonality • wild • savage • violentSupernatural Attribute • able to teach riding, shooting bow and arrow, and giving advice Chiron • known for his exceptional decency and wisdom • only immortal centaur • trained some famous Greek heroes, including Achilles and Jason

Centaurs

Cyclops

Distinguishing Features• giant • one-eyedPersonality • extremely bad-tempered Supernatural Attributes• live an enormously long life • amazing strength Story• three Cyclops representing thunder, lightning, and lightning bolt • Brontes, Steropes, and Argres • Cronus imprisoned them• Zeus released them • as a reward for releasing them they gave him his weapon of the lightning bolt

Cyclops

Erinyes

Career• troubled the conscious of murderersPersonality • persistent and terrifying to the guilty • but no problem at all to the innocent Distinguishing Features• three of them • female • when in pursuit of their victims they have a dog’s head • snakes for hair • bat wings Supernatural Attributes• immortality • being able to inflict psychological torture on their victims

Nymphs

Distinguishing Features• lovely women • represent spirits of nature

• usually are found near trees, water, or mountains depending on the sort Personality• many different types with many different personalitiesKinds • Dryads (forests), Naiads (springs or rivers), Nereid (the Mediterranean),

who can change shape at will, the Oceanids (sea), the Oreads (mountains), the Limonaids (meadows), the Limniads (lakes, marshes, and swamps), and the Napaea (valleys)

• male form of a nymph is a satyr.

• worshiped in a nymphaeum, or monumental fountain.

•NATURAL PHENOMENON

Charybdis

Distinguishing Features

• gigantic whirlpool

Personality

• pitiless

• doesn’t differentiate between good and evil

• Scylla is normally near her

Clashing Rocks

Distinguishing Features• two rocks Career• try to crush sailors that go between them • attempted the destruction of Jason and the ArgonautsPersonality• sinister • ominous • craggy cliffs

Bibliography

• www.factsforlearning.com

• http://www.desy.de/gna/interpedia/greek_myth/greek_myth.html

• Greek Myths and Legends. By Cheryl Evans and Anne Millard. ©1985. Pages 50- 63.