M ONSTERS P RIMORDIAL M ONSTERS CHARYBDIS Monstrous creator of an inescapable whirlpool. Daughter of Gaia and Pontus. Sister of Nereus and Phorcys and Ceto. Believed by some to have been the mother of Scylla, from whom she is generally inseparable in myth. Avoided by Jason.fn2 ECHIDNA Daughter of Gaia and Tartarus. Sister of Typhon. Half woman, half water snake. GORGONS Stheno and Euryale. Daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Sisters of the Graeae. Cousins of Iris and the Harpies. Companions of Medusa. Possessors of boar-like tusks, brass claws and snaky hair. HARPIES Aello and Ocypete. Daughters of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. Sisters of Iris. Cousins of the Gorgons and the Graeae. Ravenous birdwomen sent by Zeus to torment Phineus of Salmydessus. Driven away by Calais and Zetes during the quest for the Golden Fleece. Protected by Iris. TYPHON Giant serpentine son of Gaia and Tartarus. Brother of Echidna. First and worst of all monsters.
O FFSPRING OF T YPHON AND E CHIDNA CAUCASIAN EAGLE Sent by Zeus to tear out Prometheus’s liver. Slain by Heracles. CERBERUS Tricephalic canine guardian of the gates of hell. Borrowed by Heracles. Charmed by Orpheus. CHIMERA Fire-breathing snaky-tailed lion–goat hybrid. Slain by Bellerophon. COLCHIAN DRAGON Sleepless guardian of the Golden Fleece. Mesmerized by Medea. CROMMYONIAN SOW Also known as Phaea. Said by some to be the mother of the Calydonian Boar. Slain and eaten by Theseus. LADON Hundred-headed draconian guardian of the Apples of the Hesperides. Slain by Heracles.fn3 LERNAEAN HYDRA Polycephalic self-regenerative venomous-blooded serpentine guardian of the gates of hell. Slain by Heracles with the assistance of Iolaus. Blood involved in the deaths of the GIANTS and of Eurytion, Geryon, Nessus, Pholus and Heracles. NEMEAN LION Slain, skinned and worn by Heracles. ORTHRUS Bicephalic canine guardian of Geryon’s cattle. Slain by Heracles. SCYLLA Six-headed sea monster. Believed by some to have been the daughter of Charybdis or Hecate. In later traditions, member of a tragically romantic love triangle with Circe and the sea god Glaucus. Generally inseparable in myth from Charybdis. Avoided by Jason.fn4 SPHINX Woman’s-headed lion-bodied bird-winged monster with limited sense of humour. Sent by Hera to punish Thebes in fulfilment of Pelops’s curse on Laius and his line. Fatally outsmarted by Oedipus.
O THER M ONSTERS AND C REATURES ANTAEUS North African half-giant and wrestling aficionado. Son of Gaia and Poseidon. Half-brother of Gaia’s and Poseidon’s respective progenies Slain by Heracles. CALYDONIAN BOAR Giant baby-eating bane of Aetolia. Said by some to be offspring of the Crommyonian Sow. Sent by Artemis to punish the family of Oeneus for neglecting her worship in favour of Dionysus. Hunted by heroes including Admetus, Asclepius, the Dioscuri, Jason, Nestor, Peleus, Pirithous, Telamon, Theseus and the Thestiades. Slayer of Alcon, Enaesimus, Hippasus, Hyleus and Pelagon. Slain by Atalanta and Meleager. CERYNEIAN HIND Golden-horned, brass-footed deer. Sacred to Artemis. Briefly captured by Heracles. CETUS Sea dragon. Sent by Poseidon to punish Ethiopia and devour Andromeda. Slain by Perseus. CHRYSAOR Golden youth. Offspring of Medusa (by Poseidon). Brother of Pegasus; half-brother of the rest of Poseidon’s progeny. Father (by the Oceanid Callirrhoë) of Geryon. CRETAN BULL Also known as the Marathonian Bull, or the Bull from the Sea. Creature of Poseidon sent in answer to the prayers of Minos II. Father (by Pasiphae) of the Minotaur. Tamed by Heracles, brought to mainland Greece and released. Tamed and sacrificed by Theseus. Athenian tribute to the Minotaur compensation for Aegeus’s role in the bull’s slaying of (his half-uncle) Androgeus. ERYMANTHIAN BOAR Giant suidian terror of Arcadia. Popular with pot painters. Captured by Heracles. EURYTION Giant son of Ares. Herdsman of Geryon. Slain by Heracles. EURYTION Thessalian centaur. His drunken overtures to Pirithous’s wife at their wedding responsible for the Centauromachy. GERYON Three-bodied vicious-tempered cattle-breeder of Erytheia. Son of Chrysaor and the Oceanid Callirrhoë. Master of Eurytion and Orthrus. Slain by Heracles. GOLDEN RAM Bearer of the Golden Fleece. Offspring of Poseidon and Theophane. Half-brother of Poseidon’s other progeny, including Pelias. Sent by Nephele to rescue Phrixus and Helle from Ino’s murderous plot. Bears Phrixus to Colchis. Sacrificed by Phrixus to Zeus, who catasterizes him as Aries. His Golden Fleece sacred to Hera, but presented to Aeëtes. Stolen and returned to Greece by Jason and Medea with the assistance of the Argonauts Acastus, Ancaeus, Argus, Augeas, Butes, Calais and Zetes, the Dioscuri, Euphemus, Euryton, Heracles, Hylas, Idmon, Meleager, Nestor, Orpheus, Peleus, Philoctetes, the Phrixides, Pirithous, Polyphemus, Telamon and Tiphys. KHALKOTAUROI Two fire-breathing bronze-hoofed bulls. Created by Hephaestus. Kept by Aeëtes. Tamed and yoked by Jason. MARES OF DIOMEDES Dinos, Lampon, Podargos and Xanthus. Insane anthropophagous fire-breathing equines. Devour Abderus. Fed their owner Diomedes by Heracles, who tames them. Ancestors of Bucephalus. MEDUSA Gorgon. Daughter of Poseidon. Possessor of snaky hair and petrifying stare. Slain by Perseus. Progenitor of Chrysaor and Pegasus. Posthumous petrifier of Cetus, Phineus and Polydectes. Head transformed into the Aegis of Athena. MINOTAUR True name Asterion. Takes after both his parents: the Cretan Bull and Pasiphae. Half-brother of Androgeus, Ariadne, Deucalion and Phaedra. Imprisoned in the labyrinth of Daedalus. Recipient of the Athenian tribute demanded by his stepfather Minos II for the slaying of his half-brother Androgeus by his father the Cretan Bull. Unsurprising identity issues resolved (terminally) by Theseus. NESSUS Arcadian centaur. Survivor of the massacre by Heracles at Pholus’s cave. Later killed by Heracles when he molests Deianira. Posthumously obtains his revenge thanks to his shirt. PEGASUS Winged white horse. Offspring of Medusa (by Poseidon). Brother of Chrysaor; half-brother of the rest of Poseidon’s progeny, including Bellerophon. Aids Bellerophon in slaying the Chimera and in subduing the Amazons, the Solymi and Cheimarrhus. Healed by Chiron of his Chimera burns. Tries (and fails) to carry Bellerophon up to Olympus. Catasterized. PHAEA Terrorizer of travellers on the Isthmus. Alter ego, or keeper, of the Crommyonian Sow. PHOLUS Arcadian centaur. Friend and host of Heracles. Accidentally poisoned with Lernaean Hydra blood. SIRENS Birdwomen whose enchanting song lures sailors to their doom. Daughters of Achelous and the Muse Melpomene. Cousins of Hymen, Linus and Orpheus. Out-sung by Orpheus to give the Argonauts safe passage. TALOS Giant bronze automaton. Created by Daedalus or Hephaestus, or the offspring of the Meliae nymphs. Guardian of Crete. Encountered by the Argonauts. Mesmerized by Medea. Destroyed by Pirithous.