MYTHICAL BEASTS---VIII

Classical - Part 2

71.       Pegasus:  this  winged  divine  stallion  was  most  often

depicted as being pure white in colour; sired by Poseidon
and foaled by Medusa, born alongside his brother Chrysaor
when his pregnant mother was decapitated by Perseus. In
Greek legend, Pegasus was captured by Bellerophon; after
a number of adventures however, he fell off the horse’s back
whilst flying to Mount Olympus. When the horse reached
the home of the gods without a rider, Zeus transformed
him into a constellation and placed him in the sky.

72.       Mermaid: in fact, legends of mermaids appear in a great

many ancient cultures across Europe, Africa and Asia. With
the upper body of a beautiful woman and the tail of a fish,
these creatures are purported to have been seen throughout
history. In modern times, the pirate Blackbeard reported
having seen mermaids in a particular area and therefore
demanded his ship be taken a different route, and as recently
as 2012, Zimbabwean workers refused to recommence
construction on a reservoir, reporting that mermaids had
hounded them away from the area.

73.       Giant: Giants appear in many different folklores. In Greek

mythology in particular, they were said to possess great
strength - although there is debate as to whether this meant
they were large in size. Some representations of the Greek
giants - who were said to have battled the Olympian gods -
show they have snakes for legs, although this isn’t mentioned
in classical texts. After being vanquished from the surface
of the world, the giants were buried under volcanos, and it
is they who cause them to erupt.

74.     Siren: The Sirens lived on islands in the Mediterranean

and appeared to be beautiful women who would sing
enchanting songs to lure unwary sailors towards them.
However, approaching vessels would crash into the rocks
around them. Some ancient sources depict the Sirens as
having some features of birds, for instance having scaly feet
or being covered in feathers. Legend tells of Odysseus and
his curiosity as to what the Sirens sounded like; he therefore
ordered his men to tie him to his mast, plug their own ears
with beeswax, sail past their island and not release him
no matter how much he begged. He thus became the only
person to have heard their song and lived to tell the tale.

75.       Gorgon:  Gorgons  are  amongst  the  oldest  creatures

described in Greek Mythology, possibly dating back more
than three thousand years. A female creature with the
ability to turn anyone who laid eyes upon it into stone,
the Gorgons (of which later accounts say they were three:
Euryale, Sthenno and Medusa) possessed scales which
would deflect any sword, hands made of brass, fangs, beards
and of course a hairstyle of living snakes. Sometimes even
described as having wings (as if the other terrifying features
weren’t enough) images of gorgons were often placed on
temples and graves to ward away the dark forces of evil.

76.       Hydra: specifically the Lernaean Hydra referred to in the

labours of Heracles, this monster had multiple heads, of
which should one be cut off, two would grow in its place.
With such poisonous breath and blood that even its tracks
could kill, the serpent-like creature guarded an entrance to
the underworld. It was only defeated when Heracles realised
that if he burned the stump of a neck after cutting off a head,
none would grow back. Despite a giant crab being sent to
get in his way (which the hero stomped to death), Heracles
eventually managed to cut off all of the Hydra’s heads.

77.     Basilisk: the Basilisk was said to be the king of serpents,

a snake that (according to Pliny) was so venomous that it
left a deadly trail of poison in its wake and could even kill
you with a single glance. It was said that only the smell of a
weasel could kill the snake, which surprisingly was supposed
to be only around a foot long. In later legends however, the
basilisk appears to have grown in size; by medieval times
they were said to be able to be killed by gazing at itself in
a mirror, or by hearing the crowing of a rooster - leading
to some travellers of the age actually carrying roosters
around with them! The beast is even referenced in Geoffrey
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, although he calls it a Basilicok.

78.       Echidna: half winged woman, half snake, the Echidna was

known as the ‘mother of all monsters’. Authors in ancient times said she bore a number of well-known beasts, including Cerberus, the Chimera, the Gorgons, the Hydra, the Sphinx and more. In one legend, Echidna ate people who passed close to her cave, until one day she was killed by Argus Panoptes, a three-hundred eyed giant.

79.       Cyclops: although the word Cyclops in fact means ‘round-

eyed’, this race of giants only had one eye each, according to
the Greek author Homer, who tells of how Odysseus blinded
the Cyclops Polyphemus with a long stake. Some have
speculated that the legend of the Cyclops may have come
from ancient people finding the skull of a dwarf elephant;
the single hole in its middle (actually for the trunk) would
have looked to them like an eye socket in a giant head.

80.       Sphinx: possessing the body of a lion and the head of a

human (and sometimes the wings of a bird), the Sphinx would ask a riddle of those who wished to pass; those who could not answer correctly were devoured. Whereas the Greek Sphinx was female and merciless, the Egyptian Sphinx was male and benevolent.

A Mermaid