groovy greek mythology creatures by ali greenholt
TRANSCRIPT
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.