#*and by THAT image I mean I read “Slavic vampires were able to appear as butterflies echoing an earlier belief of the butterfly symbolizing

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earlier beliefs had the butterfly symbolizing a departed soul

I figure him and his beloved’s soul might have had a few instances like this

[megahistorynut]

#BehindTheTruth #WorkingWithGov.

Part 3:

{The following morning, I got dressed and had some breakfast. I was looking over the papers I had. Something caught my eyes, it was the letter I had gotten from my mother. It was the one that detailed my father's death and how she was hidden when it had happened. It has been three years now that he was killed but I had not known who had done it. I had thought it was a gang never in a million years. I read the letter twice but the part of who really did it I read that part at least three or four times now. I couldn’t believe what I had read, I picked up the phone to call my mother to hear it from her but she didn't answer when I called.

My mother finally answers the phone and tells me she is outside of my door. I open the door and my mom Helena walks in. We sat and talked for hours about the letter I had and learned how my father was really killed. I couldn't believe that he was killed by a group of lesser whatever that is.

Later on that day I went to the Caldwell police station to file a report of the killing. Some of the police officers look at me as if I was crazy. I end up walking away from them till a man stops me to speak to me about what I was really doing to talk to these people. I learned his name is Mharcus and he will help me with my report. We left the station and headed to his place to talk, once we arrived we sat in his living room to talk.

I spent hours explaining to Mhacurs about what I knew about my father killing. Mhacrus looked at me as he was going to do something but stop. Mhacrus ends up offering me a job when I tell him all about the history stuff I know. I agree to his offer and work for him, it seemed like the best bet to work with him to get these people killed for what they did to my family.

After leaving Mhacrus place, the more likely one of his drivers took me home. My mother was still here when I told her about the job from this government agent. She was happy that I found someone to help her look into this. My mother and I spent hours on the information I had on vampires and what one of my colleagues had on them as well.

I had shown my mother the ancient symbol for the vampires, the Egyptian ankh. The look that my mother had told me something but I knew to not ask her till she was ready to tell me whatever it was on her own time. I knew that my mom knew what the symbol meant and I knew not to push her to tell me things. My mother was a symbology expert just as me and sometimes we work together. If this ankh was what my mother reminded me it could be, I still couldn't place this thing to them.

I wasn’t sure if this ankh was connected somehow to vampires. There had to be another way to prove this and I didn’t know how not yet anyway. The more I look at this ankh the more it looks like it was true. I went to my library to look for some books that I had gotten from my travels but these few books I had were written in some weird language which I still have not been able to figure out. I had even talked to my mother about them and she couldn't figure them out. I was thinking of either making a few copies and have one of my colleagues look them over to see if they knew of the language or not. I could tell it was old but whoever wrote it could use some kind of different way of writing.

I went over to my desk to see if I could remember where I had found these books. I was searching my papers when one of the papers caught my eye of ancient Babylonia that talked about one of its first demons that became a vampire. There was a legend of Lilith/Lilitu (and a type of spirit of the same name) originally arose from Sumer, where she was described as an infertile "beautiful maiden" and was believed to be a harlot and vampire who, after having chosen a lover, would never let him go. Lilitu (or the Lilitu spirits) was considered to be an anthropomorphic bird-footed, wind or night demon and was often described as a sexual predator who subsisted on the blood of babies and their mothers. Other Mesopotamian demons such as the Babylonian goddess Lamashtu, (Sumer's Dimme) and Gallu of the Uttuke group are mentioned as having vampiric natures.

Lamashtu is a historically older image that left a mark on the figure of Lilith. Many incantations invoke her as a malicious "Daughter of Heaven" or of Anu, and she is often depicted as a terrifying blood-sucking creature with a lion's head and the body of a donkey. Akin to Lilitu, Lamashtu primarily preyed on newborns and their mothers. She was said to watch pregnant women vigilantly, particularly when they went into labor.

Then there was more information in Ancient Greek mythology containing several precursors to modern vampires, though none were considered undead; these included the Empusa, Lamia, and striges (the strix of Ancient Roman mythology). Over time the first two terms became general words to describe witches and demons respectively. Empusa was the daughter of the goddess Hecate and was described as a demonic, bronze-footed creature. She feasted on blood by transforming into a young woman and seduced men as they slept before drinking their blood. Lamia was the daughter of King Belus and a secret lover of Zeus. However Zeus' wife Hera discovered this infidelity and killed all Lamia's offspring; Lamia swore vengeance and preyed on young children in their beds at night, sucking their blood.

Like Lamia, the striges feasted on children, but also preyed on adults. They were described as having the bodies of crows or birds in general, and were later incorporated into Roman mythology as strix, a kind of nocturnal bird that fed on human flesh and blood. The Romanian vampire breed named Strigoï has no direct relation to the Greek striges, but was derived from the Roman term strix, as is the name of the Albanian Shtriga and the Slavic Strzyga, though myths about these creatures are more similar to their Slavic equivalents. Greek vampiric entities are seen once again in Homer's epic Odyssey. In Homer's tale, the undead are too insubstantial to be heard by the living and cannot communicate with them without drinking blood first. In the epic, when Odysseus journeyed into Hades, he was made to sacrifice a black ram and a black ewe so that the shades there could drink its blood and communicate.

Then there was more in India, tales of vetalas, ghoul-like beings that inhabit corpses, are found in old Sanskrit folklore.The vetala is described as an undead creature who, like the bat associated with modern-day vampirism, hangs upside down on trees found on cremation grounds and cemeteries. Pishacha, the returned spirits of evil-doers or those who died insane, also bear vampiric attributes.

The Hebrew word "Alukah" (literal translation is "leech") is synonymous with vampirism or vampires, as is "Motetz Dam" (literally, "blood sucker").

Later vampire traditions appear among diaspora Jews in Central Europe, in particular the medieval interpretation of Lilith. In common with vampires, this version of Lilith was held to be able to transform herself into an animal, usually a cat, and charm her victims into believing that she is benevolent or irresistible.However, she and her daughters usually strangle rather than drain victims, and in the Kabbalah, she retains many attributes found in vampires. A late 17th- or early 18th-century Kabbalah document was found in one of the Ritman library's copies of Jean de Pauly's translation of the Zohar. The text contains two amulets, one for male (lazakhar), the other for female (lanekevah). The invocations on the amulets mention Adam, Eve, and Lilith, Chavah Rishonah and the angels—Sanoy, Sansinoy, Smangeluf, Shmari'el, and Hasdi'el. A few lines in Yiddish are shown as dialog between the prophet Elijah and Lilith, in which she has come with a host of demons to kill the mother, take her newborn and "to drink her blood, suck her bones and eat her flesh". She informs Elijah that she will lose power if someone uses her secret names, which she reveals at the end.

There was so many in Various regions of Africa have folkloric tales of beings with vampiric abilities: in West Africa the Ashanti people tell of the iron-toothed and tree-dwelling asanbosam, and the Ewe people of the adze, which can take the form of a firefly and hunts children. The Eastern Cape region of South Africa has the impundulu, which can take the form of a large taloned bird and can summon thunder and lightning, and the Betsileo people of Madagascar tell of the ramanga, an outlaw or living vampire who drinks the blood and eats the nail clippings of nobles.

The Loogaroo is an example of how a vampire belief can result from a combination of beliefs, a mixture of French and African Vodu or voodoo. The term Loogaroo possibly comes from the French loup-garou (meaning 'werewolf') and is common in the culture of Mauritius. However, the stories of the Loogaroo are widespread through the Caribbean Islands and Louisiana in the United States.[80] During the late 18th and 19th centuries, there was a widespread belief in vampires in parts of New England, particularly in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut. There are many documented cases of families disinterring loved ones and removing their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for sickness and death in the family, although the term "vampire" was never actually used to describe the deceased.

The deadly disease tuberculosis, or "consumption" as it was known at the time, was believed to be caused by nightly visitations on the part of a dead family member who had died of consumption themselves. The most famous, and most recently recorded, case of suspected vampirism is that of nineteen-year-old Mercy Brown, who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. Her father, assisted by the family physician, removed her from her tomb two months after her death and her heart was cut out and burnt to ashes.

Legends of female vampire-like beings who can detach parts of their upper body occur in the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia. There are two main vampire-like creatures in the Philippines: the Tagalog Mandurugo ("blood-sucker") and the Visayan manananggal ("self-segmenter"). The mandurugo is a variety of the aswang that takes the form of an attractive girl by day, and develops wings and a long, hollow, thread-like tongue by night. They use an elongated proboscis-like tongue to suck fetuses off pregnant women. They also prefer to eat entrails (specifically the heart and the liver) and the phlegm of sick people. The manananggal is described as being an older, beautiful woman capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings and prey on unsuspecting, sleeping pregnant women in their homes. The tongue is used to suck up blood from a sleeping victim.

I had so many books on vampires that I picked up on my travels around the world, on my last trip I was in Alexandria, Egypt. I went to the great library of Alexandria well now it is called the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which functions as a modern library and cultural center, commemorating the original Library of Alexandrina. When I was there that was where I found a lot of the books that I was able to bring home with me just as long as I would send them back home. That was till I had a talk to the president of Egypt about my research I was doing on the books and that I would be using some of the books in my classroom. I would also teach a class of ancient Egyptian mythology to any of the students from Egypt. That is how I have these books, well some of them. The mysterious books that I did find were not in Egypt's great library but in two libraries one in London and one in Italy. The more I learned of this town, I learned that it had a mix of many cultures, from other countries.

I came out of my thoughts when my phone ping with a text message, it was from Mhacrus that he was asking me to come to the police station. I texted him back asking him what it was really about? I waited for his response, which was that there was some strange symbol that he wanted me to help explain what it is and what it means. I told him that I was coming in to see it and see if I can help him.

#WorkingWithGov

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Mythical Creatures – The Ultimate List of Mythological Creatures

For as long as human beings existed, there have been stories of monsters, legendary beasts and unimaginable, supernatural beings. Some were vile creatures of darkness while some were benevolent and even heroes to the mankind. Some still walk the earth if you ask the right person.

From the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to the oral tradition of Inuits and urban legends of the present day, mythical creatures are an integral part of any folklore or mythological account.

But how well do we know our monsters? There are hundreds of them after all. Well, this article, which will be updated regularly with new additions, was written to be your guide in that sense. For those who have been wondering about them, here is our ultimate mythical creatures list:

Acephali

Acephali were human-like creatures that were believed to have lived in Libya. Acephali had their faces on their chests because their heads were removed by gods as a result of a rebellion.

Some were able to find their removed heads and carry them under their arms. The word acephali literally means “without a head”.

Also known as Acephalos, Acephalites, Akephalos and Akephale, these creatures were mentioned mostly in the works of Herodotus and Josephus.

Acheri

Acheri is a mythical creature in Native American folklore which is believed to be a revenge spirit. According to the belief, Acheri is a ghost of a young girl that died a terrible death either by being murdered or by being left to die after being abused.

Wandering around mountainsides, Acheri comes down at night to spread death especially among children by making them sick. Casting its shadow is enough for acheri to make children sick. Although it is a revenge spirit, it does not target specific individuals and very rarely adult people.

It is believed to lure some children back to its home in some cases.

Wearing red clothes, bracelets or necklaces is said to provide protection against Acheri.

Al-mi’raj

Al-mi’raj is a mythical creature in Islamic mythology which is basically a hare (rabbit) with a single horn on its forehead much like a unicorn.

Al-mi’raj lived on a mysterious island named Jezîrat al-Tennyn within Indian Ocean.

Despite its harmless appearance, this beast could kill creatures much larger than itself by stabbing them with its horn and then devour them.

According to the belief, only a true witch could render Al-mi’raj harmless ensuring others to come close and carry the beast away.

Amarok the Wolf

Amarok, also known as Amaroq is a giant wolf in Inuit mythology which was believed to kill people who were out to hunt alone.

One of the few legends regarding Amarok suggests that a boy who was unable to move and disliked by his people prayed for the god of strength and Amarok came to his aid.

Knocking the boy down with its tail, Amarok broke some bones in his body and told the boy that he could not move before because of those bones.

The boy came to wrestle with Amarok daily and become so strong that he beat three bears and earned respect from his people.

Although its origin is also linked to shunka warakin, hyaenodon and waheela, the myth of Amarok was most likely based on stories about direwolves told by ancient Eskimo people.

Banshee

A banshee is a female spirit from Irish folklore believed to be the harbinger of death.

Banshees, known as “crying/wailing women”, heralded the death of a person, a relative in most of the stories.

Banshees looked like young women combing their hair with a silver or golden comb or sometimes old women.

They also had red eyes because they wept all the time.

According to the myth, King James I of Scotland met one of these wailing women who told him that he would be killed by Earl of Atholl and his co-conspirators. He indeed fell victim to their conspiracy.

In the old times, people were warned about not picking a comb if they found one as it might have belonged to a banshee.

Doppelganger

Doppelgangers are the legendary creatures that were told to be the double spirits of people.

Although they looked exactly the same with the person in question, doppelgangers were not the twins of those people.

According to the belief doppelgangers had no reflections in the mirror or cast shadows.

Seeing a doppelganger was considered a bad omen.

Noah Brooks suggested in his book Washington in Lincoln’s Time that Abraham Lincoln saw his doppelganger and his wife told him that he would not live to serve his second term as the president of USA. Lincoln was killed right after he was chosen to be the president for a second term.

Also, John Dunne, the famous English poet said he saw the doppelganger of his wife when he was in Paris. He came back home to find out that his wife gave birth to a stillborn baby.

Basilisk

Basilisk is a legendary giant reptile in European mythology which was known as the king of serpents. The word basilisk is derived from the Greek word basiliskos meaning “a kind of serpent”.

There are three ways the basilisk was depicted in the myths: a giant snake, an enormous lizard or a reptile with scaly wings and some features of a roster like feathers, legs and head.

According to the belief, the basilisk could kill anything with just looking in its eyes much like Gorgons in Greek mythology.

Some other myths suggest that the basilisk could fly, deliver venom by biting its prey and/or breathe fire.

Loup Garou/Rougarou

Loup garou is a mythical creature in Cajun and French Canadian folklore. Also known as rougarou, this creature is basically French and Cajun counterpart of a werewolf.

A person becomes a loup garou if he or she is put under a specific loup garou curse. On the other hand, French Catholics believed that a person became a loup garou if he broke the rules of Lent for 7 years in a row.

Loup garous are very agile and strong creatures. They are weak against fire which is considered by many people to be the only way to kill them.

Cutting the head off or cutting the whole body into pieces are believed to be the other ways to kill a loup garou.

If you would like to learn more about this creature, read our detailed article about loup garous here.

Briareus

Also known as Aegaeon, Briareus is one of the Hecatoncheires in Greek mythology born from Uranus and Gaia. Briareus, the son of these major deities representing Heaven and Earth, had 100 arms and 50 heads. The word Hecatoncheires is actually derived from Greek words meanings “hundred hands” although some accounts suggest the word “briaeros” simply means strong.

Some accounts (by Homer and Hesiod) suggest that Briareus and his brothers helped Zeus while he was battling Titans. On the other hand, some accounts (Hymn to Delos by Callimachus) have Briareus as an enemy of Zeus who was buried under Mount Etna after he was defeated and killed.

Another account refers to him as the god of sea-storms who wed Kymopoleia, one of Poseidon’s daughters. This is the reason he is identified as Aegeon/Aegion (which means something like “of the Aegean Sea”)

Brynhildr

Also known as Brunhild, Brünnhilde, Brynhild, Brynhildr is a valkyrie and a shieldmaiden in Norse and Germanic mythologies.

According to the belief, Odin punished Brynhildr to live as a mortal woman after she decided Agnar was the winner of a fight between King Agnar and King Hjalmgunnar, who was preferred by Odin.

Imprisoned in a castle on top of Mount Hindarfjall, Brynhildr got rescued by the hero of the Volsung saga Sigurdr Sigmundson after he killed the dragon Fafnir.

The two fell in love and got married after Sigurdr proposed Brynhildr with the legendary ring Andvaranaut.

On a side note, Brynhildr is known as the mother of Aslaug (Kraka) one of Ragnar Lothbrok’s wives.

Upir

Upir is the word used to describe vampires in Slavic cultures although there are some slight difference between the myth regarding upirs and vampires.

As one of those differences, upirs had the ability to walk during the day and did not burn unlike vampires.

There were different opinions as to how an upir could be killed. According to the belief, staking an upir in the heart with a blessed stake would kill the creature while some other people suggested staking in the heart while sinking them in holy water was the way to kill upirs.

Decapitation and incineration were mentioned in the stories as other ways of killing upirs. If you would like to read more about the myth regarding this mythical creature, read our detailed post on upirs here.

Centaur

Centaurs, also known as Ixionidae, are mythical creatures in Greek mythology with the torso and head of a human being and the body of a horse. They are known as the children of Nephele (a cloud created in Hera’s image) and Ixion, a king of Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly.

Some accounts, however, suggest that centaurs were born from the unity of Magnesian mares and Centaurus (a single centaur considered to be the father of all centaurs).

The most significant centaur mentioned in the myths is Chiron who was known to be a mentor to some important characters in Greek mythology like Achilles and Aesculapius.

Despite being immortal, Chiron, accidentally shot by one of Heracles’ arrows (on which Heracles applied the blood of the Hydra) fell into great agony. Later, when Heracles asked Zeus to let Prometheus free and Zeus asked for a sacrifice, Chiron volunteered and died to free Prometheus and end his own suffering.

Cerberus

Cerberus, also known as Kerberos, is the giant hound with three heads guarding the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology.

The hound of Hades, which is the child of two monsters, Typhon and Echidna, is depicted as a monster with three heads, a serpent as its tail and a body from which snakes come out.

As the twelfth labor of Heracles/Hercules, Cerberus was captured by Heracles and brought to Eurystheus after which he returned the hound to the underworld (although some versions of the myth has Cerberus escaping and returning to the underworld by itself).

Chimera

Chimera, also known as Khimaira or Chimaera, is a mythological creature formed of three animals, a lioness, a snake and a goat.

Chimera’s body had three heads on her body: one that of a lioness as for her head, a goat’s head on her back and the head of a snake at the end of her tail.

Just like Cerberus, Ladon and the Lernean Hydra, Chimera was a child born from two monsters Typhon and Echidna.

Chimera could breathe fire according to Homer’s Iliad and Hesiod’s Theogony.

In the most famous myth regarding the creature, the Lycian King Iobates sent Bellerophon to kill Chimera since she has been killing cattle and setting fires throughout the country. Bellerophon killed Chimera with the help of Pegasus.

Read our more detailed article if you would like know more about Chimera.

Orthrus

Orthrus, also known as Orthus, was the two-headed hound that guarded the cattle of Geryon in Greek mythology.

He was one of Echidna and Typhon’s children (like Cerberus, the Lernean Hydra, Chimera and some other monsters in Greek myths) and was killed by Heracles while he was fulfilling the tenth of the twelve tasks/labors given to him by Eurystheus: capturing cattle of Geryon.

Sphinx

Sphinx is a legendary creature mentioned in Greek and Egyptian myths. According to the legend, the Greek sphinx had a lion’s body, a woman’s head and chest and wings of an eagle (and the tail of a serpent in some versions of the accounts).

Egyptian sphinx, on the other hand, was shown as a male. As for another difference between these two legendary beasts, Greek sphinx was a merciless and treacherous creature while her Egyptian counterpart was a benevolent figure in Egyptian mythology.

Both creatures were considered as guardians of important places like temples and were featured at entrances to such places.

While the sphinxes as a species were depicted in many ancient artworks, the most significant one in Greek mythology was the one that laid waste to the city of Thebes in Greece sent by the gods as a punishment for a crime people committed.

According to the story, King Creon (Kreon) of Thebes promised the throne of the kingdom to the person who could slay the Sphinx.

In the first version of the myth, the Sphinx stood guard at the gates of Thebes and asked riddles to the travelers who wanted to enter the city. She killed and ate them if they could not answer her riddles correctly.

In the second version of the myth, the Sphinx, which has been destroying the city for a while, refused to leave Thebes unless somebody answered her riddles correctly.

When King Creon offered the throne of the city to the person who could defeat Sphinx, Oedipus accepted the challenge. He could actually answered the riddles correctly ending in the Sphinx killing herself by jumping off the mountainside.

Nemean Lion

The Nemean lion was a legendary gigantic lion in Greek mythology believed to be one of Echidna and Typhon’s offspring although some myths suggest that he was a child of Zeus and Selene (the goddess of moon) and fell from the moon while another origin story of his featured him as the child of Chimera.

The Nemean lion had golden skin which was impenetrable to the weapons of mortals and his claws were sharper than any sword used by mortals.

As the first one of his twelve labors, Heracles was asked to kill the giant lion which has been terrorizing Nemea, a city in the Peloponnesus area.

When he finally found the lion, Heracles shot arrows at him only to realize that his skin was impenetrable.

To prevent the lion from escaping, Heracles blocked one of two entrances to the cave and followed him back into the cave. He killed the lion by strangling him with bare hands as that seemed to be only thing that worked.

On a side note, some accounts suggest that he killed the lion by shooting it in the mouth, the only part of the beast’s body that was unprotected.

Ladon

Ladon, also known as the Hesperian Dragon, was a dragon with hundred heads that guarded the golden apples of Hesperides.

Stealing the golden apples of Hesperides was the eleventh labor of Hercules set by King Eurystheus.

After wandering Egypt, Libya and Asia for a long while, Hercules finally found the garden, killed Ladon and stole the golden apples.

Lernean Hydra

The Lernean Hydra, also known as the Hydra of Lerna, was a mythical creature in Greek and Roman mythologies that lived in the lake of Lerna in the Argolid region.

Like Cerberus, Chimera and many other significant beasts in Greek mythology, the Lernean Hydra was also known as the offspring of monsters Typhon and Echidna.

According to the belief, the Lernean Hydra had nine heads, she breathed poison and her blood was so deadly that even the scent of it was enough to kill.

The Lernean Hydra was killed by the divine hero Hercules as it was the second one of his labors set by King Eurystheus.

In the myth, every time Hercules cut off one of the Lernean Hydra’s heads two new ones replaced it. In the end, Hercules asked for help from his nephew, Iolaus. Iolaus burned off Hydra’s necks as Hercules cut the heads off. That worked and Hercules finally slew the beast.

As a modern reference, the evil Hydra organization in the comic books by Marvel Comics, TV shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and movies in Marvel Cinematic Universe used the Lernean Hydra as its symbol along with the motto “If a head is cut off, two more shall take its place”.

Caucasian Eagle

The Caucasian Eagle was a giant eagle tasked by Zeus to torture Prometheus as his punishment for stealing fire from the gods.

Chained to the peak of Caucasus Mountains, Prometheus had a piece of his liver eaten every day by the Caucasian Eagle.

Some myths suggest the Caucasian Eagle was an automaton crafted by the blacksmith god Hephaestus while others suggest that the eagle was another one of Typhon and Echidna’s offspring.

While he was on his way to steal the golden apples of Hesperides as his eleventh labor, Hercules saw the Caucasian Eagle torturing Prometheus and felt sorry for the titan. He killed the eagle and ended Prometheus’ suffering.

Arachne

Arachne is a legendary creature in Greek mythology mentioned as the first spider in the world.

According to the legend, Arachne was firstly a human being, a young woman with excellent skill in weaving who was too proud of her work.

When asked whether her amazing gift of weaving was given to her by Athena, Arachne said she did not need any teaching from Athena and challenged the goddess for a weaving competition.

Disguised as an old woman later on, Athena tried to warn Arachne to be respectful and not offend gods but Arachne kept acting in an insulting and disrespectful manner. Athena revealed herself and accepted her challenge.

According to the first version of the myth, Arachne’s work for the competition was insulting on gods as she pictured them in shameful ways. Athena touched Arachne’s head (or hit according to some accounts) and made her feel shame and guilt for her insult on gods. Arachne killed herself after that but, feeling sorry for how things developed, Athena did not let her die and turned Arachne into a spider.

In the second version of the myth, Arachne did an excellent job but her work was not even close to Athena’s work. Having won the contest and seeing Arachne’s passion for weaving, Athena turned her into a spider and commanded that she and her descendants would weave until the end of time.

Cyclopes

The Cyclopes were one-eyed primordial giants in Greek mythology known as the sons of Uranus and Gaia while Homer suggested in his works that they were actually the sons of Poseidon.

The Cyclopes were lawless creatures that lived freely and did not fear the gods. They were also known to be the workers of the divine blacksmith Hephaestus.

The most significant one among the Cyclopes was Polyphemus featured in Homer’s work Odyssey. On his way back home, Odysseus arrived at the island of Cyclops (Sicily) where Polyphemus, the man-eating giant lived.

Polyphemus caged Odysseus and his men in his cave when they were trying to eat his food. He ate four of Odysseus’ men but Odysseus managed to fool him and get him drunk.

After Polyphemus fell asleep, Odysseus stabbed him in his only eye and he and his men escaped from the cave the next morning by tying themselves under the sheep Polyphemus took out to graze.

Harpies

Harpies are mythical creatures in Greek and Roman mythologies with the head of a woman and the body of a vulture (although some myths suggest exactly the opposite).

The word “harpy” is considered to be derived from the Greek word harpyia meaning “the one that steals”. This is thought to be the reason why these creatures were given the name.

In Greek mythology, harpies were Zeus’ servants and one of the most significant myths about harpies have them punishing the King of Thrace, Phineus.

Zeus wanted to punish Phineus since he used his talent for prophecy to disclose secrets of gods. He ordered harpies to steal whatever food was put in front of him.

His punishment went on until Jason and the Argonauts came to his rescue on the island where he lived.

Medusa

Medusa was one of three Gorgon sisters born from ancient marine gods Phorcys and Ceto, the offspring of Oceanus and Gaia. While her sisters Stheno and Euryale were immortals Medusa was a mortal being.

Medusa was a creature in the form of a human female with snakes for her hair. She had the ability to turn into stone anyone that looked in her eyes.

Originally, Medusa was a priestess of Athena with golden hair. She made a wow of celibacy for life but, being seduced by Poseidon, she broke her vow and married him.

Greatly offended by this, Athena punished Medusa by turning her hair into snakes, making her eyes ugly and bloody so that everyone looking at them would feel disgust and giving her beautiful white skin a hideous green tone.

Medusa ran away from her home and wandered around for a long time slowly becoming the horrible creature fitting her appearance. Her misery ended when, tasked by King Polydectes of Seriphos, Perseus beheaded her in her sleep.

Ancient Greeks believed that, while running away from one place to another in despair, Medusa wandered around Africa and the snakes dropping from her hair were the reason why the continent became so densely populated with venomous snakes.

Minotaur

The Minotaur was a mythical creature born from the intercourse between the Cretan Bull and Pasiphae, the Queen of Crete.

King Minos of Crete offended Poseidon and Poseidon put Queen Pasiphae under a spell that made her fall in love with the Cretan Bull in order to punish Minos. That is how the Minotaur came to be.

In most of the myths the Minotaur had the head of a bull and the body of a human while some other myths suggested vice versa.

Although Pasiphae tried to nurse him at first, being an unnatural creature the Minotaur became restless with time and started eating humans to feed himself.

That is when King Minos made the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus to build a huge labyrinth to keep the Minotaur under control.

According to the myth, Athenians were accused of killing Androgeus, the son of King Minos and to pay for this sin (compelled by a great plague spread among his people) King Aegeus of Athens sent seven young men and seven maidens as a feast to the Minotaur every seven years (while some accounts suggest that this was done once every nine years and some suggest it was done once a year).

When it was time for the third sacrifice, Theseus, the great Greek hero and the son of Aegeus offered himself. When Theseus reached Crete he met Minos’ daughter Ariadne and Ariadne fell in love with him.

She helped him navigate the labyrinth by giving him a ball of tread which made him find his way back and not get lost. Theseus killed the Minotaur with the sword of his father and went back home.

Pegasus

As one of the most significant mythical creatures in Greek mythology, Pegasus, the winged horse was the offspring of Poseidon and Gorgon Medusa.

Simultaneously with his brother Chrysaor, Pegasus was given birth when Perseus killed his mother. Some accounts suggest that these two creatures were born from the blood coming out of Medusa’s neck while others suggest that they were born from the Earth when Medusa’s blood fell onto it.

A third version of the story suggests that they were born from the mixture of sea foam, pain and Medusa’s blood implying that Poseidon played a role in their birth.

The most prominent myth featuring Pegasus is related to the fight between the Greek hero Bellerophon and the Chimera. Upon the suggestion by Polyeidos, Bellerophon slept in the temple of Athena to wake up and find Pegasus drinking water from a nearby spring.

Tamed by the hero, Pegasus helped Bellerophon greatly when he defeated the Chimera.

Scylla

Scylla was a monster in Greek mythology that lived between two rocks near Italy and Sicily.

The creature was described by Homer as a monster with twelve feet and six long necks. It had six heads with three rows of sharp teeth.

While some myths suggest Crataeis was Scylla’s mother, Hecate was also linked to be the mother in some other myths. There is no obvious mention of its father but Apollodorus suggested either Tyrrhenus or Phorcys was the father of Scylla.

In Homer’s Odyssey, Circe tells Odysseus to sail close to Scylla rather than Charybdis, Scylla’s counterpart that swallowed the sea waters three times a day. Circe suggests Odysseus that Charybdis might sink his ship as a whole while Scylla will only take six of his men (if he asks Crataeis, Scylla’s mother to make her offspring to attack his ship only once).

Odysseus listens to Circe and loses six of his men to Scylla while passing through.

Sirens

Sirens, also known as the Seirenes, were legendary sea-nymphs who lured sailors passing nearby to death with their beautiful voices and enchanting songs.

There are different opinions regarding the number of the Sirens but the most common belief suggested that there were three of them.

The Sirens were the handmaidens and companions of Persephone before she was abducted to the underworld by Hades. That is when Demeter gave the Sirens wings to help in the search for Persephone.

In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus wondered about the song of the Sirens and asked his men to plug their ears using beeswax and tie him tightly to the mast of the ship.

Hearing the beautiful song of the Sirens, Odysseus demanded his men to release him but they tied him even more strongly. They released Odysseus after they sailed away to a distance where Odysseus could not hear the song of the Sirens anymore.

According to some authors, the Sirens died if someone heard their songs but survived and the Sirens who called for Odysseus killed themselves by jumping into the water after Odysseus escaped.

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Source: http://mythologian.net/mythical-creatures-ultimate-list-mythological-creatures/