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Aitos Kaukasios / Aetus Caucasius/ Caucasian Eagle
Another of Typhon and Echidna's offspring, this one is one of the less famous. A gigantic eagle, it roamed the Earth until Zeus found a use for it and made it the tormenter of Prometheus, flying every day to eat his liver and killing whoever tried to free him until Hercules/Herakles killed it. In other versions, the Eagle was a bronze automaton made by Hephaestus, while in others, it was created by Gaia. Occasionally referred to as Ethon, Aethonem Aquilam or the Griffin-Vulture (also the name of a real life bird of prey). Is the basis for the constellation Aquila.
- Adaptational Badass: Early accounts implied that the Caucasian Eagle was either merely a regular eagle that Zeus sent after Prometheus or one of Zeus' divine pets. Later myths would claim the eagle was a fearsome Animalistic Abomination sired by Typhon and Echidna, or an automoton created by Hephaestus.
- Animal Stereotypes: Averted; the eagle was a symbol of Zeus and generally honoured as the king of the birds in the classical mythology, but Aethon was one of Typhon's monstrous offspring. Still fitting, as he was part of Zeus' punishment for Prometheus.
- Animalistic Abomination: Being a monstrous bird sired by Typhon and Echidna, this is kind of to be expected. Averted in the versions where it's an automaton.
- Brutal Bird of Prey: A giant, vicious eagle.
- Continuity Snarl: In some versions, Prometheus was punished before Gaia created Typhon, which begs the question of how the Eagle could be attacking him if its father hasn't been born yet.
- Feathered Fiend: It was tasked by Zeus with disemboweling Prometheus on a daily basis.
- Giant Flyer: A massive demonic eagle (or vulture, depending on which translation you read). Sorta fits as one of the Leathery Winged Avian variant.
- Mechanical Animals: In the version where Hephaestus made it out of bronze.
- Multiple-Choice Past: It was either one of Typhon and Echidna's monstrous offspring, sprung from the Earth as a child of Gaia (or Gaia and Tartarus, like Typhon) or an automaton crafted from bronze by Hephaestus. Interestingly, Hyginus brings up all three options in his telling and then more or less states that it doesn't really matter which origin is true, as it isn't relevant to the monster's purpose.
- Satellite Character: It's pretty much only known as Prometheus' tormentor.
- Vile Vulture: In some tellings, it was a vulture rather than an eagle.
Argus Panoptes
A giant born of Gaia who acted as the loyal servant and attendant of Hera, Argus's most well-known trait was the fact that he had a hundred eyes and could sleep by only closing two at a time, allowing him to be constantly watchful. He was tasked by Hera to diligently guard a cow she had asked Zeus to give to her (she knew it was really his mortal lover Io) to make sure she couldn't escape from Hera's grasp. He met his end when Hermes put him to sleep and chopped off his head. To commemorate him, Hera placed his eyes upon the tail of her pet peacock, and that's why peacocks have eyes on their tails. In some myths, Argus had a few adventures of his own, including being the one to kill Echidna, the mother of all monsters.
- Animal Motifs: His eyes were placed on the tail of a peacock after his death.
- Anti-Hero: Though primarily remembered as Io's monstrous guardian, he also did his fair share of adventuring and monster slaying. This includes hunting down a group of murders, slaying a monstrous bull that was ravaging a local village, defeating a satyr that had taken up banditry, and slaying either Echidna herself or at the very least a dracaena who shared her name.
- The Big Guy: Tall and bulky, as befitting a giant. He acted as the bodyguard of Hera.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: He had a hundred eyes, all over his body, though he also had proper eyes on his face.
- "Just So" Story: His eyes were placed on the tail of Hera's peacock after his death, which is treated as an explanation for why peacocks have eye-spots on their tails. In the modern day, his name has been given to the Argus pheasant, a relative of the peacock with a lot of eye-spots on its wings.
- Killed Off for Real: A rare example of a very definitive "for real" death in Greek Mythology, due to the mythology's variable nature and Negative Continuity; Argus was killed by Hermes, who took on the epithet "Argus slayer" afterward.
- Meaningful Name: His epithet "Panoptes" means "all-eyes" or "all-seeing," due to his many eyes.
- Off with His Head!: By Hermes; to add insult to injury, Hermes's most famous epithet became "Argeiphontes," meaning "Argus-slayer".
- Our Giants Are Bigger: He was a giant, though compared to most giants in Greek Mythology, he was pretty small. Still towered over most gods and mortals.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Argus was mostly just doing his job as Hera's guard.
- Undying Loyalty: To Hera.
The Birds of Stymphalia
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine : Heracles kills several of them with his feathered arrows, exactly like how they killed people with their metal feathers.
- Brutal Bird of Prey: Possibly. Depending on the Artist, they could be birds of prey or just massive storks/ibises.
- Death from Above: They dropped their razor-sharp feathers on their prey.
- Fear of Thunder: More like a fear of loud noises in general. Heracles used this to his advantage by scaring them out of their nests using a krotala (similar to a castanet) made by Hephaestus, then shooting them down while they were in the air.
- Feathered Fiend: They are huge birds of prey made out of living metal.
- Feather Flechettes: Their feathers are weaponized metal razor blades, flying at your face!
- Giant Flyer: Though less giant than some, they can take some pretty big prey.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: An obscure later myth claims that the Stymphalian Birds weren't birds at all but ordinary mortal women whose parents were named Stymphalia and Ornis ("ornis" being Greek for "bird") and that Heracles killed them for violating xenia rather than being man-eating abominations. This variant on the tale is such an outlier that there's little wonder as to why it's so obscure.
- Razor Wings: Their feathers are razor-sharp bronze blades, though they prefer dropping them on their prey.
- Zerg Rush: They tended to attack in numbers.
Boar of Calydon
The Calydonian Boar was hunted by a great gathering of heroes, a lot of whom had their pride when the woman Atalanta was the first one among them to wound it.
- Animalistic Abomination: A giant boar that was sent to reap vengeance for Artemis.
- Breath Weapon: Often forgotten, but there is a brief mention that it in fact breathes lightning.
- Full-Boar Action: One of the many giant monster boars in Greek mythology.
The Boar of Erymanthos
A boar of immense size and ferocity that lived on Mount Erymanthos and was often sent by various gods in vengeance against villages. It may well have killed Adonis, unless that was Ares (or Apollo) in the shape of a boar. Capturing it was Heracles's fourth labor.
- Accidental Murder: One myth has the Boar accidentally rip Adonis's thigh open with his tusks when he tries to kiss him.
- Didn't Think This Through: The Boar was so charmed by Adonis's handsomeness that he tried to kiss him. Unfortunately, he forgot about his own tusks and ended up goring Adonis in the leg.
- Full-Boar Action: One of the oldest examples in the book.
- Pals with Jesus: While Heracles's earlier labors involved him killing monsters like the Nemean Lion and the Hydra, Eurystheus specifically required him to capture the Boar instead of killing it. Eurystheus didn't want to risk angering Apollo, who'd previously employed the Boar's "services."
- Revenge by Proxy: Apollo sent the Boar after Adonis because he was the beloved of Aphrodite, a goddess whom he had a grudge against for blinding his son Erymanthus for accidentally seeing her bathing.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: It does the rampaging; the gods get the revenge.
- Victory by Endurance: Heracles captured the Boar the same way he did the Hind of Ceryneia: he scared it with his loud shouting, then wore it out by chasing it until it got stuck in a snowdrift.
Charybdis and Scylla
- Allegorical Character: Thought to be allusions to real life sailing hazards, with Charybdis embodying powerful storms and whirlpools while Scylla represents dangerous rock formations.
- Big Eater: Charybdis. Indeed, some versions more or less describe her as a massive living stomach.
- Eldritch Abomination: Both of them, but Charybdis—or at least some versions of her—was a notable one.
- Forced Transformation: One or both of them, depending on the legend you're reading.
- Lesser of Two Evils: Odysseus opts to go against Scylla instead of Charybdis as the worst Scylla would do is eat as many of his men as she can fit into her mouths, whereas Charybdis would swallow them all at once.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: It's generally agreed by modern historians that Scylla and Charybdis were said to have been located in the narrow Strait of Messina, with Scylla being a rationalization for a dangerous rock shoal while Charybdis represents a legitimate whirlpool off the coast of Sicily... that is very weak and surely would have never been a threat to the full-sized ship that Odysseus would have been on.
- Mega Maelstrom: Charybdis. In the original myths she was a hideous monster that sucked in the sea thrice a day, resulting in the vortex, but in later accounts, she was simply a gigantic whirlpool.
- Misplaced Retribution: Scylla is on the receiving end of this in accounts that state she was the object of Glaucus's affections. Circe fell in love with Glaucus and was angered when he refused her and instead proclaimed his undying love for Scylla instead. The sorceress then transformed the nymph into a horrific sea monster, even though the nymph wasn't interested in Glaucus at all and fled from him, which led to Glaucus seeking out Circe in the first place to ask for a love potion.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Both of them have multiple origin stories. Scylla in particular is either a daughter of Phorkys and Ceto (and thus a sister to the Graeae, Gorgons, Echidna, and at least some of the Sirens), a daughter of Typhon and Echidna, or a transformed nymph.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Scylla had at least ten heads—some of which were around her waist—tentacles for legs, and a fish-like tail.
- Our Monsters Are Weird: Both are pretty odd for classical myth.
- Charybdis is essentially a living stomach.
- Scylla is often described as having the upper torso of a woman, the forward ends of six to eleven wolves then emerging from bellow that (often reduced to three in visual art), and the tail of a sea serpent or cat. Occasionally, she also has visible Vagina Dentata on the serpent part. It's a small wonder why modern depictions often simplify this into something like an oceanic hydra.
- Scylla and Charybdis: Trope Namers.
- Sea Monster: Both were oceanic, though Scylla spent most of the time perched on a cliff.
- Spell My Name With An S: Charybdis is also spelt Kharybdis.
- Villainous Glutton: Both of them, but Charybdis especially.
- Was Once a Man:
- According to myth, Scylla used to a beautiful nymph and was loved by the sea god Glaucus. However, the witch Circe wanted Glaucus's affections for herself and in jealousy poisoned the waters where Scylla lived, turning her into a horrible monster. Others say that she was Poseidon's lover and was turned into a monster by his jealous wife Amphitrite, but this contradicts Amphitrite otherwise turning a blind eye to her husband's affairs.
- Charybdis was also a nymph in some myths, but Zeus threw her into the sea for stealing Heracles's cattle and turned her into a monster. Another version claims that she was a daughter of Poseidon who flooded coastal towns as a way to wage war on Zeus, resulting in the latter turning her into the toothy bladder/sea anemone creature she's famous as.
Cerberus
- Angry Guard Dog: He guarded the Gates of the Underworld, ensuring that the living didn't get in and the dead didn't get out.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Towards Hades, Persephone and even Heracles. He clearly understands speech and emotion. It's unclear if this inborn or due to Hades' training.
- Big Friendly Dog: Vase-work of him while next to his master portrays him as essentially an overgrown dog leaning into being pet. Of course, he was still dangerous to those trying to break in or out of the Underworld.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He may be a forerunner of the hellhound, but the fact is that sometimes the dead don't realize they are dead. By keeping them in Cerberus manages to prevent whatever trouble they would have caused and ultimately is a hero in his own right.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Managed to take down and maul the crap out of Koios, who was one of the Elder Titans, when he tried to break out of Tartarus.
- Fluffy the Terrible: According to some
, his name translates as "spotted"... or "Spot", you might say. - Gate Guardian: He's the one keeping the souls of the dead in the Underworld.
- Hell Hound: Surely one of the most famous examples! Cerberus is a giant, three-headed hound that guards the gates of the land of the dead.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Many older depictions depict him with a mane of snakes in addition to his otherwise canine anatomy.
- Multiple Head Case: Quite famous for his three heads, not counting the heads of the serpents that made up his mane and tail.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: How Orpheus got past him.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: According to others, his name is derived from kêr and erebos which would roughly translate to "Death-Daemon of Darkness". It's also possible that his name means "Flesh-Devouring", which is fitting for a beast of the underworld since the earth "eats" bodies of the dead.
- Non-Malicious Monster: One of the few sapient examples. Quite deadly and fierce but largely non-evil — he's a well trained pet specifically tasked with guarding his master's home and tends to spit out the souls of anything he catches.
- Pet the Dog: Hades cares for Cerberus such that one account of him requesting Hercules subdue with Cerberus "...without shield or iron" to capture him, leaving Heracles to only use his bare hands.
- Puzzle Boss: Averted Trope according to one account — unlike most of the rest of Hercules' labors, he needed no assistance from the Gods or tricky methods for overcoming Cerberus; Hercules asked Hades if he could borrow Cerberus for his labor, Hades said yes as long as he didn't use any weapons (probably not wanting Cerberus harmed), and Hercules proceeded to wrestle Cerberus with little more than his strength, skill, and his Nemean Lion skin for protection. Heck there's even a version where Heracles showed up, was greated warmly by Hades and Persephone, and Hades essentially handed him Cerberus' leash and told his nephew to return him once his task was done.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Vicious hellhound though he may be, he is ultimately just on guard-duty. Don't try to escape/break-in and he will leave you be.
- Sole Survivor: He's the only child of Echidna and Typhon, depending on who you count among their offspring and which versions of the stories you use, that's yet to be slain — obviously because Hades owns him.
- Sweet Tooth: The tale of Psyche had the girl get past him using cake. She was advised to use it because others had succeeded before with the same ploy.
- Token Good Teammate: Probably the only one of Typhon and Echidna's offspring who is never claimed to be malicious or evil.
Chimera
One of Typhon and Echidna's children, the chimera/chimaira (Greek for she-goat) was part lion, part goat and part snake or dragon. Specifically, her body was that of a lion, the snake or dragon head was her tail, and a goat head just popped out of her spine in the middle of her back. She breathed fire, too. It lived in Lycia in Asia Minor. She was eventually slain by Bellerophon with the help of Pegasus.
- Animal Gender-Bender: She's a female, but most myths say that her lion head had the mane of a male lion. Greek art tended to depict all fabulous lions with manes, with females having less pronounced ones.
- Breath Weapon: Her goat head could spit fire hot enough to melt at least lead.
- Brother–Sister Incest: In some texts, she mated with her brother Orthrus to produce the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion.
- Classical Chimera: The oldest descriptions have her as essentially a fire-breathing goat with a lion's head and a serpent's tail; later artwork shows her with two heads, goat and lion, in the front, a leonine body, and a full snake for a tail. The bit about her being a child of Echidna and Typhon first shows up in the Theogony. It's generally believed that the chimera got her name from Mount Chimaera, a volcano close to Lycia which was most known for its unexplained and constant fires.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Bellerophon killed her by using her own fire breath against her. He tied a lump of lead to the front of his spear and thrust it into her lion mouth. Her fire breath melted the lead, which became stuck in her throat and suffocated her.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: A lion, a goat, and a snake; the precise combination varies from depiction to depiction, but she generally has a lion's head and some part of a snake for a tail.
- Multiple Head Case: Her most popular depiction has three heads. A lion in the front, a snake forebody in the back for a tail, and a goat head coming out of the middle.
- Our Dragons Are Different: She's sometimes described as having a dragon's tail instead of a snake. More thematically, Bellerophon slaying the Chimera is the visual inspiration for a lot of later European dragon slaying motifs, including most of those of St. George and the dragon. She may even be the reason why dragons drifted from breathing poison to fire in European mythology.
- Samus Is a Girl: Despite the Chimera having the mane of a male lion, she's one of Typhon's daughters.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Some tellings have her use her fiery breath and three heads to create a sort of point defense system by incinerating any arrows aimed at her mid-flight. The three heads prevented any blind spots. This unconventional use of her flames rendered her functionally unassailable from the ground. However, this tactic was her ultimate undoing, when she tried to do this against Bellerophon's lead tipped spear.
The Cretan Bull
Father of the Minotaur by Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos of Crete. It was sent from the oceans by Poseidon to show the god's support of Minos's claim to the Cretan throne. However, Minos soon earned the Olympian's ire by not keeping his promise to sacrifice the bull to Poseidon. Thus, the god went to Aphrodite, who already bore a grudge against Pasiphae's father Helios for revealing her affair with Ares, and had her curse Minos's wife with love for the king's prized but uncontrollably angry bull. Poseidon also passed his own anger on to the bull, resulting in it rampaging throughout the land. Captured by Heracles as his seventh labor, and when released, it became known as the Bull of Marathon after its new home. It was eventually captured by Theseus and sacrificed to the Gods.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Why else would Aphrodite and Poseidon curse Minos's wife to lust after a bull?
- Brutish Bulls: It was incredibly strong and completely savage.
- Gypsy Curse: Aphrodite and Poseidon used it as part of one.
- Killed Off for Real: Theseus captured and sacrificed it.
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: Not an example itself, being an actual bull instead of a bull-man, but being the father of the Minotaur makes it the Ur-Example, or at least the progenitor of the actual Ur-Example.
- Revenge by Proxy / Revenge Through Corruption: This is why you don't break promises made to gods or offend the goddess of love. Ever.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: It rampaged after Minos failed to sacrifice it for Poseidon's revenge.
- Shoddy Knockoff Product: Not wanting to part with it despite having promised to sacrifice it to Poseidon, Minos substituted it with a lesser bull. Poseidon was not impressed.
The Cyclopes
Three brothers: Steropes, Brontes and Arges. They are sons of Ouranos and Gaia. Embodiments of brute strength and power, they each have one single eye in the middle of the foreheads. Ouranos feared them for their power and violent tempers, and then he sealed them away in Tartarus shortly after they were born with their other brothers, the Hekatonkheires. In some versions, Kronos either freed them and put them back in some time later or just kept them inside Tartarus, guarded by the Dragon, Kampe. In the final year of the Titanomachy, Zeus freed them and they forged the Olympians' weapons for them (if Hephaestus didn't do so already). Afterwards, they served as assistants to Hephaestus in his forge. They had the same names in Roman myths, both individually and collectively.
They had four mortal sons named Euryales, Elatreus, Trakhios, and Halimedes, and there was also a mortal tribe of them that lived near the island of Sicily, the most famous of them being Poseidon's son Polyphemos. The original three can be seen to have been the Monster Progenitors of the larger cyclops population.For tropes relating specifically to Polyphemus, see the Mortals and Demigods section.
- Barbarian Tribe: Cyclopes fathered by Poseidon were somewhat barbaric, though still capable of farming and forming social communities. Polyphemos even had a taste for humans.
- The Blacksmith: The original immortal trio. They were the ones who forged Zeus's lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident and Hades's Helm of Darkness. In other myths, they also made Apollo's bow.
- Character Exaggeration: Overlapping with Planet Of The Copy Hats, many later adaptations of Greek Mythology depict all cyclopes into ravenous brutes with no intellect whatsoever whilst they were more complex in the original mythology.
- Classical Cyclops: In contrast to later depictions, Greek Cyclopes are as diverse in morality and intellect as gods and human beings are. They are often described to be grotesque and temperamental, but also intelligent and great Blacksmiths.
- Depending on the Writer: Whether or not Polyphemos's siblings were man-eaters or just supported Polyphemos because he's their brother varies depending on the writer.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: They were described as having very foul moods.
- Misplaced Retribution: On the receiving end of this from Apollo, who kills them for making the thunderbolt that Zeus used to kill Apollo's son Asclepius.
- Monster Progenitor: They start with three. The rest of the race came later.
- Random Species Off Spring: This seems to be a trait of Cyclopes.
- The original three Cyclopes were the children of the primordials Ouranos and Gaia, neither of whom looked anything like their chidlren.
- Later Poseidon's sons with a nymph were born as Cyclopes.
- A few myths have Polyphemos father a humanoid child with the nymph, Galatea.
- Satellite Character: Polyphemos's brothers really only exist so Polyphemos has non divine allies that he can attempt to call for backup and his brothers never receive any actual characterization in any myths.
- Sealed Good in a Can: The original immortal trio, whom Ouranos and later Kronos sealed away in Tartarus until Zeus busted them out.
- Shock and Awe: Each of the immortal three represents a part of the nature of lightning that they each put into Zeus' thunderbolt: Steropes is lighting itself, Brontes is thunder, and Arges is its brightness.
- To Serve Man: Some of the mortal ones that lived off Sicily, like Polyphemos, would eat sailors who came ashore there.
- With Friends Like These...: When Zeus killed Apollo's son Asclepius Apollo wanted revenge but could not directly injure Zeus. Some writers have him kill the cyclopes who forged the lightning bolt while others, noting that the sons of Gaia are immortal, have him kill the four sons instead. In some versions, the three had helped to make Apollo's bow beforehand.
Delphyne
A drakaina (female dragon or dragon-woman hybrid), usually a daughter of Gaia and sometimes either conflated with or mated to the below mentioned Python. Delphyne appears in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo as the nameless foster-mother of Typhon after Hera creates him to one-up Zeus giving birth to Athena through his forehead, before being slain by Apollo at Delphi. Apollodorus claims that she assisted Typhon in the battle against Zeus by acting as the latter's warden when he's imprisoned, but others claim that it was Python who did that.
- Brother–Sister Incest: When not portrayed as the same entity, she and Python are sometimes portrayed as mates, and both are children of Gaia.
- Composite Character: With both her brother Python and her sister-in-law Echidna on occasion.
- Named by the Adaptation: The oldest sources about her didn't give her a name. "Delphyne" was added later.
- Our Dragons Are Different: This one's a woman from the waist up.
- Snake People: A monstrous serpent from the waist down.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She resembles Echidna in a lot of ways, including being half-human and half-serpent and having a connection to Typhon.
- Walking Wasteland: She was said to cause desolation wherever she went.
The Dragon of Colchis
This Dragon was a child of Typhon and Echidna and the guardian of the Golden Fleece sought by Jason and the Argonauts.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: In some myths, Jason obtained the Fleece after the Wyrm was put to sleep by Orpheus's lyre music.
- Our Dragons Are Different: A monstrous, serpentine dragon.
Ekhidna / Echidna
The "Mother of All Monsters" (no, not that "mother monster"), usually depicted as half nymph and half serpent. She was the mate of Typhon, mother to nearly all the notable monsters in Greek mythology.
- Blackmail: She stole Heracles' horses and the only way for him to get them back was... To have sex with her.
- Except in versions where it's a Scythian dracaena he sleeps with and not Echidna.
- Cute Monster Girl: Half nymph, half serpent.
- The Dreaded: As Typhon's mate, it's no surprise that many feared her. After all, how evil would you have to be to want to marry him?
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As evil as she was, she dearly loved her husband and it's implied that they both loved their children.
- God Couple: With Typhon.
- Greater-Scope Villain: All the other monsters who terrorize Greece are her children.
- Happily Married: Weirdly yes. She and Typhon have a very productive marriage by Greek deity standards—he never cheats on her, all her children are his, and they support one another in their respective endeavors. Even if one is sealed under Mt Etna.
- Informed Attribute: She's known as the "Mother of All Monsters", but at most ten monsters from the mythos are truly considered her offspring, and this is discounting Multiple-Choice Past. Indeed, the majority of other monsters in Ancient Greek lore are either her siblings, her in-laws, her aunts and uncles or her nieces and nephews.
- Karma Houdini: In any version save the one where Argus gets her. In some versions, this is invoked on Zeus' part, due to him believing she and her children should become challenges for future heroes to prove themselves with.
- Kaiju: Just like her husband Typhon.
- Killed Off for Real: By Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed giant (later killed by Hermes). (In one story, at least.)
- Mother of a Thousand Young: Cerberus, the Hydra, the Nemean Lion, the Chimera, the Sphinx, Orthrus, and a number of other beasties are all her children by Typhon.
- Necessarily Evil: Zeus may think so, as some versions have Echidna be left alive so she and her children can act as challenges for future heroes.
- Outliving One's Offspring : And how. See Out of Character moment. This goes farther if we ignore the versions in which Argus offed her.
- Out-of-Character Moment: The version in which she has a son by Heracles, which goes against her usual attitude towards humans. We can also point out Heracles was directly responsible for the deaths of several of her children (the Nemean lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Caucasian Eagle, Orthrus and Ladon). In most other versions it isn't Echidna who sleeps with him, but a different creature called a Scythian dracaena, which had twin snake tails instead of legs.
- Snake People: She had the upper torso of a gorgeous nymph...and the lower body of a snake. Along with dragon wings.
- To Serve Man: In some versions, she carries off passers-by.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: In the versions where Argus didn't kill her; she just sort of disappears and is never mentioned again after her husband's defeated. Her offspring carry on her husband's Villainous Legacy by acting as challenges for future heroes, but she herself never appears and doesn't appear to be commanding them.
- You Will Be Spared: In some versions, Zeus spares her life, on the grounds that her offspring will become Necessarily Evil for heroes to prove themselves against.
Geryon and Orthrus
Medusa's grandson Geryon was a giant who lived on the island Erytheia. He had either three heads on one body or three bodies, either way, he also had six hands, six feet and sometimes even wings. Orthus was the two-headed herd dog of Geryon and the brother of Cerberus. They guarded red cattle which Hercules was instructed to steal as his tenth labour.
- Angry Guard Dog: Orthrus, Cerberus's two-headed brother.
- Brother–Sister Incest: In Hesiod's Theogony, Orthrus mated with his sister the Chimera to produce the Nemean Lion and the Sphinx. Later texts say that all four were the children of Typhon and Echidna.
- Hell Hound: Orthrus is the brother of the trope codifier.
- Inverted Trope: You ever noticed how mythologies tend to have a penchant for multi-headed creatures? Well apparently the Greeks did, because Geryon has one head and multiple bodies. No, we don't know how that worked out either.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Geryon, who is the grandson of the gorgon Medusa.
Gigantes
The last children of Ouranus, born from his blood fertilizing Gaea when Kronos castrated him, possibly as Aphrodite was born from the sea. They didn't get involved much in the Titans' affairs, including when the Olympians took power in the Titanomachy and when their younger brother Typhon nearly overthrew the Olympians. However, they later fought the Olympians in the Gigantomachy, which they would have won if not for Hercules' aiding the Olympians. Many individuals are named, though again there are multiple different accounts of just what occurred with each of the Gigantes.
Eurymedon was their king. The brothers Ephialtes and Otus of Aloadae were either caused to kill each other by accident by Artemis after they captured her in an attempt to take her and Hera for their wives, or else slain by the arrows of Apollo and Hercules. Alcyoneus and Porphyrion were among the strongest of them and slain by Hercules in the Gigantomachy, the latter being first wounded by Zeus' lightening bolt before taking Hercules' arrow. Athena killed Pallas and Enceladus, burying the latter under Mt. Etna like Typhon. Artemis killed Gration with her arrows. Poseidon crush Polybotes under an island. Hephestus killed Mimas with molten iron. Hermes turned invisible to kill Hippolytus with a sword. Dionysus killed Eurytus with his thyrsus. Hecate immolated Clytius. Even the Moirae joined in, beating Agrios and Thoon to death with bronze clubs.
- Avenging the Villain: The Gigantomachy was to rescue the Titans from Tartarus.
- Barbarian Tribe: Thought to represent those kinds of people from the North.
- Born as an Adult: Like their sisters the Meliae, the Furies and Aphrodite, they were born fully formed from Ouranos' blood.
- Depending on the Writer: Quite a few Titans (Coeus, Kris, etc.) and even a Hekatonkheires (Briares) are sometimes confused to be Gigantes.
- God's Hands Are Tied: The Olympians could wound the giants with their attacks, but couldn't actually kill them. A mortal man could permanently kill a giant if he was strong and bold enough, and Heracles was the man for the job. In some myths, Zeus sired him specifically to be The Chosen One who could save the Olympians in the Gigantomachy.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: While a few others get called giants, these guys were the giants proper of classical mythology.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: After the Gigantomachy.
- Spontaneous Generation: They were born from Ouranos' blood after it spilled upon the Earth, along with the Ash Nymphs, the Erinyes and Aphrodite.
- War Arc: The Gigantomachy.
The Gorgons
A set of three sisters: Stheno, Euryale and Medusa, daughters of either Phorcys and Ceto or granddaughters of Typhon and Echidna. Most people only know the story of Medusa, who is most well known for having snakes for hair and a visage that turned mortals to stone. In the original Greek myths and works based on them (like Hesiod's Theogony) she and her sisters were born either hideous or as beautiful yet still monstrous, but Ovid's Metamorphosis reinvented at least Medusa as a normal human cursed by Athena for getting raped in her temple.
- Adaptational Sympathy: The original myths consistently claim that they were always evil, dangerous monsters. Ovid's take on the story, however, has them start out as ordinary humans only to be turned into monsters by Athena after Medusa was raped by Poseidon in one of their temples. While they're not better people, it's still easier to feel a least a little sorry for them in Ovid's telling.
- Adaptational Villainy: Early artwork of the Gorgons were said to ward off evil with their frightening appearances, not unlike medieval gargoyles. Later, however, Gorgons were reimagined as frightful, murderous monsters.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Ovid's version of the myth where Medusa is a transformed human leaves it unanswered why Medusa has monster sisters, much less immortal ones, if she was transformed by Athena in response to something that happened specifically to her (although collective punishment wouldn't be particularly unusual for the source material). Earlier sources don't have this problem as the sisters were simply born as gorgons, and as seen with the differently powered demigods sharing the same godly parent, powers were inherited basically randomly.
- Axe-Crazy: Stheno, who was said to have killed more men than either of her sisters combined.
- Beauty to Beast: Some versions state that Medusa and her sisters were so beautiful that Athena got jealous of them and turned them into gorgons just for that.
- Brown Note: The Gorgons were so hideous, merely looking upon them would cause a person to be Taken for Granite.
- Characterization Marches On: Boy, does it ever.
- The Gorgons were first mentioned in the Trojan Cycle, completely unnamed. They're established as The Dreaded from the get-go, as their visage is said to kill/petrify anyone who looks upon them and said visage not only graces Athena's Aegis, but they can apparently be found in the Underworld and Odysseus shudders at the thought of encountering one.
- Hesiod ended up not only giving them names, but also clarifying that the Gorgons were frightful, female monsters with snakes for hair and rattling wings, but evidently still fair enough that Poseidon was smitten with Medusa and slept with her, impregnating her with Pegasus and Chrysaor, who were born when Perseus cut off Medusa's head.
- The story remained that way largely unchanged until Ovid (who had had something of a Nay-Theist streak and loved making the gods look like assholes) came along and changed the narrative completely by claiming Medusa was instead a human priestess who was assaulted by Poseidon in Athena's temple and Athena, in a moment of pettiness, turned her into a monster to punish her for something she didn't even do (and possibly did the same to her sisters just out of spite). Ovid's version ended up being the most widely-known, cementing the position of the gorgons as tragic victims of uncaring gods.
- Death Wail: As mentioned below, Euryale's response to Medusa's demise.
- Disc-One Final Boss: In the story of Perseus, Medusa is initially built up as the primary obstacle he has to overcome. Once Perseus kills her, however, he's still not out of the woods, having to deal with a series of further threats and enemies, most notably the Sea Monster Ketea, a murderous romantic rival named Phineus, and Polydectes, the tyrannical king who sent him after Medusa in the first place to get him out of the way so he could go after the boy's mother Danaë.
- The Dreaded: The Gorgons were feared by all, due to their frightful visage and ability to turn people to stone.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Monsters they might have been, but Stheno and Euryale were both understandably distraught when Perseus killed Medusa. Euryale cried out in anguish and both of them tried to kill Perseus for it.
- For the Evulz: In their original greek myths, the sisters killed people because it amused them.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: In Ancient Greek art, most characters were seen in profile. Not the Gorgons. They were always depicted staring straight at you.
- Functional Magic: The Gorgons' image was often used as protective magic, in hope that the user's enemies would be turned to stone.
- Gorgeous Gorgon: While definitely common in modern interpretations, this is
Older Than They Think given that later myths exist of the Gorgons still appearing beautiful but ironically turns everyone who looked at them to stone. An artistic example of this can be seen in a famous mosaic◊ of Alexander the Great found in Pompeii, with a perfectly normal face with some tendrils coming out of it on his armor's breast. - Hair Substitute Feature: Medusa has snakes instead of hair.
- Healing Serpent: The gorgons, which were some sort of Snake People. Blood taken from the right side of a gorgon had wondrous healing properties and in some myths could even bring the dead back to life.
- Humanizing Tears: Euryale was said to have let out a mournful wail when Medusa was killed, which serves to humanize her a little.
- Immortality: Stheno and Euryale are immortal. Medusa... well, wasn't.
- Impossible Task: What Polydectes intended Perseus' slaying of Medusa to be, since even in the unlikely event he did kill her, he would have to get away from her two unkillable sisters.
- Ironic Hell: Some versions of the myth twist the Gorgeous Gorgon concept into this; they were still beautiful, but their beauty was pointless because no one could look at them without being turned to stone.
- Living Prop: In the original Greek myths, Medusa was less of a character and more of an obstacle for Perseus to overcome. The gorgons were known however for being the sisters of Echidna, who was the mother of basically every monster in Greek mythology.
- Logical Weakness: Their ability to turn people to stone with their gaze only works with direct eye contact, not reflections, and doesn't work on the blind or those who simply keep their eyes closed are safe from it.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Not only are there two options as to how the Gorgons came to be, but there are multiple variations on one of those options.
- Homer mentions a singular gorgon, who appears to be an underworld monster and whose visage is on Athena's aegis.
- Hesiod states that the gorgons are sea monsters, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, and there are three of them- Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa.
- Euripides's Ion says that the gorgons were monsters born by Gaia to aid the Titans against the Olympians.
- Ovid wrote the famous version where Poseidon rapes Medusa in Athena's temple, and since she can't punish Poseidon himself as he's stronger than her, she punishes Medusa in a fit of pettiness.
- Off with Her Head!: How Medusa bit the dust.
- Our Gorgons Are Different: The TropeMakers themselves!
- Questionable Consent: Even in Hesiod's take on Medusa and Poseidon's affair (which does not paint the relationship as a violent assault like Ovid's account), the story never makes it clear just how consensual the relationship was, especially since Hesiod's views on women were... not great, to say the least. While the framing makes it sound romantic — with references to Poseidon and Medusa "laying in a soft meadow", it's also worth noting that the focus is mainly on Poseidon, with no mention of how Medusa feels about it.
- Rape as Backstory: Ovid's take on Medusa, though this appears to be his own invention (Ovid was banished by Emperor Augustus for adultery, and as consequence had a very dim view of authority figures like gods) as the Greeks generally saw the gorgons as being monsters from the start.
- Reluctant Monster: Depending on which myth (more in the Roman one), Medusa will be played this way, being turned into a monster by Athena.
- Revenge by Proxy: In Ovid's version that is, while we know how Medusa was turned into the monster she was, Stheno and Euryale, as far as we know, didn't do anything to deserve this.
- Sadly Mythtaken: The Gorgons did not have magic eye lasers they could use to turn people into stone, like many modern depictions spin it, rather the Gorgons were said to have an appearance so repulsive and/or horrifying that anybody who looked directly into their faces would turn to stone (or, more rarely, die) out of shock. Why using a mirrored shield would prevent people from turning into stone if said appearance was so frightening is anybody's guess.
- Satellite Character: Little is known about Stheno and Eurayle other than being Medusa's sisters.
- The Scream: Euryale's most noteworthy trait was her bellowing cry. She let out a particularly loud one when Medusa died.
- Snake People: How much varies, but they always have snakes for hair.
- Taken for Granite: While it was technically the act of looking upon them that turned you to stone, it's popularly remembered as them looking upon you that results in petrification.
- Villain by Default: Even in the myths where Medusa is a monster from birth, the myths don't usually clarify whether or not she actually did anything wrong. She's just a monster and monsters need to be killed, though some stories say that she and her sisters were killing people. Possibly justified on some level, as Polydectes had no intention of making Perseus a hero and mainly sent him to take on Medusa as a wild goose suicide mission, while Athena mainly helped him as a Fetch Quest for Medusa's head, so she could incorporate her petrifying visage onto her Aegis.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Their petrifying powers only work if a person looked directly at their faces, meaning reflections of their faces do nothing. Similarly, their powers only work if their victims look at them, meaning anyone who is blind or just able to keep their eyes closed will be immune.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Stheno and Euryale. Where did they go after Medusa died and what happened to them?
- Winged Humanoid: A forgotten fact about the Gorgons; they had claws of bronze and wings like eagles.
- Wolverine Publicity: Find a description of a lone Gorgon anywhere, and it'll inevitably be Medusa. Her sisters, Euryale and Stheno, are relatively overlooked — or nonexistent — in most depictions.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Only in Ovid's very late version. Of course, this depends on which myth you're going by — in the Greek myths they never were intended to be sympathetic. In fact, in the Greek version, she brought all her punishments on her self because of actions she did of her own free will.
The Harpies
Half-bird, half-human monstrosities. Jason encountered them on his quest and they were being used to punish a man who spoke out against Zeus.
- Always Chaotic Evil: There's nothing pleasant about any of them.
- Brutal Bird of Prey: More specifically, half woman, half Circling Vultures.
- Death from Above: They were tasked with preventing a guy from eating by stealing his food.
- Feathered Fiend: They had the bodies of birds but human heads.
- Giant Flyer: Possibly the Ur-Example of the "Leathery-Winged Avian" variant.
- Harping on About Harpies: The Trope Maker.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Sort of—two of the Harpies, Aello and Ocypete, are usually portrayed the daughters of the Oceanid nymph Elektra and the sea god Thaumas (who are also the parents of the messenger goddess Iris and her sister Arke); later sources add a third one named Celaeno to this parentage. However, others claim that Typhon is their father (though no mother is mentioned, we can assume this would mean Echidna is their mother)—though in this account, only Celaeno is named and the Harpies accompanying her aren't so they could be different Harpies.
- Nausea Fuel: Invoked literally. What food they didn't eat off of Phineus's table was left with a smell so foul, even a starving person wouldn't touch it.
- Vile Vulture: Their bird halves were usually portrayed as vulture-like.
The Hind of Ceryneia
A hind is a doe, a deer; a female deer; of one of the larger species, of which the male would be a hart, buck or stag. This one had antlers like the male, only golden in color and matching fur as well as being sacred to the Goddess Artemis and fast enough to outrun an arrow. Hercules' third labour was to catch it, alive.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Heracles couldn't shoot the Hind, so he had to chase it for a whole year. Finally, the Hind was so weary from the chase that it gave up and allowed Heracles to capture it.
- Super-Speed: It could move fast enough to dodge arrows.
- Victory by Endurance: Heracles couldn't catch or hit the Hind, but the Hind couldn't outlast Heracles in a chase.
The Hydra of Lerna
- And I Must Scream: The Hydra ultimately never died, Heracles just burned its body to ashes in a manner that ensured it would not grow back anymore, and then buried the immortal head under a rock.
- Bloody Murder: The poisonous kind — its blood was so toxic that even touching it was deadly.
- Evil Evolves: It would regrow two heads for each one cut off.
- Giant Enemy Crab: Hera called a monstrous crab in to aid the Hydra since Heracles was proving difficult to beat. Heracles just crushed it underfoot.
- Healing Factor: Heracles did not even resort to cutting it: he just smashed its heads with his club, but that did not keep them from coming back either.
- Hydra Problem: The Trope Namer — it grows back two heads for every lost one. Obviously, this made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for most warriors to deal with.
- Kill It with Fire: It can't regrow its heads from a cauterized stump.
- Multiple Head Case: Its usually depicted as starting off with nine heads, but it can grow more...
- Our Hydras Are Different: The Trope Maker, Trope Namer and Trope Codifier, and quite possibly the Ur-Example. The Hydra of Lerna is the root from which the many-headed, regenerating, poisonous and swamp-dwelling serpents of later Western culture all spring.
- Posthumous Villain Victory: Heracles kills her, but she ends up causing his death many years later, as his hydra-blood arrows taint the blood of Nessus, which is used to kill him.
- Samus Is a Girl: It's occasionally described as being female, as is the Chimera.
- Walking Wasteland: It was the reason Lerna's swamps were so lifeless. This ferociously anti-life quality also extended to its toxic blood post-mortem. Heracles dipped his arrows in the blood, and he used them as his go-to way of killing enemies from that point onward.
Kampê / Campe
A drakaina set to guard the Hecatonchires by Cronus. She is described as having the head and torso of a woman, a scorpionlike tail, and snaky legs.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: Some myths describe her as having a scorpion-like tail.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Most myths describe her as having the head and torso of a woman, the body of a dragon and the tail of a scorpion.
- Our Dragons Are Different: She was a drakaina, a draconic creature with humanoid features.
Ketea / Cetea
Perseus found a princess named Andromeda, who was being sacrificed to one of these sea creatures to appease Poseidon; he turned it to stone with the severed head of Medusa and they were married. Hercules is also credited with killing a cetus. The word has a very loose meaning and includes whales and big fish as well as more traditional sea monsters.
- A Kind of One: Some myths have them as one or two individual monsters, but others pluralize them into a race of sea monsters.
- Kraken and Leviathan: The Greek word Ketos is basically the same thing as the Hebrew Leviathan in its broad meaning, though the size of it qualifies it for this trope as well.
- Sea Monster: It was Poseidon's pet, and its name is where the word cetacean comes from.
Ladon
One of the oldest monsters in Classical Mythology, Ladon was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna (or of the sea gods Phorcys & Ceto, depending on which version you listen to). His form was that of a dragon, but one unlike either traditional European or Asian dragons, and indeed his own form is not even consistent in the different versions of the story. His job was to guard the golden apples of the Garden of Hesperides. Though tasked with retrieving them in his eleventh labor, Ladon was so fearsome an opponent that Hercules had to enlist the help of Atlas who was a relative of the Hesperide nymphs to complete the task. Ladon was later seen by the passing Argonauts as well.
- And I Must Scream: He was still agonizing from Heracles's arrows by the time the Argonauts saw him.
- Attack Its Weak Point: In some versions, Hercules had to shoot him in the mouth because of his thick scales.
- Due to the Dead: After Heracles offed him, Hera turned him into the Constellation Draco to thank him for his services.
- Informed Attribute: Many artworks portray Ladon as a small, one-headed, two-eyed serpent/dragon rather than the hundred-headed or hundred-eyed dragon portrayed in the story. Lazy Artist may have contributed to those portrayals.
- Multiple Head Case: He had the greatest number of heads of any Greek monster, numbering up to a full hundred (although others say he had one big head instead).
- Our Dragons Are Different: His form is inconsistently depicted, but he is always described as a dragon, albeit an extremely different one compared to the ones modern fantasy depict and in so many ways. In addition to speaking human language, he could have as many as one hundred heads or just one with one hundred eyes, depending on the description. Others say his head was half his total length.
- Sea Monster: As implied by his name (Greek for "strong flow"), some say he terrorized the high seas before being hired by Hera.
- To Serve Man: Some versions state that he terrorized villages and ate people before being hired by Hera.
- The Unfought: Ladon was so mighty that not even Hercules dared challenge him. This is averted in some versions, however; according to those, Hercules shoots and kills Ladon with his arrows dipped in the Hydra's blood.
Laelaps the dog and the Teumessian Fox / Cadmean Vixen
A magical dog that would catch anything that it chased, and a giant fox destined never to be caught. The fox was also one of Echidna and Typhon's children. Zeus turned them into the constellations Canis Major (the dog) and Canis Minor (the fox) when Laelaps was set to chase the Teumessian Fox.
- Taken for Granite: One version of the myth has Zeus turning them both to stone instead when the mortal Amphitryon created a philosophical dilemma by sending Laelaps after the Fox.
- Take a Third Option: Unable to think of a way to solve the paradox when the two creatures use their abilities against each other, Zeus avoids it altogether by turning them both to stone.
- Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: Of a sort. The poor dog had the misfortune of being sent after the one thing it could never catch.
The Lion of Nemea
Lived in Nemea. Its fur was impervious to attack by all mortal weapons and its claws could cut through any armour without difficulty. Sometimes counted among the children of Typhon and Echidna, killing it was Hercules' first labour.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Varies according to the version: either Heracles strangles the lion to death (thus not having to deal with his invulnerable skin), or he was able to kill the lion by shooting an arrow through the roof of its mouth and into its brain, bypassing the unbreakable hide.
- Cutting the Knot: One of the solutions for Heracles's to kill an animal with an invulnerable hide - just choke it to death with his bare hands.
- Fingore: In one myth, the lion managed to bite off one of Heracles's fingers as they wrestled before Heracles finally won.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The second version of his death, as mentioned in Attack Its Weakpoint.
- Multiple-Choice Past: It is commonly remembered as one of Typhon and Echidna's children, but in Hesiod's account, it was the offspring of Chimera and Orthrus. Alternately, Selene conceived it parthenogenetically.
- Nemean Skinning: Trope Namer, having been skinned by Herakles using its own claws (although another popular version states that his famous apparel came from a different lion he killed before starting the Labors).
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Heracles first tried shooting the Lion with his arrows, but they just bounced off. Then he attacked it with his sword, but the blade just bent. And then he tried whacking the Lion with his club, but that only dazed it (and shattered his club). Heracles finally managed to kill it by wrestling with and strangling it to death. When he tried to skin the Lion to use the skin as armor, Heracles had to use one of the Lion's own claws to do it.
- Panthera Awesome: A giant lion whose skin couldn't be pierced by any weapon.
- Puzzle Boss: Its unbreakable hide needs to be circumvented in order to kill it. Hercules either fired an arrow into its unarmored mouth or whacked it over the head with his club and strangled it while stunned.
- To Serve Man: While eating people is pretty standard for monsters in Classical Myth (some traditions even make it a defining trait of all monsters), the Nemean Lion is usually stated to be a man eater and previous victims even named.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: At least one version of the myth gives it the ability to shapeshift into a beautiful maiden. The lion would then pretend to be a damsel in distress to lure would be heroes into its den, where it would then change back into a lion to kill and eat them without outside interference.
- Wrestler in All of Us: Heracles, realizing he couldn't overcome the lion with weapons, got it in a wrestling hold and choked it to death with his bare hands.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In one version, the lion would shapeshift into an injured maiden to lure heroes into its den, then transform back and attack them.
Manticore
See also Our Manticores Are Spinier.
This monster had the body of a lion, with a scorpion's tail and the head of a man, though this didn't mean it lacked the sharp teeth of any other man-eating predator (in fact it had three rows of razor sharp teeth). It could also shoot poisonous spines from its tail.- Canon Immigrant: Allegedly. Ctesias claimed that it was an Indian story he heard in Persia, but it hasn’t been recorded from either of those countries; combined with the fact that he was fluent in Persian, he may have made up the story himself.
- Flechette Storm: It could send a barrage of needles from its tail.
- Giant Flyer: Some versions have wings, though this was added later.
- Hybrid Monster: Of the Mix-and-Match Critters variety: A shark-like mouth, the face of a man (though some versions claim it merely had blue eyes that were extremely human-like), the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion.
- Our Manticores Are Spinier: Generally lion-like, in addition to having a human-like face, three rows of sharp teeth, and a scorpion-like tail that could launch spines like a catapult.
- Poisoned Weapon: Its tail could fire venomous spines (some accounts say to a distance of up to 100 ft).
- Spike Shooter: It shot poisonous ones from its tail to attack distant enemies.
- To Serve Man: Almost always portrayed as a man-eater — in fact, its original name in Persian quite literally translates to "man-eater", which was on occasion directly translated in Greek as "androphagos". It was even said to prefer to hunt entire groups of people, so it had more human flesh to feast on.
- The Unfought: Nobody fights a manticore in any of the myths.
The Mares of Diomedes / Thrace
Wild horses trained to eat human flesh by the giant Diomedes, King of Thrace, Son of Ares and Cyrene. Some versions of the story tell that they breathed fire as well. Hercules' eighth labour was to steal them.
- Ascended to Carnivorism: They were trained to feed on human flesh.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Done both by and to the horses:
- Diomedes regularly fed his hapless victims to the mares. When Heracles bested Diomedes, he threw the king to the horses himself.
- After Heracles brought them back to Thebes, they were eaten by wild animals.
- Breath Weapon: Some versions of the story claim they breathe fire.
- Hellish Horse: They are carnivorous (and occasionally fire-breathing) horses.
- Incendiary Exponent: If that is the version being told.
- Karmic Death: See A Taste of Their Own Medicine.
- To Serve Man: They ate human flesh.
Minotaur
The Minotaur (left) fighting Theseus (left)
Prince Asterion (meaning "Starry One"); the half-man half-bull, this beast was the offspring of the Cretan Bull and King Minos' wife Pasiphae in an odd combination of punishments from different gods. Fearing that it would anger the gods further to kill the beast, King Minos sealed it away in a Labyrinth beneath the city and fed its man-eating appetite with the flesh of slaves taken as tribute from Athens. That is, until an Athenian prince named Theseus took the place of one of the slaves, seduced the king's daughter Ariadne into helping him find his way out of the labyrinth and killed it with his bare hands.- Half-Human Hybrid: He was the son of the Cretan Bull and Minos's wife Pasiphae.
- Hidden Depths: He seems to have good (or at least amicable) relationship with his mother Pasiphae and was named after Minos's stepfather — which, considering Minos's attitude towards him, make it likely it is Pasiphae's idea. He also seemed to have enjoyed some normalcy during his infant years (even being breastfed by his mother), and some painting and vases made by cultures less antagonistic toward Minoan Crete depicts him and his mother in a loving context.
- Humanoid Abomination: Part of the reason he eats people is because his existence is a defiance of natural law. In Greek thought, nature being divided into a number of distinct forms of beings was a crucial law of nature rather than just a chance arrangement of shapes; thus, hybrid beings like the Minotaur, and especially ones born of the hybridization of beings as distinct as people and animals, were in a real sense walking, living violations of how the universe was supposed to function.
- The Maze: Its home, the Labyrinth; possibly the Ur-Example.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: "Minotaur" is a term meaning "Bull of Minos". "Asterion", a given name in the proper sense, is much rarer and only used in a few classical sources.
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: The Trope Maker — the original bull-headed, humanoid-bodied, flesh-eating monster born of bull and human woman.
- To Serve Man: He had a ravenous appetite for human flesh, leading to Minos having him caged in the Labyrinth and satiating him by trapping young foreign prisoners in there. This portion of the myth may actually have had some distant inspiration in reality — excavations of Knossos have found the bones of children with signs that they were butchered similarly to sheep or goats, leading to theories of ritual cannibalism having occurred.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In some versions of the story, baby Asterion was a victim of parental abuse and neglect by his stepfather Minos, which created his bloodthirsty nature. Being locked in a lonely prison didn't help.
Ophion(eus)
A serpent who ruled Mt. Olympus before the Titans and incubated the Orphic Egg from which the other Protogenoi were born. Is only in the Orphic version of the myths and not part of the usually accepted mythology.
- Animals Not to Scale: If we were to go by the description, he is bigger than the entire universe.
- Animalistic Abomination: He was a serpentine entity larger than the known universe, which was born out of the Cosmic Egg he incubated.
- God Couple: Ophion's wife was Eurynome, who in some interpretations was a Titan and in others was an Oceanid. In the Orphic tradition, they are depicted as the original rulers of Mt. Olympus before being deposed by Cronus and Rhea.
- Happily Married: Despite him being a gigantic snake, he and Eurynome were depicted as being quite content with one another.
- The Older Immortal: Kaos may be older, but not by any amount of time that matters for a being so old.
- Tarot Motifs: He and Eurynome are sometimes cited as the identities of the nude woman dancing with the snake often pictured on the last Major Arcana card, the World.
Pegasus
In another version, Pegasus is said to be born from Medusa's blood, as Perseus was beheading her (possibly after her blood mixed with sea foam, alluding to Poseidon); along with his human brother Chrysaor. Athena tamed the winged horse and gave him to Perseus, who flew to Ethiopia to help Andromeda. Was a later change to the story of Perseus, who already had winged sandals of Hermes, so a flying horse is somewhat redundant.
- Bolt of Divine Retribution: Zeus used him to carry his thunderbolt.
- Chest Burster: A variant. Pegasus flies from Medusa's neck after she is beheaded.
- Cool Horse: Doesn't get much cooler than a divine horse with wings.
- Pegasus: Trope Namer.
Python
A serpentine dragon born to Gaia. Python was sent by Hera to chase after Leto when she was pregnant with Artemis and Apollo, to make absolutely sure the babies are never born. Obviously this failed, so he took up residence in Delphi, where he was eventully killed by Apollo to avenge his torment of his mother and his corpse used to decorate his temple, the fumes of his decomposing flesh helping to fuel the Oracle's visions. In some tellings, he also helped Typhon in the battle with Zeus, guarding the cavern Zeus was thrown into after having his tendons ripped off, though in others this was Delphyne, his mate.
- Composite Character: Sometimes conflated with his mate Delphyne, who in turn is sometimes conflated with Echidna.
- Dead Guy on Display: Ultimately slain by Apollo, who then used his corpse to decorate his temple.
- Our Dragons Are Different: This one is either a giant snake or a traditional dragon.
- Sibling Team: As a son of Gaia, he was Typhon's brother and acted as Zeus' warden after Typhon defeated and imprisoned him.
- Super-Persistent Predator: Relentlessly chased after Leto while she was pregnant.
Scythian Dracaena
A type of monster with the upper body of a beautiful woman but with twin serpent tails in place of legs. When Hercules was trying to bring in the cattle of Geryon, he unknowingly moored himself near one's territory. She then stole the cattle and would only give them back to him on one condition: he had to sleep with her and give her sons. Hercules obliged and gave her three.
- Cute Monster Girl: Very beautiful once you look past the snake tails.
- Mermaid Problem: Averted. Text specifically mention that they still had a human woman's buttocks (and presumably, other adjacent parts), with serpent tails replacing each leg at the thighs, rather than the hips. Which probably made it easier for Hercules to impregnate one.
- Monster Is a Mommy: Not initially, but after meeting Hercules she became a happy mother of three sons, who went on to become kings of Scythia.
- Non-Malicious Monster: The one met by Hercules didn't want to eat him or anyone. She was merely lonely and longing for children - which led her to commit Sexual Extortion on Hercules admittedly, but a dramatic improvement over wanting to kill and consume people.
- Sexual Extortion: She said that she would only give the cattle of Geryon back to Hercules if he stayed with her for a time and got her pregnant (she longed for a son but had no lover). Played with in that Hercules not only happily consented to her terms, but went as far as to father three sons for her.
- Snake People: Woman down to her butt, twin snake tails below it.
The Sirens
A race of bird-women who sang hypnotic music. The only person to hear their song and live to tell the tale was Odysseus.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: They lured sailors in with their song so they could kill and devour them.
- Brown Note: Their song.
- Butter Face: Inverted; Most artists depict their faces as being quite pretty, but their bodies are those of birds, from either the waist or neck down.
- Driven to Suicide: Some say that when Orpheus played his song, the sirens were so heartbroken at being outdone that they threw themselves from their island, died and turned into rocks. There is something similar in The Odyssey: after Odysseus heard their song, and lived to tell about it, the Sirens flung themselves in the water and perished.
- Feathered Fiend: They were originally depicted as half women, half song-bird (often interpreted as canaries) creatures. It explains why they sing so well and why they fly.
- Forced Transformation: In one of his many tales of the gods doling these out, the poet Ovid re-invents the Sirens as Persephone's former handmaidens. When they failed to find her after her kidnapping, a furious Demeter transformed them into bird-women, either as punishment or to assist in the search.
- For the Evulz: They didn't seem to have a reason to drown and eat all of those people. They just did. Although Forced Transformation above gives the possibility of a Freudian Excuse, in later, Roman mythology, as least.
- "Just So" Story: The tale where they drown themselves after hearing Orpheus singing more beautifully than them was likely made up to explain why the Sirens weren't around anymore in "modern" Ancient Greek times.
- Little Bit Beastly: Inverted, they were mostly beastly. Also despite being commonly remembered as part-fish, but they were traditionally viewed as part-bird.
- Logical Weakness: Their power was completely ineffective if the target couldn't actually hear them or if they could hear them but were unable to go to them as happened with Odysseus and his men.
- Magic Music: One of the most famous examples in fiction and the inspiration for many portrayals that came after.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Similar to the Gorgons, in some tellings, they were daughters of either one of the Muses (usually Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy) or Gaia and transformed into Sirens by Demeter, while other tellings claim they were daughters of Phorkys and born as Sirens. Unlike the Gorgons, however, most tellings actually seem to split the difference, claiming that some Sirens were born that way while others were the transformed daughters of a Muse.
- No Name Given: Ultimately subverted—The Odyssey, their first known appearance, never mentions the names or origins of the two Sirens Odysseus encountered. Hesiod would later give the Sirens the names Thelxinoe (or Thelxinope), Aglaophonus and Molpe and bumped their number up to three.
- No Saving Throw: Their Compelling Voice bewitches anyone that hears it, regardless of what they desire or how much Heroic Willpower they possess. Odysseus only survived listening to the sirens because he was tightly bound to the mast of his ship prior to entering their range; he was under their enthrall, and would have leapt to his doom if given the chance.
- Our Sirens Are Different: Trope namers and codifiers.
- Pet the Dog: In some versions of the Persephone myth, Demeter turning them into Sirens was cited as this—they were fretting about not being able to find her, so Demeter gifted them with wings so they could cover more ground. Eventually they gave up and flew off to their island to commit murder instead for some reason.
- Revenge: In one story, they killed Telemachus upon finding out he was the son of Odysseus.
- Psychopomp: It seems the Sirens accquired at least some characteristics of psychopomps, as time went on. Throughout the Greek world figurines depicting Sirens were placed in the graves of the freshly deceased to guide and protect them on their way to the Underworld.
- Sadly Mythtaken: They were not mermaids. And they were not fully aquatic. This wouldn't make any sense; they are never stated to leave the rocks they live on and the one time they do, they drown. Additionally, in Roman myth, Demeter turned them into Sirens to aid in the search for the kidnapped Persephone. So unless she thought Persephone was at the bottom of the oceannote , she wouldn't have made them part fish. On top of that they weren't beautiful. They were mostly bird with the heads of women and looked a fair amount like vultures.
- It doesn't help that the word for mermaid in Spanish is "sirena", which lead to the confusion.
- Take Our Word for It: The actual song of the Sirens has never been written in lyrical form by the Ancient Greeks, presumably because there was no way a human could put together a beautiful enough song for them. That hasn't stopped modern lyricists from trying though. For example...
- To Serve Man: They fed on their victims after destroying their ships.
- Villain Song: The Sirens' song could be seen as one, as it was meant to lure mortals to their doom.
- Winged Humanoid
- Your Heart's Desire: Their song can do this. With their song, they hypnotized listeners into thinking that they could give them the things they desired most. For example, Odysseus, who was an individual who constantly wanted to learn more and the Sirens offered him in their song incredible knowledge and the ability to see the future.
- You Can't Fight Fate: According to Hyginus, sirens were fated to live only until the mortals who heard their songs were able to pass by them. Guess what happens when Odysseus heard their song, and survived.
The Sow of Crommyon
The Crommyonian Sow was a wild pig owned by Phaia (and sometimes named after her), the sow was a daughter of Echidna and Typhon and mother of the Calydonian Boar. It was killed by Theseus.
- Animalistic Abomination: The Crommyonian Sow was yet another of Typhon and Echidna's monstrous offspring, and so it follows that her own offspring, the Calydonian Boar also qualifies.
- Full-Boar Action: Doesn't get more full-boar than a couple of giant, demonic piggies.
- Truly Single Parent: Possibly the Crommyonian Sow, seeing as no mention is made of the Calydonian Boar's father.
Sphinx
- A Kind of One: Though she is usually treated as one of a kind, there are mentions by ancient writers of other, lesser sphinxes out there in the wild like her.
- Driven to Suicide: Her riddle being bested was so devastating to her she committed suicide by she jumping off a cliff.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Sometimes one of Typhon and Echidna's offspring, others the daughter of Orthrus and Chimera.
- Our Sphinxes Are Different: She's typically portrayed with wings and a woman's head, sometimes also with human breasts or a serpent-headed tail. She was malicious and dangerous, and guarded the road to Thebes, killed all who could not answer her famous riddle and took her own life when Oedipus got it right. She was usually considered one of the many monstrous children of Echidna, making her a sister to the Chimera, Cerberus and other monsters, and to have lived in Ethiopia until Hera sent her to plague Thebes.
- Riddle of the Sphinx: The Trope Maker. "Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?" The answer: Man. The periods of the day morning, afternoon and evening are analogies for the phases of human life - they crawl "in the morning while they are young, walk on two legs "in the afternoon" after that, and then use a cane at old age "in the evening".
- Riddling Sphinx: Trope Namer and Trope Maker
- Smug Snake: Absolutely confident that no-one could guess the answer to her riddle.
- To Serve Man: She ate the people she killed.
Typhon / Typhoeus
After the Olympians overthrew the Titans, Gaia gave birth to the biggest, nastiest, deadliest and most terrifying monster in Greek mythology, with arms that reached east and west — with a hundred dragon/serpent heads on each — huge wings that blackened the sky, fire blazing from his eyes and mouth, sometimes a head like a dragon, sometimes with the head of a man, and sometimes with a hundred dragon heads...yeah, Zeus had a pretty hard time defeating this guy. He also had numerous monster babies with Echidna. Zeus eventually trapped him under Mount Etna, where he causes volcanic eruptions.
- And I Must Scream: Trapped forever under Mount Etna.
- Arch-Enemy: Birthed by Gaia specifically to be this for Zeus.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: To say he was incomprehensibly massive is a major understatement.
- Avenging the Villain: Birthed by Gaia to take revenge for the Titans.
- Big Bad: A good chunk of the horrible things that happened in Classical Mythology were, at least, indirectly his fault. He spawned almost all of the nastiest monsters and was specifically created to bring about Zeus' downfall.
- Combat Tentacles: In some versions, he has snake coils below his legs that he can catch Zeus with.
- Decomposite Character: Strangely, Nonnus' Dionysiaca claims that there are two Typhons—the first is the one we know, the second is one of the Giants who battled in the Gigantomachy and generally regarded as the first Typhon's successor. The first Typhon is sealed under Mount Etna by Zeus while the second is killed by Dionysus during the Gigantomachy.
- Draconic Abomination: Some versions of Typhon make Tiamat look like a gecko, possessing a hundred — if not more — draconic heads spewing fire, lava, and cacophonous noise.
- The Dreaded: The gods were terrified of this guy. To put it into perspective, when he showed up to fight Zeus, all the other Olympians fled in terror, leaving only Zeus (and in some versions, Athena) to fight him.
- Eldritch Abomination: Not kidding about that above description. Not to mention he can go toe-to-toe with Zeus, the Top God of Greek Mythology. Some myths say that he actually defeated Zeus and ripped off his sinews, but then Hermes (The Flash of Greek Mythology) recovered the sinews and gave them back to Zeus, healing him. Zeus won the second match and sealed Typhon.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As evil as he was, he dearly loved his wife and it's implied that they both loved their children.
- Evil Uncle: Kind of. He is Gaia's son and therefore the half-brother of Kronos, Zeus' father. At the same time, he is also Zeus' great-uncle, since he is also the brother of Ouranos.
- Eye Scream: Some versions say that his eyes oozed with venom.
- Father Of A Thousand Young: He's the daddy of most of the monsters in Greek Mythology.
- God Couple: With Echidna.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Just like Echidna, he's the father of all the other monsters.
- Happily Married: None of the myths portray him and Echidna as anything other than this.
- Hero Killer: Without a doubt the worst monster in Greek myth. And depending on the version, he whupped Zeus' ass in round one.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Some versions of the story say that Typhon was going to bury Zeus under Mt. Etna. When he lifted the mountain over his head, Zeus threw a few hundred bolts of lightning at Typhon and caused him to drop the mountain on top of himself.
- Humanoid Abomination: Half humanoid anyway.
- The Juggernaut: It took a mountain getting dropped on him to stop his rampage, and he still didn't die.
- Kaiju: A metropolis-sized, destructive monster.
- Multiple Head Case: Sometimes depicted as having a hundred dragon heads.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Emphasis on big. When he raises his hands above his head they can nearly touch the stars.
- Our Monsters Are Weird: Even by Greek monster standards, his appearance was bizarre.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Sealed beneath Mount Etna (no relation).
- Snake People: Not as obvious as Echidna, but it's still there.
- To the Pain: In Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Typhon proclaims to Zeus all the horrible things he plans on doing to his family when he defeats him, including chaining up Poseidon with the same chains binding the Titan Iapetus, sending a stronger eagle to feast on Hephaestus' liver as revenge for Prometheus' punishment, trapping Hermes in a bronze jar, enslaving Ares and Apollo and having Hera, Artemis and Athena raped.
- Villainous Legacy: His wife is spared more or less to invoke this trope—after Typhon is defeated, Zeus orders for Echidna to be kept alive, as her offspring will make excellent challenges for future heroes to fight.
