Monsters+of+Greece

Dustin Dangerous times and Dangerous Monsters Monsters from Greece are hidden among the shroud of legend and myth. The monsters are quite famous, from the Sirens, to the Hydra, to the Minotaur, Sirens, and of course the monsters of the sea like Scylla and Charybdis. These monsters each have a story of how they were created their stories of the adventures people had among them, to kill them. They deserved to die, they were dangerous and killed without a second thought. Scylla and Charybdis are dangerous monsters that live in a passage between Sicily and Italy. Scylla a monstrous six headed sea serpent, with twelve tentacle legs. She stays in passage of rocks that Odysseus passed through. Her voice is supposed to make the sound of angry hunting hounds. When she attacks some unfortunate ship, she eats the first six men she see’s. “Scylla was once said to be a nymph and fell in love with the Sea god Poseidon.” (Astma, Theoi Project) She made his wife jealous and she changed her into the monster she is. Sailors who sailed between the pass had to risk Scylla or Charybdis. Charybdis is a creature who dwells in an underwater cave opposite of Scylla. She was said to be the reason of the tides, she would suck in the ocean water causing low tide, and a dangerous whirlpool. When she blew it back out it causes the high tide. She is the daughter of Poseidon and she was chained to the bottom of the sea for a crime she committed against the gods. These two monsters are dangerous and are shrouded in a mystery of time and legend. There was another generation before the Cyclops that are well known came about, the Elder Cyclops. They were giants as big as a mountain. They were the ones who fashioned the god’s weapons. Zeus lightning bolt, Poseidon’s trident, and Hades Helm of Darkness. They made the weapons because they had been cast into Taurturus, and wanted to get out. They were a completely different species from the Cyclops they were made from the earth while the Younger Cyclops were made from the blood of Uranus. The Cyclops were one eyed giants that bred goats and fought amongst themselves. The Cyclops were lawless and rude. One of the most famous Cyclops was Polyphemus. He was the son of the god of the sea, Poseidon. He was blinded by Odysseus and cast a curse upon him. The Cyclops did not plow the land or bother it and that gave them vast fields to grow fat goats. They were lawless ruthless herdsmen, who were a danger to everyone they encountered. Sirens are half bird half women. They would lure sailors into deadly rocks close to where they live by their singing. They were formerly the hand maidens of the goddess Persephone. When Hades suddenly kidnapped her the sirens were distraught and sought out her mother Demeter. Demeter fraught with worry over her loss of her daughter, and gave the sirens the wings of birds. They went searching for their mistress, and eventually gave up. They began to fly away and give up their search, when Demeter found out she cursed them. She turned them into ugly beasts after she found them living on the island of Anthemoessa. She gave them one gift however, she gave them the gift to sing beautifully, this is what lured unwitting sailors to their dooms. They would sit on the rocks by the sea singing and lulling the sailors in. They were only cheated out of a ship twice, once by the Argonauts, and once and final time by Odysseus. When the Argonauts sailed by they were carrying Orpheus, a son of Apollo, he was gifted in music and drowned out the singing of the Sirens saving everyone on board the ship. The second time was when Odysseus sailed by, he stuffed wax into his men’s ears and had them tie him to the mast. He sailed by the Sirens and this caused them great distress. They then threw themselves into the water and drowned. The Sirens are a dangerous monster, they attract sailors and kill them. The Lernian Hydra was a nine headed swamp monster. It haunted the swamps by the town of Lernia and continued to until Hercules came and killed it. The Hydra is a particular difficult creature to kill, because it is a child of the Titan Typhon, and the mother of monsters Echidna.” When the Hydra was not as big and fearsome Hera took it and raised it as he own and finally let it go the the swamps of Lernia to await Hercules.” (Philip) It is also difficult because when the head is cut off to more grew into place. The only way to kill it was to burn off the stump so the head could not grow back. This creature terrorized the country side until it was killed by Hercules. He killed the Hydra because it was one of his famous Seven Labors of Hercules. He had brought his nephew along with him on this journey, and had thought he could defeat the monster with his strength alone. He was surprised when he thought he killed the monster that he turned away and started walking back, when the tail of it wrapped around his ankle and dragged him back. Hercules called in desperation for his nephew, he came running and froze before the Hydra. The monster momentarily forgetting Hercules stared all nine heads at the boy, and with its hypnotizing eyes almost killed the boy if hadn’t been for Hercules. He stood in front of the monster and gave the boy a torch and told him to burn the stumps of the heads he cut off. So they did and the Hydra finally fell, decapitated and dead. This is a dangerous monster and it was killed but not before terrorizing a fearful town. The Minotaur, a fearsome creature, half man half bull, who lives in the Labyrinth beneath the palace of Crete. His story is a rather tragic one. His mother the queen of Crete angered Hera, because of Zeus and his infatuation with her. She made the queen, Pasiphae, fall in love with a bull to get her revenge. The inventor Deaedoulus made the Labyrinth so the Minotaur would never escape and destroy the city, and he made a wooden cow so the queen could be with the bull. That is how the Minotaur came about. The monster was killed by Thesues, a son of Zeus. Theseus came from the city of Athens where the twelve annual sacrifices were made to the beast. Theseus volunteered to be one of the sacrifices along with six girls and five other guys. He was visited by the princess of Crete whom gave him a magical ball of yarn and a sword. The yarn would lead him directly to the heart of the maze and back out, the sword would enable him to kill the Minotaur. He followed the yarn to the center of the maze and attacked the Minotaur. The Minotaur had an axe to defend himself and incredible strength, but Theseus had surprise on his side and quickly killed the Minotaur. That is how the Minotaur’s life was ended, violently and quickly. He was a dangerous creature and killed many young adults by his madness. These monsters were deadly, but they each had a story of why they came to be. Some were outcasts, and like many outcasts they did things they would not have normally done. Others followed their nature, they were born with it, they had no choice. For some monsters like the Minotaur he wasn’t given a choice he was born because his mother had done something to anger a god, and that god had taken out her revenge, the result was the Minotaur. The Sirens were beautiful maidens and because they couldn’t help the goddess Demeter they were forced into exile. The monsters are dangerous and murderous but it’s not always their own fault.

= Works Cited = Astma, Aaron J. __Theoi Project.__ 12 december 2007. 4 december 2009 <@http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Skylla.html>. —. __Theoi Project.__ 15 december 2007. 6 december 2009 <@http://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakonHydra.html>. Atsma, Aaron J. __Theoi Project.__ 12 decmeber 2007. 4 december 2009 <@http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Seirenes.html>. —. __Theoi Project.__ 17 december 2007. 6 decmeber 2009 <@http://www.theoi.com/Gigante/GigantesKyklopes.html>. —. __Theoi Project .__ 14 december 2007. 6 december 2009 <@http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Minotauros.html>. Atsma, Aaron J. __Theoi Project.__ 18 decmeber 2007. 7 december 2009 <@http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Kyklopes.html>. Philip, Neil. "The illustrated book of myths." Philip, Neil. __The illustrated book of myths.__ New York: DK Plublishing Ink., 1995. 108-111, 185, 132,.