- Greek Mythology All cultures have their own stories about how the earth formed. So did the ancient Greeks. They believed that at the beginning of time the universe was dark and full of energy. They called it Chaos. (Even today the word “chaos” refers to things that have no order.) From Chaos came Gaia, the.
- I've been reading Greek mythology since I was a kid. I also taught it when I was a sixth grade teacher, so I knew a lot of mythological monsters already. Sometimes I still use books and Web sites to research, though. Every time I research Greek mythology, I learn something new!
We are editing 1,878 articles since we started in June 2008! 'Greek Mythology' refers to stories made by the ancient Greeks about the occurrences of daily events. Generally, myths arise when man attempts to explain how certain natural phenomena could occur, or to explain open questions like 'What happens after death?' One of the oldest known Greek myths is the epic poem of Odyssey, telling. Greek Mythology is the set of stories about the gods, goddesses, heroes and rituals of Ancient Greeks. Greek Mythology was part of the religion in Ancient Greece. The most popular Greek Mythology figures include Greek Gods like Zeus, Poseidon & Apollo, Greek Goddesses like Aphrodite, Hera & Athena and Titans like Atlas.
Belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices, Greek mythology is known for some extremely out of this world mythology. The Greek legends have been the subject of popular culture for thousands of years. The most famous characters in these myths are the gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and mythological creatures.
Below is a list of 10 Legendary Greek Mythological Creatures.
10. Typhon
Typhon was the most deadly monster of Greek mythology. The last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, he was known as the “Father of All Monsters”; his wife Echidna was likewise the “Mother of All Monsters.” He was described in pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheke, as the largest and most fearsome of all creatures. His human upper half supposedly reached as high as the stars, and his hands reached east and west. Instead of a human head, a hundred dragon heads erupted from his neck and shoulders.
9. Lamia
Lamia was apparently a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon. In the myth, she is a mistress of the god Zeus, causing Zeus’ jealous wife, Hera, to kill all of Lamia’s children (except for Scylla, who is herself cursed) and transform her into a monster that hunts and devours the children of others. Another version has Hera merely stealing away all of Lamia’s children and it being Lamia herself, losing her mind from grief and despair, who starts stealing and devouring others’ children out of envy, the repeated monstrosity of which transforms her into a monster on its own.
8. Echidna
Half woman half snake, Echidna known as the “Mother of All Monsters” because most of the monsters in Greek mythology were her offspring. Hesiod’s Theogony described her as: “the goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in Arima beneath the earth, grim Echidna, a nymph who dies not nor grows old all her days.” (wikipedia.org).
7. Sphinx
A mythical creature with the body of a lion and a human head. In Greek tradition, it has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer her riddle suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are killed and eaten by this ravenous monster.
Myths About Greek Gods
6. Griffin
Regarded as king of the creatures, the Griffin, with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle’s talons as its front feet. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine.
5. Chimera
The Chimera was a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor who was composed of the parts of three animals; a lion, a snake and a goat. Usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that ended in a snake’s head, the Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.
4. Gorgon
A dreadful female creature in Greek mythology. Perhaps the most popular Gorgon is Medusa, generally described as having the face of a hideous human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. She was the only mortal among the three sisters who’s gaze would turn anyone into stone. She was famously decapitated by Perseus who was armed with a mirror and scythe.
3. Centaur
The centaur is a mythological creature with the head, arms, and torso of a human and the body and legs of a horse. They are best known for their fight with the Lapiths, which was caused by their attempt to carry off Hippodamia and the rest of the Lapith women on the day of Hippodamia’s marriage to Pirithous, king of the Lapithae. Perhaps one of the most popular centaurs in Greek mythology is Chiron. He stands in contrast to the typical depiction of centaurs being indulgent and violent drinkers with his intelligence and enviable medical skills.
2. Minotaur
Described as “part man and part bull”. The Minotaur was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man. He dwelt at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus. The bull-man was eventually slain by the Athenian hero Theseus.
1. Siren
The dangerous and beautiful creatures in Greek mythology. They were often portrayed as femme fatales who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. They were considered the daughters of the river god Achelous. Roman writers linked the Sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of Phorcys. Sirens are found in many Greek stories, particularly in Homer’s Odyssey. Their number is variously reported as between two and five.
In Greek mythology, many of the Gods have both positive and negative traits. This was to make them somewhat relatable to the normal Greek who themselves was fallible. However, there are some Gods and Goddesses whose evil side can very often get the better of them. This side to their personality can be evil, dangerous and incredibly destructive and goes well beyond normal behaviour.
What follows is a list of the most evil and dangerous Greek Gods and Goddesses. Some of the choices might surprise you, but we feel they deserve their place!
The Most Evil and Dangerous Greek Gods and Goddesses
#8 – Apate
Apate was the daughter of Erebos, the God of Darkness, and Nyx, the Goddess of Night. An ominous lineage if ever there was one. She had a number of siblings including Moros, who represented doom, Nemesis, representing retribution, and the Keres, representing violent death. She was the Goddess of deceit, deception, guile and fraud, not someone to bump into in the street.
She was cunning and deceitful and could twist any situation to work in her interest. She could also be very cruel and would take great pleasure in destroying people’s lives.
One of the most famous myths with Apate involves Zeus, Hera and Semele. Zeus had had an affair behind Hera’s back, as he often would, with Semele. As revenge Hera told Apate to convince Semele to ask Zeus to show her his true form. Unknown to both Semele and Zeus, the sight would kill Semele. As such Semele was burnt up by the sight of Zeus.
Apate along with many of her siblings were also said to be the evil spirits that escaped from Pandora’s box, she is one of the more obvious choices for this list.
#7 – Cronus
Cronus was the son of Uranus, God of the Sky, and Gaia, Goddess of the Earth. He was the King of the Titans in the era prior to the reign of the Olympians and ruled with an iron fist. He had 5 brothers and 6 sisters, one of who, Rhea, he married. He was the Titan God of time, and in particular destructive time.
He had a disloyal personality, often betraying those who had once helped him. He was unforgiving and took pleasure in the act of vengeance.
Cronus, along with his 4 brothers overthrew their father Uranus. Uranus had imprisoned some other brothers of Cronus, the 100-handed giants and the 1-eyed giants. This angered both Cronus and their mother Gaia. Together they decided to overthrow Uranus. The four brothers held down Uranus, the sky God, each holding down one corner. The four brothers represented North, South, East and West. Cronus then, using a particularly gruesome means of dispatch, a sickle, castrated Uranus.
As King of the Titans, Cronus wasn’t much better of a ruler than his father. He imprisoned both the giants again and later he even imprisoned his co-conspirator brothers. Also, upon hearing a prophecy that he was going to overthrown by one of his own children, he took to eating his children every time his wife gave birth. Quite a terrible character.
#6 – Eris
Eris was the daughter of Zeus and Hera and the twin sister of Ares, the God of War. She was the Goddess of Conflict, Strife, Discord and Contention. Not the best of combinations.
She would haunt the battlefield and took great delight in the act of war. She and Ares would often ride together, crying with glee at the terrible sight of war. She was often involved in all types of conflict, family arguments, blood feuds and wars over territory. She was despised by many of the other gods and they often wouldn’t choose to interact much with her.
Probably the most famous myth involving Eris is that of the Judgement of Paris. Because she was so disliked by the other Gods she was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. She turned up anyway and was refused entrance. As revenge she threw an apple amongst the goddesses with the words to the fairest written upon it.
The Olympians, being the egotists that they were, all thought the apple was for them. After much disagreement, the Prince of Troy, Paris was given the task of deciding on who was the fairest. He chose Aphrodite and as a reward she caused Helen of Sparta to fall in love with him. Thus were laid the basic conditions for the start of the Trojan War. Probably the most deadly war in Greek mythology. All thanks to Eris.
#5 – Zeus
Zeus was the son of Cronus and Rhea. He was the King of the Olympian Gods and God of the Sky. He had a number of children including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Heracles, and Dionysus.
In many of the myths he is portrayed as being benevolent, wise and just however he also had a vengeful, vindictive side to him. This temper of his could cause natural disasters on earth and he was also in the habit of throwing lighting bolts at random at characters walking around below. He was also often unfaithful to his wife Hera and had a number of children by these mistresses. These women very often ended up wronged in some fashion by the God or sometimes they even died, by his hand or by that of his wife.
There are many stories about this evil side to Zeus, a particularly cruel one involves Prometheus. The Titan God Prometheus had sided with Zeus in the Titanomachy and was seen as one of Zeus’ closest advisers. He was tasked with creating the first men and behind the back of Zeus he gifted them fire to help them survive. As revenge for the betrayal, Zeus had Prometheus tied to a mountain and each day a great eagle would peck out his liver. If that’s not evil and twisted, i’m not sure what is.
Zeus, much like his father Cronus, had received a prophecy that if his wife, Metis, had a son then this son would kill Zeus. When Metis became pregnant he decided he didn’t want to wait to find out if the prophecy was true, so he just ate her. She did however survive inside Zeus and weirdly his head was cracked open and out sprung Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.
Another telling tale, when the first generation of men on the earth turned out to be too wicked for Zeus, he decided to have them all killed. He unleashed upon the world a great flood and all but two perished. So add mass genocide to his list of crimes.
#4 – Deimos and Phobos
Deimos and Phobos were the sons of the Ares and Aphrodite. Phobos was the God of Fear and Terror while his brother Deimos was the God of Panic. The two brothers were said to often accompany Ares into battle. They were also very often joined by Ares’ sister Eris. The names of both Deimos and Phobos were feared and respected by soldiers across the battlefields of Greece.
The two brothers had particularly cruel personalities, truly revelling in the slaughter and destruction wrought by the often warring armies of Greece and the surrounding areas.
Phobos was often worshipped by many of the Greeks before great battles. The hope being that the opponents would flee the battlefield in fear. It was said that Alexander the Great prayed to Phobos before a great battle. The imagery of Phobos was also used on the shields of both Heracles and Agamemnon.
#3 – Hera
Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea and the wife of Zeus. She was the Queen of the gods and supposed to be concerned with the family and childbirth. However, there are so many tales of Hera committing some jealous act of revenge. Her husband Zeus was always having affairs and while she did argue with Zeus about this, she more often took her anger out on the women or the children of these women.
There are so many stories it would be impossible to recount them all here, but just to give you an idea. There was the famed beauty Lo who Zeus was fond of, Hera turned her into a cow. When Paris chose Aphrodite instead of Hera as the fairest goddess, Hera dedicated all her energy to the fall of his city, Troy. Hera suspected Zeus was unfaithful with a nymph called Echo, she cursed Echo to only be able to speak the last words that were spoken to her.
And yet, probably the greatest stories are those of her vendetta against Heracles, the son of Zeus and Alcmene. When Hera heard that Zeus had had a son, she sent two snakes to strangle him in his bed. Heracles being a demigod, killed the snakes. Later, when Heracles was married with children, she caused Heracles to go mad and kill his own wife and children. When Heracles was attempting to complete the 12 labours she went out of her way to cause him so many problems. Pretty vindictive you might say.
#2 – Ares
Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera. He was also the God of War. He never took a wife, but he did cause Aphrodite to have an affair with him.
He was seen as arrogant and violent and generally disliked by both the gods and humans. Very few worshipped him. He was a bloody minded character obsessed with killing, murder and slaughter. He had four horses name Terror, Fire, Flame, and Trouble. He was depicted as a strong warrior and also terrifying for his love of bloodshed.
He fought on the side of Trojans during the Trojan War and revelled in the death an destruction caused. He was also a jealous God, and when Aphrodite took the character Adonis as her lover, Ares transformed into a wild boar and gored him to death.
Greek Mythology All About Myths Debunked
#1 – Hades
Hades was the son of Cronus and Rhea. He was the ruler of the underworld and king of the dead. He was married to Persephone and commanded the Harpies, a troupe of flying monsters who punished mankind. He was a cold and grim God who kept his distance from the other Gods.
He had a deep and calculating rage and was often very jealous at the other Olympian Gods. His kingdom was named Tartarus and the entrance was guarded by the three headed dog Cerberus, a fearsome beast. Once the dead entered his realm they could not leave. He valued death, he loved the sound of mourning and he would drink the tears of the bereaved. On the rare occasions tat he left Tartarus he would ride a chariot led by 4 black horses.
Greek Gods And Goddesses Myths
The most famous myth is when he abducted Persephone to be his wife. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. One day she went missing and in her grief her mother Demeter caused famine across the land. Zeus eventually discovered her location and negotiated her release, but only for half of the year, hence the seasons of the earth.
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Greek Mythology All About Myths Aliens
Very few made it into the underworld and returned, the only real success story is that of Heracles and the rescue of Theseus. The underworld was feared by all of mankind and Hades was seen as one of the more evil and dangerous Gods to encounter.
Final Thoughts
What Is Greek Mythology
So there you have it. The most evil and dangerous greek gods and goddesses. Having read the list you may think some of the characters don’t deserve to be on the list. My advice to you is, don’t take this article too seriously. Feel free to comment below. Thanks!