- List of Greek mythological creatures
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The following is a list of creatures from Greek mythology. The list does not include gods and other divine and semi-divine figures; for these, see List of Greek mythological figures.
Contents
Mythical monsters
Greek myth includes many monstrous beings.
- Cerberus, the three-headed, giant hound that guarded the gates of Hades
- Charybdis, a sea monster whose inhalations formed a deadly whirlpool
- Empusa, a vampiric demon with a leg of bronze and a hoofed foot of a donkey; she seduced men in order to feed on their flesh and blood
- Gorgons, monstrous sisters with wings of gold, brazen claws and serpents for hair; capable of turning men to stone with their gaze
- Graeae, three old women with one tooth and one eye between them
- Deino
- Enyo
- Pemphredo
- Harpies, winged monsters with the bodies of birds and the heads and torsos of women
- Kobaloi, a species of mischievous creatures, fond of tricking or frightening humans
- Mormo, a vampiric creature who bit bad children
- Taraxippi, ghosts that frightened horses
- Lamia, a vampiric demon which preyed on children
Mythical hybrids
These creatures combine human and animal attributes, or the attributes of several animals.
- Centaurs, a race of half-man, half-horse beings
- Chimera, a three headed monster, with the foreparts of a lion, the hind-parts of a goat and goat's-head rising from its back, and the tail of a headed-serpent; slain by Bellerophon
- Hippalectryon, a creature with the fore-parts of a rooster and the body of a horse
- Hippocampi, sea creatures with the fore-parts of horses and the tails of fish
- Ichthyocentaurs, a pair of marine centaurs with the upper bodies of men, the lower fronts of horses, and the tails of fish
- Ipotane, a race of half-horse, half-humans
- Manticore, a monster with the head of a man, the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion
- Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man
- Ophiotaurus, a creature that was part bull and part serpent
- Orthrus, a two-headed, serpent-tailed dog, slain by Heracles
- Panes, a tribe of nature-spirits which had the heads and torsos of men, the legs and tails of goats, goatish faces and goat-horns
- Satyrs and Satyresses, a tribe of nature-spirits with the bodies of men, the tails of horses, pug-noses and the ears of donkeys
Sileni, a race of elderly Satyrs with the bodies of old-men, pug-noses, the tails of horses, and donkeys' ears
- Sirens, three winged bird-women whose irresistible song lured sailors to their deaths
- Sphinx, a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a woman
- Telchines, skilled metal-workers with the heads of dogs and flippers of seals in place of hands
Mythical animals
These animals possess some fantastic attribute.
- Amphisbaena, a snake with two heads, one at each end of the body
- Arion, the immortal horse of Adrastus
- Balius and Xanthus, the immortal horses of Achilles
- Calydonian Boar, a gigantic boar sent by Artemis to ravage Calydon and slain in the Calydonian Boar Hunt
- Ceryneian Hind, an enormous deer which was sacred to Artemis; Heracles was sent to retrieve it as one of his labours
- Chrysomallus, a flying, talking, golden-fleeced ram
- Cretan Bull, the bull which impregnated Pasiphaë, resulting in the Minotaur
- Erymanthian Boar, a gigantic boar which Heracles was sent to retrieve as one of his labours
- Karkinos, a giant crab which fought Hercules alongside the Hydra
- Laelaps, a dog destined always to catch its prey
- Mares of Diomedes, four man-eating horses belonging to the giant Diomedes
- Nemean Lion, a gigantic lion whose skin was impervious to weapons; it was strangled by Heracles
- Pegasus, a divine winged horse
- Phoenix, a golden-red bird whose feathers shone with the light of the sun
- Stymphalian Birds, man-eating birds with beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims
- Teumessian fox, a gigantic fox destined never to be caught
Giants
The Gigantes, or giants, were a class of unnaturally large and often monstrous men who were closely related to the gods.
- Agrius, a man-eating Thracian giant who was half man and half bear
- Alcyoneus, the eldest of the Thracian giants, killed by Heracles
- The Aloadae, twin giants who attempted to storm Olympus
- Alops, a Sicilian giant, slain by Dionysus
- Anax, a Lydian giant
- Antaeus, a Libyan giant who wrestled to death all visitors to his realm until slain by Heracles
- Argus Panoptes, a hundred-eyed giant tasked with guarding over Io
- Chrysaor, a son of Medusa, sometimes said to be a giant
- Cyclopes (Elder), three one-eyed giants who forged the lightning-bolts of Zeus
- Arges
- Brontes
- Steropes
- Cyclopes (Younger), a tribe of one-eyed cannibalistic giants who shepherded flocks of sheep on the island of Sicily
- Polyphemus, a cyclops who briefly captured Odysseus and his men
- The Hekatoncheires, the Hundred-Handed Ones, giant gods of violent storms and hurricanes.
- Briareus or Aigaion (Βριάρεως), The Vigorous
- Cottus (Κόττος), The Furious
- Gyges (Γύγης), The Big-Limbed
- Enceladus, one of the Thracian giants who made war on the gods
- The Gegenees, a tribe of six-armed giants fought by the Argonauts on Bear Mountain in Mysia
- Geryon, a three-bodied, four-winged giant who dwelt on the red island of Erytheia
- The Laestrygonians, a tribe of man-eating giants encountered by Odysseus on his travels
- Polybotes, a giant who fought Poseidon during the Gigantomachy
- Porphyrion, the king of the Gigantes who was struck down by Heracles and Zeus with arrows and lightning-bolts after he attempted to rape Hera
- Tityos, a giant slain by Apollo and Artemis when he attempted to violate their mother Leto.
- Typhon, a monstrous immortal storm-giant who was defeated and imprisoned by Zeus in the pit of Tartarus
Dragons
The dragons of Greek mythology were serpentine monsters. They include the serpent-like Dracones, the marine-dwelling Cetea and the she-monster Dracaenae.
Dracones
Dracones were giant serpents, sometimes possessing multiple heads or deadly venom.
- The Colchian Dragon, an unsleeping dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece
- Cychreides, a dragon which terrorised Salamis before being slain by Cychreus
- The Ismenian Dragon, a dragon which guarded the sacred spring of Ares near Thebes; it was slain by Cadmus
- Ladon, a serpent-like dragon which guarded the apples of the Hesperides
- The Lernaean Hydra, a nine-headed dragon which guarded the springs of Lerna; it was slain by Heracles
- Python, a dragon which guarded the oracle of Delphi; it was slain by Apollo
Cetea
Cetea were sea monsters. They were usually featured in myths of a hero rescuing a sacrificial princess.
- Ethiopian Cetus, a sea monster sent by Poseidon to ravage Ethiopia; slain by Perseus
- Trojan Cetus, a sea monster which plagued Troy before being slain by Heracles
Dracaenae
The Dracaena or "She-Dragon" was a creature with the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a dragon or sea monster.
- Kampê, a monstrous she-dragon which guarded the prison-gates of Tartarus
- Ceto, a monstrous marine goddess with the body of a sea monster
- Delphyne, a she-dragon which guarded the oracle of Delphi
- Echidna, the she-dragon wife of Typhon
- Scylla, a she-dragon which haunted the Straits of Messina
- Sybaris, a she-dragon who terrorised a mountain near Delphi; slain by the hero Eurybarus
Automatons
Automatons were men, animals and monsters crafted out of metal and made animate in order to perform various tasks. They were created by the divine smith, Hephaestus. The Athenian inventor Daedalus also manufactured automatons.
- Caucasian Eagle, a giant eagle set by Zeus to feed on the ever-regenerating liver of Prometheus; it was variously described as an automaton and a son of Echidna
- The Hippoi Kabeirikoi, four bronze horse-shaped automatons crafted by Hephaestus to draw the chariot of the Cabeiri
- The Keledones, singing maidens sculpted out of gold by Hephaestus
- The Khalkotauroi, fire-breathing bulls created by Hephaestus as a gift for Aeëtes
- The Kourai Khryseai, golden maidens sculpted to Hephaestus to attend him in his household
- Talos, a giant man made out of bronze to protect Europa
Legendary tribes
- Arimaspi, a tribe of one-eyed men
- Hyperboreans, a mythical people who lived far to the north of Thrace
- Monopodes or Skiapodes, a tribe of one-legged Libyan men who used their gigantic foot as shade against the midday sun
- Panotii, a tribe of northern men with gigantic, body-length ears
- Pygmies, a tribe of one and a half foot tall African men who rode goats into battle against migrating cranes
See also
Categories:- Greek legendary creatures
- Lists of legendary creatures
- Mythology-related lists
- Greek mythology
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