"2.113; Hyginus, Preface to ""Fabulae"") or of Gaia herself, or in her Olympian manifestation, Hera: ""The Dragon which guarded the golden apples was the brother of the Nemean lion"" asserted Ptolemy Hephaestion (recorded in his New History V, lost but epitomized in Photius, ""Myriobiblion"" 190). The Lernaean Hydra was a dragon-like water serpent with fatally venomous breath, blood and fangs, a daughter of Typhon and Echidna. The creature was said to have anywhere between five and 100 heads, although most sources put the number somewhere between seven and nine. For each head cut off, one or two more grew back"
"of Typhon and Echidna. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly. The hydra possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster: for every head chopped off, the Hydra would regrow two heads. Heracles required the assistance of his cousin Iolaus to cut off all of the monster's heads and burn the neck using sword and fire. The oldest extant Hydra narrative appears in Hesiod's ""Theogony"", while the oldest images of the monster are found on"
"coaster comes from the story of Hercules in Greek Mythology. According to the story, Hercules had to perform twelve labours. After defeating the Nemean lion for the first labour, the second was to defeat the Hydra, a nine-headed creature with eight serpentine heads that would regrow each time they were cut off, including one that was immortal. Dorney Park altered the remainder of the story — after Hercules managed to defeat the Hydra initially, he buried the immortal head deep under a giant stone, with the intention of sealing it for all time. Many years later however, the head slowly"
"Gorgon In Greek mythology, a Gorgon (; plural: Gorgons, ""Gorgon""/""Gorgo"") is a mythical creature portrayed in ancient Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not and she was slain by the demigod and hero Perseus. The name derives from the ancient Greek"
"The sword was the only one that could kill the serpent; it would regrow a new blade for every head, if it broke. He was to stuff the bells with cotton and then wound it in the tail. It would put its heads up, one at a time, and he should cut each one off. He obeyed her and killed it. The animals of the island chased him, but be escaped. The Seven-headed Serpent ""The Seven-headed Serpent"" is a Greek fairy tale collected, as ""Die Siebenkopfige Schlange,"" in Bernhard Schmidt's ""Griechische Mahrchen"". Andrew Lang included it in ""The Yellow Fairy"
"with her sister Medusa, who was raped by the sea god Poseidon in the Temple of Athena. Athena, bearing no emotion and finding no fault in Poseidon, was furious with Medusa. As a punishment, Medusa was changed into a terrible monster, along with her sisters Stheno and Euryale. Stheno tends to be depicted as a thin gorgon monster with red snakes curling around her head instead of hair. Earlier accounts, however, describe her as having a scaly head, a boar's tusks, bronzed hands, a protruding tongue, glaring eyes and a snake around the waist as a belt. When the Gorgon"
"in its place. It had an immortal head which would remain alive after it was cut off. Some accounts claim that the immortal head was made of gold. It lived in a swamp near Lerna and frequently terrorized the townsfolk until it was slain by Heracles, who cut the heads off, with the help of his nephew Iolaus, who then singed the oozing stump with a blazing firebrand to prevent any new heads from growing, as the second of his Twelve Labors. Hera sent a giant crab to distract Heracles, but he simply crushed it under his foot. Hera then"
"off each of its heads he found that two grew back, an expression of the hopelessness of such a struggle for any but the hero. Additionally, one of the hydra's heads was immortal. The details of the struggle are explicit in the ""Bibliotheca"" (2.5.2): realizing that he could not defeat the Hydra in this way, Hercules called on his nephew Iolaus for help. His nephew then came upon the idea (possibly inspired by Athena) of using a firebrand to scorch the neck stumps after each decapitation. Hercules cut off each head and Iolaus cauterized the open stumps. Seeing that Hercules"
"its offspring. Like the initial number of heads, the monster's capacity to regenerate lost heads varies with time and author. The first mention of this ability of the Hydra occurs with Euripides, where the monster grew back a pair of heads for each one severed by Heracles. Palaephatus, Ovid and Diodorus Siculus concur with Euripides, while Servius has the Hydra grow back three heads each time; the ""Suda"" does not give a number. Depictions of the monster dating to c. 500 BCE show it with a double tail as well as multiple heads, suggesting the same regenerative ability at work,"
"Stheno In Greek mythology, Stheno ( or ; Greek: Σθενώ, English translation: ""forceful""), was the eldest of the Gorgons, vicious female monsters with brass hands, sharp fangs and ""hair"" made of living venomous snakes. The daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, Stheno was born in the caverns beneath Mount Olympus. She and her sister Euryale were both immortal, and the third sister, Medusa, was mortal. Of the three Gorgons, she was known to be the most independent and ferocious, having killed more men than both of her sisters combined. In Greek mythology, she was transformed into a Gorgon because of standing"
"eighth circles of Hell, from Cocytus, the Ninth Circle. He is chained. Aloadae In Greek mythology, the Aloadae () or Aloads (Ancient Greek: Ἀλωάδαι ""Aloadai"") were Otus or Otos (Ὦτος means ""insatiate"") and Ephialtes (Ἐφιάλτης ""nightmare""), sons of Iphimedia, wife of Aloeus, by Poseidon, whom she induced to make her pregnant by going to the seashore and disporting herself in the surf or scooping seawater into her bosom. From Aloeus they received their patronymic, the Aloadae. They were strong and aggressive giants, growing by nine fingers every month nine fathoms tall at age nine, and only outshone in beauty by"
"were very powerful. There were three sexes: the all male, the all female, and the ""androgynous,"" who was half male, half female. The males were said to have descended from the sun, the females from the earth and the androgynous couples from the moon. These creatures tried to scale the heights of Olympus and planned to set upon the gods (190b-c). Zeus thought about blasting them with thunderbolts, but did not want to deprive himself of their devotions and offerings, so he decided to cripple them by chopping them in half, in effect separating the two bodies. Ever since that"
"was the multi snake-headed Typhon, and Cerberus was the brother of three other multi-headed monsters, the multi-snake-headed Lernaean Hydra; Orthrus, the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryon; and the Chimera, who had three heads, that of a lion, a goat, and a snake. And, like these close relatives, Cerberus was, with only the rare iconographic exception, multi-headed. In the earliest description of Cerberus, Hesiod's ""Theogony"" (c. 8th – 7th century BC), Cerberus has fifty heads, while Pindar (c. 522 – c. 443 BC) gave him one hundred heads. However, later writers almost universally give Cerberus three heads. An"
"however, was already pregnant. She stayed alive inside his head and built armor for her daughter. The banging of her metalworking made Zeus have a headache, so Hephaestus clove his head with an axe. Athena sprang from her father's head, fully grown, and in battle armor. In Greek mythology, the transformation is often a punishment from the gods to humans who crossed them. While the Greek gods could use transformation punitively – such as Medusa, turned to a monster for having sexual intercourse with Poseidon in Athena's temple – even more frequently, the tales using it are of amorous adventure."
"number of multi-headed creatures. Typhon, a vast grisly monster with many snake heads, is often described as having several offspring with Echidna, a creature with the lower body of a serpent but the upper body of a beautiful woman. Their offspring, by one source or another, account for many of the major monsters of Greek mythos, including: Other multi-headed creatures in Greek mythology include: Zahhak, an evil figure in Iranian mythology - also evident in ancient Iranian folklore as Aži Dahāka (Azh dahak) - is the most significant and long-lasting of the ""aži""s of the Avesta, the earliest religious texts"
"According to Greek mythology, the mythological amphisbaena was spawned from the blood that dripped from Medusa the Gorgon's head as Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with her head in his hand. Medusa and the other Gorgons were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes whose origins predate the written myths of Greece and who were the protectors of the most ancient ritual secrets. The Gorgons wore a belt of two intertwined serpents in the same configuration of the caduceus. The Gorgon was placed at the highest point and central of the relief on the"
"Medusa was beheaded by Perseus, Stheno and Euryale tried to kill him, but failed due to his use of Hades' cap, becoming invisible. Stheno In Greek mythology, Stheno ( or ; Greek: Σθενώ, English translation: ""forceful""), was the eldest of the Gorgons, vicious female monsters with brass hands, sharp fangs and ""hair"" made of living venomous snakes. The daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, Stheno was born in the caverns beneath Mount Olympus. She and her sister Euryale were both immortal, and the third sister, Medusa, was mortal. Of the three Gorgons, she was known to be the most independent and"
"sisters Euryale and Stheno. She eventually met the gaze of Poseidon. Athena took notice of this, and cursed Medusa, transforming her hair into snakes and giving her a deadly gaze that turns any who look into her eyes to stone. The hero Perseus was given the task of slaying Medusa and taking her head. After using her decapitated head for his own use, Perseus threw it into the sea as he believed it too dangerous to keep. At some point before Medusa's death, she mated with the cyclops Polyphemus and gave birth to the serpentine giant Cyclon. The god of"
"was described by Traill Dennison, who transcribed its story, as ""the worst of the nine fearful curses that plague mankind"". A further tale recorded by Traill Dennison gives a brief mention of another stoor worm, described as the progeny of the Orcadian monster, which is killed when it is severed in two by an oversized mythical ship. The king of one country threatened by the imminent arrival of the stoor worm sought the advice of a wise man or spaeman, who suggests that the beast might be appeased if it is fed seven virgins every week. In line with the"
"Chrysaor In Greek mythology, Chrysaor (, ""Chrysáor"", ""gen"".: Χρυσάορος, ""Chrysáoros""; English translation: ""He who has a golden sword"" (from χρυσός, ""golden"" and ἄορ, ""sword"")), the brother of the winged horse Pegasus, was often depicted as a young man, the son of Poseidon and the Gorgon Medusa. Chrysaor and Pegasus were not born until Perseus chopped off Medusa's head. Medusa, one of the three Gorgon sisters, the most beautiful, and the only mortal one, angered Athena due to either having sex with, or being raped by, Poseidon in the Temple of Athena. Athena punished Medusa by turning her hair into snakes."
"snake for a tail and a serpentine mane), the serpent-tailed Chimaera, the serpent-like water beast Hydra, and the hundred-headed serpentine dragon Ladon. Both the Lernaean Hydra and Ladon were slain by Herakles. Python, an enemy of Apollo, was always represented in vase-paintings and by sculptors as a serpent. Apollo slew Python and made her former home, Delphi, his own oracle. The Pythia took her title from the name Python. Amphisbaena, a Greek word, from amphis, meaning ""both ways"", and bainein, meaning ""to go"", also called the ""Mother of Ants"", is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end."
"food, but lacks a phonological connection. Polycephalic or multi-headed animals are rare in biology but common in mythology and heraldry. Multi-headed dragons, like the 8-headed ""Orochi"" and 3-headed ""Trisiras"" above, are a common motif in comparative mythology. For instance, multi-headed dragons in Greek mythology include the wind-god Typhon who had several polycephalic offspring, including the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra and the 100-headed Ladon, both slain by Heracles. Two other Japanese examples derive from Buddhist importations of Indian dragon myths. Benzaiten, the Japanese name of Saraswati, supposedly killed a 5-headed dragon at Enoshima in 552 AD. Kuzuryū 九頭龍 ""9-headed dragon"", deriving from"
"Greek. This has led to speculation among scholars that originally there were only two Kekropidai and that Herse was a later addition to the myth, functioning essentially as a double of Pandrosos. The purpose of the creation of the character of Herse would have been to bring the number of Kekropidai up to three so as to conform to the common trope of three sisters in Greek mythology (in keeping with the Three Fates, the Three Charites, etc.). Kekrops is thought to have been born from the soil of Athens itself, and possesses the head and torso of a man"
"viewed.) It should also be noted that all the monsters mirror creatures of Greek Mythology, such as Horu, the first monster featured, who is referred to by Kurofune as a ""disgusting cow"" and is said to have been sealed in a labyrinth. This, along with the fact that a pair of bull horns and legs manifest when he is around, implies he is the legendary Minotaur. Several other featured monsters are Medusa, Hecate, Talos, and Pan. All monsters seem to have some control over reality itself and can only be killed by Melos Arrows. The Monster Union, which is part"
"""threatened"" him in his cradle. Although the Classical Greeks were clear that these snakes represented a threat, the snake-brandishing gesture of Herakles is the same as that of the Cretan goddess. Typhon, the enemy of the Olympian gods, is described as a vast grisly monster with a hundred heads and a hundred serpents issuing from his thighs, who was conquered and cast into Tartarus by Zeus, or confined beneath volcanic regions, where he is the cause of eruptions. Typhon is thus the chthonic figuration of volcanic forces. Amongst his children by Echidna are Cerberus (a monstrous three-headed dog with a"
"Chimera (mythology) The Chimera ( or , also Chimaera (""Chimæra""); Greek: , ""Chímaira"" ""she-goat"") was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of more than one animal. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head, and was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The term ""chimera"" has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with"
"they said that Neith was called Athene in Greece. The Attic tradition, reproduced in Euripides (Ion), regarded the Gorgon as a monster, produced by Gaia to aid her children, the Titans, against the new Olympian deities. Classical interpretations suggest that Gorgon was slain by Athena, who wore her skin thereafter. Of the three Gorgons of classical Greek mythology, only Medusa is mortal. The ""Bibliotheca"" (2.2.6, 2.4.1, 2.4.2) provides a good summary of the Gorgon myth. Much later stories claim that each of three Gorgon sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, had snakes for hair, and that they had the power to"
"it under his mighty foot. The Hydra's one immortal head was cut off with a golden sword given to Heracles by Athena. Heracles placed the head—still alive and writhing—under a great rock on the sacred way between Lerna and Elaius, and dipped his arrows in the Hydra's poisonous blood. Thus his second task was complete. The alternate version of this myth is that after cutting off one head he then dipped his sword in its neck and used its venom to burn each head so it could not grow back. Hera, upset that Heracles had slain the beast she raised"
"part of their religion. Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the ""Gorgoneion"". The three Gorgon sisters—Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale—were all children of the ancient marine deities Phorcys (or ""Phorkys"") and his sister Ceto (or ""Keto""), chthonic monsters from an archaic world. Their genealogy is shared with other sisters, the Graeae, as in"
"up his immortality, and take the place of Prometheus, who had been chained in to the top of a mountain to have his liver eaten daily by an eagle, although he was an immortal Titan. Prometheus' torturer, the eagle, continued its torture on Chiron, so Heracles shot it dead with an arrow. It is generally accepted that the tale was meant to show Heracles as being the recipient of Chiron's surrendered immortality. However, this tale contradicts the fact that Chiron later taught Achilles. The tale of the Centaurs sometimes appears in other parts of the twelve labours, as does the"
"which he calls absurd; only Typhon's Near Eastern origins are, in his view, plausible. Dracaena or Drakaina called the she-dragon. Typhon was the most fearsome monster of Greek mythology. The last son of Gaia, Typhon was, with his mate Echidna, the father of many other monsters. He is usually envisioned as humanoid from the waist up, serpentine below. Ladon was the serpent-like drakon (dragon, a word more commonly used) that twined round the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides and guarded the golden apples. Ladon was also said to have as many as one hundred heads. He was overcome"
"Bellerophon Bellerophon (; Ancient Greek: Βελλεροφῶν) or Bellerophontes () is a hero of Greek mythology. He was ""the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles"", and his greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail: ""her breath came out in terrible blasts of burning flame."" Bellerophon was born at Corinth and was the son of the mortal Eurynome by either her husband Glaucus, or Poseidon. One possible etymology that has been suggested is: Βελλεροφόντης from βέλεμνον, βελόνη, βέλος"
"Atropos Atropos or Aisa (; ""without turn""), in Greek mythology, was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny. Her Roman equivalent was Morta. Atropos was the oldest of the Three Fates, and was known as the ""inflexible"" or ""inevitable."" It was Atropos who chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of mortals by cutting their thread with her ""abhorred shears"". She worked along with her two sisters, Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured the length. Atropos has been featured in several stories such as Atalanta and Achilles. Her origin, along with the"