Monstrous
Monstropedia => Mythical Monsters => Topic started by: Zak Roy Yoballa on November 20, 2006, 02:56:04 PM
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I'm starting a thread here and hopefully in the near future will be putting it into the Wikipedia site, anyone who has anything to add feel free.
ZRY
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is it just about greek monsters
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Chiron
Although he looked like a centaur, technically he wasn't. He was the son of Philyra and of the Titan Cronos. Cornos, hiding his lust from his wife Rhea, turned himself into a horse and because of this their progeny was half-horse.
Chiron was also unlike the centaurs because he was so wise and balanced. Talented in warfare and music, hunting and medicine, Chiron was the personal teacher of several Greek heros including Jason and Achilles. His friendship with Apollo was legendary and he so impressed the gods that upon his death Zeus put him in the sky as the constellation Centaurus.
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is it just about greek monsters
Yes. But I'm going to start a similar thread for ther pantheons soon.
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allright then did harpies have beautiful faces or where they horrifying
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Harpies:
AKA: 'storm goddesses'
Orignally these beings were said to be beautifully devine winged beings with lovely hair and faces. Later they were said to be the more commonly recoginzed half-bird/half-woman creature that I married. Just kidding honey :-D. What ever they looked like they were always vile and nasty thieves who preyed upon the weak be they wounded from battle, starving in the wilderness, young unattended babes in their cribs, or handicapped seers.
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The Minotaur:
He was the result of King Minos' wife Pasiphae and Poseidon's white bull have a child. He had the body of a man and the head of a bull. When the Creteans concured Athens, they made the Atheneas pay an annual tribute of seven boys and seven girls to be fed to the Minotaur. The hero Theseus saved the Atheneas from this by solving the Minotaurs maze (thanks to some string, a niffty sword and the help of King Minos' daughter Ariadne) and killing the beast.
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Typhoeus/Typhon: A serpent like monster who is sometimes described as the source of devastating storms; and sometimes as a volcanical demon whose eyes shot out flames. He was conceved by Gaea, Mother Earth, and Tartarus.
Typhon tried to establish himself as the ruler of the world, but Zeus, the almighty God, managed to kill him with a thunderbolt after a fearful struggle.
"Now after Zeus had driven the Titanes out of heaven, gigantic Gaia (Earth), in love with Tartaros (the Pit), by means of golden Aphrodite, bore the youngest of her children, Typhoeus." - Hesiod, Theogony 820
Typhon is said to be the father of several monsters such as the sphinx, cerberus, gorgon, scylla, the hydra of lerna and draco hesperidum (the serpent guardian of the famous tree that gave golden apples)
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Τέλος θα ήθελα να μάθουν για την ιστορία μου ως μέρος ελληνικά
which is greek for I finally learn about my history as a part greek
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was cerberus a greek monster
I know that atilla the hun new bout it
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I think that's cuz Attila the Hun conquered so much land form Asia that he even took over part of Rome? :?
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Is the Lamia a Greek myth, or a Roman one? :?
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I think they're similar enough it doesn't matter. . .
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Is the Lamia a Greek myth, or a Roman one? :?
At this point in history, it matters little because what survived of the Greek and Roman myths have been interchanged and melded into one.
It was originally Greek. It was originally the name of the queen of Libya who had her own myth. The Romans made it into a species.
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What strikes me is the similarity between the Lamia and the Naga. Basically they are both the upper bodies of a human, and the lower bodies of a snake, although the Naga has more freedom to change it's shape than the Lamia.
This is just one example of different cultures in separate land regions "inventing" the same creature. Such examples make me wonder if there really IS a creature, or source for these things, that two different people tried to explain.
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There may be another explanation. Are you familiar with Carl Jung's theory of universal arch-types? These are ever present motifs and elements in the collective human sub-conscious that occassionally manifest in the culture of certain civilizations. As far as my opinion is concerned, both the Lamia and Naga stem from the primordial urge to attribute anthromorphic qualities to a highly dangerous animal like the serpent. Primitive peoples would have been greatly in dread of venomous snakes and would thus have seen them as supernatural creatures that were worthy of being both revered and feared by humans.
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That actually makes a lot of sense.
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hmmmm. . . frankly I think it's a result of residual instincts from back when humans weren't at the top of the top, we always laugh at the dumb animals but we're still animals ourselves. . .
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So true VII, so very very true.
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As the new Mod of this board, I just thought that I would continue one of the most popular threads that the Mythological Monsters section has to offer with a contribution of my own. The following information has been taken from Wikipedia in case anyone is curious. Not the most credible of sources I know, but adequate enough for the purpose of shedding basic information on the monsters that feature in Greek mythology
Scylla was a grotesque sea monster, with six long necks equipped with grisly heads, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth. Her body consisted of twelve canine legs and a cat's tail. She was one of the children of Phorcys and either Hecate, Crataeis, Lamia or Ceto (where Scylla would also be known as one of the Phorcydes). Some sources, including Stesichorus cite her parents as Triton and Lamia. In classical art, she was depicted as a fish-tailed mermaid with four to six dog-heads ringing her waist
[edit] Homer's Odyssey
In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus is given advice by Circe to sail closer to Scylla, for Charybdis could drown his whole ship, and to bid Crataeis prevent her from pouncing more than once. Odysseus then successfully sails his ship past Scylla and Charybdis, but Scylla manages to catch six of his men, devouring them alive. When this happens, the empty spot on the boat and helps the men row the ship out of harm's way.
[edit] Ovid
According to Ovid,[2] Scylla was once a beautiful nymph. The fisherman-turned-sea-god Glaucus fell madly in love with her, but she fled from him onto the land where he could not follow. Despair filled his heart. He went to the sorceress Circe to ask for a love potion to melt Scylla's heart. As he told his tale of love about Scylla to Circe, she herself fell in love with him. She wooed him with her sweetest words and looks, but the sea-god would have none of her. Circe was furious, but with Scylla and not with Glaucus. She prepared a vial of very powerful poison and poured it in the pool where Scylla bathed. As soon as the nymph entered the water, she was transformed into a frightful monster with twelve feet and six heads, each with three rows of teeth. Angry, growling wolf heads grew from her waist, and she tried to brush them off. She stood there in utter misery, unable to move, loathing and destroying everything that came into her reach, a peril to all sailors who passed near her. Whenever a ship passed, each of her heads would seize one of the crew.
[edit] Other
In a late Greek myth,[3] it was said that Heracles encountered Scylla during a journey to Sicily and slew her. Her father, the sea-god Phorcys, then applied flaming torches to her body and restored her to life.
According to John Tzetzes[4] and Servius' commentary on the Aeneid[5] Scylla was a beautiful naiad who was claimed by Poseidon, but Amphitrite turned her into a monster.
It is said that by the time Aeneas' fleet came through the strait after the fall of Troy, Scylla had been changed into a dangerous rock outcropping which still stands there to this day.
The character of Sin from John Milton's Paradise Lost is similar to Scylla. Scylla and Charybdis are actually mentioned at one point in the poem.
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You may update the corresponding article on Monstropedia or link to it.
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I'll be sure to add the Wikipedia link to the currently existing article in the Monstropedia database.
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speakin of the odyssey lets finish something finally the sirens were they bird women ??? because if you do your research they are technically sea nymphs but are constantly referred to as being birdlike or like
the harpies or is this just in reference to there singing ability and if so why dont mermaids commonly bear this birdlike monicor because they are also famed for there singing.
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Zak - I too study Greek mythology, and you know what I've found?
There are no definitely evil gods in the Pantheon, as there are no definitely good ones either. You noticed that? Of course, there are the monster like Typhon and the like, and there are the Titans, but if you look at the Pantheon, even Hades is just sad and melancholic - which is much more cool and mature and realistic than the modern religion.
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Zak - I too study Greek mythology, and you know what I've found?
There are no definitely evil gods in the Pantheon, as there are no definitely good ones either. You noticed that? Of course, there are the monster like Typhon and the like, and there are the Titans, but if you look at the Pantheon, even Hades is just sad and melancholic - which is much more cool and mature and realistic than the modern religion.
Well that's logical as the Pantheon is based on human characteristics. The Greek culture made a god(dess) for things like greed, love, power.. The gods aren't monstrous like in so many other cultures; they are almost human themselves and have their own faults. For example Hephaestos; you could say gods have to be terrible and beautiful, but he was cripple. His mother, Hera, threw him of mount Olympos because she found him ugly. And Zeus is womancrazed. Can it get even more human? It are the monsters who could be considered evil. Although they mostly fight against the gods because they favor the Titans.
Then you also have the first divine powers like Nyx, Chaos, Eros, Hemera,... These are the primal forces and are different from the Titans and gods.
But I guess you know that for you study the mythology.
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study and worship
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I think Hephaestos is my favourite - him being the godly artist and having Aphrodite (some myths say it's Charita) for his wife. And come on - is there mythology any cooler than the Roman-Greek one?
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Yeah.. He's pretty nice :) (except that Aphrodite cheated on him with Ares.. Then again, in return he managed to trap them in the act which gave him and the other gods a good laugh) Personally, I like Helios, Nyx, Chaos and Eros.. But all gods have their traits. On itself, I find it fantastic that they are so human. Hmm.. Well Assyrian, Celtic and Nordic mythology are really nice too. Egyptian also.. But the Romans and Greeks are much, much more known in the west. Roman mythology is almost a complete copy of the Greek one, so actually it is all one big web of the same stories and myths..
I love mythology.
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Eurubus, eros, and pan by some descriptions are all bisexuals
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Here's one of my favorites, though not entirely Greek in its origins:
Aspidochelone:
The aspidochelone is a name given to a giant whale or fish so huge it was often mistaken for an island. Some tales say the fish would entice hemped-up or otherwise foolish sailors to make "land fall" on its back, then either drag them down to the bottom of the sea, or eat them. I believe it appears in one of Sinbad's tales among others, but later became some pseudo-allegory for Satan.
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Is that why one of his names is Leviathan? BTW I liked the allegory, it really has a deep meaning to it.
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Well Leviathan isn't really accepted as one of his names; only some specialists state it is the same beast as the Leviathan.
Two stories I really love are Narkissos and Echo and Pygmalion and Galatea.
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BTW on who's side WERE you about the war of Troy. I mean - even the gods took sides to face each other in battle.
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Hmm.. Hard question.
I guess you could call me neutral?
I'd choose the Greeks because they have the right to start a war. But, then again, Rome 'decended' from Aeneas.
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I'd pick Greeks too. They ARE right to want the lady back - only if I were Menelaios, I'd kill her when I had her. For all the trouble she's brought.
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Yeah, I don't know about the killing though.. Probably. It's also because I like the Odysseus & Ajax parts of the story.. Then later his going home which took 10 years.. His adventures are great to read in Greek.
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I think he's the coolest Greek hero, by the way, he's the only mere mortal amongst them to gain such a success. BTW you seen him played by Armand Assante?
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Yes I did.. Don't really know what to think of it, I imagined him different..
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Handsome?
How did you come to loving myths so much, anyway?
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Heh that could be it ;P
I started reading them when I was smaller, my parents have lots of books about it. And now in school I study Latin and Ancient-Greek. It is simply amazing to read the original texts and discuss them.
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The thing about good myths is that they're plain, simple and good.
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Yeah.. And always a moral or wisdom behind it.
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Ares is my boy, I believe the reason is obvious to all :gun: .
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Ares is overrated. The fact that a mere mortal like Diomedes was able to wound him in the course of the Trojan war makes one wonder if the god of war was truly all that he was cut out to be. Personally, I think Athene was far more impressive as a war deity. Simply by blessing Diomedes, she succeeded in humiliating both Aphrodite and Ares on the battlefield. That speaks volumes about the kind of power and influence that she wielded over warriors.
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Ares symbolizes the weak morales behind unjustified war, he is a weak individual as one may notice, unlike Athene, who is the goddess of justice, wisdom, honor. She's the 300 Spartans, he's the 1000000 Persians.
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Well said. He certainly lacks the self-control and dignity associated with the more powerful gods like Apollo and Athene, which might explain why he together with Aphrodite sided with the Trojans who had insulted the hospitality and trust of Menelaus.
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But both Ares and Aphrodite are much more arrogant than the rest of the gods, as I've noticed. Of course, there's Zeus and there's Hera, but they kinda deserve to be a little full of themselves.
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True. You'd be arrogant too if you were capable of defeating all the gods in Olympus single-handed. And as for Hera, she holds a much coveted position as Zeus's primary consort, an honour which would quickly go to anyone's head I imagine.
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Yeah, my girlfirends would surely understand her :laugh:
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Ares is overrated. The fact that a mere mortal like Diomedes was able to wound him in the course of the Trojan war makes one wonder if the god of war was truly all that he was cut out to be. Personally, I think Athene was far more impressive as a war deity. Simply by blessing Diomedes, she succeeded in humiliating both Aphrodite and Ares on the battlefield. That speaks volumes about the kind of power and influence that she wielded over warriors.
Bah, what good is battle if you never feel the bite of your enemy? The only way to get a war to continue is to make your opponent believe that he continually has a chance. Ares allows his opponents to defeat or at least thwart him so they will continue to make war, after all, what's more dangerous than a man with a bloated ego? Destroy a man's hope and he has no desire to continue the battle. Ares focus was not to conquer, but to drown the world in war, as long as there is blood shed, he is a happy god. Defeat means nothing to him, in war defeat by someone is inevitable, he knows that. As for always choosing the loosing side? Well what better way to glut oneself than to be in the middle of the most carnage. You don't follow Ares for the win, you follow him for the simple thrill of battle, you follow him for the fight, winning or loosing means nothing. He was not the god of winning but the god of war, foolish mortals would pray to him so they might win, and if they made pleasing offers, then they might, but fear not, he would answer even poor prayer, for war is what he existed for, bloodshed from violence is what he loved.
I decided to add a few sites, chosen at random, to cite my belifes of Ares.
http://gogreece.about.com/cs/mythology/a/blmythares.htm (http://gogreece.about.com/cs/mythology/a/blmythares.htm)
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Ares.html (http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Ares.html)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares)
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ares-greek-god-of-war.html (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ares-greek-god-of-war.html)
http://www.timelessmyths.co.uk/take-arms-ares-greek-god-war.html (http://www.timelessmyths.co.uk/take-arms-ares-greek-god-war.html)
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This all does not really contradict to what I was saying. He is the god of meaningless war, massacre, slaughter - as far as it goes - genocide.
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This all does not really contradict to what I was saying. He is the god of meaningless war, massacre, slaughter - as far as it goes - genocide.
Hence my fav., you see I love a fight, the trill of battle, win or loose, the lust for battle is and always has been a part of my life.
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Would you beat a helpless person?
He's the god of such deeds as well.
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If I were in the middle of battle then yes, you don't have to follow every moral of the gods you know, as long as you are loyal to the majority of its ideals then you may appease them. Remember, gods need us as much as we need them.
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Hell, I like Ares, WHY am I arguing?
Oh, I guess just for the sake of it.
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Wait.... what's a lamia anyway :? ? I've heard of them but I never actually understood what one was. Also, there's this really cool monster program on the History Channel called Clash of the Gods, it's really good but kinda grusome. Real fun to watch if you want to know how the myths all come together :-D
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Seems no one knows how to use a search feature.
http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Lamia (http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Lamia)
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Ares.... Is not the act of waging a war.... he is the act of fighting it.
Athena's domain is strategy, tactics, supplies, and training all physical and mental aspects. Ares is the frenzy, the horror, the suffering, savagery, and rush of battle, he is the human cost. He is the spirit of battle.
Athena is order. Ares is chaos.
Athena is human planning, Ares is Human feeling.
Athena is what you know, she is knowledge. Ares is what you feel, what makes you human.
SO it could be argued that ares is morale, and iron will..... And maybe the god of Stimulants.
Athena would be the other side of the equation
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Ares.... Is not the act of waging a war.... he is the act of fighting it.
Athena's domain is strategy, tactics, supplies, and training all physical and mental aspects. Ares is the frenzy, the horror, the suffering, savagery, and rush of battle, he is the human cost. He is the spirit of battle.
Athena is order. Ares is chaos.
Athena is human planning, Ares is Human feeling.
Athena is what you know, she is knowledge. Ares is what you feel, what makes you human.
SO it could be argued that ares is morale, and iron will..... And maybe the god of Stimulants.
Athena would be the other side of the equation
And that's what makes him so perfect for me.