Greek+Monsters

 Monsters of the Ancient World

 One-eyed, hundred handed, bird, man eating, snake-like hair…. In Greek mythology, there are plenty of monsters, some good, and some bad. A few live up on Mount Olympus, and the others on the earth. And, there are some really odd ones too. There are a few that are very distinct to us.

Cyclopes, the one eyed sons of Poseidon. We all know the one from the Odyssey, Polithemus, who herded sheep. The Cyclops was then blinded by Odysseus, cursing him by praying to his father. The Cyclops is said to be lazy, giant and evil. It is said the first lightning bolt was created by a Cyclops, made for Zeus when he was fighting the Titans; therefore, Zeus let the Cyclops stay in Olympus. Many people are often interested in the discovery of how the Cyclops first came about. Many scholars believe that the legend of the Cyclopes’ single eye arose from an actual practice of blacksmiths wearing an eye patch over one eye to prevent flying sparks from blinding them in both eyes. It is also thought that the origin of the Cyclops legend is the prehistoric dwarf elephant which were about twice the size of a human skullwhich were found by the Greeks on the Island of Crete. The large central naval cavity in the skull may have been mistaken for a large, single, eye-socket.

 Three giants of incredible strength and ferocity which that surpasses all of the Titans, whom they helped overthrow, the Hecatoncheires, or Hundred Handed monster. The children of Gaia (earth) and Uranus (sky). Hecatoncheires is a giant with a hundred hands, and a hundred heads.

Jason on the Argo and Odysseus. Are the Sirens only found the the Odyssey? a woman-like creature who caused the wreck of ships and death of men by the use of their sweet singing and instrumental playing, a dangerous beautiful woman, as some say, Greek root meaning to bind or attach. The sirens where half bird half woman monsters. The sirens were the daughters of the sea god Phorcys or Achelous, the river god, and Malpomene, the muse of tragedy. They are most commonly referred to as the daughters of Achelous and Malpomene. They each have names and meanings, Aglaophonos: one of brilliant voice, Thelxepeia: one who uses words to enchant, Peisino‘: the persuasive one, Molpe: one with song. Only two ships have passed the sirens without falling victim to their singing, the ships of the Argonauts and Odysseus. 

Shown as an eagle, Aquila is the name of the bird that belonged to Zeus. Aquila's most famous task was carrying the mortal Ganymede to the heavens to serve as Zeus' cup bearer. She is also a constellation. She doesn’t have very many myths.

 Medusa: Most of us know of her, she has snakes for hair. But she also had a lot more than that. She was said to be beautiful, and charming. She was one of the three gorgons, along with her sisters, Stheno and Euryale. They were all said to have snake- like hair. It is also said when you look into the gorgons eyes, the looker would turn to stone. There are three hypotheses as to how the three sisters were changed into Gorgons:


 * 1) Medusa claimed she was more beautiful than Athena
 * 2) Medusa claimed to have more beautiful hair than Athena
 * 3) Medusa and Poseidon laid together in Athena's temple[[image:Sirens2.jpg width="320" height="340" align="right" caption="Medusa"]]

There are a lot of monsters in Greek Mythology, and these a just a few of the many. There are also current stories about Greece and the monsters, like Percy Jackson and the Olympians, in which there are lots of monsters, like Medusa, who was also in the series. There are other books too, and shows, and other media examples.

Work Cited: "Greek Mythology Creature." University of Tennessee: Department of Mathematics. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. .

"WWU Planetarium - Greek Constellations." Western Washington University. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. .

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Greek Mythology Creature." SDSU College of Education: Home Page. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. <http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/gg/creature.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Aquila." UW Astronomy. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. <http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Aquila.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Medusa in Myth and Literary History." Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. <http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bogan/medusamyth.htm>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"The Cyclops." Washington State University - Pullman, Washington. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/cyclops.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Hecatoncheires." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekatonkheires>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Cyclops." The University of Vermont. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://www.uvm.edu/~jbailly/courses/tragedy/student documents F06/betcher.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Greek Mythology Creature." University of Tennessee: Department of Mathematics. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://www.math.utk.edu/~vasili/va/GREECE/Greek_myth/creature.html#Sirens>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Sweet Briar College {History of Art Program}. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/lindforssiren/siren.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Aquila." UW Astronomy. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Aquila.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Sweet Briar College {History of Art Program}. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/kottkegorgon/gorgons.html>.