MOST TERIFYING CREATURES FROM GREEK MYTHOLOGY

10. Harpies
The Harpies were the minions of Zeus and, as the spirits of sudden, sharp gusts of wind, were sent by him to take things away from the earth. They were blamed by the Greeks when people mysteriously disappeared, and in various myths they were sent by Zeus to seek revenge against those who had disobeyed him. They had the form of birds, but with human faces, and would carry people to the three goddesses known as the Erinyes who were responsible for punishing people.

9. Cerberus
Cerberus was the personification of everything the Greeks feared in wild dogs and was the creature responsible for guarding the gates of the underworld. It had three heads, although earlier accounts said it had as many as 100 heads and would prevent the from escaping back into the real world, as well as stopping living people from making their way across the river Styx into the underworld without the permission of Hades.

8. Minotaur
The Minotaur is one of the most famous creatures from Greek mythology- having the body of a man, but the head and tail of a bull. It was the offspring of Queen Pasiphae of Crete and a bull and was truly monstrous. King Minos wanted to keep the minotaur hidden, mainly because its sheer existence was a punishment handed out to him by the gods, so he ordered his most trusted craftsmen, Daedalus and his son Icarus, to build a large labyrinth to keep it in.

7. Hydra
The Lernaean Hydra lived in Lake Lerna in the region of Argolid and was the offspring of the mother and father of all monsters- Echidna and Typhon (so the sibling of Cerberus). It was a serpent-like beast with many heads, and it was said that if you cut off one of its heads, 2 more would grow back in its place. The head in the middle was immortal, and all of them could spit acid. Its blood was deathly poisonous, and its teeth were believed to be able to raise them.

6. Centaurs
Centaurs were, according to Greek mythology, half-human, half-horse creatures that were the children of Ixion, the king of Lapiths, and Nephele, a cloud that had been made in the form of the goddess Hera. They had the body of a horse, and the torso, head, and arms of a man.

5. Cyclops
While most creatures from Greek mythology were invented to represent a specific meaning or purpose, recent discoveries have suggested that the ancient Greeks truly believed cyclops to be real. They were one-eyed giants who feature in a number of myths that were probably inspired by the remains of an ancient species of elephant that used to live in Greece and Crete. 4. Charybdis and Scylla
In the Odyssey, Odysseus had to sail his ship through the narrow Strait of Messina, but it wasn't just treacherous rocks he had to watch out for because each side was guarded by dangerous monsters… Charybdis and Scylla.

3. Chimaera
The Chimaera was another offspring Echidna and Typhon, and sibling to Cerberus and the Hydra. It had the body and head of a lion, a head of a goat that was attached to its back, and a tail that was the head of a snake. The word now means an imaginative creation or a grotesque beast, and to the ancient Greeks, it represented just that.

2. Typhon
Now it’s time to meet the parents. Typhon was the father of all monsters, along with his wife Echidna. As you can imagine for someone who spawned the likes of Cerberus, the Hydra, and the Chimaera, he was a mighty beast in his own right.

1. Medusa
Undoubtedly the best-known creature from Greek mythology is Medusa, the winged woman with venomous snakes instead of hair. She was one of three gorgons, but unlike her siblings that also included Echidna… Medusa wasn't born a monster.

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