25 Most Legendary Creatures From Greek Mythology

Usually represented as a serpent, he presided over the Delphic oracle. Unfortunately, the Olympian deity Apollos ended up killing him out of revenge and taking the oracle for himself.

A two headed dog tasked with guarding a huge herd of red cattle, he was killed by Heracles, who then kept all the cattle as proof of his victory. Some accounts also hold that Orthrus was also the father of a number of other monsters, including the Sphinx and the Chimera.

These were a pair of centaurine sea-gods with the upper body of a man, the lower front of a horse, and the tail of a fish. They are often associated with Aphrodite at her birth. They were set in the sky as the astronomical constellation Pisces.

Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis (#13). The two sides of the strait were within an arrow’s range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla with disastrous results.

Considered the personification of volcanic forces, Typhon was also believed to be the most deadly monster of Greek mythology. His human upper half supposedly reached as high as the stars, and his hands reached east and west. Instead of a human head, a hundred dragon heads erupted from his neck and shoulders.

Ophiotaurus was a creature that was part bull and part serpent. It’s entrails were said to grant the power to defeat the gods to whoever burned them. Because of this, a supporter of the Titans killed the beast, but Zeus sent an Eagle to get the entrails before they were sacrificed and Olympus was ruined.

Lamia was said to be a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon. In the myth, she is a mistress of the god Zeus, causing Zeus’ jealous wife, Hera, to kill all of Lamia’s children (except for Scylla, who is herself cursed) and transforms her into a monster that hunts and devours the children of others.

The Graeae were three sisters who shared one eye and one tooth among them. Not surprisingly, they weren’t known for their beauty. To top it all off, their charming names were Deino (death), Enyo (horror), and Pemphredo (alarm).

Half woman half snake, Echidna known as the “Mother of All Monsters” as many of the monsters in Greek mythology were considered her offspring. She’s also known for her romantic relationship with Typhon. It’s said she could produce a venom that would cause madness.

The Nemean Lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. It was eventually killed by Heracles. It could not be killed with mortal weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack, so Heracles ended up strangling it with his bare hands. The only way Heracles was able to skin the beast was by using its own claws.

With the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the head of a woman, the Greek version of this creature is mythicized as treacherous and merciless. Those who couldn’t answer her riddle suffered a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they were killed and eaten by this ravenous monster.

Literally translated to the ”the avengers” from Greek, these were known as the female deities of vengeance. They were known to punish anyone who’d sworn a false oath, had committed an act of evil, or said anything against one of the gods.

The daughter of Poseidon and Gaia, Charybdis was a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms and legs were flippers. She swallowed huge amounts of water three times a day before belching it back out again, creating large whirlpools capable of sinking large ships. She’s often depicted on the opposite side of the narrow channel from Scylla (#22).

Creatures with the body of a bird and face of a woman, they would steal food from the victims and take wrongdoers to the Erinnyes (#14). Their name literally means, “that which snatches.” Zeus often used them as a means of punishment or torture.

Satyrs are often depicted as having goat-like features such as hindquarters and horns and are often depicted playing flutes, holding cups of wine, and serving the god Dionysus. They epitomize the essence of having a carefree life as they make music and drink all they want.

Dangerous and beautiful creatures, they were often portrayed as femme fatales who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.

The Griffin is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle’s talons as its front feet. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature.

The Chimera was a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor who was composed of the parts of three animals; a lion, a snake, and a goat. The term chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals, or to describe concepts perceived as wildly imaginative or implausible.

A multi-headed dog, or “hellhound,” Cerberus guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping.

A member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of the forehead, these creatures were said to be rather lawless and had no fear of the gods but were said to be the workmen of Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and fire.

The Hydra was an ancient serpent-like water beast with reptilian traits that possessed many heads, and for each head cut off, it grew two more. It also had poisonous breath and blood so toxic even its tracks were deadly.

Perhaps the most popular gorgon in Greek mythology is Medusa, the only mortal among three sisters who had snakes for hair and who’s gaze would turn anyone into stone. She was famously decapitated by Perseus who was armed with a mirror and scythe.

The Minotaur was a humanoid mythical creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man. He dwelt at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus. The bull-man was eventually slain by the Athenian hero Theseus.

The centaur is a humanoid mythical creature with the head, arms, and torso of a human and the body and legs of a horse. Perhaps one of the most popular centaurs in Greek mythology is Chiron. While most centaurs are depicted as rowdy followers of Dionysus, Chiron was known for his wisdom and for teaching Greek heroes like Heracles and Achilles.

One of the best known creatures in Greek mythology, he is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He is the offspring of Poseidon and the blood of Medusa and legend says every time his hoof hit the earth, a spring of water bubbled forth.