Mythical Creatures From Ancient Greece

The hydra was a seven-headed serpent with four legs. Its middle head could breathe fire while the other heads were extremely poisonous. A hydra’s coils could crush any type of prey. Greek hero Hercules was sent to defeat a hydra that was blocking a temple. The hydra turned out to be extremely hard to kill as, for one severed head, two more grew back. Hercules only managed to kill it after his nephew came to help. They cut off all the heads and set the necks on fire.

A hippocampus was a creature brought to existence by the sea god, Poseidon. According to legends, hippocampi were created by combining a horse and a fish. Poseidon is said to drive a chariot driven by hippocampi. They are mostly friendly toward demigods and have helped many heroes complete quests.

Myrmekes are ants the size of a fully-grown bull. The word myrmekes means “ants” in ancient greek. Myrmekes make huge nests where the queen ant can lay her eggs. They normally stay deep inside forests and only come out if they’re threatened. Myrmekes have almost no weaknesses, which is why you should never make them angry. They like to cover their prey with a sticky substance and soften them up before eating.

Drakons were just like dragons, but more snakelike and way more fierce. They have an impenetrably tough, scaly armour. It was believed that drakons were several millennia older than dragons. Some of these creatures had venomous fangs and could spit fire. Most could paralyze you with their eyes. The Lydian drakon could even withstand several javelins to the mouth.

Gryphons (also known as Griffins) were flying creatures who collected gold and even laid golden eggs. Gryphons have the body of a lion and the face and front feet of an eagle. They have beady red eyes and a pair of wings that allow them to fly. They’re commonly coloured black. Gryphons have a stealthy design, so they’re sometimes hard to spot.