Monsters of Greek mythology: Medusa, the Minotaur, the Hydra, the Chimera, Cyclopes, the Sphinx, Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, centaurs and Harpies

Monsters are essential to Greek myth: they stand for the wild forces of nature and the chaos the hero, with the gods' help, must overcome to make the world fit to live in. Many were children of Typhon, the most terrifying of the giants, and Echidna, half woman and half snake.

Monster	Appearance	Defeated by	Place
Medusa	Gorgon with snakes for hair; her gaze turns to stone	Perseus	The far West
Minotaur	Human body and bull's head	Theseus	Labyrinth of Knossos, Crete
Lernaean Hydra	Many-headed serpent whose heads grow back	Heracles	Lerna, Argolis
Chimera	Lion, goat and serpent, breathing fire	Bellerophon	Lycia
Sphinx	Winged lion with a woman's face	Oedipus, by wit	Thebes
Polyphemus	One-eyed giant Cyclops	Odysseus	Sicily, by tradition
Sirens	Bird-women with a deadly song	Odysseus and Orpheus get past them	Tyrrhenian Sea
Scylla	Monster with six dog heads	No one; Odysseus sails past	Strait of Messina
Charybdis	Whirlpool swallowing the sea three times a day	No one	Strait of Messina
Cerberus	Three-headed dog	Heracles captures him	Gate of Hades
Python	Giant serpent	Apollo	Delphi
Ladon	Hundred-headed dragon	Heracles	Garden of the Hesperides
Talos	Bronze giant	Medea and the Argonauts	Crete
Harpies	Rapacious birds with women's faces	The Boreads, Argonauts	Thrace

Good monsters?

Not every half-human creature was evil. The centaurs, half man and half horse, were mostly violent drunkards, but the wise Chiron taught Achilles, Jason and Asclepius. Pegasus, the winged horse born from Medusa's blood, befriended heroes and ended up among the stars. The god Pan, with goat's legs and horns, protected shepherds, though his sudden appearance caused panic.

Why monsters?

Scholars have offered many explanations: memories of wild animals; fossils of large mammals found in antiquity (skulls of dwarf elephants, with their large nasal opening, may have suggested the one-eyed Cyclopes); natural phenomena such as volcanoes and sea currents; sailors' fears. The myth of Scylla and Charybdis, for example, may reflect the dangerous currents of the Strait of Messina.