A Complete List of Mythical Creatures and Monsters from Greek Mythology | Part 2

Hey, and welcome back to WoW Mythology. I welcome you to the channel with bread and salt. Today's video is going to be part two of where I talk about every single creature and monster from Greek Mythology. But before we get to that, we have a winner for last month's giveaway. Congratulations to Goodbrod, you have won the book Bullfinch's Mythology. I'll be getting into contact with you so we can get you your prize. For everyone who didn't win, no worries, we have another giveaway this month, so pay attention. We are going to give away the illustrated 75th anniversary book of Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton. It's a great intro book into Greek Mythology, and even has a little intro into Norse Mythology at the end. It's a must-have for any Mythology collection. All you have to do for a chance to win is subscribe and make a comment on this video. Plus, every video you comment on this month gets you an extra entry to win, so make sure to press the notification button to get updated on when we release a new video. Now enough of that, let's get to part two for the creatures of Greek Mythology. 1. The Minotaur The Minotaur is one of the most famous and recognizable monsters from Greek Mythology that takes the form of a man with the head and tail of a bull. Mythology, once King Minos, the son of Zeus in Europa, became the king of Crete. He needed a way to show his brothers and people that the gods agreed with his crown. So he prayed to the god Poseidon to send him a sign. Poseidon sent King Minos a glorious white bull and told Minos to sacrifice the bull to him in front of the entire kingdom. But King Minos did not sacrifice the bull to Poseidon, which made the sea god angry. So Poseidon went to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and had her make King Minos' wife, Pasiphae, fall in love with the bull. Pasiphae then went to the great builder Daedalus and had him fashion a hollow wooden cow. Getting into the hollow cow, Pasiphae mated with the bull and gave birth to a child with a cow head and tail. This child she named Asterion, but it would famously be known as the Minotaur. Horrified with the creature his wife had given birth to, King Minos consulted with the oracle of Delphi who told the king to place the creature inside a huge maze. So the king had Daedalus build a great maze, and after it was complete, King Minos placed the Minotaur within it. There the Minotaur would stay, hunting and eating the humans that King Minos would throw into the maze until the beast was finally slayed by the hero Theseus. 2. The Stymphalian Birds The Stymphalian birds were man-eating birds with beaks made of bronze that could tear through flesh and metallic feathers that they could shoot out like arrows. They were once said to be the pets of Artemis until a pack of wolves scared them away to the swamps of Arcadia where they repopulated and were raised by the war god Ares. In mythology, Heracles was tasked with killing or driving off the Stymphalian birds from Arcadia. But the nests of the birds were deep in the swamps and Heracles could not enter without sinking into the mud. So with the help of the goddess Athena, Heracles used a rattle made by the god Hephaestus to frighten the birds out of their nests and into the air. He then took his bow and shot the Stymphalian birds using his arrows dipped in hydra blood. Only a few survived and flew away. Heracles then took the dead birds to King Eurystheus to show proof of his labor. As for the Stymphalian birds that survived, they would eventually run into Jason and the Argonauts, causing them problems by shooting the crew with their arrow-like feathers. Luckily, the birds were driven away when the Argonauts banged loudly on their shields. 3. The Greae The Greae, also known as the Grey Sisters, were three sisters who shared a single eye and a single tooth amongst themselves. The Grey Sisters were the children of Four Seas, the god of sea dangers, and Cedo, the goddess of sea monsters, as well as the siblings of Echidna, the queen of monsters, and the stone-gazing Gorgons. The three sisters Dano, Eno, and Pamphredo usually took the forms of ancient-looking women and were always fighting over whose turn it was to have the eye or the tooth. In mythology, the Greae appear in the myth of Perseus, where he has been tasked to bring the head of the Gorgon Medusa to his king. Gaining advice from the goddess Athena, Perseus was told by the goddess to find the Grey Sisters for information about Medusa's whereabouts and how to kill her. So, Perseus found the Grey Sisters, but they refused to help the hero. Perseus then stole their single eye and blackmailed the sisters into giving him the information. Not wanting to lose their only eye, the Greae helped Perseus and regained their possession. 4. The Cyrenian Hine The Cyrenian Hine was a large doe with gold antlers and iron feet, sacred to the goddess Artemis. In mythology, Artemis saved the nymph Teagit from the pursuits of Zeus, resulting in Teagit gifting Artemis five golden horned does. Four of them became the does that pulled Artemis' moon chariot, while the fifth, the Cyrenian Hine, was allowed to roam free, at least until Heracles came around. For Heracles' third labor, he was tasked to bring the Cyrenian Hine back to King Eurystheus alive. A difficult task, not only because he had to bring it back alive, but also because the Hine was sacred to Artemis. Thus, Heracles could not risk angering the goddess by injuring or killing the doe. Once Heracles found the Hine, he tried to capture it, but the Hine was too swift and continuously avoided Heracles' grasp. This game of cat and happened for exactly one year until finally Heracles wounded the Hine with an arrow. While on his way back with the Hine to King Eurystheus, an angry Artemis and Apollo appeared in front of Heracles. But luckily, Heracles was able to calm the twins and shift the blame of the injured Hine onto King Eurystheus. Heracles eventually delivered the Hine to the king, who unknowingly and unfortunately gained Artemis' wrath. 5. Lamia Lamia was a child-eating monster that had a very unfortunate life because of Hera. In mythology, Lamia was the demigod child of Poseidon, who eventually became the queen of Libya. Zeus, the king of the gods, became interested in Lamia, and together they had children. But when Hera found out about the affair between Lamia and Zeus, Hera killed all but one of Lamia's children, and cursed her as well. The last child, Achilles, was given away to a mortal family, and was eventually turned into a shark by Aphrodite for boasting that he was more beautiful than she. Devastated over the loss of her kids, Lamia went insane and started eating children. This caused Hera's curse to change Lamia into a monster, usually described as a woman with snake-like eyes, claws for hands, shark teeth, and the lower body of a serpent. The curse also caused Lamia insomnia, making it impossible for her to close her eyes. Lamia continued over the years to hunt and eat children, and was even gifted the ability to remove her eyes from her head by Zeus so that she could sleep. Perhaps the king of the gods felt guilty about what had happened. As time passed, tales of Lamia seducing young handsome men became more prominent in myths and folklore. And from there, Lamia became more of a seductress than a child devourer. And there it is, I give you 5 more creatures from Greek Mythology. I hope you enjoyed the video. Go check out our other content and don't forget to subscribe and comment so you can enter our giveaway. Well until next time on Wild Mythology.