Mythological Monsters:

The Romans didn't have many monsters, but there are three. They are the Faun, the Lemure, and the Basilisk. The Faun was a man with horns, the hind legs of a goat, pointed ears and a tail. The Faun was related to the Greek monster called the Satyr. The Basilisk was a mix of a bird and a reptile.

The Lemure was a night walking spirit that usually injures its friends or relitives. There were two types of spirits; the good spirits called Lares and the bad were called Larvae.

The Basilisk was first written about 2000 years ago by an ancient writer Phiny in ancient Rome. The Basilisk was a reptile/bird combanation. It also breathed poisonious breath that could kill a human.

Info from "Mythological Monsters" by Chris Mcnab, and http://www.geocities.com.

The Greek mythology included many monsters. They included: Gorgon (plural: Gorgons)...was a vicious female monster with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. Gorgons are sometimes depicted as having wings of gold, brazen claws, and the tusks of boars. According to the myths, seeing the face of a Gorgon turned the viewer to stone. The famous Medusa was a Gorgon.

The hydra was a multi-headed reptile. One of its heads could not be hurt by any weapon. All the rest of the heads when severed, three heads would grow back. The hydra was finally defeated by the Greek hero named Hercules, who buried it under tons of rocks.

The Minotaur was a monster that was half bull and half man. It lived in the center of a maze, built to keep it imprisoned. The Minotaur was later killed by a Greek hero named Theseus.

CYCLOPES - Cyclopes were giants that had one eye. The Cyclopes were born to Gaea and Uranus, and were the first smiths. The Cyclopes were imprisoned by Cronus in Tartarus. Zeus freed the Cyclopes, and they fought with him against the Titans. The Cyclopes gave Zeus his weapons of lightening and thunder, as reward for their release. The Cyclopes worked for Zeus at Mount Olympus, forging his thunderbolts.

HECATONCHERIES - Hecatoncheires were gigantic creatures, with fifty heads. They had one hundred arms, each arm possessing great strength. They were named Hecatoncheries because that means hundred handed. There were three of these creatures: Briareus or Aegaeon, Cottus, and Gyges or Gyes. All three were born to Gaea and Uranus. The creatures hated Uranus so Uranus imprisoned them. Zeus released the creatures and they fought with him against the Titans.

GIANTS - The Giants were made from the blood of Uranus. They were very powerful and tried to defeat Zeus and the Olympians. The gods won and imprisoned the Giants in Tartarus.

TYPHOEUS - Typhoeus was a fire breathing dragon. He had a hundred heads. Typhoeus was born to Gaea, to help her children, the Titans, defeat the Olympians. It almost worked. Most of the gods fled and Zeus was captured. When Hermes was able to free Zeus, Zeus killed Typhoeus with his lightening bolts.

CERBERUS - Cerberus is a three headed dog. He also has a dragon tail. Cerberus guards the entrance to the underworld. The dead are allowed to enter but not leave.

SIRENS - Sirens are sisters, beautiful creatures who are half woman and half bird like creature. Sirens can sing such sweet songs that listeners forget everything else and starve to death. The Sirens sing their irresistible song to sailors, but live beyond the impassable reefs. The sailors are destroyed when they try to reach the Sirens. The three most famous Sirens were: Parthenope (maiden face), Ligea (shrill) and Leucosis (white being).

CENTAUR - Centaurs are creatures that have a horse body, with a torso head and arms of a man. They are wild and savage with the exception of the wise Centaur Chiron.

MEDUSA - Medusa was an ugly creature with snakes for hair. Any one who looks into her eyes, turns to stone. Medusa was once the beautiful daughter of Phorkys and Keto. She was one of the three sisters the Gorgons. Medusa was the only mortal of the three sisters. She lived very far north away from the sun. Medusa wanted to see the sun and asked the Goddess Athena for permission to go south and see it. Athena refused. Medusa got angry and accused Athena of denying her request because she was jealous of Medusa’s beauty. This made Athena angry, so she made Medusa ugly with snakes for hair.

ARGUS PANOPTES - Argus Panoptes is the all seeing man with many eyes. Some say he had four eyes, others say he had a hundred. Argus Panoptes had many adventures including killing a bull ravaging Acadia, killing a satyr for stealing cattle, he avenged the death of Apis. Argus was eventually killed by Hermes.

CHIMAERA - The Chimaera has three heads, one lion, one goat and one snake. Its body was also a mix of lion goat and snake. Chimaera was spawned by Typoeus and Echidna. The Chimaera could breath fire and ravaged the town of Lycia until it was slain by Bellerophon.

ECHIDNA- Echidna was a female monster. She was half nymph and half speckled snake. Echidna was ageless and lived in a cave. She would come out and snatch up those passing by and eat them. Enchidna was killed by Argus Panoptes.

GORGONS - Gorgons are female monsters. They have snakes for hair. They are so ugly that any man who looks at their face will turn to stone. Stheno and Euryale were born as Gorgons and were immortal. Medusa was a mortal.

PEGASUS - Pegasus, a winged horse, was a very good flyer. Pegasus was born from Medusa when her head was cut off by Perseus. Bellerophon tamed Pegasus to serve as his mount. Bellerphon tried to fly Pegasus to Mount Olympus. Zeus dismounted Bellerphon. Pegasus then carried lightening bolts for Zeus.

CHRYSASOR - Chrysaor was born from Medusa when her head was cut off by Perseus. No one knows exactly what Chrysaor looked like, but he may have been a Giant. He was considered to be a stout hearted warrior.

Like the Romans, the Egyptians didn't have many monsters either. We found three monsters.

The phoenix appears in the myths of many cultures including Greek and Egyptians mythology. It is a bird that represents eternal life, rebirth and life after death. The phoenix is usually linked to the God of the Sun. In Greek mythology, the phoenix always lived near a deep, cool well. And, the Sun God would pause every morning at sunrise near that well to listen to the bird’s beautiful singing while it bathed. The Greeks also believed that only one phoenix could live at a time. They lived a long time -- over 500 years. The phoenix could sense when its death was near and would build a special nest. Then it would set that nest on fire while it was sitting on it. A new phoenix would rise out of the fire. The phoenix was also considered a symbol of wisdom. In Egyptian mythology, the phoenix was usually a heron.

The Petsuchos is a crocodile with horns. He shoots sun beams from his horns. Petsuchos stands for son of Sobek. Petsuchos are worshiped gods.

The Sphinx is a large statue of a lion with a human head. Sometimes the Sphinx has a falcon, ram,or a hawk head. The Sphinx is associated with the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet most of the time.

The Norse Mythology had some monsters. They were:

Ymir was a giant frost ogre. He formed the beginning of the frost giants. His ice cow, Audumla, licked into being a man named Buri, who had lots of sons, including Odin. Odin and his brothers then killed Ymir, and made the nine worlds out of his body parts.

Fenrir was a giant wolf. He was one of Loki's children. When the gods tried to bind him, Fenrir kept breaking loose. They tried a silken fetter made of ten impossible things, and Fenrir didn't break loose until Rangarok, where he killed Odin.

The Midgard Serpent was another one of Loki's children. He encircled Midgard, the land of the humans. In Rangarok, the Midgard Serpent was killed by the god Thor, who later died of the serpent's venom.

Hel was the third of Loki's children. She ruled in Niflheim, in a palace for the dead. This palace was called Sleet-Cold. In Rangarok, she battled and killed the god Frey.