Demons of Greece

Welcome to Demons of Greece!

The Greeks called all spirits which were neither human or godly demons. Demons were not necessarily bad, though they were considered such when Christianity took over. The good demons were called Eudemons and the bad ones were called Cacodemons, derived from the Greek word "kakos," meaning bad or atrocious.

Gorgons

The Gorgons were demons in Greek mythology.  They were three
sisters who were daughters of Ceto and Phoreys.  They had snakes on their
heads instead of hair, golden wings, and bronze hands.  They were so
terrifying, that whoever looked at them turned to stone.  Their names were
Euryale (meaning wide-leaping), Medusa (standing for strength), and Stheno(meaning strength).  The most famous Gorgon was Medusa.

Medusa

Medusa is the most famous Gorgon.  Her name stood for strength.
Her parents were Ceto and Phoreys, and her Gorgon sisters were Euryale and
Stheno.  She was the only mortal Gorgon.  She was so ugly that anyone who
looked at her turned to stone.  She had a hideous face.  She had sharp
teeth, two of her teeth were curved like tusks of a boar.  Her tongue
always stuck out spitting and hissing, her eyes glowed like fire, and her
hair was poisonous because snakes were coiled in her hair.  Pursues set out
to kill Medusa.  He knew that if he looked her in the eye he would turn to
stone.  When Pursues found her, he looked at her reflection in his shield
and cut off her head.

Pegasus was a winged horse from Greek mythology who sprang from
Medusa's neck when she was killed by Pursues.  Pegasus then flew to Mount
Helicon.  When he landed his hoof struck the ground and a stream began to
flow which became sacred to the Muses.  Pegasus was immortal.  When Chimera
threatened the Kingdom of Lancia, Bellerphon was ordered to kill Chimera.
He tamed Pegasus with the help of Athena's golden bridle.  Bellerphon rode
over Chimera and shot him.  Chimera died.

Cerberus

Cerberus was a demon in Greek mythology.  He was a three headed
demon.  His center head was in the shape of a lion, his other two heads
were in the shape of a dog and wolf.  He haunted battlefields all night,
feasting on bodies of fallen warriors.  Cerberus had a dragon's tail and a
mane of snakes.  He guarded he entrance to Hades and allowed only spirits
to go in and out of Hades.  Cerberus' father was Typhon, a huge dragon-like
monster.  His mother, Echidna, had the head and torso of a beautiful woman,
though her lower part of her body was a serpent.  Cerberus' Egyptian name
is Anubis, the dog who guarded tombs and conducted souls to the underworld,
a watchdog.  Heracles' last labor was to go to the underworld and bring
Cerberus back.  Charon ferried Heracles across the river Stynx.  At the
gates, Heracles met Cerberus.  Cerberus lunged out at Heracles and Heracles
dodged him.  Then Heracles grabbed Cerberus and they wrestled for hours,
until Cerberus fell down exhausted.


Centaurs

The Centaurs were Greek demons.  They had the lower body and legs
of a horse, and the arms, shoulders,and a head of a man.  Centaurs lived in
tribes in Thessaly.  Most Centaurs were drunkards and acted wildly.  Once
they were invited to a wedding feast for King Lapiths.  They got very drunk
and kidnapped all the women at the wedding.  They were forced into battle.
They lost and had to return all the women.


Cyclops

The Cyclops were Greek demons with only one eye on the center of
her foreheads.  Arges, Steropes, and Bronte were sons of Gaea and Uranus.
They were the ones who made lighting bolts for Zeus.  On Odysseus' journey
home, he stopped at an island


Minotaur

The Minotaur was a Greek demon with the body of a man and the head
of a bull.  His parents were Pasiphae and a bull.  Pasiphae was the wife of
King Minos of Crete.  The Minotaur was kept in an unescapable maze called
the Labyrinth.  Minos put seven women and seven men every year in the
Labyrinth as a sacrifice.  one of the victims was Theseus, a Greek hero.
Ariodne, Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus.  She told him the
secret to the Labyrinth and him some string.  Theseus tied the string to
the end of the Labyrinth and walked untilhe found the Minotaur.  He killed
the Minotaur and followed the string out of the Labyrinth.

Argus

Argus was a Greek demon with one hundred eyes all over his body. No
secret as kept from him. He was called Panoptes, which means
all-seeing. Argus was strong like a bull. Once Zeus had a mistress
named Io. Hera was always jealous of Zeus' many mistresses. To hide
her from Hera he turned Io into a cow. When Hera found the cow she gave
her to Argus to watch. Zeus commanded Hermes to kill Argus and he did.
When Hera found out about this she turned Argus into a peacock.

Hydra

The Hydra was a snake with many heads. It lived in Argolis, near
Lake Lerna. Out of all its heads he had one immortal one, the rest
would grow back when they were cut off. One of Heracles' labors was to
kill the Hydra. He cut off a head with his sword, and immediately two
more grew back. Heracles started a fire. He took a burning limb and
cut off a head. he burned the area that was cut off with the limb. A
head didn't grow back out of that area. He did this to all the heads
of the Hydra. He buried the immortal head, and the rest of the body
died.

Harpy

Harpy was a demon in Greek mythology. She was half woman and half bird. She had wide wings, necks and faces of a human, feet with claws,and a feathered stomach. They made noisy cries on trees. Harpy means"to snatch." they were named correctly because they stole food and left a disgusting smell behind.

Griffin

The Griffin was a demon in Greek mythology. It had the head and
wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. There was a lot of between
the Arimaspians' and the Hyperboreans' land. The Griffins guarded the
gold from the Arimaspians who often tried to steal it.

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