First Monsters of Greek Mythology

It is believed in Greek Mythology that the world began as Chaos, which is emptiness. Then, the creation of the goddess, Gaea (believed to be Mother Earth), occurred. She had a child named Uranus and declared him the god of the sky. She married Uranus and had six children. These six children were the first of many Greek monsters.

When Gaea had her children, her husband, Uranus, trapped them in the depths of Tartarus. Their children consisted of the Hundred-Handed Giants and Cyclopes. The Hundred-Handed Giants had one hundred arms and fifty heads each. The Cyclopes had one eye in the middle of their forehead. These monsters were gigantic, and Uranus was afraid that he would be overthrown by his children. They did prove to be helpful for the Olympians during the war with the Titans. The monsters supported the Olympians and took boulders taken from mountains and hurled them at the Titans.

Cerberus is the guard dog for the underworld. He is also very large and has three heads. His body is composed of the heads of various snakes in his mane, and he is believed to have a tail of a serpent. Cerberus prevented people from entering and leaving the underworld. They would be prevented from entering if they weren’t buried properly. If someone was caught trying to escape, the monstrous dog would swallow them whole. Cerberus could sometimes be deceived though.  If he was distracted with a honey cake, sometimes a person could escape their incessant future in the underworld.

                
            Typhon is the most powerful out of all of the Greek monsters. When standing, his head reached the heavens. He is the son of Tartarus and Gaea, and being the son of Tartarus makes him extremely powerful. He tried to take over Mount Olympus (the home of the gods), but he was tricked by the gods turning into animals. He was defeated and was buried under Mount Aetna. This myth explained volcanoes to the people of Greece.

            The Hundred-Handed-Giants, Cyclopes, Cerberus, and Typhon were just the beginning of the Greek monsters. The monsters remained brutal and generally worked against the gods.