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Greek Myths
What is mythology?
Some people use the word myth to mean
fake, but…
Mythology is the study of stories that were
used to explain the world and other human
experiences.
In the same way, Greek Myths…
Were used to explain
 the creation of the earth,
 death and the afterlife,
 and human experiences: love,
jealousy, revenge, & war.
 They were also used as entertainment
and were only told orally because most
people could not read.

Introducing…
•Monsters
and other
creatures
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Centaurs
•rude, aggressive halfhorse creatures
• Satyrs are
half-man and
half-goat.
• The leader of
the Satyrs was
a god called
Pan.
Satyrs
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Cyclops
• One-eyed
monsters
• The most
famous one,
Polyphemus,
fights
Odysseus in
his cave.
Nymphs
• female nature spirits
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Chimaera
Personality
• fierce and lethal to mortals
Career
• killing and devouring humans
Distinguishing Features
• head of a lion
• the body of a goat
• a serpent tail
Supernatural Attributes
• Fire breathing
Sirens
Personality
• destructive and wicked sisters
Distinguishing Features
• beautiful female faces and voices
• have birdlike bodies with wings and claws
• irresistible voices lure sailors to the impassable reef
Story
• friends of Persephone
• when Sirens didn’t protect their friend when she was being carried off
by Hades, they were transformed into half-woman, half-bird creatures
• then lived on a barren island that was one of the entrances to the
underworld
• whenever a ship would pass, they sang, hoping it was Persephone
• no one could resist the beautiful voices, so they sailed closer to the
gates to the underworld
• every time the Sirens realized Persephone was not on board, they tore
the crew limb from limb and sent them to the underworld
Cerberus
Personality
• ferocious
Career
• guards the gates of the underworld
Distinguishing Features
• dog
• 3 heads
Supernatural Attributes
• immortality
• his spit produces the aconite flower which
contains a poison
Argus
Career
• Hera’s (Zeus’s wife) servant
Distinguishing Features
• 100 eyes, never all
closed at once
Echidne
Mother of Monsters
• half woman
• half serpent
Supernatural Attributes
• gives birth to other monsters; Orthus
Cerberus, Hydra, Chimaera, Sphinx,
Nemean Lion
Typhon
• Father of Monsters
• Battled Zeus in the War with the Titans
• Legs were serpents, fire-breathing,
gigantic and immortal
Gorgon
Story
• once beautiful creatures were turned into
monsters
• offended Athene
Distinguishing Features
• wings
• bronze claws
• hissing serpents for hair
Supernatural Attribute
• turn anyone who looks at them to stone
• Their den could be easily recognized
because it has the statues of its many victims
Scylla
• female
• six heads
• tentacles/fish tail
• ring of snarling dogs around her waist
Story
• lives under a rock right across from the rock Charybdis,
another creature, lives under
• Scylla and Charybdis are always near each other
• whenever sailors try to pass between both the rocks, they
have to stay midway
• if they go too the right six sailors will be pulled off her
tentacles and eaten by one of the six heads.
• Odysseus was one of the few that actually made it through
safely.
Charybdis
A gigantic
whirlpool between
clashing rocks
• pitiless
• Scylla is normally near her
• try to crush sailors that go between
them
• attempted the destruction of Jason and
the Argonauts
• Almost destroyed Odysseus’ crew
Erinyes
They troubled the conscience of murderers
• persistent and terrifying to the guilty
• but no problem at all to the innocent
• three of them
• female
• when in pursuit of their
victims they have a dog’s
head
• snakes for hair
• bat wings
Supernatural Attributes
• immortality
• being able to inflict psychological torture on their victims
In our world today there
are many references to
Greek myths.
Knowing these famous
stories and characters will
help you to better
understand the world
around you.
They are also fun to learn!
Greek Mythology in
advertising…
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More Mythological Images
in Ads…
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