Magical Creatures

Magical creatures make mythology wonderfully weird.

Ammit

Devourer of the Dead

Ammit was the terrifying 'Devourer of the Dead' who waited beside the scales in scenes of judgement after death. She combined three animals ancient Egyptians knew could be extremely dangerous: a crocodile's head, the front of a lion or leopard and the rear of a hippopotamus. Ammit did not chase every dead person through the underworld. She had one exact duty. If a person's heart failed the test of truth, she destroyed it. I think she is frightening precisely because she waits so patiently for the result.

Fun fact: Ammit's name meant something like 'she who swallows the dead'.

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Bennu

The Bird of Rebirth

The Bennu was a sacred bird linked with creation, the Sun and renewal in ancient Egyptian religion. It was associated especially with Heliopolis and the gods Ra, Atum and Osiris. Egyptian art usually shows it as a tall grey heron with a long beak, two feathers rising from the back of its head and sometimes a sun disc. The Bennu is often compared with the later Greek phoenix, but they are not exactly the same creature. I like the Bennu because its power comes from arrival, light and beginning again.

Fun fact: The pointed benben stone linked with creation probably influenced the shape placed on top of pyramids and obelisks, called a pyramidion.

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Centaurs

Half Human, Half Horse

Centaurs were creatures with the upper body of a human and the body and four legs of a horse. They came from Greek mythology, but Roman writers and artists loved them too. Many centaurs were wild, noisy and extremely bad at behaving themselves, especially when wine was involved! However, the wise centaur Chiron was completely different. He taught heroes, understood medicine and proved that being a centaur did not automatically make somebody dangerous. Romans saw centaurs in stories, mosaics and paintings. I think their design is brilliant because the two halves almost tell the story themselves: one part can think and reason, while the other suggests speed, strength and wild instinct.

Fun fact: A female centaur is called a centauride — and Roman artists sometimes showed them with baby centaurs!

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Cerberus

Hound of the Underworld

Meet Cerberus, the enormous guard dog of the Greek Underworld! Today he is usually shown with three heads, although some ancient writers gave him many more. Cerberus belonged to Hades and guarded the entrance to the world of the dead. His job was to stop the dead escaping and make sure living visitors did not wander in without permission. He was a child of the monsters Typhon and Echidna and brother of creatures including the Hydra and Orthus. Heracles had to bring Cerberus to the surface for his final Labour. I like Cerberus because he looks terrifying, but really he is just an extremely enthusiastic watchdog doing his job.

Fun fact: Hesiod gave Cerberus fifty heads. Three suddenly seems quite manageable!

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Chimera

The Terrifying Three-Part Fire-Breather

Meet the Chimera, one of the strangest monsters in Greek mythology! It was a terrifying mixture of different animals, usually with a lion at the front, a goat rising from its back and a snake for a tail. As if that was not enough, it could breathe fire too! The Chimera was a child of Typhon and Echidna and terrorised the land of Lycia until the hero Bellerophon was ordered to defeat it. Luckily, Bellerophon had the winged horse Pegasus, so he could attack from the air. I think whoever invented the Chimera clearly looked at three dangerous animals and decided they needed combining into one much worse problem.

Fun fact: The word ‘chimera’ still means an impossible mixture or unrealistic dream today!

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Orthus

The Two-Headed Guard Dog

Meet Orthus, the two-headed guard dog of Greek mythology! Orthus, sometimes called Orthrus, guarded the magnificent red cattle belonging to the giant Geryon on the distant island of Erytheia. He was a child of Typhon and Echidna and the brother of Cerberus, so giant multi-headed guard dogs clearly ran in the family. Heracles met Orthus during his tenth Labour when he was ordered to bring Geryon’s cattle back to King Eurystheus. Orthus attacked the hero and was killed. He only has a small part in the surviving stories, but I think a two-headed monster dog deserves some attention. One head can bark while the other keeps watch!

Fun fact: Orthus was Cerberus’s two-headed brother. Apparently three heads was the deluxe model!

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Fauns

A Woodland Spirit

Fauns were Roman woodland spirits connected with forests, fields, animals and music. They were often shown with pointed ears, little horns and the legs or hooves of a goat. Romans connected them closely with Greek satyrs, so the two can be difficult to tell apart. Fauns might dance, play pipes or suddenly appear on a lonely country path. They belonged to the wild places beyond neat Roman streets and buildings. Some stories made them playful, while others made them rather troublesome. I think a faun is exactly the sort of creature you would expect to meet after hearing a strange noise in the woods and deciding, against all common sense, to investigate it.

Fun fact: Fauns were so closely mixed with Greek satyrs that even experts sometimes have to study an ancient picture carefully to decide which is which!

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Fenrir

The Monstrous Wolf

Fenrir is the enormous wolf whose strength terrifies the Norse gods. He is a child of Loki and the jötunn Angrboda, and his siblings are Jörmungandr and Hel. The gods raise him in Asgard, but only Tyr is brave enough to feed him. When Fenrir grows too powerful, they trick him into testing a magical ribbon and bind him. At Ragnarok he breaks free, kills Odin and is slain by Odin’s son Vidar. I find his story exciting and sad because fear makes the gods betray him before the foretold battle begins.

Fun fact: Gleipnir looks like a silk ribbon even though it is stronger than the heaviest chain.

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Griffins

The Guardian

Griffins were magnificent creatures with the body of a lion and the head, wings and front claws of an eagle. That meant somebody had basically combined two of the most powerful animals they knew and decided the result still needed wings! Griffins appeared in many ancient cultures before the Romans, but Roman artists loved using them on mosaics, jewellery, furniture and tombs. They were often guardians rather than evil monsters and could be shown protecting treasure or sacred places. I think griffins look so convincing because every part seems useful. They can run, fly, bite and grab things with enormous claws. Good luck sneaking past one to steal its treasure.

Fun fact: Ancient stories sometimes said griffins guarded piles of gold in distant lands. Apparently a normal guard dog was not enough!

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Harpies

The Wild Spirits of the Wind

Harpies were strange winged creatures whose name meant 'snatchers'. They could swoop from the sky, steal food and disappear before anybody could stop them. Early stories described them as spirits of powerful winds, but later Greek and Roman artists often gave them women's faces, birds' bodies and sharp claws. Roman readers knew them especially from the Aeneid, where they completely ruin Aeneas's dinner and then give him a mysterious prophecy. I think Harpies are brilliant story monsters because they do not need to fight a hero properly. Imagine finally sitting down for dinner after a terrible journey and a flock of flying monsters steals everything!

Fun fact: Harpies were basically mythology's worst dinner guests. They arrived uninvited, stole the food and left a prophecy!

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Huginn & Muninn

Odin's Watchful Ravens

Huginn and Muninn are Odin’s two ravens. Every day they fly across the world, observe what is happening and return to tell him what they have learned. Their names are usually understood as “Thought” and “Memory” or “Mind”. They make a perfect team for a god who will sacrifice almost anything to gain knowledge. I picture them as Odin’s flying scouts, but they are more than magical cameras. Their names connect information with the thinking and remembering needed to understand it.

Fun fact: Odin says he fears for both birds, but fears more for Muninn, Memory. Nobody knows exactly why.

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Medusa

The Snake-Haired Gorgan

Meet Medusa, the most famous of the three Gorgon sisters! Medusa had snakes for hair and a gaze so powerful that anyone who looked directly at her turned to stone. Unlike her immortal sisters Stheno and Euryale, Medusa could be killed. The hero Perseus was sent to bring back her head and survived by looking at her reflection in Athena’s polished shield instead of staring at her. Ancient stories about Medusa changed over time. Early versions mainly present her as a monster, while the Roman poet Ovid later gave her a much sadder beginning. I think that is why Medusa remains so interesting: she can be frightening, tragic and even protective all at once.

Fun fact: Ancient Greeks put Medusa’s face on buildings and armour to scare danger away!

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The Minotaur

Monster of the Labyrinth

Meet the Minotaur, the terrifying bull-headed creature hidden at the centre of the Labyrinth on Crete! The Minotaur had the body of a man and the head of a bull and was the strange child of Queen Pasiphaë. King Minos ordered the inventor Daedalus to build an enormous maze to contain him. Athens was later forced to send young people into the Labyrinth until the hero Theseus volunteered to stop the monster. Minos’s daughter Ariadne gave Theseus a thread so he could find his way back out after the fight. I think the Minotaur is scary, but also quite sad. He spends his whole life trapped because of decisions made by powerful adults around him.

Fun fact: The Minotaur was sometimes called Asterion, which means ‘starry’!

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Pegasus

The Winged Horse

Meet Pegasus, the most famous flying horse in Greek mythology! Pegasus had huge wings and was born in an extremely unusual way when Perseus cut off Medusa’s head. His father was Poseidon, a god who was strongly connected with horses. Pegasus later became the companion of the hero Bellerophon and helped him defeat the fire-breathing Chimera by attacking from the sky. After Bellerophon became too proud and tried to fly all the way to Mount Olympus, he fell back to Earth while Pegasus continued upwards and joined the gods. I have always loved Pegasus because he looks magical and peaceful, but his story also warns that even an amazing gift does not make its rider a god.

Fun fact: Pegasus later carried Zeus’s thunder and lightning. That is quite a promotion for a horse!

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Rataoskr

The Mischeivous Squirrel

Ratatoskr is the squirrel who runs up and down Yggdrasil, the enormous tree at the centre of the Norse cosmos. He carries messages between an eagle high in the branches and the dragon Nidhöggr below the roots. Unfortunately, they are not friendly messages. Ratatoskr repeats spiteful words and helps keep their quarrel alive. He has only a small role in the surviving myths, yet his constant racing makes the whole world tree feel busy, noisy and alive.

Fun fact: Ratatoskr may be one of mythology’s busiest messengers, but he never delivers anything helpful.

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The Serpopard

The Long-Necked Spotted Mystery

A serpopard is the modern nickname for a strange animal in some of the earliest art from Egypt and nearby lands. It has the body and paws of a big cat, but its neck is as long and bendy as a snake. No ancient Egyptian text tells us its name, habits or adventures, so it is better to call it an artistic creature than a fully known god or monster. I think that makes it even more intriguing. We can see exactly what it looked like, but its meaning has to be worked out from clues.

Fun fact: The two serpopards on the Narmer Palette turn their heads away from each other while their necks loop together.

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Sleipnir

Odin's Eight-Legged Horse

Sleipnir is Odin’s extraordinary eight-legged horse. He can carry his rider across land, through the air and into the world of the dead. The Prose Edda calls him the best of all horses. He is grey, swift and connected with some of the strangest adventures in Norse mythology. His family story is especially surprising because Loki is his mother. Sleipnir might look unusual, but nobody in the myths treats his eight legs as a problem. They make him faster and more powerful.

Fun fact: Sleipnir is the uncle of Fenrir, Jörmungandr and Hel because Loki is parent to all four.

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The Great Sphinx

Guardian of Giza

An Egyptian sphinx is a creature with a lion's body and a human head, usually wearing royal headgear. Unlike the Greek Sphinx, who asks a deadly riddle, Egyptian sphinxes were generally guardians and images of royal power. The lion suggested strength, while the human face represented the pharaoh's intelligence and authority. The most famous example is the Great Sphinx of Giza. I think it is brilliant that one calm, resting creature can look protective, powerful and mysterious at the same time.

Fun fact: The Great Sphinx has a lion’s body and a human head.

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The Strix

The Mysterious Night Bird

The strix was a frightening night bird in Greek and Roman folklore. Romans described it with a large head, staring eyes, hooked claws and a sharp beak. Its eerie cry was a bad sign, and some stories claimed it attacked babies. Ancient writers could not even agree on what it was. Ovid asks whether striges were born as birds, created by magic or old women transformed by spells. Pliny the Elder doubted tales about them feeding milk to infants and admitted that nobody knew which real bird the name meant. That uncertainty made the strix even scarier.

Fun fact: The strix was a frightening night creature linked with attacks on sleeping children.

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