Monsters

The Monsters section covers the beasts that heroes of Greek myth were sent to kill or to avoid. Several of them became part of the labours of Heracles, and others belong to the stories of Theseus, Oedipus and Odysseus.

The labours of Heracles

Apollodorus lists twelve labours, and many of the monsters in this section belong to them: the Nemean Lion, said to be begotten by Typhon, which Heracles strangled; the Lernaean Hydra, whose heads grew back until Iolaus burned the roots; the Stymphalian Birds, frightened out of their wood with bronze castanets given by Athena; the Mares of Diomedes, which ate men; and the cattle of Geryon, guarded by a two-headed dog, Orthrus.

Crete, Thebes and the sea

The Minotaur, born to Pasiphae, wife of Minos, lived in the labyrinth built by Daedalus until Theseus killed it with his fists. The Sphinx put her riddle to Thebes until Oedipus answered it. At sea, Odysseus faced Scylla, whom Apollodorus describes with a woman’s face and breast and six dog heads, and Charybdis.

Other creatures

Cetus, the sea-monster that Poseidon sent against Andromeda and that Perseus killed (Apollodorus 2.4.3), the Harpies, Lamia, Ladon, Campe, the Khalkotauroi (the bronze bulls of Aeetes) and the Calydonian Boar have their own accounts.

See Also: Minotaur, Nemean Lion, Lernaean Hydra, Sphinx, Scylla, Charybdis, Orthrus, Geryon