Legends and myths about creatures. Myths speak of harpies as evil kidnappers of children and human souls

Ancient Greece is considered the cradle of European civilization, which gave modernity many cultural riches and inspired scientists and artists. The myths of Ancient Greece hospitably open the doors to a world inhabited by gods, heroes and monsters. The intricacies of relationships, the insidiousness of nature, divine or human, unimaginable fantasies plunge us into the abyss of passions, making us shudder with horror, empathy and admiration for the harmony of that reality that existed many centuries ago, but so relevant at all times!

1) Typhon

The most powerful and terrifying creature of all those generated by Gaia, the personification of the fiery forces of the earth and its vapors, with their destructive actions. The monster has incredible strength and has 100 dragon heads on the back of its head, with black tongues and fiery eyes. From his mouth comes the ordinary voice of the gods, the roar of a terrible bull, the roar of a lion, the howl of a dog, or a sharp whistle echoing in the mountains. Typhon was the father of mythical monsters from Echidna: Orphus, Cerberus, Hydra, Colchis Dragon and others, who on earth and underground threatened the human race until the hero Hercules destroyed them, except for the Sphinx, Cerberus and Chimera. All the empty winds came from Typhon, except Notus, Boreas and Zephyr. Typhon, crossing the Aegean Sea, scattered the islands of the Cyclades, which had previously been closely located. The fiery breath of the monster reached the island of Fer and destroyed its entire western half, and turned the rest into a scorched desert. The island has since taken on a crescent shape. Giant waves raised by Typhon reached the island of Crete and destroyed the kingdom of Minos. Typhon was so terrifying and powerful that the Olympian gods fled from their monastery, refusing to fight him. Only Zeus, the bravest of the young gods, decided to fight Typhon. The duel lasted a long time; in the heat of battle, the opponents moved from Greece to Syria. Here Typhon plowed the earth with his gigantic body; subsequently, these traces of the battle filled with water and became rivers. Zeus pushed Typhon north and threw him into the Ionian Sea, near the Italian coast. The Thunderer incinerated the monster with lightning and cast him into Tartarus under Mount Etna on the island of Sicily. In ancient times, it was believed that the numerous eruptions of Etna occur due to the fact that lightning, previously thrown by Zeus, erupts from the crater of the volcano. Typhon served as the personification of the destructive forces of nature, such as hurricanes, volcanoes, and tornadoes. The word “typhoon” comes from the English version of this Greek name.

2) Dracaines

They are a female snake or dragon, often with human features. Dracains include, in particular, Lamia and Echidna.

The name "lamia" etymologically comes from Assyria and Babylon, where it was the name given to demons who kill infants. Lamia, daughter of Poseidon, was the queen of Libya, beloved of Zeus and gave birth to children from him. The extraordinary beauty of Lamia herself ignited the fire of revenge in Hera’s heart, and Hera, out of jealousy, killed Lamia’s children, turned her beauty into ugliness and deprived her beloved husband of sleep. Lamia was forced to take refuge in a cave and, at the behest of Hera, turned into a bloody monster, in desperation and madness, kidnapping and devouring other people's children. Since Hera deprived her of sleep, Lamia wandered tirelessly at night. Zeus, who took pity on her, gave her the opportunity to take out her eyes to fall asleep, and only then could she become harmless. Having become in a new form half woman, half snake, she gave birth to eerie offspring called lamias. Lamia have polymorphic abilities and can act in various forms, usually as animal-human hybrids. However, more often they are likened to beautiful girls, since it is easier to charm unwary men. They also attack sleeping people and deprive them of their vitality. These night ghosts, disguised as beautiful maidens and youths, suck the blood of young people. Lamia in ancient times was also called ghouls and vampires, who, according to the popular belief of the modern Greeks, hypnotically lured young men and virgins and then killed them by drinking their blood. With some skill, a lamia can be easily exposed; to do this, it is enough to make it give a voice. Since lamias have a forked tongue, they are deprived of the ability to speak, but they can whistle melodiously. In later legends of European peoples, Lamia was depicted in the guise of a snake with the head and chest of a beautiful woman. She was also associated with a nightmare - Mara.

The daughter of Forkis and Keto, the granddaughter of Gaia-Earth and the god of the sea Pontus, she was depicted as a gigantic woman with a beautiful face and a spotted snake body, less often a lizard, combining beauty with an insidious and evil disposition. From Typhon she gave birth to a whole host of monsters, different in appearance, but disgusting in their essence. When she attacked the Olympians, Zeus drove her and Typhon away. After the victory, the Thunderer imprisoned Typhon under Mount Etna, but allowed Echidna and her children to live as a challenge to future heroes. She was immortal and ageless and lived in a dark cave underground, far from people and gods. Crawling out to hunt, she lay in wait and lured travelers, then mercilessly devouring them. The mistress of snakes, Echidna, had an unusually hypnotic gaze, which not only people, but also animals were unable to resist. IN various options myths Echidna was killed by Hercules, Bellerophon or Oedipus during her serene sleep. Echidna is by nature a chthonic deity, whose power, embodied in his descendants, was destroyed by the heroes, marking the victory of ancient Greek heroic mythology over primitive teratomorphism. The ancient Greek legend about Echidna formed the basis of medieval legends about the monstrous reptile as the most vile of all creatures and the absolute enemy of humanity, and also served as an explanation for the origin of dragons. The name of Echidna is given to an egg-laying, spine-covered mammal native to Australia and the Pacific Islands, as well as to the Australian snake, the largest venomous snake in the world. Echidna is also called an evil, sarcastic, treacherous person.

3) Gorgons

These monsters were the daughters of the sea deity Forkis and his sister Keto. There is also a version that they were the daughters of Typhon and Echidna. There were three sisters: Euryale, Stheno and Medusa Gorgon - the most famous of them and the only mortal of the three monstrous sisters. Their appearance was terrifying: winged creatures, covered with scales, with snakes instead of hair, fanged mouths, with a gaze that turned all living things to stone. During the duel between the hero Perseus and Medusa, she was pregnant by the god of the seas, Poseidon. From the headless body of Medusa, with a stream of blood, came her children from Poseidon - the giant Chrysaor (father of Geryon) and the winged horse Pegasus. From drops of blood that fell into the sands of Libya, appeared Poisonous snakes and destroyed all life in it. Libyan legend says that red corals appeared from a stream of blood that spilled into the ocean. Perseus used the head of Medusa in a battle with a sea dragon sent by Poseidon to devastate Ethiopia. Showing the face of Medusa to the monster, Perseus turned him into stone and saved Andromeda, the royal daughter, who was destined to be sacrificed to the dragon. The island of Sicily is traditionally considered the place where the Gorgons lived and Medusa, depicted on the flag of the region, was killed. In art, Medusa was depicted as a woman with snakes instead of hair and often boar tusks instead of teeth. In Hellenic images there is sometimes a beautiful dying gorgon girl. Separate iconography includes images of the severed head of Medusa in the hands of Perseus, on the shield or aegis of Athena and Zeus. The decorative motif - the gorgoneion - still adorns clothing, household items, weapons, tools, jewelry, coins and building facades. It is believed that the myths about the Gorgon Medusa have a connection with the cult of the Scythian snake-footed ancestral goddess Tabiti, evidence of whose existence are references in ancient sources and archaeological finds of images. In Slavic medieval book legends, Medusa Gorgon turned into a maiden with hair in the form of snakes - the maiden Gorgonia. The animal jellyfish got its name precisely because of its resemblance to the moving hair-snake of the legendary Gorgon Medusa. In a figurative sense, a “gorgon” is a grumpy, angry woman.

Three goddesses of old age, granddaughters of Gaia and Pontus, sisters of the Gorgons. Their names were Deino (Trembling), Pefredo (Anxiety) and Enyo (Terror). They were gray-haired from birth, and the three of them had one eye, which they used alternately. Only the Grays knew the location of the island of Medusa the Gorgon. On the advice of Hermes, Perseus headed towards them. While one of the grays had an eye, the other two were blind, and the sighted grayya led the blind sisters. When, having taken out the eye, Graya passed it on to the next in line, all three sisters were blind. It was this moment that Perseus chose to take the eye. The helpless Grays were horrified and were ready to do anything if only the hero would return the treasure to them. After they had to tell how to find the Gorgon Medusa and where to get winged sandals, a magic bag and an invisibility helmet, Perseus gave the eye to the Grays.

This monster, born of Echidna and Typhon, had three heads: one was a lion's, the second was a goat's, growing on its back, and the third, a snake's, ended with a tail. It breathed fire and burned everything in its path, devastating the houses and crops of the inhabitants of Lycia. Repeated attempts to kill the Chimera made by the king of Lycia were invariably defeated. Not a single person dared to come close to her home, surrounded by the decaying carcasses of headless animals. Fulfilling the will of King Iobates, the son of the King of Corinth, Bellerophon, on the winged Pegasus, headed to the cave of the Chimera. The hero killed her, as predicted by the gods, hitting the Chimera with an arrow from a bow. As proof of his feat, Bellerophon delivered one of the severed heads of the monster to the Lycian king. The chimera is the personification of a fire-breathing volcano, at the base of which snakes teem, on the slopes there are many meadows and goat pastures, flames blaze from the top and there, at the top, are the lairs of lions; The Chimera is probably a metaphor for this unusual mountain. The Chimera Cave is considered to be an area near the Turkish village of Cirali, where natural gas comes to the surface in concentrations sufficient for its open combustion. A detachment of deep-sea cartilaginous fish is named after the Chimera. In a figurative sense, a chimera is a fantasy, an unfulfilled desire or action. In sculpture, chimeras are images of fantastic monsters, and it is believed that stone chimeras can come to life to terrify people. The prototype of the chimera served as the basis for creepy gargoyles, considered a symbol of horror and extremely popular in the architecture of Gothic buildings.

The winged horse that emerged from the dying Gorgon Medusa at the moment when Perseus cut off her head. Since the horse appeared at the source of the Ocean (in the ideas of the ancient Greeks, the Ocean was a river encircling the Earth), it was called Pegasus (translated from Greek as “stormy current”). Swift and graceful, Pegasus immediately became the object of desire for many heroes of Greece. Day and night, the hunters set up ambushes on Mount Helikon, where Pegasus, with one blow of his hoof, caused clear, cool water of a strange dark violet color, but very tasty, to flow. This is how the famous source of Hippocrene’s poetic inspiration appeared - the Horse Spring. The most patient happened to see a ghostly horse; Pegasus allowed the luckiest ones to come so close to him that it seemed that just a little more - and you could touch his beautiful white skin. But no one was able to catch Pegasus: at the last moment this indomitable creature flapped its wings and, with the speed of lightning, was carried away beyond the clouds. Only after Athena gave young Bellerophon a magic bridle was he able to saddle the wonderful horse. Riding on Pegasus, Bellerophon was able to get close to the Chimera and struck the fire-breathing monster from the air. Intoxicated by his victories with the constant help of the devoted Pegasus, Bellerophon imagined himself equal to the gods and, riding Pegasus, went to Olympus. The angry Zeus struck down the proud man, and Pegasus received the right to visit the shining peaks of Olympus. In later legends, Pegasus was included in the ranks of the horses of Eos and in the society of strashno.com.ua muses, in the circle of the latter, in particular, because he stopped Mount Helicon with the blow of his hoof, which began to waver at the sounds of the songs of the muses. From a symbolic point of view, Pegasus combines the vitality and power of a horse with liberation, like a bird, from earthly heaviness, so the idea is close to the unfettered spirit of the poet, overcoming earthly obstacles. Pegasus personified not only a wonderful friend and faithful comrade, but also boundless intelligence and talent. The favorite of the gods, muses and poets, Pegasus often appears in the visual arts. A constellation in the northern hemisphere, a genus of marine ray-finned fish, and a weapon are named after Pegasus.

7) Colchis dragon (Colchis)

The son of Typhon and Echidna, a vigilant, fire-breathing huge dragon who guarded the Golden Fleece. The name of the monster was given to the area where it was located - Colchis. King Eet of Colchis sacrificed a ram with a golden skin to Zeus, and hung the skin on an oak tree in the sacred grove of Ares, where Colchis guarded it. Jason, a pupil of the centaur Chiron, on behalf of Pelias, king of Iolcus, went to Colchis for the Golden Fleece on the ship "Argo", built specifically for this journey. King Eetus gave Jason impossible tasks so that the Golden Fleece would remain in Colchis forever. But the god of love, Eros, kindled love for Jason in the heart of the sorceress Medea, daughter of Eetus. The princess sprinkled Colchis with a sleeping potion, calling on the god of sleep Hypnos for help. Jason stole the Golden Fleece, hastily sailing with Medea on the Argo back to Greece.

Giant, son of Chrysaor, born from the blood of the Gorgon Medusa, and the oceanid Callirhoe. He was known as the strongest on earth and was a terrible monster with three bodies fused at the waist, had three heads and six arms. Geryon owned wonderful cows of unusually beautiful red color, which he kept on the island of Erithia in the Ocean. Rumors about the beautiful cows of Geryon reached the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, and he sent Hercules, who was in his service, to get them. Hercules walked all of Libya before reaching the extreme West, where, according to the Greeks, the world ended, which was bordered by the Oceanus River. The path to the Ocean was blocked by mountains. Hercules pushed them apart with his mighty hands, forming the Strait of Gibraltar, and installed stone steles on the southern and northern shores - the Pillars of Hercules. On the golden boat of Helios, the son of Zeus sailed to the island of Erithia. Hercules killed the watchdog Orff, who was guarding the herd, with his famous club, killed the shepherd, and then fought with the three-headed owner who arrived in time. Geryon covered himself with three shields, three spears were in his mighty hands, but they turned out to be useless: the spears could not pierce the skin of the Nemean Lion, thrown over the hero’s shoulders. Hercules fired several poisonous arrows at Geryon, and one of them turned out to be fatal. Then he loaded the cows into Helios's boat and swam across the Ocean in the opposite direction. Thus the demon of drought and darkness was defeated, and the heavenly cows - the rain-bearing clouds - were freed.

A huge two-headed dog guarding the cows of the giant Geryon. The offspring of Typhon and Echidna, the elder brother of the dog Cerberus and other monsters. He is the father of the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion (from the Chimera), according to one version. Orff is not as famous as Cerberus, therefore much less is known about him and information about him is contradictory. Some myths say that in addition to two dog heads, Orff also had seven dragon heads, and in place of the tail there was a snake. And in Iberia the dog had a sanctuary. He was killed by Hercules during his tenth labor. The plot of the death of Orff at the hands of Hercules, who was leading away the cows of Geryon, was often used by ancient Greek sculptors and potters; presented on numerous antique vases, amphoras, stamnos and skyphos. According to one very adventurous version, Orff in ancient times could simultaneously personify two constellations - Canis Major and Canis Minor. Now these stars are united into two asterisms, and in the past there were two of them bright stars(Sirius and Procyon, respectively) could well have been seen by people as fangs or the heads of a monstrous two-headed dog.

10) Cerberus (Kerberus)

The son of Typhon and Echidna, a terrible three-headed dog with a terrible dragon tail, covered with menacing hissing snakes. Cerberus guarded the entrance to the dark, horror-filled underground kingdom of Hades, making sure that no one came out. According to the most ancient texts, Cerberus greets those entering hell with his tail and tears into pieces those who try to escape. In a later legend, he bites new arrivals. To appease him, honey gingerbread was placed in the coffin of the deceased. In Dante, Cerberus torments the souls of the dead. For a long time at Cape Tenar, in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula, they showed a cave, claiming that here Hercules, on the instructions of King Eurystheus, descended to the kingdom of Hades in order to bring Cerberus out from there. Presenting himself before the throne of Hades, Hercules respectfully asked the underground god to allow him to take the dog to Mycenae. No matter how harsh and gloomy Hades was, he could not refuse the son of the great Zeus. He set only one condition: Hercules must tame Cerberus without weapons. Hercules saw Cerberus on the banks of the Acheron River - the border between the world of the living and the dead. The hero grabbed the dog with his powerful hands and began to strangle him. The dog howled menacingly, trying to escape, the snakes wriggled and stung Hercules, but he only squeezed his hands tighter. Finally, Cerberus gave in and agreed to follow Hercules, who took him to the walls of Mycenae. King Eurystheus was horrified at one glance at the terrible dog and ordered to quickly send him back to Hades. Cerberus was returned to his place in Hades, and it was after this feat that Eurystheus gave Hercules freedom. During his stay on earth, Cerberus dropped drops of bloody foam from his mouth, from which the poisonous herb aconite later grew, otherwise called hecatina, since the goddess Hecate was the first to use it. Medea mixed this herb into her witchcraft potion. The image of Cerberus reveals teratomorphism, which heroic mythology fights against. The name of the evil dog has become a common noun to denote an overly harsh, incorruptible watchman.

11) Sphinx

The most famous Sphinx in Greek mythology was from Ethiopia and lived in Thebes in Boeotia, as mentioned by the Greek poet Hesiod. It was a monster, born of Typhon and Echidna, with the face and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird. Sent by Hero to Thebes as punishment, the Sphinx settled on a mountain near Thebes and asked everyone who passed by a riddle: “Which living creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?” The Sphinx killed the one who was unable to give a solution and thus killed many noble Thebans, including the son of King Creon. Creon, overcome with grief, announced that he would give the kingdom and the hand of his sister Jocasta to the one who would rid Thebes of the Sphinx. Oedipus solved the riddle by answering the Sphinx: “Man.” The monster, in despair, threw itself into the abyss and fell to its death. This version of the myth superseded the more ancient version, in which the original name of the predator who lived in Boeotia on Mount Fikion was Fix, and then Orphus and Echidna were named as his parents. The name Sphinx arose from a connection with the verb “to squeeze”, “to strangle”, and the image itself was influenced by the Asia Minor image of a winged half-maiden-half-lioness. Ancient Fix was a ferocious monster, capable of swallowing prey; he was defeated by Oedipus with a weapon in his hands during a fierce battle. Images of the Sphinx abound in classical art, from 18th-century British interiors to Empire furniture of the Romantic era. Masons considered sphinxes a symbol of the mysteries and used them in their architecture, considering them as guardians of the temple gates. In Masonic architecture, the sphinx is a frequent decorative detail, for example, even in the version of the image of its head on the form of documents. The Sphinx personifies mystery, wisdom, the idea of ​​man's struggle with fate.

12) Siren

Demonic creatures born from the god of fresh waters Achelous and one of the muses: Melpomene or Terpsichore. Sirens, like many mythical creatures, are mixanthropic in nature, they are half-birds, half-women or half-fish, half-women, who inherited wild spontaneity from their father, and a divine voice from their mother. Their number ranges from a few to a whole lot. Dangerous maidens lived on the island's rocks, strewn with the bones and dried skin of their victims, whom the sirens lured with their singing. Hearing their sweet singing, the sailors, losing their minds, steered the ship straight towards the rocks and eventually died in the depths of the sea. After which the merciless virgins tore the bodies of the victims into pieces and ate them. According to one of the myths, Orpheus on the ship of the Argonauts sang sweeter than the sirens, and for this reason the sirens, in despair and furious anger, threw themselves into the sea and were turned into rocks, for they were destined to die when their spells were powerless. The appearance of sirens with wings makes them similar appearance with harpies, and sirens with fish tails - with mermaids. However, sirens, unlike mermaids, are of divine origin. Attractive appearance is also not a mandatory attribute. Sirens were also perceived as muses of another world - they were depicted on tombstones. In classical antiquity, wild chthonic sirens turn into sweet-voiced wise sirens, each of whom sits on one of the eight celestial spheres of the world spindle of the goddess Ananke, creating with their singing the majestic harmony of the cosmos. To appease sea deities and avoid shipwreck, sirens were often depicted as figures on ships. Over time, the image of sirens became so popular that a whole order of large marine mammals was called sirens, which included dugongs, manatees, and sea (or Steller's) cows, which, unfortunately, were completely exterminated by the end of the 18th century.

13) Harpy

Daughters of the sea deity Thaumant and the oceanid Electra, archaic pre-Olympic deities. Their names - Aella ("Whirlwind"), Aellope ("Whirlwind"), Podarga ("Swift-footed"), Okipeta ("Fast"), Kelaino ("Gloomy") - indicate a connection with the elements and darkness. The word "harpy" comes from the Greek "to seize", "to kidnap". In ancient myths, harpies were deities of the wind. The proximity of the strashno.com.ua harpies to the winds is reflected in the fact that the divine horses of Achilles were born from Podarga and Zephyr. They interfered little in the affairs of people; their duty was only to take the souls of the dead to the underworld. But then the harpies began to kidnap children and harass people, swooping in suddenly like the wind and disappearing just as suddenly. In various sources, harpies are described as winged deities with long flowing hair, flying faster than birds and winds, or as vultures with women's faces and sharp hooked claws. They are invulnerable and smelly. Always tormented by a hunger that they cannot satisfy, the harpies descend from the mountains and, with piercing screams, devour and dirty everything. Harpies were sent by the gods as punishment for people who had offended them. The monsters took food from a person every time he started eating, and this continued until the person died of hunger. Thus, there is a well-known story about how the harpies tortured King Phineus, who was cursed for an involuntary crime, and, stealing his food, doomed him to starvation. However, the monsters were driven out by the sons of Boreas - the Argonauts Zetus and Kalaid. The heroes were prevented from killing the harpies by the messenger of Zeus, their sister, the rainbow goddess Iris. The Strophada Islands in the Aegean Sea were usually called the habitat of harpies; later, along with other monsters, they were placed in the kingdom of gloomy Hades, where they were considered one of the most dangerous local creatures. Medieval moralists used harpies as symbols of greed, gluttony and uncleanliness, often combining them with the furies. Harpies are also called evil women. The harpy is the name given to a large bird of prey from the hawk family that lives in South America.

The brainchild of Typhon and Echidna, the hideous Hydra had a long serpentine body and nine dragon heads. One of the heads was immortal. Hydra was considered invincible, since two new ones grew from its severed head. Coming out of the gloomy Tartarus, Hydra lived in a swamp near the city of Lerna, where murderers came to atone for their sins. This place became her home. Hence the name - Lernaean Hydra. The hydra was always hungry and devastated the surrounding area, eating herds and burning crops with its fiery breath. Her body was thicker than the thickest tree and covered with shiny scales. When she rose on her tail, she could be seen far above the forests. King Eurystheus sent Hercules with the task of killing the Lernaean Hydra. Iolaus, Hercules' nephew, during the hero's battle with the Hydra, burned her necks with fire, from which Hercules knocked off the heads with his club. Hydra stopped growing new heads, and soon she had only one immortal head left. In the end, she too was demolished with a club and buried by Hercules under a huge rock. Then the hero cut the Hydra’s body and plunged his arrows into its poisonous blood. Since then, the wounds from his arrows have become incurable. However, this heroic feat was not recognized by Eurystheus, since Hercules was helped by his nephew. The name Hydra is borne by the satellite of Pluto and the constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky, the longest of all. The unusual properties of Hydra also gave their name to the genus of freshwater sessile coelenterates. Hydra is a person with an aggressive character and predatory behavior.

15) Stymphalian birds

Birds of prey with sharp bronze feathers, copper claws and beaks. Named after Lake Stymphala near the city of the same name in the mountains of Arcadia. Having multiplied with extraordinary speed, they turned into a huge flock and soon turned all the surroundings of the city almost into a desert: they destroyed the entire crop of the fields, exterminated the animals grazing on the rich shores of the lake, and killed many shepherds and farmers. As they took off, the Stymphalian birds dropped their feathers like arrows and struck with them everyone who was in the open area, or tore them apart with their copper claws and beaks. Having learned about this misfortune of the Arcadians, Eurystheus sent Hercules to them, hoping that this time he would not be able to escape. Athena helped the hero by giving him copper rattles or kettledrums forged by Hephaestus. Having alarmed the birds with the noise, Hercules began to shoot his arrows poisoned with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra at them. The frightened birds left the shores of the lake, flying to the islands of the Black Sea. There the Stymphalidae were met by the Argonauts. They probably heard about the feat of Hercules and followed his example - they drove away the birds with noise, hitting their shields with swords.

Forest deities who formed the retinue of the god Dionysus. Satyrs are shaggy and bearded, their legs end in goat (sometimes horse) hooves. Other characteristic features of the appearance of satyrs are horns on the head, a goat or ox tail and a human torso. Satyrs were endowed with the qualities of wild creatures, possessing animal qualities, thinking little about human prohibitions and moral norms. In addition, they were distinguished by fantastic endurance, both in battle and at the festive table. A great passion was dancing and music; the flute is one of the main attributes of satyrs. Also considered attributes of satyrs were a thyrsus, a pipe, leather wineskins or vessels with wine. Satyrs were often depicted in the paintings of great artists. Often the satyrs were accompanied by girls, for whom the satyrs had a certain weakness. According to a rationalist interpretation, the image of a satyr could reflect a tribe of shepherds who lived in forests and mountains. A satyr is sometimes called a lover of alcohol, humor and female company. The image of a satyr resembles a European devil.

17) Phoenix

Magic bird with golden and red feathers. In it you can see a collective image of many birds - an eagle, a crane, a peacock and many others. The most amazing qualities of the Phoenix were its extraordinary lifespan and the ability to be reborn from the ashes after self-immolation. There are several versions of the Phoenix myth. IN classic version Once every five hundred years, the Phoenix, bearing the sorrows of people, flies from India to the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis, in Libya. The chief priest lights a fire from the sacred vine, and Phoenix throws himself into the fire. His incense-soaked wings flare and he quickly burns. With this feat, Phoenix, with her life and beauty, returns happiness and harmony to the world of people. Having experienced torment and pain, three days later a new Phoenix rises from the ashes, which, thanking the priest for the work done, returns to India, even more beautiful and shining with new colors. Experiencing cycles of birth, progress, death and renewal, Phoenix strives to become more and more perfect over and over again. The Phoenix was the personification of the ancient human desire for immortality. Also in ancient world The Phoenix began to be depicted on coins and seals, in heraldry and sculpture. The phoenix has become a favorite symbol of light, rebirth and truth in poetry and prose. A constellation in the southern hemisphere and a date palm were named after Phoenix.

18) Scylla and Charybdis

Scylla, the daughter of Echidna or Hecate, a once beautiful nymph, rejected everyone, including the sea god Glaucus, who asked for help from the sorceress Circe. But Circe, who was in love with Glaucus, out of revenge on him, turned Scylla into a monster, which began to lie in wait for sailors in a cave, on a steep cliff of the narrow Strait of Sicily, on the other side of which lived another monster - Charybdis. Scylla has six dog heads on six necks, three rows of teeth and twelve legs. Translated, her name means “barking.” Charybdis was the daughter of the gods Poseidon and Gaia. Zeus himself turned her into a terrible monster, throwing her into the sea. Charybdis has a gigantic mouth into which water pours without stopping. She personifies a terrible whirlpool, the gaping depths of the sea, which appears three times in one day and absorbs and then spews out water. No one saw her, since she was hidden by the thickness of the water. This is exactly how she ruined many sailors. Only Odysseus and the Argonauts managed to sail past Scylla and Charybdis. In the Adriatic Sea you can find the Skyllei Rock. As local legends say, this is where Scylla lived. There is also a shrimp of the same name. The expression “being between Scylla and Charybdis” means being exposed to danger from different sides at the same time.

19) Hippocampus

A sea animal that has the appearance of a horse and ends in a fish tail, also called hydrippus - a water horse. According to other versions of myths, the hippocampus is a sea creature in the form of a seahorse with the legs of a horse and a body ending with a snake or fish tail and webbed paws instead of hooves on the front legs. The front of the body is covered with thin scales, in contrast to the large scales on the back of the body. According to some sources, the hippocampus uses lungs for breathing, while others use modified gills. Sea deities - Nereids and Tritons - were often depicted on chariots drawn by hippocampuses, or seated on hippocampuses cutting through the abyss of water. This amazing horse appears in the poems of Homer as a symbol of Poseidon, whose chariot was drawn by fast horses and glided along the surface of the sea. In mosaic art, hippocampi were often depicted as hybrid animals with a green, scaly mane and appendages. The ancients believed that these animals were already adult form seahorse. Other land animals with fish tails that appear in Greek myth include leocampus - a lion with a fish tail), taurocampus - a bull with a fish tail, pardalocampus - a leopard with a fish tail, and aegicampus - a goat with a fish tail. The latter became a symbol of the constellation Capricorn.

20) Cyclops (Cyclopes)

Cyclops in the 8th-7th centuries BC. e. were considered the creation of Uranus and Gaia, the titans. The Cyclopes included three immortal one-eyed giants with ball-shaped eyes: Arg (“flash”), Bront (“thunder”) and Steropus (“lightning”). Immediately after their birth, the Cyclopes were thrown by Uranus into Tartarus (the deepest abyss) together with their violent brothers with one hundred arms (Hecatoncheires), who were born shortly before them. The Cyclopes were freed by the remaining Titans after the overthrow of Uranus, and then thrown back into Tartarus by their leader Kronos. When the leader of the Olympians, Zeus, began to struggle with Kronos for power, he, on the advice of their mother Gaia, freed the Cyclopes from Tartarus to help the Olympian gods in the war against the Titans, known as Gigantomachy. Zeus used lightning and thunder arrows made by the Cyclopes, which he threw at the Titans. In addition, the Cyclops, being skilled blacksmiths, forged a trident and a manger for Poseidon's horses, an invisibility helmet for Hades, a silver bow and arrows for Artemis, and also taught Athena and Hephaestus various crafts. After the end of the Gigantomachy, the Cyclops continued to serve Zeus and forge weapons for him. Like the henchmen of Hephaestus, forging iron in the depths of Etna, the Cyclops forged the chariot of Ares, the aegis of Pallas and the armor of Aeneas. Cyclopes were also the name given to the mythical people of one-eyed cannibal giants who inhabited the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. Among them, the most famous is the ferocious son of Poseidon, Polyphemus, whom Odysseus deprived of his only eye. Paleontologist Othenio Abel in 1914 suggested that the discovery of dwarf elephant skulls in ancient times gave rise to the myth of the Cyclops, since the central nasal opening in the elephant's skull could be mistaken for a giant eye socket. The remains of these elephants were found on the islands of Cyprus, Malta, Crete, Sicily, Sardinia, the Cyclades and the Dodecanese.

21) Minotaur

Half-bull, half-man, born as the fruit of the passion of Queen Pasiphae of Crete for the white bull, the love of which Aphrodite instilled in her as punishment. The real name of the Minotaur was Asterius (that is, “starry”), and the nickname Minotaur means “bull of Minos.” Subsequently, the inventor Daedalus, the creator of many devices, built a labyrinth in order to imprison her monster son in it. According to ancient Greek myths, the Minotaur ate human flesh, and in order to feed him, the king of Crete imposed a terrible tribute on the city of Athens - seven young men and seven girls were to be sent to Crete every nine years to be devoured by the Minotaur. When Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, had the lot to become a victim of an insatiable monster, he decided to rid his homeland of such a duty. Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos and Pasiphae, in love with the young man, gave him a magic thread so that he could find his way back from the labyrinth, and the hero managed not only to kill the monster, but also to free the rest of the captives and put an end to the terrible tribute. The myth of the Minotaur was probably an echo of ancient pre-Hellenic bull cults with their characteristic sacred bull fights. Judging by the wall paintings, human figures with bull heads were common in Cretan demonology. In addition, the image of a bull appears on Minoan coins and seals. The Minotaur is considered a symbol of anger and bestial savagery. The phrase “Ariadne’s thread” means a way to get out of a difficult situation, to find the key to solving a difficult problem, to understand a difficult situation.

22) Hecatoncheires

The hundred-armed, fifty-headed giants named Briareus (Egeon), Kott and Gies (Gius) personify the underground forces, the sons of the supreme god Uranus, the symbol of Heaven, and Gaia-Earth. Immediately after birth, the brothers were imprisoned in the bowels of the earth by their father, who feared for his dominion. In the midst of the struggle with the Titans, the gods of Olympus called on the Hecatoncheires, and their help ensured victory for the Olympians. After their defeat, the Titans were cast into Tartarus, and the Hecatoncheires volunteered to guard them. The ruler of the seas, Poseidon, gave Briareus his daughter Kimopoleia as his wife. Hecatoncheires are present in the book by the Strugatsky brothers “Monday Begins on Saturday” as loaders at the Research Institute FAQ.

23) Giants

The sons of Gaia, who were born from the blood of castrated Uranus, absorbed into the Mother Earth. According to another version, Gaia gave birth to them from Uranus after the Titans were thrown into Tartarus by Zeus. The pre-Greek origin of the Giants is obvious. The story of the birth of the Giants and their death is told in detail by Apollodorus. The giants inspired horror with their appearance - thick hair and beards; their lower body was snake-like or octopus-like. They were born on the Phlegrean Fields in Chalkidiki, in northern Greece. It was there that the battle of the Olympian gods with the Giants took place - Gigantomachy. Giants, unlike titans, are mortal. As fate would have it, their death depended on the participation in the battle of mortal heroes who would come to the aid of the gods. Gaia was looking for magic grass, which would have kept the Giants alive. But Zeus got ahead of Gaia and, sending darkness to the earth, cut off this grass himself. On the advice of Athena, Zeus called Hercules to participate in the battle. In the Gigantomachy, the Olympians destroyed the Giants. Apollodorus mentions the names of 13 Giants, who generally number up to 150. The Gigantomachy (as well as the Titanomachy) is based on the idea of ​​ordering the world, embodied in the victory of the Olympian generation of gods over the chthonic forces and the strengthening of the supreme power of Zeus.

This monstrous serpent, generated by Gaia and Tartarus, guarded the sanctuary of the goddesses Gaia and Themis in Delphi, at the same time devastating their surroundings. That's why he was also called Dolphinius. By order of the goddess Hera, Python raised an even more terrible monster - Typhon, and then began to pursue Latona, the mother of Apollo and Artemis. The grown-up Apollo, having received a bow and arrows forged by Hephaestus, went in search of the monster and overtook him in a deep cave. Apollo killed Python with his arrows and had to remain in exile for eight years to appease the angry Gaia. The huge dragon was periodically mentioned in Delphi during various sacred rites and processions. Apollo founded a temple on the site of the ancient oracle and established the Pythian Games; this myth reflected the replacement of chthonic archaism with a new, Olympian deity. The plot, where a luminous deity kills a snake, a symbol of evil and the enemy of humanity, has become a classic for religious teachings and folk tales. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi became famous throughout Hellas and even beyond its borders. From a crevice in the rock located in the middle of the temple, fumes rose, which had a strong effect on human consciousness and behavior. The priestesses of the Pythian temple often gave confusing and vague predictions. From Python comes the name of a whole family of non-venomous snakes - pythons, sometimes reaching up to 10 meters in length.

25) Centaur

These legendary creatures with a human torso and equine torso and legs are the embodiment of natural strength, endurance, and are distinguished by cruelty and unbridled temper. Centaurs (translated from Greek as “killers of bulls”) drove the chariot of Dionysus, the god of wine and winemaking; they were also ridden by the god of love Eros, which implied their penchant for libations and unbridled passions. There are several legends about the origin of centaurs. A descendant of Apollo named Centaur entered into a relationship with a Magnesian mare, which gave the appearance of a half-man, half-horse to all subsequent generations. According to another myth, in the pre-Olympic era, the smartest of the centaurs, Chiron, appeared. His parents were the oceanid Felira and the god Kron. Kron took the form of a horse, so the child from this marriage combined the features of a horse and a man. Chiron received an excellent education (medicine, hunting, gymnastics, music, divination) directly from Apollo and Artemis and was the mentor of many heroes of the Greek epics, as well as a personal friend of Hercules. His descendants, the centaurs, lived in the mountains of Thessaly next to the Lapiths. These wild tribes lived peacefully with each other until, at the wedding of the Lapithian king Pirithous, centaurs tried to kidnap the bride and several beautiful Lapithian women. In a violent battle called the centauromachy, the Lapiths won, and the centaurs were scattered across mainland Greece, driven into mountainous regions and remote caves. The appearance of the image of a centaur more than three thousand years ago suggests that even then the horse played an important role in human life. It is possible that the ancient farmers perceived horse riders as a whole being, but most likely the Mediterranean inhabitants, who were prone to inventing “composite” creatures, simply reflected the spread of the horse when they invented the centaur. The Greeks, who bred and loved horses, were well acquainted with their temperament. It is no coincidence that it was the nature of the horse that they associated with unpredictable manifestations of violence in this generally positive animal. One of the constellations and zodiac signs is dedicated to the centaur. To designate creatures that are not similar in appearance to a horse, but retain the features of a centaur, the term “centauroids” is used in the scientific literature. There are variations in the appearance of centaurs. Onocentaur - half-man, half-donkey - was associated with a demon, Satan or a hypocritical person. The image is close to satyrs and European devils, as well as Egyptian god Setu.

The son of Gaia, nicknamed Panoptes, that is, the all-seeing, who became the personification of the starry sky. The goddess Hera forced him to guard Io, the beloved of her husband Zeus, whom he turned into a cow in order to protect her from the wrath of her jealous wife. Hera begged Zeus for a cow and assigned her an ideal caretaker, the hundred-eyed Argus, who vigilantly guarded her: only two of his eyes were closed at the same time, the others were open and vigilantly watched Io. Only Hermes, the crafty and enterprising messenger of the gods, managed to kill him, freeing Io. Hermes put Argus to sleep with poppy seeds and cut off his head with one blow. The name Argus has become a household name for a vigilant, vigilant, all-seeing guard, from whom no one and nothing can hide. Sometimes this is what is called, following an ancient legend, the pattern on the feathers of a peacock, the so-called “peacock eye”. According to legend, when Argus died at the hands of Hermes, Hera, regretting his death, collected all his eyes and attached them to the tails of her favorite birds, peacocks, which were always supposed to remind her of her devoted servant. The myth of Argus was often depicted on vases and in Pompeian wall paintings.

27) Griffin

Monstrous birds with the body of a lion and an eagle's head and front legs. From their cry, flowers wither and grass withers, and all living creatures fall dead. The griffin's eyes have a golden tint. The head was the size of a wolf's head with a huge, terrifying-looking beak, and the wings had a strange second joint to make them easier to fold. The griffin in Greek mythology personified insightful and vigilant power. Closely associated with the god Apollo, he appears as the animal that the god harnesses to his chariot. Some of the myths say that these creatures were harnessed to the carriage of the goddess Nemesis, which symbolizes the speed of retribution for sins. In addition, griffins turned the wheel of fate, and were genetically linked to Nemesis. The image of a griffin personified dominance over the elements of earth (lion) and air (eagle). The symbolism of this mythical animal is associated with the image of the Sun, since both the lion and the eagle in myths are always inextricably linked with it. In addition, the lion and eagle are associated with mythological motifs of speed and courage. Functional purpose a griffin is a guard, in this it is similar to the image of a dragon. As a rule, it protects treasures or some secret knowledge. The bird served as an intermediary between the heavenly and earthly worlds, gods and people. Even then, ambivalence was inherent in the image of the griffin. Their role in various myths is ambiguous. They can act both as defenders, patrons, and as evil, unrestrained animals. The Greeks believed that griffins guarded the gold of the Scythians in northern Asia. Modern attempts to localize griffins vary widely and place them from the northern Urals to the Altai Mountains. These mythological animals are widely represented in antiquity: Herodotus wrote about them, their images were found on monuments from the period of prehistoric Crete and in Sparta - on weapons, household items, coins and buildings.

28) Empusa

A female demon of the underworld from Hecate's retinue. Empusa was a vampire night ghost with donkey legs, one of which was copper. She took the form of cows, dogs or beautiful maidens, changing her appearance in a thousand ways. According to existing beliefs, the empousa often carried away small children, sucked the blood from beautiful young men, appearing to them in the form of a lovely woman, and, having had enough of the blood, often devoured their meat. At night, on deserted roads, the empousa would lie in wait for lonely travelers, either frightening them in the form of an animal or a ghost, or captivating them with the appearance of a beauty, or attacking them in her true terrible form. According to legend, an empusa could be driven away with abuse or a special amulet. In some sources, the empusa is described as being close to a lamia, onocentaur or female satyr.

29) Triton

The son of Poseidon and the mistress of the seas, Amphitrite, depicted as an old man or youth with a fish tail instead of legs. Triton became the ancestor of all newts - marine mixanthropic creatures frolicking in the waters, accompanying the chariot of Poseidon. This retinue of lower sea deities was depicted as half-fish and half-man, blowing a snail-shaped shell to excite or tame the sea. In their appearance they resembled classic mermaids. Tritons in the sea became, like satyrs and centaurs on land, minor deities serving the main gods. The following are named in honor of tritons: in astronomy - the satellite of the planet Neptune; in biology - the genus of tailed amphibians of the salamander family and the genus of prosobranch mollusks; in technology - a series of ultra-small submarines of the USSR Navy; in music, an interval formed by three tones.

Sometimes it seems that nothing can scare a modern person anymore. We almost calmly watch even the most bloodthirsty horror films, read mystical novels, and computer games sometimes involve a variety of monsters of the world, both real and fictional. All this no longer surprises anyone. Even teenagers and small children treat all these creatures with slight irony and skepticism.

What will you answer to someone who claims that monsters and monstrosities are also found in our world today? Will you smile? Twist your finger at your temple? Will you start proving the opposite? Do not hurry. Why? The thing is that from time to time, unprecedented creatures still appear to people even now.

For example, after delving into your memory, you will probably remember that one of your loved ones, friends or just acquaintances once, under various circumstances, encountered a terrible monster or some inexplicable creature. Is it true?

What if this is not just a figment of an unhealthy imagination or the consequence of a sleepless night? What if mythological ancient Greek monsters actually existed and continue to live somewhere in our world? To tell the truth, such thoughts give even the bravest of us goosebumps and begin to listen to the surrounding rustles and sounds.

All this will be discussed in this article. However, in addition to the story about where monsters live, we will also touch on other, no less interesting, topics. For example, we will dwell in more detail on epics and beliefs, and also introduce readers to modern beliefs and hypotheses.

Section 1. Mythical monsters from fairy tales and legends

Every spiritual culture and religion has its own myths and parables, and, as a rule, they are composed not only about goodness and love, but also about terrible and disgusting creatures. Let's not be unfounded and give some of the most typical examples.

So in Jewish folklore there lives a certain dybbuk, the spirit of a dead sinful person, who can inhabit living people who have committed a serious offense and torment them. Only a very qualified rabbi can remove dybbuks from the body.

Islamic culture, in turn, offers jinn as a mythical evil creature - an evil winged people created from smoke and fire, living in a parallel reality and serving the devil. By the way, according to local religion, the devil was also once a genie under the name Iblis.

In religion Western states there are rakshasas, that is, terrible demons that inhabit the bodies of living people and manipulate them, thereby forcing the victim to do all sorts of abominations.

Agree, such mythical monsters inspire fear even if you just read their description, and you definitely wouldn’t want to meet them.

Section 2. What are people afraid of today?

Nowadays, people also believe in various otherworldly creatures. For example, in Malay (Indonesian) folklore there is a certain pontianak, a female vampire with long hair. What does this do? scary creature? Attacks pregnant women and eats all their insides.

Russian monsters are also not far behind in their bloodthirstiness and unpredictability. Thus, among the Slavs, the evil spirit is represented in the form of a water spirit, the embodiment of the dangerous and negative principle of the element of water. Creeping up unnoticed, he drags his victim to the bottom, and then preserves the souls of people in special vessels.

Let's try to imagine some kind of monster of the seas. In this case, it is impossible not to mention one of the countries in South America. Probably, many have already heard that in Brazilian folklore there is an encantado, a snake or river dolphin that turns into a person, loves sex and has an ear for music. He steals people's thoughts and desires, after which the person loses his mind and eventually dies.

Another one that belongs to the “Monsters of the World” category is the goblin. He has a human appearance - very tall, shaggy with strong arms and glowing eyes. Lives in the forest, usually dense and inaccessible. Goblin ride on trees, constantly fool around, and when they see a person they clap their hands and laugh. By the way, they attract women to them.

Section 3. Loch Ness Monster. Scotland

The lake of the same name, with a depth of 230 m, is the largest reservoir of water in the UK. It is believed that this reservoir, which, by the way, is the second largest in Scotland, was formed quite a long time ago, during the last ice age in Europe.

There are rumors that a mysterious beast lives in the lake, which was first mentioned in writing back in 565. However, since ancient times the Scots have mentioned water monsters in their folklore, calling them by the collective name “kelpies”.

The modern Loch Ness monster is called Nessie, and its history began almost 100 years ago. In 1933, one married couple, while vacationing nearby, saw something unusual with their own eyes, which they reported to the special service. However, despite the testimony of 3,000 witnesses who claim to have seen the monster, scientists are still unraveling the mystery.

Today, many local residents agree that the lake is home to a creature two meters wide and moving at a speed of 10 miles per hour. Modern eyewitnesses claim that Nessie looks like a giant snail with a very long neck.

Section 4. Monsters from the Valley of the Headless

The secret of the so-called one is that whoever goes to this area and no matter how armed he is, it is still worth saying goodbye to him in advance. Why? The thing is that no one has ever returned from there.

The phenomenon of people disappearing has still not been solved. Whether all the monsters of the world gather there or whether people disappear due to some other circumstances is not known for certain.

Sometimes only human heads were found at the scene, and the Indians living in that area claim that all this was done by the Bigfoot living in the valley. Eyewitnesses of the events claim that they saw a creature in the valley that looked like a giant shaggy man.

Perhaps the most fantastic version of the secret of the Valley of the Headless is that in this place there is an entrance to a certain parallel world.

Section 5. Who is Yeti and why is he dangerous?

In 1921, on Mount Everest, whose height is more than 6 km, a footprint left by a bare foot of enormous size was discovered in the snow. It was discovered by an expedition under the command of Colonel Howard-Bury, a very famous and respected mountaineer. The team then reported that the print belonged to Bigfoot.

Previously, the mountains of Tibet and the Himalayas were considered the habitats of the Yeti. Now scientists believe that Bigfoot people can also live in the Pamirs, Central Africa, in the lower reaches of the Ob, in some areas of Chukotka and Yakutia, and in the 70s of the 20th century, Yeti were also encountered in America, as evidenced by numerous documentary evidence.

How they can be dangerous for modern people remains a mystery to this day. There have been known cases of the theft of food and sports equipment, but the people themselves seem to be of little interest to these creatures, so there is no need to be afraid of them, let alone panicked.

Section 6. Monster of the seas. Sea serpent: myth or reality?

Many ancient myths and legends tell about sea monsters and the great sea serpent. At one time, both sailors and scientists believed in the existence of such a monster.

All opinions agreed on one thing: after all, there are at least two large species unknown to science. Scientists suggest that the role is played by a giant eel or an unknown species of cryptozoology.

In 1964, sea travelers crossing the Australian Stonehaven Bay on a yacht saw a huge black tadpole, about 25 m long, at a depth of two meters.

The monster had a huge snake head about 1.2 m wide and high, a thin flexible body with a diameter of approximately 60 cm and a length of 20 m, and a whip-like tail.

Section 7. Megalodon shark. Does it exist now?

In principle, according to several documents that have survived to this day, such a fish, which could easily be classified as a “Monster of the World,” existed in ancient times and resembled a great white shark.

Megalodon was supposedly about 25 meters long, and it is this size that makes it the largest predator that has ever existed on the planet.

There are many facts that prove the existence of megalodon in our time. For example, in 1918, when sea crayfish fishermen were working at great depths, they saw a giant shark 92 m long. Most likely, it was this fish.

Modern scientists are also in no hurry to deny this assumption. They argue that such animals could easily survive in the unexplored ocean depths to this day.

Section 8. Do you believe in ghosts?

Myths about spirits have existed since pagan times. The Christian faith also prevails in spirits, telling about the existence of special creatures, for example, angels who control the elements, and the so-called “unclean” ones, which include the goblin, the brownie, the merman, etc.

It just so happens that good and evil spirits constantly interact with humans. Christianity even distinguishes certain human companions: a good guardian angel and an evil tempter demon.

A ghost, in turn, is considered a vision, ghost, spirit, something invisible and intangible. These substances appear, as a rule, at night in sparsely populated places. There is no consensus on the nature of the appearance of ghosts, and the ghosts themselves are often radically different from each other.

Section 9. Giant cephalopods

WITH scientific point In terms of vision, cephalopods are creatures without a backbone, whose body is formed like a bag. They have a small head with a clearly defined physiognomy and one leg, which is a tentacle with suction cups. Impressive appearance, right? By the way, not everyone knows that these creatures have a fairly developed and highly organized brain and live at sea depths from 300 to 3000 m.

Very often, all over the world, it washes up on the shores of the oceans. bodies of the dead cephalopods. The longest discarded cephalopod was more than 18 m long and weighed 1 ton.

Scientists who explored the depths saw these animals more than 30 m long. But in general it is believed that such monsters of the world can be more than 50 m long.

Section 10. Mysteries of bottomless lakes

In the Solnechnogorsk district of the Moscow region there is a lake called Bezdonnoe. Local residents constantly tell legends about the connection of the lake with the ocean and about the wreckage of sunken ships washed up on its sandy shores.

This reservoir is considered a real natural phenomenon; despite its small size, only 30 m in diameter, it has immeasurable depth.

In the same area there is another strange object - which was formed more than half a million years ago at the site of the fall of a large meteorite. The pond has a diameter of about 100 m, but no one knows the size of its depth. There are almost no fish in it, and no living creatures live on the banks. In summer, in the middle of the lake there is a large whirlpool, reminiscent of a large whirlpool on a river, and in winter, when it freezes, the whirlpool forms a bizarre pattern on the ice. Not long ago, local residents began to observe the following picture: on fine days, certain creatures began to crawl ashore to bask in the sun, according to the description, resembling either a huge snail or a lizard.

Section 11. Beliefs of Buryatia

Another lake of unknown depth is Sobolkho, in Buryatia. Both people and animals are constantly disappearing in the lake area. It is very interesting that the missing animals were later found in completely different lakes. Scientists suggest that the reservoir is connected to other underground channels; amateur divers in 1995 confirmed the existence of karst caves and tunnels in the lake, but local residents believe that it is unlikely to survive here without terrible monsters.

Unicorns and mermaids - fact or fiction? We present a list of mythical creatures, evidence of whose existence people continue to search for over the centuries.

Water creatures

Loch Ness monster

The next mention of a “water beast” occurs in 1880 - due to a sailboat that drowned in Loch Ness. The circumstances of the crash were very unusual: according to eyewitnesses’ descriptions, as soon as the ship reached the middle of the reservoir, it was suddenly broken in half by something that resembled tentacles or a tail.

Rumors about the existence of the monster began to spread widely after 1933, when the Evening Couriers newspaper published a detailed account of an “eyewitness” who noticed an unknown creature in the lake.

In September 2016, amateur photographer Ian Bremner managed to take a photo of a 2-meter snake-like creature cutting through the surface of Loch Ness. The photograph is quite convincing, but in the press Bremner was accused of a hoax, and someone decided that the photo depicted three frolicking seals.

Mermaids

In Slavic folklore, the souls of drowned women turned into mermaids. Some ancient Slavic peoples also believed that the mermaid was the spirit of a deceased child who died during the Rusal (preceding the Trinity) week. It was believed that during these 7 days mermaids walked the Earth, emerging from the water after the Ascension of the Lord.

Mermaids are considered evil spirits that can harm a person, for example, drown him. It was customary to depict these creatures naked and without a headdress, less often in a torn sundress.

Sirens

According to another version, they became winged because they could not fulfill the orders of the gods. As punishment, the thunderer Zeus left them a beautiful girl's body, but turned his arms into wings, which is why they could no longer remain in the human world.

The meeting of people with sirens is described in Homer's poem "Odyssey". Mythical maidens enchanted sailors with their singing, and their ships crashed on the reefs. Captain Odysseus ordered his crew to cover their ears beeswax, to confront the sweet-voiced half-women, half-birds, and his ship escaped destruction.

Kraken

200 years later, in 1897, researchers discovered the giant squid Architeutis, reaching 16.5 meters in length, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It has been suggested that this creature was mistaken for a kraken two centuries earlier.

It is not so easy to spot a kraken in the vastness of the ocean: when its body protrudes above the water, it is easy to mistake it for a small island, of which there are thousands in the ocean.

Flying creatures

Phoenix

Mentions of the phoenix are found in the myths of Ancient Greece in the mythology of the ancient Egyptian Heliopolis, in which the phoenix is ​​described as the patron of large time cycles.

This fabulous bird with bright red plumage represents renewal and immortality in modern culture. Thus, a phoenix rising from a flame, accompanied by the inscription “One Phoenix of the whole world,” is depicted on the medals of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

Pegasus

The constellation Pegasus, which is located southwest near Andromeda and consists of 166 stars, is named after this fictional winged horse.

Dragon

The first mentions of the Snake date back to the 11th century. On the harp made by the settlers of the Novgorod lands, you can find images of a three-headed lizard, which was originally considered the king of the underwater world.

In some legends, Gorynych lives in the mountains (therefore it is believed that his name comes from the word “mountain”). In others, he sleeps on a stone in the sea and combines the ability to control two elements at once - fire and water.

Wyvern

It is known that the first legends about wyverns appeared in the Stone Age: this creature personified ferocity. Subsequently, his image was used by the leaders of the troops to instill fear in the enemy.

A wyvern-like creature can be found on Orthodox icons, depicting the fight of St. Michael (or George) with the dragon.

Land creatures

Unicorns

The earliest evidence of unicorns dates back to the 5th century BC. The ancient Greek historian Ctesias was the first to describe “Indian wild asses with one horn on their forehead, blue eyes and a red head,” and whoever drinks wine or water from the horn of this donkey will be cured of all diseases and will never get sick again.

No one except Ctesias saw this animal, but his story became widespread thanks to Aristotle, who included a description of the unicorn in his History of Animals.

Bigfoot/Yeti

First mentions of Bigfoot were recorded from the words of Chinese peasants: in 1820 they met a tall, shaggy monster with large paws. In the 1880s European countries ah they began to equip expeditions to search for traces of Bigfoot. Valkyries carry the dead to Valhalla

On rare occasions, the maidens are allowed to decide the outcome of a battle, but most often they carry out the will of their father Odin, who decides who will be the victor in a bloody battle.

Valkyries are most often depicted wearing armor and helmets with horns, and a shining light emanates from their swords. The story goes that the god Odin endowed his daughters with the ability of compassion so that they would accompany those killed in battle to the “hall of the slain.”

Sphinx

Legend has it that a female sphinx guarded the entrance to the city of Thebes. Everyone who met her on their way had to guess the riddle: “Who walks in the morning on four legs, in the afternoon on two, and in the evening on three?” People who did not guess right died from the clawed paws, and only Oedipus was able to name the correct answer: man.

The essence of the solution is that when a person is born, he crawls on all fours, in mature age- walks on two legs, and in old age is forced to rely on a cane. Then the monster threw itself from the top of the mountain into the abyss, and entry into Thebes became free.

The editors of the site invite you to learn about the most unusual non-fictional creatures.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen

Mythological genre(from the Greek word mythos - legend) is a genre of art dedicated to events and heroes about which the myths of ancient peoples tell. All peoples of the world have myths, legends and traditions; they constitute an important source of artistic creativity.

The mythological genre was formed during the Renaissance, when ancient legends provided rich subjects for the paintings of S. Botticelli, A. Mantegna, Giorgione, and frescoes by Raphael.
In the 17th - early 19th centuries, the idea of ​​paintings in the mythological genre expanded significantly. They serve to embody a high artistic ideal (N. Poussin, P. Rubens), bring closer to life (D. Velazquez, Rembrandt, N. Poussin, P. Batoni), create a festive spectacle (F. Boucher, G. B. Tiepolo) .

In the 19th century, the mythological genre served as the norm for high, ideal art. Along with the themes of ancient mythology, themes from Germanic, Celtic, Indian and Slavic myths became popular in the visual arts and sculpture in the 19th and 20th centuries.
At the turn of the 20th century, symbolism and Art Nouveau style revived interest in the mythological genre (G. Moreau, M. Denis, V. Vasnetsov, M. Vrubel). It received a modern rethinking in the graphics of P. Picasso. See historical genre for more details.

Mythical creatures, monsters and fairy-tale animals
Fear ancient man before the powerful forces of nature, he was embodied in mythological images of gigantic or vile monsters.

Created by the fertile imagination of the ancients, they combined body parts of familiar animals, such as the head of a lion or the tail of a snake. The body, made up of different parts, only emphasized the monstrousness of these disgusting creatures. Many of them were considered inhabitants of the depths of the sea, personifying the hostile power of the water element.

In ancient mythology, monsters are represented by a rare wealth of shapes, colors and sizes; more often they are ugly, sometimes they are magically beautiful; Often these are half-humans, half-beasts, and sometimes completely fantastic creatures.

Amazons

The ancient Greeks believed that these fierce beauties would marry men from other tribes at certain times of the year. They gave the born boys to their fathers or killed them, and raised the girls in a warlike spirit. During the Trojan War, the Amazons fought on the side of the Trojans, so the brave Greek Achilles, having defeated their queen Penthisileia in battle, zealously denied rumors of a love affair with her.

Stately female warriors attracted more than one Achilles. Hercules and Theseus took part in the battles with the Amazons, who kidnapped the Amazon queen Antiope, married her and with her help repelled the invasion of warrior maidens into Attica.

One of the twelve famous labors of Hercules consisted of stealing the magic belt of the queen of the Amazons, the beautiful Hippolyta, which required considerable self-control from the hero.

Magi and Mages

Magi (wizards, magicians, sorcerers, sorcerers) are a special class of people (“wise men”) who enjoyed great influence in ancient times. The wisdom and power of the Magi lay in their knowledge of secrets inaccessible ordinary people. Depending on the degree of cultural development of the people, their magicians or sages could represent different degrees“wisdom” - from simple ignorant witchcraft to truly scientific knowledge.

Kedrigern and other magicians Dean Morrissey

Harpies

Harpies, in Greek mythology, the daughter of the sea deity Thaumantas and the oceanid Electra, the number of which ranges from two to five. They are usually depicted as disgusting half-birds, half-women.

Harpies Bruce Pennington

Myths speak of harpies as evil kidnappers of children and human souls. From the harpy Podarga and the god of the west wind Zephyr, the divine fleet-footed horses of Achilles were born. According to legend, harpies once lived in the caves of Crete, and later in the kingdom of the dead.

Dwarves in the mythology of the peoples of Western Europe are small people who live underground, in the mountains or in the forest. They were the size of a child or a finger, but they possessed supernatural strength; they have long beards and sometimes goat legs or crow's feet.

Dwarves lived much longer than people. In the depths of the earth, little men kept their treasures - precious stones and metals. Dwarves are skilled blacksmiths and could forge magic rings, swords, etc. They often acted as benevolent advisers to people, although black gnomes sometimes kidnapped beautiful girls.

Goblins

In the mythology of Western Europe, goblins are called mischievous ugly creatures that live underground, in caves that do not tolerate sunlight, and lead an active night life. The origin of the word goblin seems to be connected with the spirit Gobelinus, which lived in the lands of Evreux and is mentioned in manuscripts of the 13th century.

Having adapted to life underground, representatives of this people became very hardy creatures. They could go without food for a whole week and still not lose strength. They also managed to significantly develop their knowledge and skills, became cunning and inventive and learned to create things that no mortal had the opportunity to do.

It is believed that goblins love to cause minor mischief to people - sending nightmares, making people nervous with noise, breaking dishes with milk, crushing chicken eggs, blowing soot from the stove into a clean house, sending flies, mosquitoes and wasps on people, blowing out candles and spoiling milk.

Gorgons

Gorgons, in Greek mythology, monsters, daughters of the sea deities Phorcys and Keto, granddaughters of the earth goddess Gaia and the sea Pontus. Their three sisters are Stheno, Euryale and Medusa; the latter, unlike the elders, is a mortal being.

The sisters lived in the far west, off the banks of the world river Ocean, near the Garden of the Hesperides. Their appearance was terrifying: winged creatures covered with scales, with snakes instead of hair, fanged mouths, with a gaze that turned all living things to stone.

Perseus, the liberator of the beautiful Andromeda, beheaded the sleeping Medusa, looking at her reflection in the shiny copper shield given to him by Athena. From the blood of Medusa appeared the winged horse Pegasus, the fruit of her relationship with the ruler of the sea, Poseidon, who, with a blow of his hoof on Mount Helicon, knocked out a source that gives inspiration to poets.

Demons and Demons

A demon, in Greek religion and mythology, is the embodiment of a generalized idea of ​​​​an indefinite formless divine force, evil or benign, determining the fate of a person.

In Orthodox Christianity, “demons” are usually denounced as “demons.”
Demons, in ancient Slavic mythology, are evil spirits. The word “Demons” is common Slavic and goes back to the Indo-European bhoi-dho-s - “causing fear.” Traces of ancient meaning survive in archaic folklore texts, especially spells. In Christian ideas, demons are the servants and spies of the devil, they are warriors of his unclean army, they oppose the Holy Trinity and the heavenly army led by the Archangel Michael. They are the enemies of the human race

In the mythology of the Eastern Slavs - Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians - the general name for all lower demonological creatures and spirits, such as evil spirits, devils, demons etc. - evil spirits, evil spirits.

According to popular beliefs, evil spirits are created by God or Satan, and according to popular beliefs, they appear from unbaptized children or children born from intercourse with evil spirits, as well as suicides. It was believed that the devil and the devil could hatch from a cock's egg carried under the left armpit. Evil spirits are omnipresent, but their favorite places were wastelands, thickets, and swamps; intersections, bridges, holes, whirlpools, whirlpools; “unclean” trees - willow, walnut, pear; underground and attics, space under the stove, baths; The representatives of evil spirits are named accordingly: goblin, field worker, waterman, swamper, brownie, barnnik, bannik, underground etc.

DEMONS OF HELL

Fear of evil spirits forced people not to go into the forest and field during Rusal Week, not to leave the house at midnight, not to leave dishes with water and food open, to close the cradle, to cover the mirror, etc. However, people sometimes entered into an alliance with evil spirits , for example, he told fortunes by removing the cross, healed with the help of spells, and sent damage. This was done by witches, sorcerers, healers, etc..

Vanity of vanities - Everything is vanity

Vanitas still lifes emerged as an independent genre around 1550.

Dragons

The first mention of dragons dates back to the ancient Sumerian culture. In ancient legends there are descriptions of the dragon as an amazing creature, unlike any other animal and at the same time resembling many of them.

The image of the Dragon appears in almost all creation myths. The sacred texts of ancient peoples identify it with the primordial power of the earth, the primordial Chaos, which enters into battle with the Creator.

The dragon symbol is the emblem of warriors on Parthian and Roman standards, the national emblem of Wales, and the guardian depicted on the prows of ancient Viking ships. Among the Romans, the dragon was the badge of a cohort, hence the modern dragon, dragoon.

The dragon symbol is a symbol of supreme power among the Celts, a symbol of the Chinese emperor: his face was called the Face of the Dragon, and his throne was called the Dragon Throne.

In medieval alchemy, primordial matter (or otherwise the world substance) was designated by the most ancient alchemical symbol - a snake-dragon biting its own tail and called ouroboros ("tail eater"). The image of the ouroboros was accompanied by the caption “All in One or One in All.” And Creation was called circular (circulare) or wheel (rota). In the Middle Ages, when depicting a dragon, different parts of the body were “borrowed” from various animals, and, like the sphinx, the dragon was a symbol of the unity of the four elements.

One of the most common mythological plots is the battle with the dragon.

The battle with the dragon symbolizes the difficulties that a person must overcome in order to master the treasures of inner knowledge, defeat his base, dark nature and achieve self-control.

Centaurs

Centaurs, in Greek mythology, wild creatures, half-human, half-horse, inhabitants of mountains and forest thickets. They were born from Ixion, the son of Ares, and the cloud, which, by the will of Zeus, took the form of Hera, on whom Ixion attempted. They lived in Thessaly, ate meat, drank and were famous for their violent temper. The centaurs fought tirelessly with their neighbors the Lapiths, trying to kidnap the wives from this tribe for themselves. Defeated by Hercules, they settled throughout Greece. Centaurs are mortal, only Chiron was immortal

Chiron, unlike all centaurs, he was skilled in music, medicine, hunting and the art of war, and was also famous for his kindness. He was friends with Apollo and raised a number of Greek heroes, including Achilles, Hercules, Theseus and Jason, and taught healing to Asclepius himself. Chiron was accidentally wounded by Hercules with an arrow poisoned by the poison of the Lernaean hydra. Suffering from an incurable sore, the centaur longed for death and renounced immortality in exchange for Zeus freeing Prometheus. Zeus placed Chiron in the sky in the form of the constellation Centaur.

The most popular of the legends where centaurs appear is the legend of the “centauromachy” - the battle of the centaurs with the Lapiths who invited them to the wedding. Wine was new to the guests. At the feast, the drunken centaur Eurytion insulted the king of the Lapiths, Pirithous, trying to kidnap his bride Hippodamia. The “Centauromachy” was depicted by Phidias or his student in the Parthenon, Ovid sang it in book XII of “Metamorphoses”, it inspired Rubens, Piero di Cosimo, Sebastiano Ricci, Jacobo Bassano, Charles Lebrun and other artists.

Painter Giordano, Luca depicted the plot of the famous story of the battle between the Lapiths and the centaurs, who decided to kidnap the daughter of King Lapith

RENI GUIDO Deianira, kidnapped

Nymphs and Mermaids

Nymphs, in Greek mythology, are the deities of nature, its life-giving and fruitful powers in the form of beautiful girls. The most ancient ones, the Meliads, were born from drops of the blood of castrated Uranus. There are nymphs of water (oceanids, nereids, naiads), lakes and swamps (limnads), mountains (restiads), groves (alseids), trees (dryads, hamadryads), etc.

Nereid J. W. Waterhouse 1901

Nymphs, owners of ancient wisdom, the secrets of life and death, healers and prophetesses, from marriages with gods gave birth to heroes and soothsayers, for example Achille, Aeacus, Tiresias. Beauties, who usually lived far from Olympus, at the behest of Zeus were summoned to the palace of the father of gods and people.

GHEYN Jacob de II - Neptune And Amphitrite

Of the myths associated with nymphs and Nereids, the most famous is the myth of Poseidon and Amphitrite. One day, Poseidon saw, off the coast of the island of Naxos, the Nereid sisters, daughters of the prophetic sea elder Nereus, dancing in a circle. Poseidon was captivated by the beauty of one of the sisters, the beautiful Amphitrite, and wanted to take her away in his chariot. But Amphitrite took refuge with the titan Atlas, who holds the vault of heaven on his mighty shoulders. For a long time Poseidon could not find the beautiful Amphitrite, daughter of Nereus. Finally, a dolphin opened her hiding place to him. For this service, Poseidon placed the dolphin among the celestial constellations. Poseidon stole the beautiful daughter Nereus from Atlas and married her.

Herbert James Draper. Sea melodies, 1904

Satires

Satyr in Exile Bruce Pennington

Satyrs, in Greek mythology, spirits of the forests, demons of fertility, together with the Silenians, were part of the retinue of Dionysus, in whose cult they played a decisive role. These wine-loving creatures are bearded, covered with fur, long-haired, with protruding horns or horse ears, tails and hooves; however, their torso and head are human.

Cunning, cocky and lustful, satyrs frolicked in the forests, chased nymphs and maenads, and played evil tricks on people. There is a well-known myth about the satyr Marcia, who, having picked up a flute thrown by the goddess Athena, challenged Apollo himself to a musical competition. The rivalry between them ended with God not only defeating Marsyas, but also skinning the unfortunate man alive.

Trolls

Jotuns, thurs, giants in Scandinavian mythology, trolls in the later Scandinavian tradition. On the one hand, these are the ancient giants, the first inhabitants of the world, preceding the gods and people in time.

On the other hand, the Jotuns are the inhabitants of a cold, rocky country on the northern and eastern outskirts of the earth (Jotunheim, Utgard), representatives of elemental demonic natural forces

T Rollie, in German-Scandinavian mythology, evil giants who lived in the depths of the mountains, where they kept their countless treasures. It was believed that these unusually ugly creatures had enormous strength, but were very stupid. Trolls, as a rule, tried to harm people, stole their livestock, destroyed forests, trampled fields, destroyed roads and bridges, and engaged in cannibalism. Later tradition likens trolls to various demonic creatures, including gnomes.

Fairies

Fairies, according to the beliefs of the Celtic and Roman peoples, are fantastic female creatures, sorceresses. Fairies, in European mythology, are women with magical knowledge and power. Fairies are usually good sorceresses, but there are also “dark” fairies.

There are many legends, fairy tales and great works of art in which fairies do good deeds, become patrons of princes and princesses, and sometimes themselves act as wives of kings or heroes.

According to Welsh legends, fairies existed in the form ordinary people, sometimes beautiful, but sometimes terrible. At will, when performing magic, they could take the form of a noble animal, flower, light, or could become invisible to people.

The origin of the word fairy remains unknown, but in the mythologies of European countries it is very similar. The words for fairy in Spain and Italy are “fada” and “fata”. Obviously they are derived from Latin word"fatum", that is, fate, fate, which was recognition of the ability to predict and even control human destiny. In France, the word "fee" comes from the Old French "feer", which apparently appeared on the basis of the Latin "fatare", meaning "to enchant, to bewitch". This word speaks of the ability of fairies to change the ordinary world of people. From the same word comes the English word "faerie" - "magical kingdom", which includes the art of witchcraft and the entire world of fairies.

Elves

Elves, in the mythology of the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples, are spirits, ideas about which go back to the lower natural spirits. Like elves, elves are sometimes divided into light and dark. Light elves in medieval demonology are good spirits of the air, atmosphere, beautiful little men (about an inch tall) in hats made of flowers, inhabitants of trees, which, in this case, cannot be cut down.

The myths that have survived to this day are full of dramatic stories about gods and heroes who fought dragons, giant snakes and evil demons.

In Slavic mythology, there are many myths about animals and birds, as well as creatures endowed with a bizarre appearance - half-bird, half-woman, human-horse - and extraordinary properties. First of all, this is a werewolf, a werewolf. The Slavs believed that sorcerers could turn any person into a beast with a spell. This is the frisky half-man, half-horse Polkan, reminiscent of a centaur; wonderful half-birds, half-maidens Sirin and Alkonost, Gamayun and Stratim.

An interesting belief among the southern Slavs is that at the dawn of time all animals were people, but those who committed a crime were turned into animals. In return for the gift of speech, they received the gift of foresight and understanding of what a person feels.

ON THIS TOPIC

BEYOND

Today, movie screens are filled with zombies, ghouls, vampires and other monsters. But in fact, terrible creatures are not always the product of the imagination of modern screenwriters and directors. There are more terrible entities in ancient myths and folklore, although many of them are not as publicized as those that appeared on the screens.

1. Blemmia

Blemmyas are quite ancient creatures. Mention of them first appeared among the ancient Greeks and Romans. Physically, they are very similar to ordinary people with one significant difference - Blemmyas do not have a head. Their mouths, eyes and noses are on their chests. According to ancient sources (for example, Pliny wrote about blemmyas), these creatures were quite widespread throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In later literature, Blemmyas were also described as cannibals.

2. Sphena

Sthena is a monster from Greek mythology. Much more people knows her sister Medusa. The famous gorgon was the youngest of the family; she had 2 older sisters - Euryale and Sthena.

Like her sisters, Sthena had long, sharp fangs and red snakes instead of hair. Stories tell that Sthena was the most ferocious and bloodthirsty of the family, she killed more men than both of her sisters combined.

3. Hitotsume-kozo

Japanese myths tell of many supernatural monsters, usually called Yokai. One type of Yokai is the hitotsume-kozo, which is something like a Cyclops: it only has one giant eye in the middle of its face. However, the Hitotsume Kozo is even creepier than the Cyclops because it looks like a small bald child.

4. Mananangal

This disgusting creature comes from the Philippines. It shares some similarities with the vampire, although the mananangal is more repulsive, both in appearance and behavior. Mananangal is usually depicted as a very ugly woman who is capable of tearing off her lower body, sprouting giant wings, and flying at night. Mananangals have a long proboscis instead of a tongue, which they use to suck blood from sleeping people. Most of all they love pregnant women, and more specifically, sucking out the heart of their fetus.

Those who encounter a mananangal should avoid the flying torso and try sprinkling garlic and salt on the separated lower part of the creature's body - this will kill it.

5. Kelpie

One of the most famous monsters in Celtic mythology, the kelpie is a creature that looks like a horse and is found in the lochs of Scotland. Kelpies love to lure people, drown them in lakes, drag them into their lair and eat them.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of kelpies is their ability to transform from horse to human. Most often, they take the form of an attractive man who lures victims into their den. Much less often, the kelpie appears in the form of a beautiful woman. According to legend, one way to identify kelpies in human form is their hair, which is constantly damp and full of algae. Some stories also say that kelpies retain their hooves even in human form.

6. Strigoi

Strigoi, which are similar to the more famous poltergeists, are among the most ancient creatures on this list. They belong to Dacian mythology and were later adopted by Romanian culture. These are evil spirits that have risen from the dead and are trying to resume the normal life they once led. But in this existence, Strigoi drink the very essence of life from their relatives. They are somewhat similar in their actions to vampires.

There is no doubt that people throughout Eastern Europe were mortally afraid of Strigoi. Remarkably, this belief continues to this day, especially in rural areas of Romania. Just 10 years ago, relatives of a recently deceased person dug up his corpse and burned his heart because they believed that the deceased had turned into a strigoi.

7. Yogorumo

Surely no one would refuse if the most beautiful woman in the world seduced him, and then took him to her home. At first such a man would feel the most happy man, but this opinion would probably soon change when this beautiful woman showed her true identity - a giant man-eating spider. Another Japanese monster from the Yokai family is Yogorumo. This is a giant spider that can transform into a beautiful woman to lure prey. After Yogorumo possesses a person, it wraps him in a silken web, injects him with poison, and then devours his prey.

8. Black Annis

Also known as Black Agnes, this witch is a traditional character in English folklore. Some believe its roots can be traced much further back to Celtic or Germanic mythology. Black Annis has a disgusting blue face and iron claws, and she also loves to feed on people, especially small children. Her favorite pastime is wandering through ravines at night, looking for unsuspecting children, kidnapping them, dragging them into her cave, and then preparing the children for dinner. After Annis finishes the children, she uses their skin to make clothes.

9. Leshy

Leshy is the spirit of forests and parks in many Slavic cultures. Essentially, he is the protector of the forest. The goblin is friends with animals, which he can call to help him, and does not like people, although, in some cases, farmers manage to make friends with the goblin. In this case, they protect people's crops and can even teach them magic.

Physically, goblin are described as tall people with hair and beards made of vines and grass. However, they are also werewolves, capable of changing in size: from the very tall tree in the forest down to the smallest blade of grass. They can even transform into ordinary people. At the same time, goblin can be given away by glowing eyes and shoes worn backwards.

Leshi are not evil creatures at all; rather, they are deceivers and love mischief. For example, they like to confuse people in the forest, and sometimes lure people into their caves by imitating the voices of their loved ones (after which, the lost ones can be tickled to death).

10. Brownie

In Slavic mythology, it is believed that every house has its own brownie. He is usually described as a small, bearded man covered in hair. He considers himself the keeper of the house and is not necessarily evil. His actions depend entirely on the behavior of the residents. The brownie gets angry at people who neglect their home and who swear. And for those who behave well and take care of the house, the brownie quietly helps with household chores. He also likes to watch people sleeping.

You should not anger the brownie, because he begins to take revenge on people. First, otherworldly groans will begin to be heard in the house, plates will break and things will disappear. And if the brownie is finally driven home, he can kill people in their own beds.

For lovers of history and the unknown. Read it yourself, tell it to your children.

Based on materials from dawdlez.com