Heroes: Volume II of Mythos

M ONSTERS P RIMORDIAL M ONSTERS CHARYBDIS Monstrous creator of an inescapable whirlpool. Daughter of Gaia and Pontus. Sister of Nereus and Phorcys and Ceto. Believed by some to have been the mother of Scylla, from whom she is generally inseparable in myth. Avoided by Jason.fn2 ECHIDNA Daughter of Gaia and Tartarus. Sister of Typhon. Half woman, half water snake. GORGONS Stheno and Euryale. Daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Sisters of the Graeae. Cousins of Iris and the Harpies. Companions of Medusa. Possessors of boar-like tusks, brass claws and snaky hair. HARPIES Aello and Ocypete. Daughters of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. Sisters of Iris. Cousins of the Gorgons and the Graeae. Ravenous birdwomen sent by Zeus to torment Phineus of Salmydessus. Driven away by Calais and Zetes during the quest for the Golden Fleece. Protected by Iris. TYPHON Giant serpentine son of Gaia and Tartarus. Brother of Echidna. First and worst of all monsters.

O FFSPRING OF T YPHON AND E CHIDNA CAUCASIAN EAGLE Sent by Zeus to tear out Prometheus’s liver. Slain by Heracles. CERBERUS Tricephalic canine guardian of the gates of hell. Borrowed by Heracles. Charmed by Orpheus. CHIMERA Fire-breathing snaky-tailed lion–goat hybrid. Slain by Bellerophon. COLCHIAN DRAGON Sleepless guardian of the Golden Fleece. Mesmerized by Medea. CROMMYONIAN SOW Also known as Phaea. Said by some to be the mother of the Calydonian Boar. Slain and eaten by Theseus. LADON Hundred-headed draconian guardian of the Apples of the Hesperides. Slain by Heracles.fn3 LERNAEAN HYDRA Polycephalic self-regenerative venomous-blooded serpentine guardian of the gates of hell. Slain by Heracles with the assistance of Iolaus. Blood involved in the deaths of the GIANTS and of Eurytion, Geryon, Nessus, Pholus and Heracles. NEMEAN LION Slain, skinned and worn by Heracles. ORTHRUS Bicephalic canine guardian of Geryon’s cattle. Slain by Heracles. SCYLLA Six-headed sea monster. Believed by some to have been the daughter of Charybdis or Hecate. In later traditions, member of a tragically romantic love triangle with Circe and the sea god Glaucus. Generally inseparable in myth from Charybdis. Avoided by Jason.fn4 SPHINX Woman’s-headed lion-bodied bird-winged monster with limited sense of humour. Sent by Hera to punish Thebes in fulfilment of Pelops’s curse on Laius and his line. Fatally outsmarted by Oedipus.