Myths, people can choose to ignore them or they can choose to take an interest in them and investigate whether or not they are real. For the most part, myths are used to explain the impossible and one of the ways that the impossible is explained is through monsters. Some of the monsters have been debunked like the Cerberus, the Gorgons, and the Hydra. Other monsters are still yet to be discovered or debunked like Bigfoot, the Lochness monster, and the Moth Man. But some of the monsters that are the most recognized are the one’s that come from Greek Mythology. Echidna is one of the monsters that belongs to Greek Mythology and she is believed to be the daughter of the monstrous gods. This monster can be described as a half woman and half serpant with a snakes tail. She is one of many monsters that was created by Typhon, Typhon is a monster with 50 snake heads. Many Greeks believed that she lived in the swampy pit under the earth that is called Tartaros. Even though …show more content…
The legend of the Jersey Devil starts off with a poor woman name Mrs. Jane Leads, Mrs. Leads lived in Pine Barnes, New Jersey and was pregnant with her thirteenth child. Mrs. Leads was fed up with the child that she was carrying and told her friends that the devil could have it. When she gave birth to the child, it turned into a monster and it was fully grown in seconds, becoming the Jersey Devil. 1740, 1816, 1840, 1909,1930,1951, and 1993 were all of the years that the sightings of the Jersey Devil appeared. Reports in the year 1840 say that the Jersey Devil had eaten some livestock and left the bones behind, this lead many people to believe that the Jersey Devil would eat other livestock and maybe small children. Both of these monsters do not have the same origin, but what they do have in common is a
The Jersey Devil; he has the face of a goat, body of a kangaroo, legs of a crane, wings like a bat, and pig’s feet. The very idea of these features mashed together just seems impossible. This bizarre creature is believed to inhabit Pine Barrens, in southern New Jersey. How could such a strange creature come into existence? There are many different variations to the Jersey Devil legend, but the more known one tells the story of Mother Jane Leeds.
“On a dark and stormy night sometime in 1735, a Quaker woman gave birth to a child”(Johnson and Munn 1). This child would be cursed by its mother for it to be the devil, “or more specifically ‘let it be the Devil!’ ” (Parkes). When the Devil was born it changed to have a kangaroo-like body with the face of a goat; it had bat-like wings, a forked tail, horns, and hooves. “After being born, the child changed into a Devil and as it flew away into the night it killed the midwife that helped birth it”(Parkes).
Monsters are born in literature through their words, origins, thoughts, and actions. Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, as well as Burton Raffel’s Beowulf, contain such monsters that are large impediments to the hero’s quest. Also the expeditions or quests are affected in terms of intimidation by the monsters who are always overwhelming at first to the pessimistic eye such as how the Israelites viewed Goliath, the Philistine, when David went to fight him. A monster’s thoughts, origins, and words are often used to construct the description of monstrosity in literature and are very critical.
The reason so many people believe in mythical beings is because most people quite simply want to believe, and most just can't help it. And then there's
I learned about a greek monster named Scylla who was a big creature that had 6 dangling necks and 6 dangling feet from its huge body. This monster was actually a beautiful women that was turned into a horrifying monster. She couldn't leave in a area by a rock which was her punishment. She was put into this terrifying body because a sea god fell in love with her and wanted that love to be there forever, unfortunately the witch that was suppose to cast that spell decided to turn her into a huge scary sea monster. So Scylla job now was to just destroy anything that came by her rock.
Monster Myths I read through some of the Greek monster myths, and I chose the one most interesting one, Typhon. I read online that he was born from Gaea (mother earth) and Tartarus (lower underworld). Typhon was part man part beast and he was Gaea’s Strongest and largest child. Typhon was so tall his head brushed the stars, and instead of fingers he had 100 deadly serpents. Typhon’s misson was sought to destroy the world and put obstacles to Zeus along his way to Olympus.
Alos helped and gave advice to odysseus in the cyclops cave by providing an olive tree. Scylla was a sea monster who haunted the rocks of narrow strait opposite the whirlpool of charybdis
I have decided to research the Greek monster Typhon, the monster that managed to over throw Zeus, king of the gods. Typhon was the last child of Gaea and Tartarus, he had a hundred serpent heads that spat on his shoulders, he could shoot fire from his eyes, Typhon was so tall that his head brushed the stars, he had huge snake coils instead of legs, and he had many wings on his body. Typhon was married to Echidna, whom gave birth to Orathus, Cerberus, and the Lernaean Hydra. After Zeus defeated Typhon, in their second battle, Typhon was imprisoned under a mountain where he would spew fire and shake the earth in attempts to escape. The next monster I researched was the Wendigo, a human that was possessed by an evil spirit of cannibalism.
For centuries stories have been told about monsters. Stories that include monsters themselves as the main character, and stories that include a battle between a heroic figure and the monster to represent good vs. evil. The root word for “monster” is “monstrum”, which means that which reveals or warns. A monster is the product or symbol of a culture from which the monster comes from. They are more than their physical body and entertainment value that plays into these stories of the monstrous figure we read about or watch in movies or television.
In Greek mythology, they are concerning about the gods, heroes, and the rituals of the ancient Greeks. In other way, the myths consist of a considerable element in fiction was accepted by the critical Greeks, such as philosopher Plato. Greek mythology is an influence Western culture upon unparalleled and it has been profound by the myths. Upon the Renaissance of the present day,they have been inspired fro the thrilling legacy of the ancient Greece. Those origin from the myths were being determine on the impossible and no one were trust on the myth version.
Greek Mythology and its Influences on Modern Society By Jenna Marie A. Macalawa, Lyceum of the Philippines University – Cavite Campus 2014 Myths are not dissimilar to fairy tales, legends, and sagas, but its period is distinctly different from usual existential time. It is considered as an expression of childhood experiences, and it also explains the origin and meaning of the world. According to Long (1994), “The term mythology may describe a certain body of myths, for example, Greek, African, or Scandinavian, or it may refer to the study of myths” (p.694). These collections of narratives are superior when it comes to influencing different areas of knowledge. There are numerous types of mythology, but Ancient Greece is the one that has given an immense influence on modern society.
Myths still have the same meaning no what matter how much people start to evolve and understand the way of life differently. In A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, all of myths about heroes and deities struggling and fighting with evil creature
The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna is an interesting monster because of its original origin and of how the monster itself is. The origin of this monster is in Greece. The Hydra was created by the ancient Greeks and has been a creature in Greek mythology since then. Famous Greek poets Hesiod, Alcaeus, Simonides, and Euripides contributed to hydra that we all know.
Greek mythology can be viewed as a mirror to the ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greek myths and legends often reflected how the Greeks saw themselves. Myths were used by Greeks to make justifications of every existing aspect of earth as well as their own society. In myths, Greek gods & heroes often represented key aspects of the human civilization. From Greek mythology, we can learn about the favorable characteristics of humans, such as their behavior and valuable skills that were approved of by the ancient Greek society.
What we believe Where are monsters from? What are they? Are they real or fake? Many factors make us believe in a variety of thoughts, we grow up with many different beliefs which lead to what we believe. In the articles The origins of half-human, half-animal by Jorge Borges he explains what we believe and events that can change your point of view on a monster.