The Hippogriff

Hippogriffs are aggressive flying creatures that combine features of horses and giant eagles. Voracious omnivores, hippogriffs will hunthumanoids as readily as any other meal. A typical hippogriff is 9 feet long, has a wingspan of 20 feet, and weighs 1,000 pounds. The reason for its great rarity is that griffins regard horses as prey. It has been suggested this idea was strong enough in medieval times to produce an expression, "to mate griffins with horses", which meant about the same as the modern expression, "When pigs fly". The hippogriff was therefore a symbol of impossibility and love. The hippogriff, in legends is said to be far faster, stronger and more intelligent than their fathers, the griffin, apparently traveling at the "speed of lightning". This was supposedly inspired by Virgil's Eclogues: ... mate Gryphons with mares, and in the coming age shy deer and hounds together come to drink.., which would also be the source for the reputed medieval expression, if indeed it was one.

Among the animal combat themes in Scythian gold adornments may be found griffins attacking horses. The hippogriff seemed easier to tame than a griffin. In the few medieval legends when this fantastic creature makes an appearance, it is usually the pet of either a knight or a sorcerer. It makes an excellent steed, being able to fly as fast as lightning. The hippogriff is said to be an omnivore, eating either plants or meat.

The Hydra

The Hydra which lived in the swamps near to the ancient city of Lerna in Argolis, was a terrifying monster which like the Nemean lion was the offspring of Echidna (half maiden - half serpent), and Typhon (had 100 heads), other versions think that the Hydra was the offspring of Styx and the Titan Pallas. The Hydra had the body of a serpent and many heads (the number of heads deviates from five up to one hundred there are many versions but generally nine is accepted as standard), of which one could never be harmed by any weapon, and if any of the other heads were severed another would grow in its place (in some versions two would grow). Also the stench from the Hydra's breath was enough to kill man or beast (in other versions it was a deadly venom). When it emerged from the swamp it would attack herds of cattle and local villagers, devouring them with its numerous heads. It totally terrorized the vicinity for many years.Heracles journeyed to Lake Lerna in a speedy chariot, and with him he took his nephew and charioteer Iolaus, in search of the dreaded Hydra. When they finally reached the Hydras' hiding place, Heracles told Iolaus to stay with the horses while he drew the monster from its hole with flaming arrows. This brought out the hideous beast.

 

Heracles courageously attacked the beast, flaying at each head with his sword, (in some versions a scythe) but he soon realized that as one head was severed another grew in its place. Heracles called for help from Iolaus, telling him to bring a flaming torch, and as Heracles cut off the heads one by one from the Hydra, Iolaus cauterized the open wounds with the torch preventing them from growing again. As Heracles fought the writhing monster he was almost stifled by its obnoxious breath, but eventually, with the help of Iolaus, Heracles removed all but one of the Hydras' heads. The one remaining could not be harmed by any weapon, so, picking up his hefty club Heracles crushed it with one mighty blow, he then tore off the head with his bare hands and quickly buried it deep in the ground, placing a huge boulder on the top. After he had killed the Hydra, Heracles dipped the tips of his arrows into the Hydras' blood, which was extremely poisonous, making them deadly.

Other versions say that while Heracles fought the Hydra the goddess Hera sent down a giant crab which attacked his feet). This legend comes from a marble relief dating from the 2nd century BCE found at ancient Lerna, showing Heracles attacking the Hydra, and near his feet is a huge crab. Also other legends say that a stray arrow set alight the forest, and it was the burning trunks which Heracles ripped up and used to cauterize the open wounds.

Epic Mythology Monsters

Well, not much to say. This time I bring the pictures of the most gruesome monsters mythological age, and probably, in my next post talk about any of them. Regards!

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity (ca. 600 AD). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the period of Classical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Classical Greece began with the repelling of a Persian invasion by Athenian leadership. Because of conquests by Alexander the Great, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea.
Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of the Mediterranean region and Europe, for which reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture.
The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models. In the East, Alexander the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures, resulting in Greco-Buddhist art, with ramifications as far as Japan. Following the Renaissance in Europe, the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists. Well into the 19th century, the classical tradition derived from Greece dominated the art of the western world.

The Iliad

Well, I guess all we ever read the Iliad, or at least hear something from her, like in the movie Troy, so this time I have mostly pictures and a brief summary of that question.

The Iliad (sometimes Referred to as the Song of Song of Ilium or Ilion) is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, Attributed to Homer Traditionally. During The Trojan War in September, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel Between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles.

Chimera

He was a monster that had the lion's head, goat's body and tail of a dragon, and cast fire and flames from his mouth. She was the daughter of Echidna and Typhon. The first was a huge giant with a hundred heads, which created the evils Juno vapors of the earth out of spite, when her husband Jupiter created to Pallas, who as you know was armed with her head out. Echidna had to wife, who had the female bust and the rest of the body of a serpent. They had for children, as well as the Chimera, the dog Cerberus, the Hydra of Lerna, the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion. Bellerophon fought this monster and killed him. What led to this absurd fable, was a mountain called Quimerífera, crowning a volcano, around which roamed lions, whose skirt grazing goats and snakes whose foot is raised; disassembled and populated mountain Bellerophon.

Well, as in every post, I give my opinion or I think so, haha .. well .. I think the chimera is a mixture of fabulous animals, the lion with his nobility, the dragon with his strength .. while the story I found this a bit incomplete, I think we give a brief review .. I regret not having found a better, no time now :c

 

 

 

 

Lady Rose

Phoenix

Well, today we'll talk about one of the most beautiful creatures, strange and noble Greek mythology, is a bird, which has beautiful feathers ablaze, a look wise, and a respectable intelligence, when he dies, his ashes transformed into an egg, which is himself, that is the saying "Like a phoenix from my ashes revivire" I really love her, and I love this creature, here a little history;

"The phoenix or Phoenicoperus, as the Greeks knew, is a mythological bird the size of an eagle, feathered red, orange and yellow glow, strong beak and claws. According to some myths, lived in a region that included the area Middle East and India, reaching Egypt in North Africa. It was a fabulous bird reborn again from its own ashes. was quoted by the Egyptian priests of Heliopolis, the Greek Herodotus, Pliny the Latin writers Elder, Lucian, Ovid, Seneca, and Claudian Claudius, or the Christians Paul of Tarsus, St. Epiphanius of Salamis and St. Ambrose. According to legend Christianized, the phoenix lived in the Garden of Paradise, and nestled in a rosebush. When Adam and Eve were expelled from the sword of the angel who banished them came a spark that ignited the nest of the Phoenix, making them burn him and his tenant. As the only beast that had refused to taste the fruit of paradise, it was granted several gifts, the most prominent of immortality through the ability to rise from the ashes. When it was time to die, was a nest of spices and herbs, put a single egg, which hatched over three days, and the third burning days. The Phoenix was burned down completely, by reducing to ashes, the same egg resurgent phoenix, always unique and eternal. This happened five hundred years. "

"The Phoenix has its representations in different cultures, like China (Feng-Huang), Japan (the Ho-oo), Russia (The Firebird, which musically immortalized Stravinsky), the Egyptian (the Benu) The Hindu (Garuda), and even the Indians of North America (the Yel), or the Aztecs, Mayas and Toltecs (elQuetzal). was first mentioned by Hesiod in the eighth century BC and later and in more detail by the historian Herodotus. "