List of Greek mythological creatures


A host of legendary creatures, animals and mythic humanoids occur in ancient Greek mythology.

Mythological creatures

The dragons of Greek mythology were serpentine monsters. They include the serpent-like Drakons, the marine-dwelling Cetea and the she-monster Dracaenae. Homer describes the dragons with wings and legs.
Drakons were giant serpents, sometimes possessing multiple heads or able to breathe fire, but most just spit deadly poison. They are usually depicted without wings.
Cetea were sea monsters. They were usually featured in myths of a hero rescuing a sacrificial princess.
The Dracaenae were monsters that had the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of any sort of dragon. Echidna, the mother of monsters, and Ceto, the mother of sea-monsters, are two famous dracaenae. Some Dracaenae were even known to have had in place of two legs, one serpent tail.
Automatons, or Colossi, were men/women, animals and monsters crafted out of metal and made animate in order to perform various tasks. They were created by the divine smith, Hephaestus. The Athenian inventor Daedalus also manufactured automatons.
In addition to the famous deities, the ancient Greeks also worshiped a number of deified human beings. For example, Alabandus at Alabanda, Tenes at Tenedos, Leucothea and her son Palaemon were worshiped throughout Greece.