 Fantasy: June 20, 2007 Issue [#1778] |
  Fantasy
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"… the goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in Arima beneath the earth, grim Echidna, a nymph who dies not nor grows old all her days."
– description of “the mother of all monsters” from Greek poet Hesiod’s “Theogony”.
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Greek mythology tells us Echidna lived with her spouse in a cave called “the couch of Typhoeus”. Together they spawned every major monster featured in Greek mythology, several of whom will be detailed in this newsletter. Hesiod’s describes her as "an immortal, ageless nymph with the face and torso of a beautiful woman and the hideous, scaled body of a serpent". She was sometimes depicted with two serpents’ tails. The couple’s success at raising such powerful and evil offspring eventually led to an attempt to replace Zeus as king of the gods. They attacked Mount Olympus, and failed. Zeus punished Typhoeus, entombing him for eternity underneath Mount Etna, but allowed Echidna and her children to live as a challenge to future Greek heroes. She met her end at the hands of the one hundred eyed giant Argo, who killed her as she slept.
One of Echidna’s female children was the Chimera, whom Hesiod described as breathing “raging fire, a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire.” Homer’s Iliad contains a similar description of "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire". It was considered a bad omen to see the Chimera, who was associated with terrible storms, shipwrecks and natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions. The Chimera terrorised the residents of the Grecian kingdom Lycia, breathing fire to burn fields of crops and attacking travellers coming to the kingdom. Then the hero Bellerphron arrived in Lycia with his winged horse Pegasus. He offered his services to King Iobates, who commanded him to kill the Chimera. Bellerphron and Pegasus flew over the Chimera, and safe from her three heads and fiery breath managed to cast his sword down her throat. He’d placed a lump of lead on the spear, and the Chimera’s fiery breath melted the lead which resulted in her death.
Chimera had a three-headed brother named Cerberus, who guarded the gates of Hades, the ancient Greek land of the dead. He allowed the spirits of the dead passage into Hades, and ensured that those inside Hades could not leave. He also denied passage to any living person, but there were several occasions when he failed. When Orpheus wanted to enter the underworld he lulled Cerberus to sleep with music. Hercules final labour was to capture Cerberus, which he did by wrestling the hound into submission. Hercules presented Cerberus to Eurystheus, the man who’d given him the task. Eurystheus was so terrified of Cerberus he rushed away screaming, and hid in a large urn. Some of Cerberus’ saliva fell on the ground, causing several of the world’s first poisonous plants to grow.
Multiple heads abounded in this family. A third female sibling, the Hydra, had so many heads artists complained there was not enough room upon their vases to paint them all. Some myths give her three heads, others 100, but it’s believed today she probably had nine. She lived in the springs at Lerna in the central Grecian kingdom of Argolid, which was over the entrance to Hades. Each one of her human heads breathed out toxic, deadly fumes, and none could be destroyed by a weapon. If one head was removed a new one immediately grew in its place. She had the body of a serpent and flippers for feet. It fell to Hercules to deal with this fearsome beast. He arrived at Lake Lerna with his nephew and a charioteer named Iolaus. When they reached the Hydra's hiding place, Heracles told Iolaus to stay with the horses while he drew the monster from its hole with flaming arrows. After covering his nose and mouth to guard against the noxious fumes Heracles attacked the beast, flaying at each head with his sword, but he soon realized that as one head was severed another grew in its place. At his nephew’s suggestion Heracles told Iolaus to bring a flaming torch, and as Heracles removed each head, Iolaus cauterized the open wounds with the torch preventing them from growing again. Heracles removed all but one of the Hydra's heads, which he crushed with a mighty blow from his club. He tore off the head with his bare hands and buried it deep in the ground, placing a huge boulder over the grave. Heracles dipped the tips of his arrows into the Hydra's poisonous blood, making them deadly weapons against future adversaries.
Other versions say that while Heracles fought the Hydra the goddess Hera sent down a giant crab to attack his feet. Other legends say that a stray arrow set alight the forest, and it was the burning trunks Heracles ripped up and used to cauterize the open wounds.
Greek mythology has been a major influence to some of the world’s most famous fantasy writers. In this newsletter four different creatures have been featured, and the details of their physical appearances and the roles they played in some of the world’s most famous ancient legends prove how far a fantasy writer can allow his or her imagination to travel in order to create a being who still inspires writers more than 2,000 years later. The fantastic descriptions and the stories woven around them have stood the test of time, and will continue to do so in the future.
I've featured two of Chimera's sibling in this newsletter. There are still more to detail, including the most famous of all - the Sphinx. My next newsletter (4 July issue) will feature this fantasy creature and the remaining family members. If you have any items featuring the creatures covered in this newsletter please send them to me for inclusion in the next issue.
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~* Moon Beam *~ 
Very interesting subject, the Phoenix. I find this bird very interesting. Thanks for the info. Thank you so much for highlighting my contest in your newsletter. It has toped out over 1,000 views since it came out and counting! 
I’m glad your contest attracted so much attention and I hope this meant a lot of great entries. I find it interesting to see the way different cultures and histories have viewed this fascinating creature.
Lorien
Hi there! I just wanted to tell you that I've thoroughly enjoyed your newsletters on genies/djinn and phoenix, and hope you'll continue with the creature theme in future editions. I've learned quite a bit! Thanks!
Thank you for writing in, and if there’s a fantasy being you’d like to see featured in a future issue please drop me a line.
weeowl flying free!
I read this newsletter in awe and excitement! You provide a well developed plethora of facts about Phoenix! Thank you for honoring this Firebird, this healer, this immortal being! I am a BIG Phoenix fan. Not only was it the name of a friend who was killed and is now my muse as well as the character (love interest) in my novel, but Phoenix has shown up in another way in my life. Finding out this info was very helpful. I will save it and refer back to it. May blessed pearls enchant you in the name of Phoenix!
Thank you for bestowing upon me the traditional Phoenix blessing – I am very honoured! I am sorry to hear about your friend who was obviously a very special person to you. It’s wonderful your friend is still with you today, serving as an inspiration for your work.
likenion
This newsletter was even better than the last one. Mythology is an extremely interesting topic and you did a marvelous job with this one. Thank you for the detailed answer concerning my questions about Djinns. I can't wait for the next issue about Chimeras and by the way can we consider Banshees, Harpies and other apparitions and half human half animal figures as creatures. If so I was very curious about the Lady in the Lake. It is awfully popular, but too stereotyped.
I’m glad you enjoyed the newsletters, and hope this one meets your expectations. I will certainly feature The lady in the lake in a future issue. Some of the most stereotyped fantasy characters are also the most interesting to research, because so much of their history has been forgotten or is ignored.
SamScrewtape
Phoenix are awesome (Or is it Phoenixes?) They are my second favorite mythological creature, next to dragons. Are you gonna do one on dragons? They are stereotyped more than anything else. Also, for chimaeras, check out "Chimaera's Copper" by Piers Anthony. Good book.
I’ve checked, and either word is acceptable as the plural. Dragons are on the list for a future issue. And thank you for the recommendation of the Piers Anthony book.
arwyn_ali
I love the stories of the Phoenix. Another interesting creature to look up is the Peryton. They're not very well known, but the myths are great. I studied them and then decided to put my own version of the creature into my story, Susurrbestia. Again, thanks for a great newsletter.
After reading your letter I researched the Peryton – yes, very interesting creature, and I’ll feature it in a future issue. Thank you for your kind comments!
dogfreek21
Thank you for all the hard work you have put in, giving us this very informative and wonderful newsletter!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for letting me know!
emerin-liseli
Hi! Great newsletter! I think it's so interesting that all these different cultures could come up with a similar mythological creature, and I love that you highlight that. It's informative, and definitely sparks some new ideas for that novel I'm working on… ;) thanks again!
You are most welcome. I think understanding the different cultural beliefs on many fantasy creatures gives fantasy writers a variation on the theme of a traditional fantasy being – readers already know about these creatures, and the new dimension the fantasy writer gives them can only enriches the story for both reader and writer.
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