Sometimes there are explanations, sometimes there are mixed truths and sometimes they're just plain mad; welcome to the realm of mythical creatures! There are many wondrous and strange creatures in myth, too many to name them all in one article, so here's a brief overview of some and more articles will follow.
Cerberus:
The Cerberus is the three headed dog that guards the Underworld and is usually depicted in Greek Mythology as Hades' pet. If you've ever seen Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (the first one) then Hagrid's pet dog is a pretty accurate representation of the mighty Cerberus. (except Hades unliked Hagrid didn't name his pet Fluffy!)
Charybdis:
Terror of the seas the Charybdis was a great Sea Monster not unlike the Kraken but is identified by its great gaping mouth from which it creates whirlpools when it breathes in. The fact that whirlpools do actually exist no doubt fuelled the belief in such a monster. We must bear in mind that in the Ancient World we had not the scientific knowledge that we do today so natural disasters and rare occurences in nature were often put down to either Gods or mythical creatures because the real explanation was unknown.
Chimera:
One of the most disturbing mythical creatures, this monster has three heads, one snake, one goat and one lion! Also it's back legs are a goat, it's front claws are a Lion and its tail a snake! This monstrous hybrid (mix) was sibling with the Cerberus and multi headed Hydra in Greek Mythology; talk about a weird family! Oh and did I mention that it breathes fire? Yeah that's right this goat, lion, snake monster breathes fire, trying to explain whirlpools you can understand but whoever invented this monstrosity must have had a wild imagination! The image above shows how recent film Wrath of the Titans depicted the Chimera, giving the goat part of the body a certain dragon look.
Centaurs:
If you've seen the Chronicles of Narnia films you'll be familiar with these half human, half horse creatures. They have the head and torso (upper body) of a human and lower body of a horse and are as a result sometimes depicted as wild creatures untamed like animals and at others wise and clever like mankind. The word Centaur actually refers only to male and the female is Centauride; these creatures bridged the gap in Myth between the world of man and the wild and may represent the primal part of our brains in a physical form.
Cyclops:
Big , bad and a little blind you don't mess with the Cyclops. The Cyclops in Greek myths are one eyed giants , sons of Poseidon, that are expert blacksmiths and have a reputation for squishing or eating any humans who get in their way! The younger members of the family are called Cyclopes and are brilliant but slightly less skilled blacksmiths, smaller too, but still a giant and capable of crushing a human! The picture depicts the Cyclops in a recent movie.
I hope you enjoyed this list, many more mythical creatures will follow and they don't all begin with the letter C despite how it may appear so far!
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