There are a lot of monsters in the mythology of the ancient Greeks. Oddly enough, many of these monsters actually existed.
This post will talk about such creatures.
Cyclops
In Greek mythology, Cyclops were giant creatures with one eye. They were known mainly for their barbarism and the fact that they were not afraid of either humans or gods.
The most famous Cyclops was Polyphemus, who attacked Odysseus in a cave and ate half of his people. Odysseus blinded Cyclops, then Odysseus and his men ran away, clinging to the belly of the sheep. Sounds fabulous!
But some time ago, evidence of the existence of cyclops was discovered - these are the skulls of dwarf elephants with one eye socket in the middle, they were found in Cyprus in caves where, according to myths, the cyclops lived.
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Kraken
In Scandinavian folklore, the kraken (a creature that looks like a giant squid) was considered so strong that it could drag any ship to the depths, grabbing it with giant tentacles.
The first written mention of the kraken dates back to 1180. It was also said that the kraken could swallow the entire crew of a ship in one gulp.
The Kriken myth probably arose from the sighting of the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), which can grow to about 18 meters in length, or possibly the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), which is significantly larger than the giant squid and can grow to an unknown length.
Very few large squid have ever been found intact as they live in the deep waters of Antarctica. For this reason, it has proven to be very difficult to find evidence of how the squid attacks its prey. Some recent studies show that they grab prey with their tentacles before pulling it towards them and eating it.
Platypuses
Although this is a later story than some others, the platypus was considered a mythological animal. But it really exists.
It was first discovered in the 18th century, many then considered it a hoax.
Mermaids
As many people swam the seas, so many legends about mermaids existed.
One of the oldest legends about mermaids is the legend of the mermaid Thessalonica - the sister of Alexander the Great, who after his death wanted to drown herself, but instead became a mermaid. According to legend, Thessalonica stopped all ships and asked if Alexander the Great was alive, in case of a positive answer, let him go. And if they said that Alexander was dead, she turned into a monster and dragged the ship to the seabed.
One possible explanation is that the sailors were confused with the manatee mermaids, which do not have a very pleasant appearance.
Manatees can turn their heads, like people, behind rough skin, it can seem like long hair, in poor lighting it could be mistaken for a mermaid if the light was not very sober.
Vampires
The modern view of the vampire was shaped by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897) and has changed little since then - a pale, thin stranger with an incredible accent, sleeping in a coffin and more or less immortal.
It is well known that Stoker based his novel on the historical accounts of Vlad Impaler. It is also possible that Stoker was inspired by many of the rumors and superstitions surrounding death and burial at the time, as well as ignorance about how the body decays.
After death, the skin of the body shrinks. Thus, his teeth and nails become visible and may appear to have grown. In addition, as the internal organs decompose, fluid from them can ooze out of the nose and mouth, leaving dark spots. People may have interpreted this as a corpse drinking blood from the living.
Sometimes scratches were found on the inside of the coffins and people perceived this as an attempt by the deceased to get out of the coffin.
It is likely that people buried in a state of lethargic sleep or coma came to their senses and left these traces.
Giants
The giants have been a part of folklore for thousands of years. In Greek mythology, there is a tribe of Giants of 100 people who were born of the goddess Gaia after she was soaked in the blood collected during the castration of Uranus. Ugh.
In Norse mythology, Augelmirmir was created from water droplets formed when the land of ice (Niflheim) met the land of heat and fire (Muspelheim). It must have been quite large. After he was killed by the gods, the Earth was made from his flesh, seas from his blood, mountains from his bones, stones from his teeth, the sky from his skull and clouds from his brain. His eyebrows even became the fence surrounding Midgard.
Modern scientists have discovered a gene responsible for gigantism, and it is believed that people with gigantism may have a tumor in the pituitary gland that stimulates their growth.
It is said that the biblical giant Goliath was over 274 centimeters tall. There is no modern definition of what is considered gigantic.
Banshee
In Irish folklore, the banshee (a special kind of fairies) was a beautiful young woman with white hair and eyes red from crying, who came to warn a person that someone in their family would die. Thus, she gave time for people to say goodbye to their loved ones. It is unclear when the legend first appeared.
Hydra
In Greek mythology, the hydra was a giant sea serpent with nine heads, one of which was immortal. When one head was cut off, two more grew from the fresh wound. Slaying a hydra is one of the 12 exploits of Hercules. To defeat the hydra, he enlisted the support of his nephew, who cauterized wounds as Hercules chopped off heads until only an immortal head remained. Hercules cut her down and buried her under a heavy rock.
The hydra myth may have been inspired by nature. There have been many documented cases of snakes with multiple heads.