Not all Mermaids want to be where the people are, and walk on those — what do you call them? Their mythos has since been informed by Greek sirens, and they are seen as both menaces and potential lovers to those who travel by sea.
A fantastical creature or a product of ancient misogyny? You be the judge! Where once she had a lovely mane of hair and a gorgeous face, there were now only snakes for locks and a visage that turned men instantly to stone. Thankfully, the great hero Perseus was on hand to cut off her head and take it as a trophy. She really was too good for this world. Now that we've had our fill of fish-women and dog-men, let's crack out our microscopes and meet the smaller members of the mythological world.
Sometimes supernatural, often magical or ethereal, and almost always tiny, these winged spirits appear in a bunch of European pagan traditions.
Though some may be malicious, most depictions of faeries paint them as semi-benevolent elemental beings — protectors of nature, be they water nymphs or woodland fairies. Where to find one: Fairies are quite a common feature in fantasy fiction — especially as protagonists in urban fantasy.
With powers similar to fairies, Goblins are best characterized by their greed, short temper, and penchant for mischief. Where to find one: in The Spiderwick Chronicle s , one of the young Grace twins is abducted by goblins. Where to find one: in one of his rare departures from Discworld, Terry Pratchett published Truckers , the first entry of his "Bromeliad" trilogy. Before they were best known as pitchmen for sugary cereal, Leprechauns were the Irish sprites who, according to legend, would grant three wishes to anyone able to catch him.
Like many of the other wee people, they had a talent for mending shoes — though unlike gnomes, they would hide their earnings in a pot at the end of a rainbow. And to round off our list, let us not forget about the largest of mythological creatures: the giants!
Huge, monstrous creatures with an appetite for human flesh — that of children, in particular. Ogres have turned up in a variety of fairy tales and myths including those of The Odyssey , Beowulf , Gilgamesh , and Puss in Boots. Silly cyclops. Giant ogre-like monsters of Japanese mythology, the Oni are man-eaters often depicted carrying heavy iron clubs. In Jewish folklore, the Golem is an automaton made of clay: an early magical robot who is said to protect or terrorize people depending on who you ask.
The most famous variation is the Golem of Prague, which was created to protect the Jewish ghettos from the wrath of the Holy Roman Empire. This list is by no means exhaustive — what mythical creatures have we missed, and what is your favorite example in literature? Virtual Travel A Smithsonian magazine special report.
Encounters with the giant oarfish—the world's largest bony fish—may have inspired sailors to tell tales about fantastical sea serpents. London Natural History Museum Mermaids, sea serpents, manatees and giant oarfish may not appear to have much in common.
The beasts ripped flesh with their razor sharp talons, and they were also known to fly their victims to great heights before dropping them to their deaths. According to researcher Adrienne Mayor, legends of the griffin could be inspired by early encounters with dinosaur fossils. Scythian nomads in central Asia may have stumbled across the bones of the dinosaur protoceratops and mistook them for a bird-like creature, resulting in the myth of a terrifying flying beast.
One of the most forbidding of all mythical creatures, the manticore was a bloodthirsty quadruped that supposedly sported the head of a blue-eyed man, the auburn body of a lion and the stinging tail of a scorpion.
The legend of this deadly hybrid first began with Greek authors such as Ctesias, who chronicled it in a book about India. Ctesias and others described the manticore as having three rows of teeth like a shark and a tuneful bellow that sounded like a trumpet. Most terrifying of all, it had an insatiable appetite for human flesh. The exception to this was the famed centaur Chiron, tutor to the warrior Achilles, who was wise, civilized and kind.
Chiron triumphed in burying his animalistic instincts and thus was able to attain a higher level of enlightenment. The origin of these mythical beings may be based on the very real tradition in Thessaly of hunting bulls on horseback.
A fierce battle ensues with the Lapiths, and the centaurs are handily defeated and driven away. These battles between centaurs and gods or heroes — known as centauromachy — appear regularly in ancient Greek art, adorning pottery and temples. In more modern literature, however, centaurs are often depicted as supporting forces of good. Although they can still be dangerous and mysterious, they also step up as allies.
Centaurs, though perhaps the most recognizable, are not the only part-human hybrid creature of ancient Greek origin. Mythical beasts and beings have roots all over the world. Click to learn more about just a few of the many. These inhabitants of rivers, ponds and swamps can be both dangerous and playful, either attacking unlucky swimmers or challenging them to sumo wrestling matches.
Stories of Anansi are believed to have originated in Ghana with the Ashanti tribe, later spreading across west Africa to the Caribbean. In these folktales, Anansi typically takes the shape of a spider, although in some stories he can also appear as human. This mischievous sprite or fairy is generally depicted as grotesque and short in stature. Stories tell of trows being nocturnal creatures, emerging from their mounds only at night and breaking into homes as the owners sleep.
According to German folklore, kobolds are domestic spirits that can assist with household chores but are also mischievous, often hiding things and knocking people over. In other stories, kobolds are gnomes who live underground in mines and caves.
In Greek folklore, mermaids, sometimes called sirens, often lured sailors to their deaths with their mesmerizing melodies.
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