Greek Mythology Creatures Coloring Pages and Free Printables

Perseus and the Gorgons

From a tragic story arose possibly the most famous of all Greek monsters. Medusa was originally a beautiful young woman highly sought after by men. When the god Poseidon spied her worshipping in Athena's temple, he was overcome by lust, entered the structure and took her by force. Angered by the carnal desecration of her chaste temple, Athena punished the maiden by turning her into a fearsome creature: her once beautiful black hair now a nest of snakes, her lovely figure turned into a serpent's slithering body, and her eyes so fearsome that they would turn men and beast into stone when they gazed upon her. After the change, Medusa wrought terror in her new form. Many tried to seek her out and slay her, but to no avail. She met her match in the hands of Perseus, the first mythological Greek hero, who cunningly used the reflected image of Medusa on his shield in order to prevent having to look at her directly and used this to locate and decapitate her. Medusa's severed head retained the ability to turn living beings into stone and continued to be used by Perseus in his other pursuits in order to bring swift end to his enemies. Finally, Perseus surrendered her head to Athena, where it was eventually mounted on her Aegis as a final resting place.

Bellerophon Riding Pegasus Fighting the Chimaera

This monstrous abomination had the body and head of a lioness, a tail that ended in a serpent's head, and a goat's head erupting in the middle of its spine. While three animals amalgamated into a single entity might be nothing more than repulsive, the Chimera adds fear into the mix by its ability to breathe fire strong enough to melt metal. It terrorized villages in the ancient province Caria, and sightings of the Chimera heralded natural disasters. According to Greek mythology, the Chimera was eventually killed by the Greek hero Bellerophon during one of his quests. Bellerophon, while riding on the winged-horse Pegasus, managed to thrust a lump of lead down the Chimera's throat. The lead melted due to the Chimera's fiery breath, causing the monster to suffocate.

Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Siren was a cross between a bird and a woman. They usually came together in groups and inhabited a rocky coastal island. Perched upon the crags, the Sirens lured sailors who were unfortunate enough to venture near their territory towards the rocks with an irresistible song, causing their vessels to shipwreck. Unlike other Greek monsters, the Siren was incredibly seductive and alluring, possessing the body of a beautiful woman as well as an irresistible voice that would cause men to fling themselves into the sea in a wild passion, hoping to join the Sirens on their island. Unfortunately, the sailors would either drown in the roaring waves, or if they were successful in reaching the island, would eventually starve to death in a blissful stupor as they continued to indulge in the Sirens' presence, oblivious to anything else including hunger. Later depictions added a more gruesome detail as the Sirens not only caused sailors to devolve into abandon but also eat the poor fools as well. The Sirens met their end when Odysseus, the cleverest of the Greeks, ordered his men to tie him to the mast of his ship so he can hear the Sirens' song but not die in the process. When the Sirens called, Odysseus found himself beset with a frenzied longing to join the maidens on their island but could not do so because of the ropes restraining him. Once his shipped passed from earshot, the Sirens threw themselves into the depths of the sea, having been destined to die in the event that a mortal man should hear their song and live to tell about it.

Framed Prints of Theseus Slays Minotaur from Mary Evans

The Minotaur came about as an unholy union between Minos' wife Pasiphae and a snow-white bull called the Cretan Bull. This event happened when Minos, the King of Crete, incurred the wrath of Poseidon by refusing to sacrifice the bull in Poseidon's honor because he was awestruck by the beast's beauty. Poseidon enacted revenge by causing Minos' wife to lust after the bull and eventually mate with it. The resulting creature was the half-man, half-bull Minotaur, wild and untamable, craving the flesh of men. Because of its violent nature, Minos had the monster imprisoned within a winding labyrinth. He later found use for it after a bitter war between Crete and Athens, wherein Crete emerged victorious. As a sign of their subjugation, Minos required Athens to send seven male youths and seven female virgins every nine years to Crete in order to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. This grisly tribute continued up to the third cycle until Thesseus, the Athenian founder-hero, decided to go to Crete himself in order to slay the Minotaur. With the aid of Minos' daughter who fell in love with him, Thesseus navigated the labyrinth by unraveling a ball of thread as he went along in order to help him find his way back. When he spotted the Minotaur, a furious battled ensued and ended with Thessues slaying the dreaded creature, putting an end to its cruel slaughter.

Hydre [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Heracles, possibly the most well-known Greek hero, possessed superhuman strength uncontested by any other man. He was aptly matched with the horror known as the Lernean Hydra. The Hydra was a humongous, snakelike creature with multiple heads which were said to be too numerous that ancient painters were unable to portray all of it in their works. The monstrous Hydra also had an extremely potent poison circulating in its blood and noxious fumes emanating from its body as well as the area around its lair. The worst, however, was its ability to regrow and multiply its heads in the event that they are cut off. Faced with the seemingly impossible task of killing the Hydra, the hero Heracles enlisted the aid of his nephew. Heracles covered his nose and mouth with cloth to avoid inhaling the poison and proceeded to battle the beast by cutting off its heads one by one. Meanwhile, his nephew used fire to cauterize the bleeding stumps before the heads could regenerate. With their teamwork, the dreaded Hydra was slain.

Oedipus And The Sphinx [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

As opposed to the feral Chimera, the Sphinx was an enigmatic creature said to be capable of speech. It had the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the head of a woman. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx guarded the passageway to the city of Thebes. Those who sought entrance must first answer her riddle, which went "What creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?" Those who answered incorrectly soon met a gruesome end as the Sphinx's jaws closed in on them. The Sphinx was eventually bested when Oedipus, the Greek figure known for killing his father and marrying his mother, answered the riddle correctly: a man. The logic goes that man crawls on all fours as an infant, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with the aid of a cane in old age. Having been outdone, the Sphinx hurled itself from a great height and died.

typhon [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

If there was one mythological monster that rose above all others, it was Typhon. Typhon was known as the "father of all monsters" since he, along with his wife Echidna, gave birth to a plethora of creatures such as the Sphinx, Lernean Hydra, and Chimera. He was fought by no other than Zeus himself. Zeus suffered tremendous damage during the clash and even had his sinews torn off. It's no wonder, since Typhon was said to have a height that reached the stars, arms with a hundred dragon heads each that encompassed the east and west, gigantic wings which covered his frame, a huge snakelike tail with a hundred legs, and eyes which emitted fire. Zeus managed to gain the upper hand only with the aid of the winged god Hermes. After the momentous battle, the bruised and battered Zeus trapped the terrible Typhon underneath Mount Etna, never to be released again.