Monsters of The Odyssey

CalypsoA nymph who keeps Odysseus on her island for 8 years, Calypso is very fond of Odysseus and even offers to make him immortal because she is very lonely on her island...

The Cyclops

The Cyclops traps Odysseus and some of his crew in his cave. He eats six of them.

Circe

She is nymph who lives on Aeaea and changes Odysseus' crew into swine and other animals.

The Sirens

Women who live on an island and lure men to their doom by singing about the men's pasts. Odysseus passes by the their place and listens to their song while tied down...

Scylla and Charybdis

Scylla is a six-headed monster that snatches six men, one for each of her heads, whenever a ship sails by. She lives in a cave opposite from the whirlpool, Charybdis...

Poseidon

The god of the sea who punishes Odysseus for blinding his son, Polyphemus. He makes Odysseus' journey home as long as possible...

Other Greek MonstersThough not in The Odyssey, here are some other famous Greek mythological monsters:

The MinotaurThe Minotaur was a man-eating monster with the head of a bull. King Minos kept it hidden in a labyrinth (a maze) in Knossos, on the island of Crete, where he used it to frighten his enemies. Theseus killed the Minotaur.

The Gorgon MedusaThe Gorgons were horrifyingly ugly monsters who lived at the edge of the world. Their hair was made of serpents, and one look from a Gorgon's eyes would turn a man to stone. Perseus killed the Gorgon Medusa by beheading her while looking only at her reflection.

CerberusCerberus was a huge and powerful three-headed dog. He was owned by Hades, god of the dead, who used the fearsome hound to guard the entrance to the underworld. In his final labor, Hercules went to the underworld and kidnapped Cerberus.

Charon Charon s the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.

Ticket Out the Door:Write a few sentences explaining which of these monsters you would LEAST want to encounter, and why.