×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Monday
15
Dec 2025
weather symbol
Athens 16°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> Culture

Ancient Greeks and Dragons!

The mythology of monsters

Newsroom January 5 08:52

The dragons of Greek mythology were different than in common mythology. They were serpentine monsters and most of them weren’t accounted to be flying around like dragons in other mythologies. The Greeks separated dragons into three family groups which included the serpent-like Dracones, the marine-dwelling Cetea and the she-monster-like creatures Dracaena.
Dracones
Dracones were giant serpents, usually possessing deadly venom or multiple heads.
Colchian Dragon – never-sleeping dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece in Colchis. It is said that the dragon never lowered its vigilance. During the retrieving of the golden fleece, it was put to sleep by Orpheus’ soft tunes and Medea’s magical potion.
Cychreides – a dragon which terrorised Salamis before being slain by Cychreus whom the dragon got its name after. There is another version of story which tells us that the dragon was captured by Eurylochus who gifted it to Demeter.
Ismenian Dragon – a dragon which guarded the sacred spring of Ares near Thebes. It was slain by Cadmus in his quest of founding Thebes when he went after his men who did not return, after sending them for water.
Ladon – a serpent-like dragon with hundred heads which guarded the apples of Hesperides. It is said that the serpent did not need to sleep entirely. While sleeping, at least couple of heads were always awake and focused.
Lernaean Hydra – a nine-headed dragon with deadly venom which guarded the springs of Lerna. It was slain by Heracles in the second of his twelve labours. However, he was having help from Lolaus and therefore this labour didn’t count.
Python – a dragon set by Gaea to guard the sacred shrine in Delphi. It was slain by Apollo who was seeking revenge for previously pursuing his mother Leto when she was pregnant.

dracon2
Cetea
Cetea were sea monsters. They usually featured in myths of a hero rescuing a sacrificial princess.

Ethiopian Cetus – a sea monster sent by Poseidon to ravage Ethiopia, after Cassiopeia bragged that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, relatives of Poseidon. The monster was later slain by Perseus who came to rescue Andromeda.
Trojan Cetus – a fearsome sea monster sent by Poseidon, after the king of Troy refused to pay him for the walls which the god had helped to build there. The monster was slain by Heracles who, like Perseus, came to rescue Hesione from being sacrificed.

>Related articles

The village in the Peloponnese from which, according to myth, Paris abducted the beautiful Helen

Matt Damon transforms into “Odysseus” – See new photos from the filming in Pylos

The weirdest stories from Greek Mythology (video)

dracon
Dracaena
Dracanea were creatures displaying characteristics of a woman and a serpent.

Echidna – a half maiden and a half serpent who was nothing like men nor undying gods but still immortal and never aged. It is said that she was a consort of Typhoeus or Typhon and bore him Orthus, the two-headed dog.
Campe – a she-dragon with a beautiful face and upper body but had a monstrous viperish tail. She was tasked by Cronus to guard the gates of Tartarus where he imprisoned the Cyclopes and Hekatoncheries. It is said that she was killed by Zeus who came to rescue the prisoners and make them his allies.
Scythian Dracaena – a she-dragon that ruled the lands of Scythia. It is said that she mated with Heracles who agreed to a compensation of giving him back a couple of mares from Geryon’s flock that she captured. After, she gave birth to three sons, Agathyrsos, Gelonos, Skythes.

 

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#Ancient Greeks#dragons#mythology
> More Culture

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

GPO poll: who are the political figures and events of 2025

December 15, 2025

Christodoulides and Macron sign the strategic partnership between Cyprus and France in Elysee

December 15, 2025

St Eleftherios Church celebrates Feast Day in Brunswick

December 15, 2025

The village in the Peloponnese from which, according to myth, Paris abducted the beautiful Helen

December 15, 2025

The heavy past and the days of the “Greek Escobar” arrested over the cocaine boat in the Atlantic

December 15, 2025

Vessel with Greek interests found with cocaine in the Atlantic – Notorious “baron” arrested

December 15, 2025

Brutal crime in Hollywood: Renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife found dead, allegedly murdered by their son

December 15, 2025

The “happy Mitsotakis,” the phone calls to Pierre, and the farmers who…don’t want the tax authority at their heels (OPEKEPE was just fine), the pressure on servicers, the Chatziminas deal

December 15, 2025
All News

> Culture

The village in the Peloponnese from which, according to myth, Paris abducted the beautiful Helen

Opposite it lies a small islet, which, according to mythology, is considered the birthplace of the Dioscuri

December 15, 2025

How “Albanian” was Georgios Kastriotis or Skanderbeg, what does the domed tomb at the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos hide?

December 14, 2025

9th Ministerial Meeting of the forum of Ancient Civilizations: Athens as the meeting point for Culture Ministers from around the world

December 12, 2025

Emma Stone for Gala magazine: “Life has a sense of humor, even in its darkest moments”

December 12, 2025

Marianna Latsis visits the Apostolic Diakonia of the Church of Greece – Welcomed by Metropolitan Agathangelos of Phanar

December 11, 2025
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2025 Πρώτο Θέμα