Scariest Monsters from Ancient Mythology?

"Monsters and Myths" E-book in time for Halloween!

Dear Classical Wisdom Members, 

I feel bad. I really should have sent this out last week... so you had time to be inspired! 

After all, when trying to plan the perfect Halloween costume for yourself or loved ones, you can do no better than draw on the ancient stories filled with crazy creatures, nefarious nymphs, and of course mythical monsters. 

Because let's face it... whether you are 5 or 50, Monsters are cool. They can enthrall, enchant and terrify.

But... why? What causes humans all over the globe, all throughout history to invent these beastly monstrosities that can scare us so? 

And, more specific to the Greco-Roman world, what is it about our classical monsters that still manage to capture the imagination...thousands of years later? 

Excellent question, dear reader... I’ll let you ponder that!

To help you out (and just in time for Halloween) we are releasing our Ebook, “Monsters and Myths”, exclusively for our Classical Wisdom Society Members. Go face to face with Medusa, the Cyclops, the ancient Titans, and discover the horrifying monsters from classical mythology as well as the ancient heroes who went toe to toe with these creatures in our comprehensive anthology below. 

But first... how to decide which monster should make the cut?

Read on to enjoy Ben Potter’s review of the most fantastically scary myths to include in this special holiday edition. 

All the best,

Anya Leonard

Founder and Director
Classical Wisdom

P.S. Members: You can download the entire Monsters and Myths anthology below. If you aren’t a member yet, subscribe or start our free trial and access the Ebook today. 

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Monsters and Myths

By Ben Potter

Amongst the cursus honorum of monstrous myth-makers it would be difficult to choose one who stands out from the crowd as the quintessential scribe responsible for bestowing unto us the classical tradition of the brutal and belligerent beasts used by ancient parents to scare ancient children into eating their greens. 

Though we could argue the toss as to whether the zenith of the genre is personified by Homer, Ovid, Virgil, et al. it would be difficult to similarly argue about the place at which we should start; being, of course... well, the place where things started. 

Hesiod’s Theogony, though more famous for its account of the genesis of gods, also recalls the beginnings of many of the fierce and famous creatures of the Greek pantheon of horrors. This is, in part, because said beasts almost exclusively have at least a drop of divine blood in them.

Though it is widely assumed that Hesiod provides us with the first definitive account of the divines, a who’s who of the supernatural, a bible for a non-dogmatic religion, it is unclear to what extent he was chronicler or innovator. Though most experts assume he was bringing into one, easily-digestible package the collective lore of the Greek peoples, there is, to date, no way to satisfactorily corroborate this. 

Likewise, to choose an excerpt from Athenian tragedy was no easy task... only in the sense that one had to be plucked from a plethora of options. Though monsters, monstrous characters and even more monstrous actions dominate Greek tragedy, they usually do so in isolation, i.e. as the background to, or climax of, a play – meaning