Monsters7

Monsters by McKell Miskin and Jack McEvoy

__Gorgons __ There were 3 gorgons, daughters of Phorcys. 2 were immortal: Sthenno and Euryale. Medusa, the 3rd sister, was mortal. The sisters were dragon-like with wings, but human faces. Instead of hair, they had serpents. Anyone who looked into their eyes would be immediately turned to stone. Some say that Medusa was once a beautiful maiden, and then cursed by Athena to be an ugly monster. Others say she was born a monster. Either way, the sisters were to be feared by people.


 * Analysis**: One reason the Greeks might have created the Gorgons would be to balance out the good things with the bad things, like monsters. The Gorgons capture the potential power of women and the idea of the evil nature of reptiles such as snakes and dragons. They also show that the Greeks believed the most powerful points of the body to include eyes and hair.

__Sleep and Death __ Hypnos was the god of sleep and Thanatos, his brother, the god of peaceful death. They lived together in the underworld in a dark cave surrounded by poppies and hypnotic plants. Hypnos is often depicted as a young man with wings carrying a symbol of sleep, such as a poppy stem, opium, or an inverted torch. Thanatos, on the other hand, is generally shown as an older man with a beard, whose gentle touch carries man into the underworld. Hypnos controls 2 gates, through which dreams enter the minds of men. The horn gate is of true and prophetic dreams. The ivory gate is of misleading false dreams.
 * Analysis**: Sleep and Death are yet another example of the Greeks’ strong family values, being brothers. The Greeks most likely created them to explain dreams and peaceful deaths. They must have valued dreams and even if they feared death, hoped to have a peaceful one. In Greek culture, horn must have been more sophisticated than ivory. Probably more expensive as well.

__The Furies __  The Furies were three sisters that would punish people on Earth for their sins. Their names were Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto. They are also known as the goddesses of revenge. They would hunt down the people on Earth that committed crimes and drive them insane until they died.


 * Analysis:** The Greeks might have created the Furies to explain why some people were murdered or unfairly killed. It also explains why people went insane or crazy. It was because the Furies would torture them until they went insane and eventually died.

__Cerberus __ Cerberus was the guardian of the underworld. It was a three-headed dog with the tail of a dragon. Its mane was created of snakes, and it had the claws of a lion. It would sit and guard the gates of the underworld and let every spirit in, but allow none to leave. Hercules was sent to fetch Cerberus from the underworld as one of his twelve labors, and he accomplished this task due to the help of Persephone, Hades' wife.
 * Analysis:** The Greeks most likely created Cerberus because it gave an explanation for why people couldn't come back to life, because Cerberus wouldn't allow them to get themselves out of the underworld.

**Modern Day Connections**
 * Cerberus would be Fluffy from Harry Potter because they are both three-headed dogs that protect something special.
 * Today the Gorgons would be the unkind people in the world who put others down using words and action
 * Some photographers and other types of artists like to capture people when they are not expecting it, like those who were turned to stone by Medusa
 * Hypnos (Sleep) would be Charles McPhee, a sleep expert known as the "Dream Doctor", or any somnologists, 'sleep doctors'
 * There are many places today where one can find interpretations of dreams, as a belief that dreams have meaning
 * The Furies would be karma, because they would give people the revenge they deserve.
 * Thanatos (Death) would be guidance counselors because their gentle advice helps carry students' problems away
 * It is not uncommon for an older person to die in their sleep, a peaceful death

Atsma, Aaron J. "HYPNOS: Greek God of Sleep." //THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY,// //Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art//. Theoi Project, 2000. Web. 05 Nov. 2011. [].
 * Works Cited**

Atsma, Aaron J. "THANATOS: Greek God of Death." //THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY,// //Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art//. Theoi Project, 2000. Web. 05 Nov. 2011. [].

Atsma, Aaron J. "MEDUSA & the GORGONS: Serpent-Haired Monsters." //THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY,// //Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art//. Theoi Project, 2000. Web. 05 Nov. 2011. [].

Hamilton, Edith. //Mythology//. United States: Grand Central Publishing, 1942. Print.