The presence of Roman Mythology Creatures is visible in many of the stories and it proves that Roman Mythology is as great as was the great Roman Empire.
Like every other Mythology, Roman Mythology also has a lot of Creatures that could be seen in various literary works.
In this article, you are going to be thrilled by observing the Roman Mythology Creatures that have been gathered here with their characteristics as illustrated in their photos.
You can observe the existence of these mythological creatures in Roman Literature, Architecture, and Art pieces.
Do you want to know from where these amazing Roman mythical creatures came into being and what was the reason of their deaths?
If you want to know the answer to this question, then you have come to the right place because today we will be addressing all the Roman Mythology Creatures and Monsters…
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The Minotaur
Our list of Roman mythology creatures begins with Minotaur. The Minotaur is a Roman Mythological creature of Classical Antiquity that contains the head and tail of a bull and the body of a Man. This bull-headed monster is referred to in the tales of Theseus.
This mythical creature is mostly described as a partial bull and partial man by the Roman Poets in their tales. In Crete, the Minotaur is also referred as Asterion.
Origin of Minotaur
When Minos became the king of Crete, he prayed to the God of Seas_Poseidon to give him a white bull as a sign of God’s favor. And this bull will be sacrificed for Poseidon.
But when he got the bull, he was persuaded by the beauty of the bull and sacrificed another bull instead.
This thing infuriated Poseidon and he decided to Punish Minos by making his wife Pasiphaë falling in love with a bull.
She climbed a wooden bull designed by Daedalus to have sex with it and got Minotaur as a result of this mating.
When Minotaur grew old as well as in size, he also became very strong but as a bull, he started damaging people.
Finding this situation, Minos ordered Daedalus to build a giant Labyrinth and captured this Roman Mythological Creature there.
Death
The death of this Roman Mythology Monster is reported by the legends that another son of Minos, Androgeus was killed by Athenians and he avenged his son’s death by winning a war with Aegeus, king of Athens.
As a plenty, Athenians were forced to send seven men and seven Maidens every nine years to the Labyrinth in which Minotaur was kept.
On the 3rd offering, Theseus, the son of Aegeus decided to kill Minotaur and set his journey to the Labyrinth in which the Daughter of Minos Ariadne also helped him navigate the sea.
He promised his father to return with a white sail on his ship in the case of success otherwise his crew will come with a black sail.
Theseus killed the Minotaur with his sword(or with bare hands in some stories) and forgot to put white sail upon returning.
This saddened king Aegeus and he committed suicide by jumping into the sea and Theseus became the king and hero of Athens.
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Lernaean Hydra
Hydra was a sea serpent in the Roman Mythology Creatures who guards the gate of underworld at the Lake of Lerna with poisonous fumes in its breathing.
It was also known as the Hydra of Lerna and is considered the protector of the Underworld from the other beings.
Hydra was a multi-headed creature and in some versions considered the seven-headed monster also with two tails in some stories.
Origin of Hydra
In addition to this list of Roman Mythology Creatures, Hydra also finds its origin in Greek Mythology as well as in Roman Mythology and is related to Hercules.
Hercules was the Demi-God and so of Zeus on earth and has many great stories but not liked by the wife of Zeus named Hera.
So, Hera raised Hydra to kill Hercules and directed Eurystheus(king of Hercules) to send Hercules to face Hydra.
Hydra had the ability to regrow its heads and he could not be killed if retained only one head at least that makes it a very dangerous Roman Mythology Monster.
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Death
When Hercules went for Hydra and confronted it, it seemed impossible to kill it because every time he cut one of his heads, it was grown back.
Then he asked for help from Athena through his nephew to kill this Roman Mythology Creature. His nephew came up with a golden sword of Athena and told him to burn each of its heads after killing.
In this way, Hercules killed Hydra and burnt all of its heads.
Pegasus
Pegasus was a winged horse and was tamed by the Bellerophon(son of Glaucus) and used in his fights with Chimera and Stheneboea.
This Roman Mythology creature is also very common in many mythical works and could be seen in many cinematic versions of these mythologies.
Origin of Pegasus
It is narrated that Pegasus was a winged horse that came into being from the blood of Medusa when her head was cut by Perseus with the help of Athena.
Death
Once Bellerophon was riding Pegasus to the heavens and was killed in this attempt by encountering the grudge of Zeus. In addition to the death of Bellerophon, this Roman Mythology Creature was also died and captured by Zeus in the skies.
Since then, Pegasus became a constellation on the skies and a slave of Zeus and could never come back.
Harpy
Harpy is a Roman Mythology Creature that has the head and Body of a women but also have the wings and claws of an eagle.
Origin
Harpy is said to live in the cave of “Minoan Crete” from where they often come out mostly on the order of Zeus(to whom they are loyal).
These Roman Mythical Creatures are found in many myths and one of the most famous is the myth of king Phineas. To whom Zeus punished on an island and sent Harpies to not let him eat anything.
Death
These Roman Mythology creatures were killed in some of their Roman stories by the Legendary Jason and the Argonauts as a punishment for their behavior with king Phineas but in some stories, they returned to their original caves and were not killed.
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Siren (Mermaid)
Sirens are the most popular Roman mythical creatures that we can see very often in the modern cartoons as well.
They are also recognized as Mermaids that are just human-like female(however in more ancient references there were also male sirens but they disappeared from the history) having a fishes-like tail that enables them to live inside the oceans and seas.
Origin
There were originally three types of Sirens created by Zeus, Poseidon and Hades individually.
According to Proclus, Plato described three types of sirens: celestial, generative, and purificatory/cathartic. They were governed by Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades respectively.
These Roman mythology creatures are thought to be very beautiful and tempting which allure the Pirates roaming in the ocean and take them to their Island where they capture them and eat afterwards.
Sirens are considered to be evil entities and are recognized as evil beings.
However, their counter term Mermaid is believed to be harmless to the people.
Centaur
These are the Horse-like Human in this list of Roman mythology creatures that are common in Roman as well as in Greek Mythology.
The upper part is of a Human and the lower part is of a horse giving them human-like heads and horse-like speed.
Origin
In the most common myth, they are considered to be created when a human male bred with a female horse and as a result Centaurs were created.
In the beginning, they were wild just like the untamed horse roaming in the forest but later they became trained and civilized.
Griffin
Griffin are also a combination of two animals. One of them is a Lion and the other one is an Eagle.
You must also have seen a creature like Griffin in the Harry Potter movie that creature was named BuckBeak.
Origin
Griffin are supposed to be created for guarding the treasures of many kings and witches.
They have also been seen seated with Sphinx in various artifacts and both of them have been assigned the task to guard something.
Like Sphinx, Griffin are also common Roman mythology creatures ranging from Greek to Egyptian.
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Conclusion (Versatility of Roman Mythology and its Creatures)
Like the existence of the great Roman Empire, the Mythology of this age is also great and has been spread in almost every part of the world.
Mythologies provides the basic ideas for the life. It is one of the most basic reason why we need to know about mythology and why it has been embedded so deeply in the Literature.
As this list of Roman Mythology Creatures reflects that how how legendary tales are still in use by many literary artists and are even visible in cinematic versions.
One finds mythology as some superstitious beliefs but there is always some reflected image of society present in them.
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