Twisted. Mingled. Ugly. Big. Scary… There are many words used to describe monsters. The history of monsters is perhaps as long as humanity itself. It could be argued that monsters are a personification of fear. In this series of articles, I will attempt to explore different forms of monsters. I do not claim that I will cover every single monster in history, but I will cover some from different eras that stand out and relate to different eras as well.
Before we take a closer look at a few monsters, let’s establish what they are commonly defined as. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the monster is:
Originally: a mythical creature which is part animal and part human, or combines elements of two or more animal forms, and is frequently of great size and ferocious appearance. Later, more generally: any imaginary creature that is large, ugly, and frightening.
Something extraordinary or unnatural; an amazing event or occurrence; a prodigy, a marvel. Obsolete.
In this part, I will discuss some of the monsters of Ancient Egypt and Greece and try to dissect them. Together we will have the pleasure to make the acquaintance of the serpentine monster, the humanoid monster, and the beast-like monster.
Ancient Egypt and Myths
Ancient Egypt was not a place for monsters as a whole. While monsters existed in Ancient Egyptian mythology, most of them could be referred to as beasts or entities rather than ‘monsters’. A beast, here, is not a creature that is intentionally evil; beasts can have evil attributes, and can terrorize, but without the intention of doing so. Beasts, therefore, are not the topic of discussion here. Instead, I will draw the focus on the ‘monsters’ that were intended to be evil, or perceived as deliberately evil.
First in line is Apep, as referred to as Aphoph, or Aphophis. It is an ancient deity that embodies darkness and disorder. Apep has a serpentine shape, often depicted in the form of a giant snake that was elaborated to stretch 16 yards in length and has a head of flint. It was referred to as the enemy of Ra (Re) and the Lord of Chaos. Apep is often depicted with its body wound around a tree in a similar fashion to early Biblical depictions of Satan (which we will come back to in a future part of this series). While it is unclear and disputed, Apep appears to be one of the very first depictions of ancient and evil dragons, only second to the Sumerian Tiamat according to some historians. Unlike many recorded monsters in myths, the history behind Apep is shrouded in mystery which is understandable considering that the deity was presented sometime between 4000 and 3500 BCE. However, in some descriptions, Apep is said to have been born after Ra, often from his umbilical cord. Much like another monster that we will come back to, Apep was called the World-Encircler, and depending on the reading, Ra and Apep are in constant battle that is often attributed to the Day and Night cycle.
Our next monster is Set, the Ancient Egyptian deity most attributed to evil. He is the god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners. Anatomically, Set has the body of a man with the head of an animal of unknown origins, often resembling an aardvark, an African wild dog, a donkey, a hyena, a jackal, a pig, an antelope, a giraffe, or a fennec fox. While Set has a major role to play in the battle against Apep, accompanying Ra on his barque to repel Apep, he is also the deity that kills Osiris. The story of Osiris was one of the most important ones in Ancient Egypt and resembles the biblical story of Cain and Abel. He is portrayed as the usurper who murdered and mutilated his brother, Osiris.
Ammit is a goddess known as the Devourer of the Dead. She has the head of a crocodile, the forequarters of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. Unlike other deities in ancient Egypt, Ammit was not worshiped but feared. She was thought to be a demon rather than a deity due to her role in devouring the dead. This kind of monster presents the beastly or beast-like monsters that did not have the humanoid attributes, instead, they represented a monstrosity in sight as well as in character.
Ancient Greece and Myths
Unlike Ancient Egypt, Greek myths presented many monsters. However, the monsters in Greek mythology also follow the three types that I mentioned before; the serpentine, the humanoid, and the beast-like monster. Of those creatures, I will only discuss three.
The Lernaean Hydra or the Hydra of Lena is a serpentine lake monster in Greek Mythology. According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It has poisonous breath and many heads, and while the exact number differs in different retellings, later versions of the story attribute the power of regeneration to the Hydra where each time one of the heads is chopped off, two more regrow. The Hydra presents the second of Heracles' labors where he kills the beast with the aid of his cousin, Iolaus.
The father of the Hydra presents another serpentine-like creature. However, the humanoid aspects force me to think of him as more within the realm of humanoid monsters instead of serpentine ones. He has several heads, and in some stories, serpentine head(s). He is a giant whose head(s) are said to brush the stars. And his legs are two giant serpents in most stories and depictions.
It is worth noting that humanoid creatures, such as the Minotaur, the Cyclops, and Gorgons are terrifying and inspiring creatures in their own right, but of those, Typhon is perhaps the most terrifying in Greek myths.
As with the previous monsters, the Chimera is a direct relative to Typhon and the Hydra, being the offspring of Typhon and Echidna as well. The Chimera has the head and body of a lion, the tail of a snake or a serpent, and a goat’s head on its back. The distorted creature is fire-breathing and terrifying. The mixture of different beasts is not unique, as it somehow resembles Ammit from Egyptian mythology and the Sphinx. The Chimera is the sibling of Cerberus, the three-headed dog that was often associated with Hades.
In the following part of this series, I will dive into the anatomy of Biblical monsters and those from Abrahamic Religions as well as some of the monsters in Norse mythology.
Written and illustrated by Amr Abbas.
Cover illustration by Jaro Mettinisson.