Greek Goddess, Typhon

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You will find gods, there are monsters, but rarely are there gods which are also monsters. In Greek mythology, there isn’t any god/monster as effective, harmful, and downright deadly as Typhon.
He’s called Typho, Typhaon, Typheous, Typhos, and Typhon in Greek mythology, but regardless of which name is mentioned, it’s not hard to figure out who is being talked about. Most often described as the most horrifying and powerful monster in legend, no beast or demon was as feared by the gods as was Typhon in Greek mythology.
He is referred to in many different ways, varying slightly from legend to legend, but aggregating the most popular descriptions gives us this image of the beast:
He was a giant – so tall his head touched the stars. He had the torso of a man, but each leg was an enormous viper coil that writhed and hissed as he moved. He had a main head that hosted 100 snake heads that constantly screamed the sounds of various animals. All that is described of his human-like head are glowing red eyes that drove fear into the hearts of all that looked upon them, and a “savage jaw” that breathed fire. He had hundreds of wings all over his body, and instead of ten fingers his hands were made from 100 deadly serpents.
Typhon, in Greek mythology, was not just a monster. He was also a god – the last child of Gaia (the Earth) and Tartarus (a violent and bottomless storm pit) who were both considered gods. Some myths say he was instead the child of Hera (Greek mythology), but a better explanation comes from a story where Hera, in a fit of anger toward Zeus (Greek mythology) goes to Gaia and Tartarus and beseeches them to create a god more powerful than Zeus. Thus, Typhon comes into the world and Hera gets a little more than she bargained for.
The Battle For Olympus
The most famous legend involving Typhon in Greek mythology was when the monster god decided that he was tired of as an outcast and would take over Mount Olympus, home of the gods. Naturally, Zeus (Greek Mythology) was not precisely thrilled with this idea and decided to stay and battle Typhon. With the exception of Athena, all of the other Greek gods and goddesses fled the scene, opting to change forms and hide from the monster rather than try to fight him.
Different versions of this legend have different details about precisely how the fight decreases, but all agree that it was long and slow. In the end, Zeus flings Typhon back to Tartarus (Greek Mythology) and throws Mount Etna on top of him, forever trapping him under the weight.
Becoming the fire-breathing beast he is, Typhon is believed to continuously struggle to become free, causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions each time he moves.
Typhon’s Kids
You may not have heard of Typhon before today, but I assure you’ve heard of at least one of his children. In fact, one of them comes with an enormous statue in his likeness on the Giza remove in Egypt. Typhon, in Greek mythology, was married to the half-woman half-serpent Echidna, and collectively they bore probably the most horrifying creatures in all of mythological history.
- Gorgon – the snake-haired and snake-bodied humanoid which was created in its mother’s image. Its stare could turn a person to stone. Medusa became one of these creatures in a later myth.
- Cerberus – the three-headed dog that guards the doorway to Hades.
- Chimera – Part-lion, part-goat, part-snake – all monster.
- Sphinx – the half-human, half-lion that causes those its meet to answer its riddles, or die.
- Hydra – the nine-going serpent who grew two new heads for every one that was cut off.
- Nemean Lion – the giant lion with impassable hide who becomes the constellation Leo.
- Orthros – the two-headed dog that endured giants.
- Ladon – the lizard that protected the golden celery in the Garden of the Hesperides.
