Kamis, 06 Agustus 2009

Leviathan


Leviathan is a sea monster referred to in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). The word leviathan has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In Christian tradition, the Leviathan is associated with Satan. In modern literature (such as the novel Moby Dick) it refers to great whales, and in Modern Hebrew, it means simply "whale."


According to legend, the leviathan was a fire-breathing creature of such immense size that the sea boils when it swims on the surface. The Leviathan's skin is like a double coat of mail, with overlappping scales as large as shields on its back, and as sharp and hard as broken pottery on it's under-parts. Swords and harpoons will simply bounceoff such protection. It breaths smokes from its nostrils and flames from it's mouth which is rimmed with teeth. Its fins radiate a brilliant light and its eyes are like the glimmerings of dawn.

Centaur


In Greek Mythology the centaurs (from Ancient Greek : Κένταυροι - Kéntauroi) are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse. In early Attic vase-paintings, they are depicted with the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be.
This half-human and half-animal composition has led many writers to treat them as liminal beings, caught between the two natures, embodied in contrasted myths, both as the embodiment of untamed nature, as in their battle with the Lapiths, or conversely as teachers, like Chiron.

The centaurs were usually said to have been born of Ixion and Nephele (the cloud made in the image of Hera). Another version, however, makes them children of a certain Centaurus, who mated with the Magnesian mares. This Centaurus was either the son of Ixion and Nephele (instead of the Centaurs) or of Apollo and Stilbe, daughter of the river god Peneus. In the latter version of the story his twin brother was Lapithus, ancestor of the Lapiths, thus making the two warring peoples cousins.

Centaurs were said to have inhabited the region of Magnesia and Mount Pelion in Thessaly, Mount Pholoe in Arcadia and the Malean peninsula in southern Laconia.

Senin, 03 Agustus 2009

Hydra Dragon


The shape of Hydra resembles a twisting snake with nine head, and features as such in some Greek myths. If one of it's head is cut, it's head will become two new head. One myth associates it with a water snake that a crow served Apollo in a cup when it was sent to fetch water; Apollo saw through the fraud, and angrily cast the crow, cup, and snake, into the sky. The origin of this story is likely to be the juxtaposition of this constellation with those of Crater, and Corvus, in the area of the sky known as the Sea.

Characteristic of Hydra :
The Learnean Hydra (Hercules's foe), had 9 heads and lived in Lerna in a pool formed by the Amymone spring. It is the half sister of the Nemean Lion. When one of her heads was cut, two more would grow in its place.
8 heads were mortal, 1 was immortal.
Earliest representations are on a 14th Century BC Syrian seal that reflects a Babylonian influence.
Characterized by multiple heads and necks, but may appear with or without wings and legs
Also characterized by thick legs and tail

Minggu, 02 Agustus 2009

Griffin


The griffin is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Griffins are normally known for guarding treasure. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine.

Most contemporary illustrations give the griffin legs like an eagle's legs with talons, although in some older illustrations it has a lion's forelimbs; it generally has a lion's hindquarters. Its eagle's head is conventionally given prominent ears; these are sometimes described as the lion's ears, but are often elongated (more like a horse's), and are sometimes feathered.

Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings (or a wingless eagle-headed lion is identified as a griffin); in 15th-century and later heraldry such a beast may be called an alce or a keythong. In heraldry, a griffin always has forelegs like an eagle's hind legs; the beast with forelimbs like a lion's forelegs was distinguished by perhaps only one English herald of later heraldry as the opinicus. The modern generalist calls it the lion-griffin, as for example, Robin Lane Fox, in Alexander the Great, 1973:31 and notes p. 506, who remarks a lion-griffin attacking a stag in a pebble mosaic at Pella, perhaps as an emblem of the kingdom of Macedon or a personal one of Alexander's successor Antipator.

Phoenix


The phoenix is a mythical sacred firebird which originated in the ancient mythologies mentioned in the Phoenician Mythology and the Egyptian and later the Greek Mythology.

A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colourful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of myrrh twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn a new to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self.

According to the most popular variant of the phoenix, the bird lives in Arabia for 500 years at the end of which, it burns itself and its nest. In the version of the phoenix described by Clement, an ante-Nicene (basically, before Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire) Christian theologian, the phoenix' nest is made of frankincense, myrrh and spices. A new phoenix always rises from the ashes.
Ancient sources on the mythological phoenix bird, include Clement, Ovid, Pliny, Tacitus, and Herodotus.

In China Mythology, Phoenix is same with Hong Bird, it is a symbol of the empress with dragon which is the symbol of the emperors.
In Ancient Egypt and in classical antiquity, a fabulous bird associated with the worship of the sun. The egyptian phoenix was said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Only one phoenix existed at any time, and it was very long-lived—no ancient authority gave it a life span of less than 500 years. As its end approached, the phoenix fashioned a nest of aromatic boughs and spices, set it on fire, and was consumed in the flames. From the pyre miraculously sprang a new phoenix, which, after embalming its father’s ashes in an egg of myrrh, flew with the ashes to Heliopolis (“City of the Sun”) in Egypt, where it deposited them on the altar in the temple of the Egyptian god of the sun, Re. A variant of the story made the dying phoenix fly to Heliopolis and immolate itself in the altar fire, from which the young phoenix then rose.

Dragon



Dragons are legendary creatures, typically with serpentine or otherwise reptilian traits, that feature in the Myths of worldwide cultures.
Dragons are usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard, or a snake with two pairs of lizard-type legs, and able to emit Fire from their mouths.

The European Dragons has bat-type wings growing from its back. A dragon-like creature with no front legs is known as a wyvern. Following discovery of how pterosaurus walked on the ground, some dragons have been portrayed without front legs and using the wings as front legs pterosaur-fashion when on the ground, as in the movie Reign Of Fire.

The Chinese or Oriental dragons generally, can take on human form and are usually seen as benevolent, whereas European dragons are usually malevolent though there are exceptions (one exception being Y Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon of Wales). Malevolent dragons also occur in the mythology of Persia and Russia, among other places.
Dragons are particularly popular in China and the five-clawed dragon was a symbol of the Chinese emperors, with the phoenix or Fenghuang the symbol of the Chinese empress. Dragon costumes manipulated by several people are a common sight at Chinese festivals. Chinese dragons can also develop wings over a life span of 3,500 years.