Did you know that many of your favorite movies, science fiction books and even some television shows are based on mythology from one ancient civilization or another? Almost every ancient civilization had stories that are now called Mythology. Mythology is a group of made up stories that were once believed to be real. Many times myths tell of events that people could not explain. Gods and magical creatures were the main characters in these stories that were passed down from generation to generation. The stories made up explanations for real events like earthquakes, lightning, volcanoes and even rain. There were gods that were good and gods that were evil. Different gods had different jobs. The stories also contained monsters good and bad, and creatures that fought against the gods or helped them. Some of the most famous myths come from Ancient Greece. 

A lot of people do not like snakes. They come in all sizes and all colors, but what did a mythological water snake look like? Hydra was enormous, much larger than normal snakes. The hydra was not only big but had nine heads and lived in the swamps around the village of Lerna. Many people disappeared in the swamps and it was believed that this place was one of the entrances to the underworld and the Hydra protected it. The god Hercules was sent to kill the hydra and he decided the best way would be to cut off its heads, but every time Hercules cut off a head of the snake two more grew back. 

Not all of the ancient creatures were deadly or scary and some like Pegasus are still popular. Pegasus was a beautiful white horse with wings big enough to help him fly. He was immortal which means he could never die. Pegasus’ parents were Poseidon and Medusa. It is said that when Pegasus stomped his foot a pond or well of water would appear and the water would have magical powers. Pegasus was wild until Athena gave a hero named Bellerophon a golden bridal. Bellerophon and Pegasus rode together on many great adventures. One of the most told stories is of Pegasus and Bellerophon going to battle with the Chimera, a creature with a serpent's tail, the body of a goat and a lion’s head. 

The Minotaur is another frightening figure in Greek mythology. He was half bull and half man. The son of the queen of the island of Crete and a beautiful white bull. He had the body of a human and the head of a bull. He was very strong. It is said that the Minotaur lived in a maze called a labyrinth under the castle. The king would put people in the labyrinth and as they wandered the maze of passages they were hunted then eaten by the Minotaur. Archaeologists have searched ancient sites on the island for traces of the labyrinth and have not found one. It is believed the king of Crete, Minos, was a warring king who took many prisoners who were never seen again and people needed a way to explain their disappearance.

The Cyclops, Cerberus, Medusa, Phoenix and Centaur are others that you may recognize from modern literature. Percy Jackson and Harry Potter both battle creatures from Greek Mythology. Unicorns can be found just about everywhere you look. Look up at the sky at night and you will see constellations. Many of the constellations were named for mythological creatures by the Greeks of the ancient world. If you ran into one of these creatures in real life what would it be like? What would living in a world, without scientific knowledge that could explain about many natural phenomena? What do we think we know today that scientists of the future will call mythology?