Fantastic Beasts

A PowerPoint Presentation by Liz, Mary, Carmen, Jonathan, Amber, Yasmeen,

Katy, and Steph

Sphinx

Origin: Egypt or Ethiopia

It is a female monster with the body of a lion, the breast and head of a woman, eagle's wings, and sometimes a serpent tail

Sphinx

Egyptian Sphinx

Greek Sphinx

Incorporated into Greek myth Daughter of Orthus and Chimaera, Typhon and

Echidna , or Typhon and Chimaera Fond of riddles, i.e. “What goes on four legs in

the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?”

Answer: a human (number of legs describes place in life cycle: baby adult old person with cane)

Sphinx

Typhoeus

Origin: Greece Man-shaped torso, two coiled

vipers instead of legs, fifty serpents per arm instead of hands, winged, dirty matted hair and beard, pointed ears, and eyes flashing fire.

Said to be big enough for his head to brush the stars

Volcano-daimon: could hurl red-hot rocks at the sky and storms of fire boiled from his mouth.

Son of Earth or Hera, depending on myth Mate of Echidna, a half-snake half-woman

creature Father of Orthos, a two-headed dog; Cerberus,

a three-headed dog; Lernaea Hydra, a chtonic, serpent-like creature with numerous heads; and Chimair, a creature with the body of a goat, the tail of a snake or dragon, and the head of a lion

Typhoeus

Typhoeus

Went on rampaging murder/destruction spree, destroyed cities, killed a lot of people

Was defeated in battle by Zeus who imprisoned him under Mt. Etna, a stratovolcano on the coast of Sicily

Thalia

Origin: Greece Goddess of Festivity

and Banquets, Muse of Comedy

A young woman crowned with ivy and carrying a comedy mask, bugle, or shepherd’s staff

Thalia

One of three Graces, minor goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, and fertility and daughters of Zeus

Eighth born of nine Muses, goddesses of inspiration

Rhode

Origin: Greece Daughter of

Poseidon Wife of Helios Sea-nymph of

Aegean island of Rhodes, convinced Zeus to allot island to Helios after it rose from the sea

Skylla/Scylla

Origin: Greece Twelve dangling feet,

six long necks and grisly heads lined with a triple row of sharp teeth

Her voice was likened to the yelping of dogs

Classically depicted as fish-tailed sea goddess

Skylla/Scylla

Often mentioned with Charybdis, a giant whirlpool monster that both sucks down and spews out seawater to drown ships, because they live on opposite sides of the Straits of Messenia between Italy and Sicily

Skylla is a six-headed, snakelike monster that will swoop down and snatch sailors from the decks of passing ships

There are two towering rocks called the Rovers which clash together to destroy passing ships and Skylla makes her home in the most lofty of the two peaks. Her rocky habitat is always shrouded in clouds … no sunlight ever reaches the summit and no mortal man can climb the sheer rock-face or even shoot an arrow to such a height.

Triton

Origin: Greece Fish-tailed sea god,

sometimes depicted with twin fish or dolphin tails, crab-claw "horns,” green-tinged skin, and/or a pair of equine forelegs.

Carried a winged bow and conch-shell trumpet

Has some power over the ocean

Son of Poseidon and Amphitrite Father of sea-nymphs Pallas, Kalliste, Triteia,

and Tritonides Patron god of salt lake Tritonis Helped Argonauts escape when they became

trapped in the desert

Triton

Thamyris

Origin: Greece Half-nymph humanoid,

son of Pilammon, a mortal singer, and Argiope, a nymph

Talented singer who was punished by Hades for his hubris either by blindness or the removal of his voice

Sirens

Origin: Greece Birds with the heads and faces

of beautiful human women Sit on crags of a rocky coast

and lure sailors to their deaths by singing in such enchanted voices that sailors crash their ships on the rocks to get closer to them and, ultimately, drown

Featured in “The Odyssey” and “The Argonautica,” defeated respectively by Odysseus and Orpheus

Will o’ Wisp

Origin: Europe Appear as glowing balls of light

that lead travelers astray at night

Irish myth states that they can lead a person to treasure

Also depicted in literature as a metaphor for an unreachable goal

Based on real-life environmental phenomena known as “marsh gas” or “swamp gas,” where gas reserves in marshy environments briefly spontaneously ignite

Valkyries

Origin: Scandinavia and Northern Europe

Beautiful female warrior spirits aboard flying horses

Assisted Odin by flying into battle and escorting the souls of the most worthy slain warriors to Valhalla (essentially Viking warrior Heaven)

Tityus

Origin: Greece Phokian Giant Son of Elara and Zeus, though

carried to term by Gaia after his mother was buried in the Earth to hide her from Hera

Assaulted the goddess Leto, was slain in punishment by Artemis and Apollo, further (eternally) punished in the Underworld by being staked to the ground and having two vultures pluck out his liver every night after it regenerates during the day

Terpsichore

One of nine Muses Choral song, and dance Depicted with lyre Terpsichore and her

sisters were believed to reside above the golden clouds that covered the sacred Greek mountain peaks of Mount Olympus

Said to be mother of Sirens, by Achelous

Telchines

Origin: Greece Usually depicted as

humanoids or human/fish hybrids

Original inhabitants of Rhodes, children of Pontus or Gaia

Talented smiths- created trident for Poseidon and sickle for Cronus

Raised Poseidon Slain by Poseidon, Zeus, or

Apollo for developing evil magic

Zelus

Origin: Greece Demon of Jealousy A monstrous hag with a wrinkled,

shrunken body, black teeth, and breasts covered in green venom

 Commonly referred to as Nemesis Invidia, which is Latin for envy

Appearance reveals the ugliness of her soul and her crooked, squinting eyes never sleep

Feeds off serpents and thriving off their venom

Provoked by the spite and resentment towards seeing others fortune and success. The Zelus herself is her own torture, competitive by nature and fueling her fire with the bitterness she so frequently encounters.

Sandman

Origin: Northern and Central Europe

Humanoid human man whose purpose is to sprinkle dust or sand into the eyes of children to make them sleep and dream.

If you wake up and you have sandy gunk in your eye, he visited you in the night

Occasionally portrayed as a more sinister character who would steal the eyes of children who refused to sleep after throwing sand in them

Selkie

Origin: Scotland, Ireland, Faroe Island

Gorgeous young men and women that live as seals in the sea but can turn into humanoids on land by removing their seal skin

Become bound to a human that steals their seal skin and will remain homesick for the sea until they have their skin returned

Yuki-onna

Origin: Japan A tall, beautiful woman with white

skin, black hair, and blue lips Appears to mountain travelers in

snowstorms and has powers over snow, ice, and cold (usually kills them)

Most famous story describes a man who encounters a yuki-onna and is spared by her, as long as he doesn’t speak of her again. Years later, he tells the story to his wife who turns out to be the yuki-onna. She spares him again on behalf of their children but melts away and disappears

Yasmeen: Sphinx and Typhoeus Carmen: Titon and Thamyris Jonathan: Sirens, Will o’ Wisps, and Valkyries Katy: Tityus and Terpsichore Steph: Telchines Amber: Zelus Liz: Sandman, Selkie, Yuki-onna

Credits