Zeus and the Monsters of Greek Mythology
When Gaia found out that Zeus had imprisoned her children, the Titans, in the underworld, she got furious and gave birth to two huge monsters, Typhoeus and Echidna. Echidna was a half-woman, half-snake creature, full of thorns, also known as the “mother of all monsters”, as she gave birth to most of the Greek mythical creatures. Typhoeus was considered the mightiest and deadliest monster in Greek mythology. He was a fire-breathing dragon who had one hundred heads that never slept. Each of his heads dripped poison and when he opened his mouth, rivers of lava and huge rocks came out. He uprooted giant mountains and threw them at Zeus and his brothers, causing a terrible battle between them. The gods soon grew weary, but Zeus, brave and stubborn, at the moment when Typhoeus raised Mount Etna, he hurled a thunderbolt at him. Typhoeus staggered, lost his strength and the mountain fell and trapped him underneath. Echidna ran away and hid in a cave, where she gave birth to Cerberus, the three-headed hound who guarded the gates of the Underworld, Lernaean Hydra, the multi-headed serpent that grew two heads if one was cut off, the Gorgon sisters, the best known being Medusa, and Chimera, a creature that had the heads of a lion, a goat and snake. But she and her children were spared by Zeus to continue challenging future heroes.