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Mythical creatures can be divided into two groups: those agreed to be mythical, such as centaurs and nymphs, and those considered elusive, like the Abominable Snowman and Loch Ness Monster. Evidence for the former comes from narrative tradition, while the latter relies on journal entries, articles, photographs, and video clips.
In the twenty-first century, mythical creatures can be roughly divided into two groups: mythical creatures that everyone agrees are mythical creatures and creatures that some people consider mythical creatures and others consider real, but elusive creatures. In the first case, the evidence comes largely from the narrative tradition, both literary and oral. In the second case, people work from journal entries, articles, photographs and video clips.
The first group of creatures—those that are agreed to be mythical creatures—include creatures that literally come from myths, such as centaurs, fauns, and nymphs, and specific one-of-a-kind mythical creatures such as the Hydra and Scylla. . The term is also used loosely to refer to fictional creatures not specifically from the myths, such as the unicorn, dragons, and griffins.
Of truly mythical creatures, centaurs are creatures that are half man (from the waist up) and half horse (the rest). The most famous is Chiron, who was taught by Apollo and Artemis, and himself taught pupils such as Aesculapius, Achilles and Hercules. Fauns, on the other hand, are a mythical creature that is half man and half goat, divided, still, alive. The most famous faun is Pan, the inventor of the panpipe, and a god.
Nymphs are divine females of several varieties, each of which is associated with a natural object. Tree nymphs are called dryads; freshwater nymphs, naiads; and oceanic nymphs, oceanids. Famous nymphs include Echo, remembered for his unrequited love for Narcissus, who loved only himself; Thetis, mother of Achilles; and Calypso, whom Odysseus met on his journey back to Penelope.
The Hydra was a nine-headed monster that Hercules was asked to slay as the second of his twelve labors. When he cut off one head, two new ones grew in its place, so he had to, in effect, cauterize each cut to defeat the beast. Scylla, on the other hand, was a sea monster with six heads and twelve feet. He lived in front of the Cariddi vortex on the Strait of Messina, and kidnapped the sailors who moved away from the vortex, devouring them. The expression “between Scylla and Charybdis”, which is the approximate equivalent of “between the rock and the hammer”, is still used today.
Mythical creatures in the latter sense include the Abominable Snowman, who reportedly lives in the Himalayas. The evidence of the footprints convince some, while others believe the footprints belong to bears or other animals, or were created by some other cause.
The Loch Ness Monster, a pleiosaur-like creature affectionately referred to as Nessie. Nessie is one of many mysterious lake monsters whose existence has not been confirmed. On June 9, 2007, the second Rock Ness festival was held, with free cameras given to try and catch a shot of Nessie, seemingly unsuccessfully. So whether the mythical creatures of the lakes exist is yet to be determined. . . .
