- 14 hours ago
These tales aren't for the faint of heart... Join us as we count down our picks for the most disturbing stories from Greek mythology! Our countdown includes vengeful gods, horrific transformations, eternal punishments, and tales of revenge that will make your skin crawl. Which disturbing Greek myth sends the most shivers down your spine?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00According to the myth, Medusa was once a ravishing woman.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the legendary tales from Greek
00:09mythology that, depending on the source, are utterly disturbing due to their terrifying,
00:13shocking, or morally gross acts contained within.
00:16As Mestra looked on in horror, her father devoured all the food in the palace.
00:24Number 10 – The Creation of the Minotaur
00:27In the realm of Greek mythical creatures, the Minotaur is one of the best known.
00:31Far beneath the palace of the treacherous King Minos, in the damp darkness of an inescapable
00:37labyrinth, a horrific beast stalks the endless corridors of its prison, enraged with a bloodlust
00:43so intense that its deathly roar shakes the earth. Considering the beast is half bull and half human,
00:49you might not know how it was created.
00:54Well, after Minos became king of Crete, Poseidon sent him the Cretan bull to sacrifice in the
01:00god's name. However, due to its apparent beauty, Minos sacrificed another bull. Enraged, Poseidon
01:07arranged to curse Minos' wife, Pasiphae, making her fall in love with the Cretan bull. Desperate to
01:13enact her feelings, Pasiphae went to the craftsman Daedalus and got him to make a hollow cow. She then
01:20got inside it and waited for the Cretan bull to get intimate with it. This resulted in Pasiphae
01:26birthing Asterius, who became better known as the Minotaur.
01:369. The Punishment of Prometheus Various mythologies like to feature tales of punishment,
01:42yet the most infamous example in the Greek legend also takes it to an extreme.
01:50Prometheus, a titan, loved humanity. Zeus, on the other hand, was indifferent at best. After
01:56Prometheus had tricked the thunder god with the deities getting the lesser quality animal meat
02:01over the humans, Zeus took fire away from them. Cold, in darkness, and in danger of civilization
02:07collapsing, Prometheus acted by stealing fire and giving it back to the humans. Infuriated,
02:13Zeus had Prometheus chained outside, so an eagle, or a vulture depending on the source,
02:18would arrive and consume the titan's liver. And so, for generations, Prometheus is punished.
02:25Every day, he'd recover, only for the eagle to return. It took years until Hercules freed Prometheus.
02:32He never expressed regret at his act of rebellion. His resilience in the face of oppression
02:38made him a beloved figure in mythology. 8. Tantalus's Cruel Curiosity
02:43Typically said to be the son of Zeus, Tantalus was liked by the gods, often dining with them. In one
02:49of
02:49the stories, Tantalus decided to test the deity's all-knowing power, so he served his son Pelops to
02:56them during a feast. Now, there's no explanation given as to why he thought this was a good idea,
03:01because if Ancient Greece had a top-tier taboo, it was killing family members. While most of the gods
03:06realized a grieving Demeter took a bite of Pelops's shoulder. Happens to the best of us, I'm sure.
03:12The Olympians returned Pelops to life, complete with an ivory shoulder to replace the missing part.
03:17Due to this and other crimes against the gods, Tantalus was sent to Tartarus, a dungeon of torment
03:23in the underworld. There, he would stand in a pool of water with a fruit tree. Yet, when he tried
03:28to drink
03:29or eat the goods, they would always be out of his reach. This punishment is why the word
03:33Tantalizing describes this kind of situation. 7. The Origin of the Oedipus Complex
03:39All psychology students will be uncomfortably familiar with Sigmund Freud's Oedipus Complex,
03:45yet its origins stem from Greek mythology. Ancient Greek playwrights really specialized in the
03:49dysfunctional family. After the royals of Thebes, Laius and Jocasta were told the prophecy that their
03:56son would kill Laius. When they had one, they sent a servant to abandon the boy outside. Instead,
04:02the child was adopted by the royals in Corinth and named Oedipus. Years passed, till one night,
04:08a drunken reveler told Oedipus that he was not Polybus and Meropee's son by birth.
04:14Later, after discovering the prophecy, which added that he'd marry his mother, and believing it was
04:20tied to Corinth, Oedipus left for Thebes. During the trip, he killed Laius during an argument.
04:27After defeating a Sphinx, Oedipus married Jocasta, becoming king of Thebes. Yet, when the truth came
04:33out, Jocasta took her own life, and Oedipus blinded himself and went into exile.
04:436. Leta and the Swan Leta was married to the Spartan king
04:48Tyndarius, as Zeus was wedded to Hera. However, anyone familiar with the Thunder God knows that
04:54nuptials never held him back. 7. Yet his admiration is in vain,
04:57as the ever-faithful Leta remains loyal to her husband.
05:017. After seeing Leta, Zeus became obsessed with her beauty. To hide his plan from Hera,
05:07Zeus changed his form into a swan. After pretending he was fleeing from an eagle and was injured,
05:13Zeus flew to Leta. The two were soon intimate. Depending on the version,
05:17it was sometimes said to be consensual.
05:20A shudder in the loins engenders there, the broken wall, the burning roof and tower.
05:25That same night, Leta was intimate with Tyndarius. This caused a strange merging between the two
05:31fathers, as four children were produced from two eggs. Tyndarius's children were Clytemnestra and
05:37Castor. Zeus's were Pollux and Helen, who'd be better known as Helen of Troy.
05:435. Becoming a tree to escape harassment
05:47Feeling arrogant after slaying the serpent Python, Apollo, the god of archery, mocked Eros for using
05:54a bow and arrow. He teased Eros about his trivial role of making people fall in love by using his
05:59arrows, saying that arrows were for warriors and fighters.
06:03Known as Cupid to the Romans, Eros wanted revenge. So he shot Apollo with a love arrow,
06:08and then struck the nymph Daphne with one that would make her despise Apollo. After seeing her,
06:14the god chased Daphne, who ran in fear and hatred. Encouraged by Eros, Apollo kept pursuing the nymph.
06:21Eventually, she realized that she couldn't keep running. She called out to her father,
06:25one of the river gods, to change her form to deter men. Slowly, Daphne morphed into a laurel tree.
06:31Just as Apollo grabbed hold of Daphne's waist, she began her metamorphosis. And within seconds,
06:37she had vanished.
06:39However, Apollo wasn't done. He obsessed over it,
06:42using the leaves and wood to keep Daphne close forever.
06:544. Athena's Revenge Against Medusa Medusa is best known for being a gorgon with snakes for hair,
07:01and an appearance so repulsive that anyone looking at her would be turned to stone.
07:05Medusa can crush a man with a single, penetrating look. It is a power that makes her nearly invincible.
07:13Yet, according to the Roman poet Ovid, she wasn't always this monster. Unlike her sisters,
07:19Medusa was beautiful and a priestess of Athena, who'd taken a vow of celibacy.
07:24She's a beautiful woman with long flowing locks of hair. Every suitor wants to marry her. She causes envy
07:29among everyone. However, the god Poseidon wanted Medusa. So, while at Athena's temple, the duo was
07:35intimate, with consent being questionable, depending on the source. Furious at Medusa for breaking her
07:41vows, Athena transformed her into the monster she'd best be known for.
07:46Her skin cracks and withers, and her long, silken hair becomes a writhing mass of poisonous snakes.
07:55Due to this, Medusa has not only become an icon of feminism, but also one for victims
08:00being blamed for a crime committed against them.
08:053. The Punishment of Erisicthon As king of Thessaly and having a massive ego,
08:11Erisicthon wanted to extend his feasting room in his palace, so he decided he would use
08:16trees from a sacred grove dedicated to Demeter. The king was well known for spurning the gods,
08:22as he was more interested in honoring himself. One of the trees stood out, around which the nymphs
08:29danced. While the workers refused to chop it down, Erisicthon did it himself. However, as he felled the
08:35tree, a dryad nymph living within it was fatally struck and cursed Erisicthon. Enraged by the king's
08:42arrogance, Demeter summoned Lemos, the personification of famine, and instructed it to enter Erisicthon.
08:49Under the cover of night, she crept into the palace and released her famished breath into the sleeping
08:56king. No matter what or how much he ate, the king would always be hungry. Erisicthon sold everything to
09:04buy more food, including his own daughter, multiple times. He only saw an opportunity
09:10for himself. In the end, he consumed himself. Number 2. Disturbing Dionysus
09:16While Dionysus is known as the god of fun things like wine making and festivities, he's also the god
09:22of insanity. Pentheus found this out the hard way. As the king of Thebes, Pentheus angered Dionysus by
09:29banning worship of his deity cousin in the city. Pentheus was dedicated to law and order. The god
09:35turned the followers of his cult, the Menads, who included Pentheus' mother and aunts, into a
09:40frenzied state as they set up camp outside Thebes. Then Dionysus destroyed Pentheus' palace. The god,
09:47in disguise, convinced the king to spy on the Menads, but to do so dressed as a woman. But Dionysus
09:53was
09:54fully in control. Yet, with Dionysus' frenzy still in effect, the Menads believed Pentheus to be a wild
10:01animal. Agave, in particular, was entranced by hallucination. The women, including his relatives,
10:06tore Pentheus apart, an act called spirogmos.
10:11Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about
10:15our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.
10:20If you're on your phone, make sure you go into settings and switch on your notifications.
10:26Number 1. Medea's Spite If you've seen 1963's Jason and the Argonauts,
10:32you'd know the love story between Jason and Medea. Yet, long after this event,
10:42the romance between the two came to an abrupt, terrible end. While married to Medea, Jason
10:47left her and got engaged to another woman, Creuza. Angry that Jason was no longer hers,
10:53the sorceress gifted Creuza with a dress. However, once she put it on, Creuza began to burn,
10:58as Medea had cursed it. Creuza's father Creon tried to help, however, both succumbed to the dress.
11:05Yet, not done with her twisted revenge, Medea then took the lives of her and Jason's two children.
11:11With the aid of her godly relatives, including Helios, Medea escaped and continued her villainous
11:16ways, leaving Jason broken. What other creepy Greek myths did we miss from the video? Let us know below.
11:37See you next time!
11:42Let us know!
Comments