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.
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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!
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