Top 10 Greek Mythical Figures

10: Jason

Jason was forced to embark on his famous quest for the Golden Fleece as a prerequisite for becoming the king of a Greek city. The Fleece was located in a region of the Black Sea, and Jason found it after an epic voyage on his ship, the Argo.

The result of an affair that Zeus had with a mortal woman, Perseus embarked on many heroic exploits during his life. The most famous was his skirmish with the serpent-haired Medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone. Perseus beat her in direct combat and took her head as a prize.

He was to become the king of Athens , but the legend of Theseus rests on his youthful encounter with the Minotaur. The bull-headed creature roamed a labyrinth in Crete and local youths were periodically sacrificed to sate its hunger. Theseus ended the sacrifices by entering the labyrinth himself and killing the beast.

One of the most tragic of all Greek figures, Oedipus was raised by a shepherd without knowing his father was king of Thebes. He later murdered his father (without realising who he was) in a roadside quarrel, and eventually married his own mother, the queen. When they realised what they had done, she committed suicide and he went into exile.

Adonis was a beautiful young man who was produced by an incestuous relationship between the king of Cyprus and his daughter. Adonis was killed while hunting, but the goddesses so adored his beauty that he was resurrected and was able to mingle with mortals and gods alike.

Odysseus was a reluctant Greek warrior during the Trojan War. After the fall of Troy, Odysseus began the voyage home to his beloved wife. It was to take 10 long years, during which he overcame such enemies as the one-eyed giant, the Cyclops.

Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman in the world. She also triggered the Trojan War when she left her Greek husband for the Trojan prince Paris. The Greeks went after the eloping couple and eventually managed to steal Helen back after the fall of Troy.

As a baby, Achilles was dipped into the waters of the mythical river Styx by his mother. The water made his body invulnerable except at the place on his heel where his mother held him. Achilles became the greatest Greek hero of the Trojan War, but he was slain during one battle when an arrow struck his heel.

The superhumanly strong Heracles is better known by his Roman name, Hercules. He killed his wife while under a spell, and as a form of penance he took on 12 punishing labours. These included literally going to hell and back to fight the three-headed monster, Cerberus.

Zeus became the supreme Greek god after overthrowing his own father, the tyrannical Cronus, and installing himself as the ultimate ruler of the heavens. Zeus was constantly unfaithful to his wife Hera and his many children included Heracles and Helen of Troy.