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Greek mythology is full of stories featuring cruel creatures and malicious monsters, intent upon causing their victims much despair and suffering. Many of these beings were agents of the gods living on Mount Olympus, sent to cause havoc upon people who had managed to displease one or more of the ancient Greek deities. But a surprising number of these beings were sisters, and these “bad girls” have been an important part of many Ancient Greeks myths. And more than 2,000 years after their creation they still serve as inspiration for many modern day writers.
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Although some myths claim there were four sisters, it is commonly believed there were three Harpies: Aello, whose name means “The Stormy One”; Celaeno, the darkest and most devious of the Harpy sisters and Ocypete, the fastest of the sisters. If there was a fourth sister her name was Podarge, although many believe this name was simply another name used by one to the three sisters. Their parents were the sea nymph Electra and a man named Thaumus. There was another sibling named Iris, who was goddess of rainbows as well as chief goddess Hera’s personal messenger.
The Harpies original destiny was stormy tornado goddesses – the word “Harpy” actually means “whirlwind” and each one was equipped with a set of magnificent wings. Renowned and celebrated for their fair-haired beauty, it seems the sisters found far more enjoyment in tormenting people with their powerful storms. As their vicious and vindictive natures grew so their physical appearance transformed until their faces resembled those of ugly, bitter old women. They also developed the body and claws of a giant bird, and their piercing, shrill and demanding voices were feared all over the world. Some antique vases unearthed in Greece show the Harpy with a fearsome Gorgon-like head, with bulging eyeballs, fangs and a protruding tongue. She also clutches the small figure of a Greek warrior or hero in each claw.
The paradox of the Harpies is that they gave life while at the same time taking it. Celaeno, through the west wind Zephyros, produced Achille’s famous immortal horses Balius and Xanthus. However their good deeds pale into insignificance when compared to the torment theses winged death-spirited visited upon men.
The Harpies worked for Hades, abducting people reluctant to die and taking them to a place called Tartarus, where the victim would suffer the most dreadful torture imaginable. In Greek mythology Tartarus was a place deeper than the underworld Hades; it is considered to be the Ancient Greek version of Hell. Nobody unfortunate enough to encounter a Harpy in this way would ever return from Tartarus. The Harpies lived on a Greek island called Strophades, which is today famed for its birdlife and is owned by the Greek Orthodox Church, which bans any hunting on the island.
The bad-tempered Harpies smelled appalling and lived in absolute filth, contaminating everything with which they came into contact. Despite working for Hades the sisters would undertake vengeful deeds for other Greek gods.
The Greek hero Aeneas had an encounter with the Harpies on their island home. The Trojans were trying to arrange a feast during a break in their travels, but were frustrated by the Harpies, who swooped down and stole the food they were putting on the table. Celeano cursed the Trojan warriors, say they’d be so hungry by the end of the day they’d have to eat the tables. The brave Trojans, fearful of the sight and sounds of these dreadful creatures, fled from the island in terror.
Their most famous victim was Phineas, the king of Thrace blessed with the power of prophecy. Unfortunately Zeus, angered at Phineas’ lack of restraint with his gift, decided to punish him. He sent Phineas to an island which held a wonderful buffet of food that Phineas was unable to consume – the Harpies would steal the food off his plate and out of his hands, and befoul the food still on the table, rendering it inedible. As the days passed poor Phineas grew more and more hungry and ever more desperate. This awful state of affairs continued until the arrival of the hero Jason with his Argonauts. Horrified at the state of poor Phineas, the Boreads – sons of the North in Boreas – undertook to drive out the Harpies. This resulted in the death of Ocypete, who was no match for the Boreads. The other two sisters would have died too, but for the intervention of their sister Iris, who promised the remaining two sisters would leave Phineas alone if the Boreads would spare them. There is no record of what happened to the two remaining Harpies, so we can only assume the intervention of their sister spelled the end of the Harpies’ dreadful reign of terror.
Harpies have been a staple in literature for centuries:
 William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” features a scene where the spirit Ariel disguises herself as a Harpy in order to deliver a message to her master, Prospero.
Dante’s “Inferno” describes the Harpies hounding those who commit suicide.
Most recently, Philip Pullman’s “The Amber Spyglass” tells of how the Harpies escort the souls of the dead to the underworld. The character Lyra persuades them to help guide the dead out of Hell/limbo and into peace.
While general opinion tells us there were three Sirens various writers offer different opinions. Homer writes of two but names just one – Himeropa. Other references made during the Ancient Greek era claim there were five. Other names of the Sirens: Teles, Raidne, Molpe, Thelxiope, Parthenope, Lecosia, Ligia and Aglaophonus.
The Sirens were thought to be the daughters of the river god Achelous, magically born from drops of his blood. They were close friends of Persephone, daughter of the earth goddess Demeter. According to legend the Sirens were with Persephone when Hades kidnapped her and made her Queen of the Underworld. Such was Demeter’s rage at the Siren’s failure to prevent the “abduction” of her beloved daughter that she turned the Sirens into monsters. While their heads and faces remained beautiful, their bodies became those of gigantic birds, with ugly claws for feet. Some writers described them having a lion’s mane for hair.
The Sirens lived on a group of islands called Sirenum Scopulli, a barren part of the world surrounded by cruel, dangerous rocks and towering, bleak cliffs. After Demeter’s vengence they stayed on these islands, singing songs of such beauty that any sailor who heard their voices became entranced, and sailed onto the treacherous rocks in a effort to find the source of such wonderful songs. Once shipwrecked the Sirens would swoop down and devour the stranded sailors.
Many sailors perished listening to the Sirens’ fatal song. Jason and his Argonauts were forced to sail close to their home during their voyage, and the centaur Chiron advised Jason to take Orpheus with them to ensure their safe passage past the Sirens. Orpheus was a very poet, famed for inventing the lyre. He was also an excellent musician. As soon as he heard the Sirens’ sweet song he began to play his lyre. So powerful was his music he drowned out the Sirens’ deadly voices. Unfortunately one of the sailors – Butes – had excellent hearing, and Orpheus’ music failed to tune out the song of the Sirens. Butes leapt into the waves, and began swimming towards the objects of his lust. Luck was on his side, however, as the goddess of love Aphrodite lifted him out of the sea and carried him to safety.
The adventurer Odysseus wanted to hear what the Sirens sounded like, unable to believe that man could be seduced simply by the sound of a woman’s voice. He ordered his men to plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the ship’s mast. He was not to be released for any reason, no matter how much he begged. When the ship drew close to Sirenum Scopulli the song was so sweet Odysseus began to weep, and begged his men to release him. They ignored his pleas. Once out of range Odysseus indicated he could be released by raising his eyebrows. Furious at their failure to seduce a mere mortal the Sirens flung themselves onto the ragged rocks – and perished.
Like the Harpies Sirens have an established place in literature:
J K Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” features the Veela, a beautiful fairy with a human form who seduces men with her singing. In one scene Ron Weasley becomes so entranced when he hears and sees her he almost leaps off his balcony.
Donna Jo Napoli’s “Sirena” is the first person tale of a Siren and her lover, and features many stories about the Ancient Greek Gods.
Terry Brook’s “Shannara” series feature a Venus fly-trap plant called a “Siren”, which lures it prey with a beautiful female singing voice before shooting said prey with its poison arrows.
Rick Riordan’s “Sea of Monsters” has the Sirens of the Sea luring Annabel, who almost dies as her saviour Percy rescues her from the dreadful creatures.
Three more evil sisters from Greek mythology were the Gorgons. The most famous one, Medusa, was also the only one of the three who was a mortal. The other two – Stheno and Eurayale – may have been immortal but they were just as ugly as Medusa. In fact they were so hideous anyone who so much as glanced at them was turned into stone. Their bodies were covered in scales, their teeth were fangs and their hands vicious claws. Their father was the sea god Phorcys, and their mother Ceto, a hideous sea creature. Despite her unfortunate looks Medusa was one of Athena’s priestesses. After a night of passion with Poseidon, god of the sea in one of Athena’s temples the furious goddess turned Medusa’s golden hair into snakes. She met her end at the hands of Perseus, who used his shield as a mirror and cut off her terrible head. As soon as he had beheaded her two magical horses sprang from her neck – Pegasus and Crysaor, the sons fathered by Zeus. There’s no word on what happened to the immortal sisters.
Medusa and her two siblings were guarded and protected by three ancient sisters called the Gaeae. Coincidentally these three were related to the Gorgon girls through their father Poseidon. They were so old nobody could imagine them ever being children. They also had just one eye and one tooth they shared between them. By stealing the eye as they were passing it to each other Perseus was able to find out where the Gorgons were hiding…
I hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter. Next month’s issue will feature the instruments use for summoning evil entities. Thank you, likenion for the suggestion.
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Pretty Hate Machine 
Fantastic article, and one I will be saving for future reference. I did a little research on torture a couple of years ago for a historical piece and was amazed at the sheer ingenuity behind some of the devices used. It is frightening to consider the ways we humans come up with to hurt one another.
Thank you for the feedback. For me torture is more confirmation - if any were needed - that some members of the human race are more malevolent and evil than any traditional horror creature.
billwilcox
Sarah,
What an instructive look at Man's favorite pastime. After reading this I went out and kicked my dog. Serves her right for causing me to have socio-cultural and situational pressures.
Shame on you, Bill, for kicking the dog! Did you know that some serial killers started out by torturing and killing animals before moving on to humans??? 
SHERRI GIBSON 
I couldn't agree more. Whether mental or physical, the adrenaline rush is great. I've had the pleasure of reading several of the pieces in the newsletter, and they were really good. Great newsletter!
Thank you for your kind comments. It’s not easy to admit the power of that adrenaline rush when reading about situations as horrific as torture!
CandyStaiNeCane 
Divine, I always enjoy a newsletter that touches a subject so not often touched. Torture. Thanks for the great and educational read.
I’m glad you found the information useful. It was a fascinating subject to research, and I think writing about torture is quite a challenge for any horror writer.
Mavis Moog
I am not a big horror reader or writer, but your newsletter on torture inspired me to pull my dogs' claws out and electrocute my mother-in-law. I gained greater insight, which I will be using in my writing very soon, I'm sure. Thank you very much for the inspiration.
Seriously, it was well researched and very informative.
Thanks for reminding me of Room 101 (from 1984). The mask of rats is an iconic torture image, if ever there was one. What interests me about it, is how Orwell covered everybody's fears by telling us that Room 101 contained whatever you feared most. So, if rats didn't particularly bother a particular reader, it didn't matter, he'd be imagining something else, far worse  .
Thank you.
Thank you for the compliments! 1984 is surely the ultimate horror novel – hard to believe it was written over 60 years ago. Your inspirations sound very interesting indeed – can’t wait for the result!
Stealth
This was very interesting to read but I have to say the most torturing thing I’ve seen was in “The Passion of the Christ”. That’s torture.
It most certainly was – crucifixion is a terrible sentence. I have seen that film too – it was a dreadful, harrowing thing to watch. And I think I can understand why people who watch torture often carry the guilt with them for the rest of their lives.
likenion
Cool newsletter! Gruesome, but very informative! Torture is a very taboo topic, because the author can get into great trouble being accused of sadistic fantasies, if some of the tortures get too wild. Well that is how I perceive things, but anyways, good job on the topic!
I think it must be a very difficult thing to write about, let alone describe. I’ve always wondered how Stephen King manages to do it, and what kind of a person he must be, because he is very graphic with his detail… where on earth does he get his inspiration?
David
This is a great newsletter! I'm big on throwing in the bait and pulling 'em in right off, but never thought to look for these other areas of the opening!
Opening a story with a torture scene is definitely one way of pulling the reader into the story. Thanks for stopping by!
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Horror/Scary: July 25, 2007 Issue [#1818]
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