(10) CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY – VILLAIN: HYDRA

 

The Hydra – or the Lernaean Hydra – is one of many beasts that roam classical mythology

And how does it rank tenth place entry in my Top 10, you ask? I mean, it was merely one of the legendary Labors of Heracles (to kill it), so why does it rank above the other fantastic beasts of those labors – or of classical mythology in general?

Well, a couple of reasons. It was a particularly nasty beast – any of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna tended to be snaky bad news

It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent it was lethal, even indirectly – such that Heracles used arrows dipped in its blood thereafter to deadly effect, although that came back to bite him eventually.

But the primary reason is for its thematic or metaphorical significance – I tend to be in mythology for the metaphors

The Hydra had one particularly nasty trait that made it exceptionally dangerous and difficult to overcome – it regenerated its heads. Worse, it multiplied them, so that for every head cut off, it sprouted two in their place

As metaphors go, it is particularly resonant for those problems in life that simply seem to multiply when you try to solve them, especially by means of brute force or direct action rather than finesse. Now that I think of it, most of my files at work are hydras

 

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION

The Hydra certainly ranks highly as eldritch abomination, coming as it does from classical mythology’s finest pedigree of eldritch abominations – Typhon and Echidna.

 

FANTASY DARK LORD RANKING

Sadly, not so high for fantasy dark lord ranking, possessed at it was of only rudimentary animal intelligence – more Shelob than Sauron.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

(10) HINDU MYTHOLOGY – HERO: VISHNU

 

‘Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.

For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil,

and for the establishment of righteousness,

I come into being age after age.’

 

One of two deities from Hindu mythology I rank as heroes in my top ten, Vishnu is the more conventionally heroic figure, but I just have an idiosyncratic preference for the other deity – a running theme for two other pantheons in my top ten.

“Whenever the world is threatened with evil, chaos, and destructive forces, Vishnu descends in the form of an avatar (incarnation) to restore the cosmic order.”

Hindu gods can be incredibly complex figures, even more so to me as I do not have the same familiarity with Hindu mythology as I do with European mythologies.

In broad strokes, Vishnu is known as the Preserver within the Trimurti or trinity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma as the Creator and Shiva as the Destroyer. However, there are a few major strands of Hinduism, one of which is Vaishnavism which elevates Vishnu as the sole supreme deity “who creates, protects, and transforms the universe”.

Vishnu is usually depicted as blue with four arms, although there are two-armed depictions. Each of his arms holds one of his iconic symbols – a conch shell, a discus, a club or mace, and a lotus flower.

“There are both benevolent and fearsome depictions of Vishnu. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient being sleeping on the coils of the serpent Sesha (who represents time) floating in the primeval ocean of milk called Kshira Sagara with his consort, Lakshmi”.

Which sounds pretty chill, being a cosmic milker.

Ultimately, it’s his avatars that are his most heroic manifestations, being expressly for the purpose of saving the world as quoted above. In particular, there’s the Dashavatara or his ten primary world-saving avatars, elevated above his lesser avatars. The ten primary avatars vary “across sects and regions” – some include Buddha – but typically include his greatest avatars Rama and Krishna. There’s also Kalki, the tenth or final avatar as a messianic millennial figure similar to the Second Coming of Christ.

 

SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE

Definitely on the divine Superman end of the scale.

 

PUNCHING OUT CTHULHU RANKING

Well, he certainly spent a fair bit of time in his avatar as Rama punching out demons led by the demon king, Ravana.

 

PARTY ROCK RANKING

Vishnu scores pretty highly for rocking out at parties, particularly in his youth as Krishna where he embodied the concept of lila – the ludic universe or “playing for fun and enjoyment rather than sport and gain” – and banging the local milkmaids or gopi. Which brings us back to Vishnu as chill cosmic milker.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

TOP 10 HEROES & VILLAINS OF MYTHOLOGY

 

Few things are as fundamental to mythology as heroes, or indeed, the very concept of hero which I would argue at its heart to be mythic (as well as the heart of mythology).

Joseph Campbell considered it as such, in his best known or most iconic book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which is also my sixth-place entry in my Top 10 Mythology Books. Campbell argued his theory of the monomyth or Hero’s Journey as the archetypal narrative in which the protagonist hero sets out, has transformative adventures and returns home. That is, the hero (ad)ventures into the mythic world – the supernatural or mysterious realm – and brings something back, not least himself in transformed form.

The word hero comes from Greek – and much of our concepts or narratives of heroism originates from classical mythology and Greek hero cults, as encapsulated in the ethos I quoted from Weston La Barre as my opening quotation. Although their stories could “serve as moral examples”, the heroes of classical mythology or paganism are somewhat at odds with the competing heroic narratives of moral idealism in Biblical mythology or Judeo-Christianity – “A classical hero is considered to be a ‘warrior who lives and dies in the pursuit of honor’ and asserts their greatness by ‘the brilliancy and efficiency with which they kill'”.

Of course, what often distinguishes mythic heroes is the depravity and destructive power of their antagonists, the villains of mythology. Unlike actual heroes and villains in history or real life, the heroes and villains of mythology tend to be more pure embodiments of good or evil – and more powerful, on a scale approached only by the superheroes or supervillains of comics (which closely resemble or even modelled on them), whether saving worlds or enslaving and destroying them.

These are essentially the criteria of heroism or villainy for my top 10 heroes and top 10 villains of mythology. Firstly, there’s the scale of how heroic or villainous they are in their moral character or ethos. Secondly, there’s the scale of how powerful they are, ranging up to heroes or villains capable of saving or destroying worlds (and beyond!).

Finally, iconic status (and my idiosyncratic preference) tends to trump all – although of course iconic status is usually gained from other criteria in the first place, with the most morally good and powerful heroes or most evil and destructive villains being most iconic in popular culture or imagination. However, iconic status is qualified by my greater familiarity with European or Western mythologies, which might overshadow iconic status within non-Western mythologies.

 

I have some other playful rankings within each entry for heroes:

 

SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE

It feels a little odd to rank the heroes of a mythology on a “scale” of the two most iconic superheroes of comics, but the Superman-Batman scale is surprisingly apt for mythology, arguably even more so than for comics. For mythology, the scale acts as one from the divine or semi-divine superman to the mortal who achieved their heroism through skill or training.

 

PUNCHING OUT CTHULHU RANKING

Pretty much what it says on the tin – ranking the heroes of mythology by deeds of punching out eldritch abominations, often literally

 

PARTY ROCK RANKING

The most playful of my rankings – ranking heroes by the extent to which they would rock out at parties.

 

And for villains:

 

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION RANKING

I mean, this one was obvious after the punching out Cthulhu ranking for heroes – except of course it’s ranking villains not by punching out eldritch abominations, but by the extent to which they are eldritch abominations. Spoiler alert – almost all of them when it comes to mythology

 

DARK LORD RANKING

Again, pretty much what it says on the tin – ranking the villains of mythology on the scale of fantasy dark lords for destroying or enslaving worlds. Spoiler alert – quite often when it comes to mythology, particularly as fantasy dark lords, including the most famous dark lord of fantasy, tend to be modelled on one of my entries.

 

So, counting down my top 10 heroes and top 10 villains in mythology…