Beast Keeper
Page 6
Hades (HAY-deez): Zeus’s brother and the gloomy, fearsome ruler of the Underworld.
Helios (HEE-lee-us): The bright, shiny, and blinding Titan god of the sun.
Hephaestus (Hih-FESS-tuss): God of blacksmithing, metalworking, fire, volcanoes, and most things awesome.
Hera (HEER-a): Zeus’s scary wife. Drives a chariot pulled by screechy peacocks.
Hestia (HESS-tee-ah): Goddess of the hearth and home. Bakes the most heavenly treats.
Poseidon (puh-SY-dun): God of the sea and controller of natural and supernatural events.
Zeus (ZOOSS): King of the gods. Fond of smiting people with lightning bolts.
OTHER MYTHICAL BEINGS
Cherubs (CHAIR-ubs): Small flying babies. Mostly cute.
Dryads (DRY-ads): Tree nymphs. Can literally sing trees to life.
Epimetheus (ep-ee-MEE-thee-us): Prometheus’s silly brother who designed animals. Thank him for giving us the platypus and naked mole rat.
Geryon (JAYR-ee-un): A cattle-loving giant with a two-headed dog.
Heracles (HAIR-a-kleez): The half-god “hero” who just loooves killing magical beasts.
Naiads (NYE-ads): Fresh-water nymphs: keeping Olympus clean and refreshed since 500 BC.
Nymphs (NIMFS): Giggly, girly, dancing nature spirits.
Pandora (pan-DOR-ah): The first human woman. Accidentally opened a jar full of evil.
Prometheus (pruh-MEE-thee-us): Gave fire to mankind and was sentenced to eternal torture by bird-pecking.
Satyrs (SAY-ters): 50 percent goat, 50 percent human. 100 percent party animal.
Silenus (sy-LEE-nus): Dionysus’s best friend. Old and wise, but not that good at beast-care.
PLACES
Arcadia (ar-CAY-dee-a): Wooded hills in Greece where the nymphs like to play.
Tartarus (TAR-ta-russ): A delightful torture dungeon miles below the Underworld.
BEASTS
Basilisk (BASS-uh-lisk): King of the serpents. Every bit of him is pointy, poisonous, or perilous.
Chiron (KY-ron): A super-centaur, and the oldest. Part horse, part man, with all the best parts of each.
Cretan Bull (KREE-tun): A furious, fire-breathing bull. Don’t stand too close.
Griffin (GRIH-fin): Couldn’t decide if it was better to be a lion or an eagle, so decided to be both.
Hydra (HY-druh): Nine-headed water serpent. Hera somehow finds this lovable.
Ladon (LAY-dun): A many-headed dragon that never sleeps (maybe the heads take turns?).
Minotaur (MIN-uh-tor): A monster-man with the head of a bull. Likes eating people.
Nemean Lion (NEE-mee-un): A giant, indestructible lion. Swords and arrows bounce off his fur.
Stymphalian Birds (stim-FAY-lee-un): Man-eating birds with metal feathers, metal beaks, and toxic dung.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lucy Coats studied English and ancient history at Edinburgh University, then worked in children’s publishing, and now writes full-time. She is a gifted children’s poet and writes for all ages from two to teenage. She is widely respected for her lively retellings of myths. Her twelve-book series Greek Beasts and Heroes was published by Orion in the UK. Beasts of Olympus is her first US chapter-book series. Lucy’s website is at www.lucycoats.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @lucycoats.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
As a kid, Brett Bean made stuff up to get out of trouble. As an adult, Brett makes stuff up to make people happy. Brett creates art for film, TV, games, books, and toys. He works on his tan and artwork in California with his wife, Julie Anne, and son, Finnegan Hobbes. He hopes to leave the world a little bit better for having him. You can find more about him and his artwork at www.2dbean.com.
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