Page 107 - Grasp English B2 (Workbook)
P. 107
11 Beloved Ones
Writers and directors have always created interesting characters
and landscapes for their mythical stories, with magical animals
completing their imaginary worlds. Here are some of our favourites.
This mythical creature from stories of Ancient Egypt and Greece had
the head a woman, the body of a lion and sometimes, the feathered
wings of a bird. Although in Egyptian stories she was a kind creature,
in Ancient Greece she would ask a challenging question to people
she met. Those who were unable to answer her riddle would be
killed, slashed by her sharp claws or beaten by her powerful paws.
In Greek mythology, the god Poseidon, ruler of the seas and oceans,
had a son named Triton. He’s often seen with upper body of a human
and then a tail, as well as a number of fins on his lower half. Blowing
into a shell, he was able to calm the seas or create monstrous waves
as his father wished.
This giant monster, with its enormous wings and delicate antennae
may appear to be a threat, but was actually one of the protective
kaiju in Japanese cinema. She was hugely popular among female
cinema-goers in Japan during the early 1990s and has made a
recent comeback in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
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