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Greek Mythology Drawing Ideas From Olympus to the Labyrinth

One god, creature or scene from the Greek myths, with the detail that makes it recognisable.

Greek Mythology Drawing Ideas From Olympus to the Labyrinth

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  1. Argus, the watchman covered in eyesHe had a hundred eyes and never closed more than two at once. Open most, shut a few.

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Gods and their signs 27

  • A cornucopia spilling fruit The horn of plenty is one of Demeter's symbols. A curved horn, the open end toward you.
  • Aphrodite's doves and a rose The dove is her bird and the rose her flower. Two birds facing each other, one bloom between.
  • Aphrodite's scallop shell on sea foam Some said she sprang from the foam of the sea, and the seashell is her symbol.
  • Apollo's chariot drawn by swans The swan is one of his birds. Two long necks, a light car, reins in one hand, a lyre in the other.
  • Apollo's lyre wound with laurel The lyre and the laurel wreath are both his. Two curved arms, a crossbar, strings down the middle.
  • Artemis walking with a deer under a thin moon Goddess of wild animals, and the deer is hers. Two figures in profile, the moon above.
  • Athena's crested helmet in profile She was born fully armed, and the helmet is one of her signs. A bowl, a nose guard, a crest like a brush.
  • Athena's owl on an olive branch The owl was her bird and the olive her tree. Round head, big eyes, narrow leaves in pairs.
  • Atlas holding up the sky A Titan condemned to bear the heavens on his shoulders. Bent knees, a dome of stars above.
  • The caduceus, a rod with two snakes Hermes carried a rod entwined with two serpents. Cross the snakes three times up the staff.
  • Charon the ferryman on the black river He carries travellers across the river of the underworld. A long boat, one pole, mist.
  • Demeter's sheaf of wheat with a poppy Goddess of the harvest. Wheat and the poppy are her symbols. Tie the sheaf at the waist.
  • Dionysus's vine and ivy round two theatre masks God of vegetation and theatre. Grapevine, ivy and masks are all his symbols.
  • Hephaestus at his anvil The smith of the gods: hammer, anvil and tongs are his signs. Sparks fly from the hammer head.
  • Hera's peacock with its tail spread The peacock was her bird, and the eyes on its tail were said to be the eyes of Argus.
  • Hermes making the first lyre from a tortoise shell He took a tortoise shell, made holes in its edges and strung cords across it.
  • Hermes's winged sandal The messenger wore a winged cap and winged shoes. One sandal from the side, a small wing at the ankle.
  • Hestia's hearth fire Goddess of the hearth; its fire is her symbol. A round stone hearth, one steady flame.
  • Iris crossing the sky on a rainbow Goddess of the rainbow and messenger of Hera. A small winged figure on a wide arc.
  • Mount Olympus with thrones in the clouds The twelve Olympians were said to live on Mount Olympus. A peak, a cloud bank, twelve seats.
  • The nine Muses as nine small figures in a row Daughters of Zeus and Memory, nine in number, who presided over song. Give each a different pose.
  • Pan playing his pipes God of shepherds and flocks, with a goat's legs and horns. His pipes are named after him.
  • Persephone holding a pomegranate She tasted a few of its seeds in the underworld, so she spends part of every year there.
  • Poseidon's dolphins and a horse rising from a wave The dolphin and the horse are his. The horse was his gift in the contest for Athens.
  • Prometheus carrying fire in a torch He lit a torch at the chariot of the sun and brought fire down to people.
  • The three Fates sharing one thread Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos spin the thread of human destiny and cut it with shears.
  • Zeus's eagle gripping a bundle of lightning The eagle was his bird and carried his thunderbolts. Wings spread, zigzags in the talons.

Creatures 18

  • A centaur at full gallop Human from the waist up, horse below. Join the two where the horse's neck would begin.
  • A Cyclops shepherd counting his sheep Giant one-eyed creatures. Homer's lived in caves and kept flocks. One big eye, many small sheep.
  • A harpy on a bare branch Usually drawn as a bird with a maiden's head and long claws.
  • A head of snake hair, every snake different Medusa is described as having live snakes for hair. Coil them like curls, tongues out.
  • A puppy Cerberus with three different moods One body, three heads: one asleep, one barking, one with a ball.
  • Argus, the watchman covered in eyes He had a hundred eyes and never closed more than two at once. Open most, shut a few.
  • Cerberus guarding a gate The hound of the underworld, usually with three heads and a serpent for a tail.
  • The Chimera breathing fire at the sky A fire-breathing lion with a goat's head rising from its back and a tail ending in a snake's head.
  • The dragon that never sleeps, coiled round an oak The Golden Fleece hung in a sacred grove, guarded by a sleepless dragon. Eyes wide open.
  • The golden ram flying over the sea The Golden Fleece came from a winged ram with golden wool. Curl the fleece in tight spirals.
  • The Hydra with more heads than you can count A serpent of the lake of Lerna with many heads. The number changes from teller to teller.
  • Medusa reflected in a polished shield Snakes for hair, and a look that turned people to stone. Perseus watched her only in his shield.
  • The Minotaur at the centre of the Labyrinth A bull's head on a man's body. Draw the maze from above with him in the middle.
  • The Nemean lion with a golden coat A lion whose golden fur nothing could pierce. Draw the mane as overlapping flames.
  • Pegasus drinking at a spring A winged horse, usually shown white. Bellerophon found him drinking at a well.
  • Sirens singing on a rock Some tellings show them as birds with women's heads. Three on a cliff, beaks wide.
  • The Sphinx on her rock, asking a riddle In Greek myth she has a woman's head, a lion's body and a bird's wings.
  • Talos, the man of bronze, on a cliff in Crete He kept pirates and invaders away from Crete. Give him plates, rivets and a shine.

Scenes from the stories 26

  • A golden apple marked For the fairest Thrown among the wedding guests by Eris, the goddess of discord. Three hands reach for it.
  • Arachne at her loom, turning into a spider A mortal weaver who challenged Athena to a contest and was changed into a spider.
  • Arion riding a dolphin A musician carried safely to shore on a dolphin's back. Put a lyre under his arm.
  • Baucis and Philemon as two trees on a hill An old couple remembered as a linden and an oak standing side by side.
  • Bellerophon holding out a golden bridle Athena gave him the bridle, and at the sight of it Pegasus came willingly.
  • Callisto in the sky as the Great Bear Changed into a bear and placed among the stars. Draw the bear as dots joined by lines.
  • Clytie turning to follow the sun A nymph who watched the sun all day until she took root and became a flower that faces it.
  • Daedalus building wings at a bench He laid feathers from smallest to largest, tied the large with thread and fixed the small with wax.
  • Daphne turning into a laurel tree A maiden loved by Apollo and changed into a laurel. Fingers become leaves, feet become roots.
  • Echo hiding among the rocks A nymph left able only to reply, never to speak first. Draw her words as a fading repeat.
  • Europa riding a bull across the sea Zeus, disguised as a bull, swam with her on his back to Crete.
  • Icarus with wax dripping from his wings Wings of feathers, thread and wax. The sun's heat melted the wax. Feathers drift loose behind him.
  • King Midas turning an apple to gold He asked that whatever he touched should turn to gold: a twig, a stone, an apple.
  • Narcissus leaning over a pool He fell in love with his own reflection. A flower that bears his name grew on the spot.
  • Odysseus tied to the mast His crew stopped their ears with wax and bound him, so he alone could hear the Sirens.
  • Orpheus playing to a circle of animals His lyre charmed people, wild beasts, and even the trees and rocks, which crowded round.
  • Pandora lifting the lid of a jar In the oldest telling it was a large storage jar, not a box. Draw what flies out as dark scribbles.
  • Penelope unpicking her weaving by lamplight She wove by day and undid the work at night, so the cloth was never finished.
  • Persephone's year: half the page winter, half spring She passes half the time below and half with her mother Demeter, goddess of the harvest.
  • Phaethon losing hold of the sun chariot He asked to drive the chariot of the sun for a single day. Horses one way, reins the other.
  • The Pleiades as doves turning into stars Seven sisters changed to pigeons, then to a constellation. Only six of the stars are easily seen.
  • Sailors escaping a cave under the bellies of rams Odysseus's men clung beneath the giant's rams while he felt only along their backs.
  • The ship Argo with her crew at the oars Jason's ship was built to carry fifty men. One mast, one sail, a long row of oars.
  • Sisyphus and his boulder Condemned to push a huge boulder uphill and watch it roll back near the top.
  • Theseus following a thread through the Labyrinth Ariadne gave him a ball of thread to find his way out. Draw the maze and one red line.
  • The Trojan Horse outside the city gate A huge wooden horse with men hidden inside. The Trojans pulled it into their own city.

Temples, pots and patterns 12

  • A caryatid holding up a roof A sculpted woman standing in place of a column, with the beam resting on her head.
  • A Greek theatre seen from the top row The seats were built into a hillside, curving round a flat, circular floor at the bottom.
  • A laurel wreath Apollo's wreath, made from Daphne's tree. Two leafy sprays meeting at the back, open at the front.
  • A meander border running round the page The Greek key: a border made from one continuous line, bent into a motif that repeats.
  • A temple front: steps, columns, pediment A row of columns under a low triangle. Draw the steps first so everything stands level.
  • A vase scene in black figures Black-figure pottery shows dark silhouettes, with the inner details scratched through the black to the clay.
  • An amphora with two handles A storage jar with a pointed bottom, a long narrow neck and a handle on each side.
  • An olive tree with a twisted trunk Athena's gift to Athens, judged more useful than Poseidon's horse. Give it a knotted trunk and small leaves.
  • An owl coin of Athens Athenian silver coins showed Athena's owl and were nicknamed owls. A round coin, the owl filling it.
  • The masks of comedy and tragedy Actors in Greek theatre wore masks. One mouth turned up, one turned down.
  • The Parthenon on its rock Athena's temple on the Acropolis of Athens, ringed with columns, eight across each end.
  • Three column tops: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian The three Greek orders. Doric is plain, Ionic has two scrolls, Corinthian has leaves.

How it works

A god is known by what stands beside him: an owl, a lyre, a peacock. These Greek mythology drawing ideas name that sign, or the one detail of a creature or a story that a viewer needs to recognise it.

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Draw the sign and the god appears

Ancient artists told the gods apart by their attributes, and so can you. Athena is an owl and an olive branch; Hermes is a winged sandal and a rod with two snakes. Start with the Gods and their signs topic if figures are hard: most of those are objects and animals.

Greek things to draw that are not myths

The Temples, pots and patterns topic holds the real things the stories were painted and carved on: column tops, a key border, a two-handled jar, theatre masks. They make good frames and borders for any scene from the other three topics.

  • Many older books use the Roman names. Zeus is Jupiter, Athena is Minerva, Hermes is Mercury.
  • Monsters are built from animals you can already draw. A Chimera is part lion, part goat and part snake.
  • For a creature nobody should look at, such as Medusa, draw her reflection or her shadow.

Questions and answers

Who are the twelve Olympians?

The major gods of the Greek pantheon, said to live on Mount Olympus: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus.

What is the easiest Greek myth to draw?

Single objects are easiest: a laurel wreath, a winged sandal or a golden apple. For a whole story in one picture, Sisyphus needs only a hill, a boulder and one small figure.

Was Pandora's box really a box?

No. In the oldest telling it was a large storage jar. The word was later mistranslated as box, and the phrase stuck. The idea on this list draws the jar.

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