Drakons

The dragons of ancient Greece were like huge serpents several millennia older than dragons. They had no wings or legs.  The English word dragon comes from the Greek word “drakon.” This word originally meant huge serpent.

Ancient Greek dragons lived in caves near water. They often guarded springs, shrines and treasures. They had excellent eyesight and often slept with their eyes open.

They could grow up to forty metres in length and their body contained poisonous black gore. They had a golden crest on top of their head that flashed light and a triple-forked tongue that absorbed nutrients to make venom.

They would kill their victims by injecting venom into them with their fangs, or by squeezing them to death. They also made a blood-chilling hissing sound.

They were first mentioned in The Sea of Monsters and are later seen in The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian, The Demigod Diaries and The House of Hades.

One drakon mentioned in the myths was of Sosipolis, a son of Eileithyia, the Goddess of Childbirth. As he was protecting the city of Elis as a child from the Arcadians, he transformed into a Drakon, causing the Arcadians to flee in terror. After this victory, he became the patron and defender of the Eleans.

A Lydian drakon was sent by Kronos to defeat the demigod forces protecting Mount Olympus. This drakon could only be killed by a child of Ares, but because the Ares' Cabin had refused to fight, the drakon ploughed through the Olympian forces and killed a large number of centaurs. It wasn't until Silena Beauregard was killed when it sprays poison at her after charging the drakon in Clarisse La Rue's armour that the Ares cabin joined the fight. Clarisse charged the drakon in a vengeful rage without any armour and only her spear as a weapon and kills the drakon in the Battle of Manhattan before she received the Blessing of Ares.