Snakes have been called immortal because they shed their skins, constantly renewing themselves. They were kept in the Temple of Eleusis, and a well-known relief of Demeter is shown handling snakes and sheaves of grain. Her first high priest Triptolomos was pictured driving a chariot with snake for wheels. The Cista Mystica, a basket containing the tools of the Greater Mysteries, used only by priestesses upon the occasion of the ritual, contained snake symbols.

Snakes are also considered phallic symbols due simply to their shapes. In the Orphic Hymns, Persephone was said to be seduced by one (rather like Eve), and though they state the seducer was a transformed Zeus, we cannot ignore Hades' title of Zeus Katachthonia and the powerful connection between snakes and the Underworld.

Consider also the caduceus (kadukeos, from "kedeuo" meaning "to guide and attend a corpse") staff of Hermes in his role as psychopomp to the Underworld - it features two snakes intertwined.*  The caduceus is also an amazingly accurate representation of the DNA double helix, referring back to immortality. The staff of the healer Askelpios - a living leafy branch with a single snake wrapped around - represents life and death joined together, a symbol of renewal and healing. The two symbols have become somewhat confused in modern times, with the human medical community using Hermes' staff rather than the more appropriate staff of Askelpios, which veterinarians wisely adopted.

Various oracles kept snakes, such as the Delphic Pythoness. The snakes were messengers from the Underworld, traveling through Gaia the earth to bring knowledge of what lay beyond the mortal world (what reason there was for Apollo to later take over at Delphi, I don't understand). The Cretan snake goddess of the Labyrinth was also a symbol of death and rebirth -- one must travel the underworld labyrinth to gain wisdom.

The Greek word "drakon" means both "serpent" and "dragon", which gives an interesting connection. Dragons are reputed to be guardians of great treasures -- a very Hades-like behavior, both in his role of Plouton and the method of securing his marriage to Persephone (what more priceless treasure than a goddess?). Another dragon, Ladon, guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides (hints of Eden there). And the giant serpent Ouraboros -- from "oura" ("tail") and "boros" ("devouring") -- was seen as an embodiment of Oceanos circling the world, or as the world serpent dwelling in the belly of the Underworld, protecting and guarding the earth.

The Latin version of Persephone derives her name from the serpent, Proserpina (pro "first", serpein "serpent"). This serves some modern, more strictly feminist, interpretations of the myth which prefer to assume that she was an Underworld goddess by herself without any involvement from Hades. Alas, snakes, like the gods they are sacred to, have long been misunderstood and maligned.

* (It is my own personal theory that the caduceus is an icon of Hades and Persephone themselves, intertwined forever as one.)

Pigs symbolise most completely the sacrifice leading to renewal. They were sacrificed at almost every initiation and festival to the Two Goddesses, and sometimes to Hades as well. A piglet, usually a black one, would be first washed (baptised) alongside the initiate, as a method of mystical transference -- i.e. the piglet would become the person, in effigy. When at the temple altar, the throat of the pig was slit and the blood spilled either in a cup or on the floor. After this, the body would be thrown into a pit (sometimes filled with snakes, which are described as having eaten smaller parts of the pigs) and allowed to decompose for a year. At the end of the year, right after the Greater Mysteries were completed, special priestesses would dig up the mess and ceremoniously spread it on the fields, to fertilize and consecrate the crops to be planted. Statues of young pigs were found at Eleusis.*

The sorceress Kirke transformed men into pigs, and being well-acquainted with the Underworld perhaps she intended them as sacrifices of a sort.  In the myths of Adonis and Aphrodite, and of Rhea-Kybele and Attis, both men are killed by wild boars who all but castrate the victim. 

In other cultures, from Celtic to Hindu, pigs were sacred animals. The white sow belonged to several goddesses, and the boar was seen as a sacrificial symbol of the Dying God. As well, it is interesting that pigs were later considered unclean by Jehovah's followers, very probably in direct disapproval of the goddesses they eventually deposed.

* (It is my own personal theory that the piglet symbolized Persephone, sacrificed to the pit of the Underworld and the snakes of Hades, then in Springtime brought forth to bless the plants to renewed life.)

Bees are viewed as sacred to several goddesses, Demeter, Persephone, and Artemis especially. Priestesses at Eleusis and Delphi were called "melissae" ("honeybees") and their movements throughout temple life, keeping harmony and tending to the needs of people, were very beelike. Honey was one of the earliest forms of preservative, keeping food and even dead bodies from decaying. This alone shows its connection to Persephone, and she has at least two titles relating to honey (Melitodes, Meliboea).

Bees were also used by oracles, in predicting deaths. Most insects, like birds, were considered to be symbols of the soul taking flight after death. Bees were important enough to Greek life that they appeared on several coins.

The very blood of the gods, ichor, was reputed to look like honey, a clear golden fluid. When Zeus was hidden in a cave as an infant, the Meliae nymphs ("meli", meaning "honey") protected and fed him from their honeycombs. Later, Kronos was given honey to make him drunk so that Zeus and the other gods could overpower him.

Nearly every god in the ancient world at some time has been connected to the bull or ram. They are usually seen as fertility symbols, and their horns were signs of divine power and strength.

More than one god took on bull form or sent a bull to be sacrificed by their chosen human servant. Dionysos was commonly "sacrificed" in effigy as either goat or bull-shape by his followers. A few mentions were made of the blood of black sheep and bulls being offered to Hades or Hekate, mostly as a means of communicating with the dead, who drank their blood to gain enough "life" to speak. Of course the Minotaur was a prominent bull figure, and his association with the labyrinth, a symbol of sub-consciousness and death, makes him an Underworld creature.

At Eleusis, sheep's wool was used as a symbol of Demeter's grief, because she reportedly sat on a sheepskin while she mourned her daughter.

Hercules brought the horn of the goat Amalthea, who nursed the infant Zeus, down to the Underworld as a gift to the god and goddess (named as Ploutos and Tyche) in the form of the Cornucopia. But this was already known as the symbol of Demeter, the harvest goddess, and Hades, the god of wealth and prosperity so again I cannot imagine Ploutos as another god but Hades.

Roosters were seen sometimes in carvings of the Underworld, specificially in throne scenes of Hades and Persephone. They are also considered sacred to Dionysos. There is an obvious sexual reference to be made through the rooster (or "cock"), and it was not unknown in ancient times. A peculiar statue, a man's body with a rooster's head, its face transformed to a phallus, features the Greek phrase "Soter Kosmou" ("savior of the universe"). The rooster was also considered a harbinger of death and resurrection whenever it crowed, and was thus supposedly able to communicate with the Underworld. Being that both Hades and Dionysos are seen as phallic gods with an Underworld association, this makes some sense.

Eggs, on the other hand, were actually forbidden food at the Greater Mysteries of Eleusis, probably a reflection on the very same idea. Sometimes young people were buried with an egg, symbolizing their "marriage" to death, but usually in reference to Dionysos in his Underworld aspects. Overall, they are simple symbols of regeneration. The World Egg, according to Orphics, was brought forth by Nyx, identified with the moon itself. Supposedly, heaven and earth were made from the halves of the broken egg, from which emerged the bisexual being Eros (an original amorphous entity, not the later son of Aphrodite). It was this deity who caused his brother and sisters to mate and produce the gods to follow. The World Egg is often pictured encircled by a snake

Dogs are sacred to Hekate, more so than any other Underworld entity. They followed her on her nightly journeys, and myth mentions them howling their way through towns. The howls of dogs have usually been associated with announcing death. Another very important dog figure is Kerberos ("ker", "death", "boros", "eater"), the three-headed monster canine who guards the entrance to the Underworld. He is described in most myths as having a snake-like tail, and some versions also claim each head is a different color: red, white, and black, which seem refer to the colors of the Triple Goddess. However, there was no specific system of triplicity among the Greek goddesses other than with Hekate, who was shown sometimes this way. Though, interestingly enough, there were several sets of triples among goddess - especially so Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. Triple Goddesses appeared more often in Celtic myth, yet similarly the Greek, Kells, and Egyptians all place canines to guard the gates of the afterlife. In other cultures, dogs or wolves carried the souls of the dead to the afterlife directly.

Frogs are another creature associated with Hekate, as well as her Egyptian counterpart Heket. Because of its shape, similar to a human fetus, this animal represents birth and rebirth. It is also a strong fertility symbol, due to the enormous amount of eggs it can lay. Sometimes it is considered a symbol of transformation as well, because of its change from a tadpole to a totally different adult form. Frogs are very common familiars to witches. On a side note, singing frogs were featured in the Underworld-based play by Aristophanes, titled appropriately "The Frogs"

Not as commonly viewed as an Underworld creature, but birds, especially birds of prey, are often seen as representatives of the human soul flying away after death. It was used sometimes in funeral rites for this purpose. Its Greek name "kirkos" is where the name Kirke (Circe) was derived, and her island of Aiaia means "to bewail and lament". She was strongly connected to death and the Underworld. Some interpretations claim Kirke's name was related to "phoenix" as well, and who can deny this creature's symbolism of death and rebirth. The Greek word "phoinix" means "blood-red, or purplish red".

The vulture, crow and raven are also birds of death, but as carrion eaters this makes sense. They survived most prominently around sites of battle. Death and Sleep (in the form of Thanatos and Hypnos) are often seen as being winged, and those wings are black as the wings of the carrion birds. The vulture particulary was sacred to Ares, god of battles. Though not specifically an Underworld god, he nevertheless has much power associated with death. Of course the Egyptian god of the Underworld, Osiris, is represented by a falcon as well.

Ants are symbolic of many Harvest Goddesses, because of their methods of carrying and storing grain and other foods for the winter. They are also connected to the Underworld, as they constantly travel between the upper and lower world. In the later myth of Cupid and Psyche, ants were sent to aid the girl in separating seeds and grain to satisfy the first task given by Aphrodite. Occasionally they were used in divinations, by watching their movements.

Butterflies, while not entirely an Underworld creature, nevertheless have great associations with the soul and resurrection. Consider its life cycle and you will see the connection easily. The butterfly is the symbolic creature of Psyche, whose name has been said to mean both "soul" and "butterfly". In beliefs of reincarnation, some thought human souls became butterflies while searching for their next lifetime. Other cultures believed this as well, from the Kells to the Chinese.

FURIES
[ Ερινυες ]

GORGONS
[ Γοργον ]

SPHINX
[ σφινξ ]

The word harpy comes from "harpazo", meaning "to steal", and they spent much time doing this. Some claim they stole children, while other compare them to vultures and other carrion birds of death. As they had birds bodies and human features, this does make some sense, and connects them strongly to the Underworld.

The Furies, or Erinyes, were closely associated with Hades, and in some stories are declared to be his children. They were bringers of divine justice, though always harsh and often bloody. Sometimes they were said to work with Demeter, though in what capacity is never made entirely clear. Myths about them show that they wreaked havoc on those who committed murder, especially going for ones who killed their own mothers. They are often depicted as having Gorgon-like features, snake hair and blood-red eyes, as well as bird or bat wings.

Gorgons themselves, with their ability to turn people to stone, obviously have a strong connection to death and the earth.

Contrary to popular belief, there was more than a single female sphinx. The Androsphinx was the male counterpart. Sphinx means "strangler" and they were prone to testing mortals for their worth, then destroying them upon failure. This made them both judge and jury. They are sometimes viewed as being related to various matriarchal goddesses with lions as their token animal, such as Rhea and the Egyptian Hathor. Interesting indeed that most of the creatures who brought destruction and justice upon the wicked were generally female.

The Greek word "daimon" does not mean demon as we know them today. It actually translates as "god or goddess, deity, divine power" and in particular "the divine within a person's soul". (Therefore, we all have inner demons.) The Latin "Manes" or "Di Manes" was a direct reference to this, though they considered it to be the souls of the dead coming to haunt them. The word "daimonao" meant to be possessed or mad, or specifically "to be under the power of a divine visitation". And "daimonios" was considered to be anything coming from the hand of a deity. The concept of demons as we know them does derive from these words, but an evil demon was called "kakodaimon" whereas a helpful demon was called "agathodaimon", marking a clear differentiation between types. Unfortunately, all these definitions served to convince later Christians that gods of other cultures were, in fact, nothing more than evil demons.

The lamia has an equally confusing history. Some versions of myth say it began as a mortal woman who was seduced by Zeus, driven mad by Hera, who then died and haunted the world stealing babies to replace her own. Others say it is the name of a type of demoness, either with a snakelike body or the ability to shape-shift into many forms. Some of these forms included attractive human females which were used to seduce men and kill them afterward. As destroyers and seducers, this combined them with myths of succubi and vampires alike.