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Over the last few months, we've brought to you 10 Fun Facts lists on Athens, Sparta, The Roman Army, Pharaohs, and Viking Warriors. Now it's the turn of the Ancient Greek Heroes to be given the 10 Fun Facts treatment.

This list is an excellent way to learn lots of stuff about the Greek Gods really really quickly. But, if you do have the time to learn more, please click on the links in each entry. They'll bring you to other articles on our blog which will help to imbue you with even more knowledge. You'll have so much knowledge it'll be leaking out of your ears.

It will be as if you were bitten by a radioactive book. Probably.

Enjoy this list of 10 Fun Facts You Need To Know About Ancient Greek Heroes!

Achilles was the greatest of all the Greeks and was a mighty warrior. In fact, he was almost invulnerable, so he couldn't be killed. Well, I say almost. The only part of him that could be harmed was his heel. This was unfortunate as it is precisely the body part that Trojan prince Paris shot with an arrow - killing Achilles instantly. That's where we get the phrase 'Achilles heel' from.

Bellerophon slew the nasty Chimera, a terrifying creature with a lion's body and three heads - one, unsurprisingly, was a Lion's head, the others the head of a goat and a snake. Bellerophon bested the beast by shooting a lead-tipped arrow into its mouth. The Chimera's fiery breath melted the lead and then the creature swallowed the toxic liquid, thus poisoning itself. Well played Bellerophon, well played.

Atalanta was a famed huntress who killed the giant Corinthian Boar. At birth, Atalanta was abandoned by her parents as her father wanted a son. This deplorable action happened so much in Greek culture that they even gave it a name. They called it ‘to be exposed’. Atalanta was left by the base of Mount Parthenion to die. Don’t worry dear reader, she didn’t actually die! Instead, she was raised by a she-bear whose cubs had recently been killed. When she grew older, Atalanta was trained by woodland hunters to become the greatest hunter of them all. It’s a bit like Mowgli in The Jungle Book but far more awesome!

The DC Comic Superhero Shazam is given his super powers by a whole load of Greek Heroes, Gods and Titans. The Strength of Hercules, The Courage of Achilles, The stamina of Atlas, The Speed of Mercury, The Power of Zeus, the Wisdom of Soloman.

Give me an H! Give me an S! Given me an A! Give me an M! Give me a Z! Give me a S! What does that spell?

Haamzs? The Greek God of sliced pork in plastic packaging?

You have to re-arrange the letters first!!!

Oh... Shazam!

Theseus, the hero who became famous for slaying the monstrous minotaur, became even more famous in later life for kidnapping women! His rather uncatchy nickname was “a great abductor of women”. One time he even tried to kidnap Hades’ wife Persephone with his pal Pirithous. Both creeps were punished by being glued to rocks in the underworld. Luckily, Theseus would be rescued by Heracles but Pirithous was left behind. Did Theseus care? Probably not. Soldiers might leave no man behind, but Theseus definitely does.

Talking of Heracles, you might know him better by his Romanized name of Hercules. The Romans were so impressed by this labour-completing Demi-god that they wanted him to be Roman, and not Greek. So, once the city-states had been conquered, the Romans renamed Heracles and pretended he was on their side all along.

Heracles was a hero even from birth. The goddess Hera hates Heracles - it was probably due to the way he wore his nappy - and sent two deadly snakes to kill him as he slept in his cot. Luckily for the miniature demi-god, his super-human strength enabled him to swiftly kill the snakes and play with their remains like a child plays with their toys. I'm imagining Optimus Prime and Barbie here.

That dude we mentioned earlier, Bellerophon, well, after his victory over the Chimera things didn't go so well. Our hapless decided to fly to Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, atop his winged-horse Pegasus. Zeus was flabbergasted by Bellerophon's impudence and sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus. As Bellerophon's mount reared in pain, our would-be visitor to Olympus plummeted to the ground and was crippled and blinded upon crashing into a bush. He spent the rest of his life alone. What a downer!

Unlike the others on this list, Alexander the Great actually existed. Though, his life was so incredible, and his accomplishments so impressive, that much of his thirty-two years of living became mythologised. It was claimed that he could only have achieved all the things he did - basically kill a lot of people, defeat a multitude of armies, conquer swathes of land and named around thirty cities after himself (Alexandria) - if he was divine and the son of Zeus.

Perseus, the buff fella who slew the snake-haired Medusa, is the only Greek Hero to have a happy ending. The rest of the heroes have messy ends, being chased off cliffs, burnt by acid, or turned into a lion. But Perseus managed to live happily ever after. After freeing Pegasus from the confines of Medusa's decapitated body (don't ask) he took flight atop the might steed. On his journey he spotted a princess chained to a rock, about to be eaten by a terrifying sea monster called Cetus. Slaying the beast, Perseus rescued the princess, named Andromeda, and later married her. Together they ruled the city-state known as Mycenae in a long and successful reign.