The Mythological Origins Of Lamia
In Greek mythology, Lamia was the daughter of Poseidon and Lybie, a deity personification of the country of Libya. Lamia is always depicted as being very beautiful, and so she was according to Greek mythology. Zeus fell in love with Lamia, and carried on an affair with her, until his wife, Hera, found out. When Hera discovered the affair, in a jealous rage she stole all of Lamia’s children, except for Scylla, and killed them. Lamia was overcome with horrible grief, and eventually it drove her insane, transforming her into a half snake, half serpent creature that stole and ate children. Zeus, seeking to appease her in some way, granted Lamia the ability to prophecise, as well as remove her own eyes. The gift of being able to remove her eyes was because Lamia could not stop seeing the faces of her dead children.
The story was popular in its sadness and theme, and made its way throughout the world; Lamia went on to have other children, the lowercase lamia, or instead she became lamia, which were a large species of half snake, half feminine monsters. In other parts of the world, mothers used the story of Lamia to frighten their children into obedience. Later on, authors began to attribute other, more lurid details to Lamia, such as a hermaphroditic penis, which came from the sadly perverse mind of Aristophanes. Whores throughout early folklore and fictional literature were sometimes given the name Lamia. In modern Greek folklore or culture, there is still the Lamia, although now she is Lamiae; a slovenly woman, unclean, and lazy, or exceptionally sdtupid, as well as promiscuous. In other modern Greek fairy tales, Lamia is somewhat similar to the Slavic Baba Yaga. She lives in a tower, eats children or the flesh of would-be heroes, and has magical powers. The hero should either kill her, avoid her, or gain her favor so that she can guide him on whatever quest he’s on.