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Lamia
In ancient Greek mythology, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya (Ancient Lybia –
North Africa) who became a child-eating daemon. While the word lamia literally means
large shark in Greek, Aristophanes (ca. 446 – ca. 386 BC, prolific and much acclaimed
comic dramatist) claimed her name derived from the Greek word for gullet (λαιμός;
laimos), referring to her habit of devouring children.
Some accounts say she has a serpent’s tail below the waist. This popular description of
her is largely due to Lamia, a poem by John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February
1821). Later traditions referred to many lamiae; folkloric monsters similar to vampires
and succubi that seduced young men and then fed on their blood.
According to Diodorus Siculus, Lamia was born the beautiful daughter of Belus (the son
of Poseidon and Libya) King of Egypt. Upon her father’s death she became queen of one
of his territories, Libya. However, while visiting Delphi (south-western spur of Mount
Parnassus – Greece), Pausanias, who was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd
century AD, remarks that Lamia was the daughter of Poseidon. He also states that Lamia
and Zeus were the parents of Herophile, a noted sibyl.
Diodorus goes on to relate that Lamia had an affair with Zeus and bore him children.
When Hera, Zeus’s wife, discovered the affair, she became enraged and killed the
children. Driven insane with grief, Lamia began devouring other children, and, according
to Diodorus, her face became hideously distorted from her grisly deeds
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Typhoeus
There are gods, and there are monsters, but rarely are there gods that are also monsters. In
Greek mythology, there is no god/monster as powerful, dangerous, and downright deadly
as Typhon.
He is called Typho, Typhaon, Typheous, Typhos, and Typhon in Greek mythology, but
regardless of which name is mentioned, it's not hard to figure out who is being talked
about. Most often described as the most horrifying and powerful monster in legend, no
beast or demon was as feared by the gods as was Typhon in Greek mythology.
He is described in many different ways, varying slightly from legend to legend, but
aggregating the most popular descriptions gives us this image of the beast:
He was a giant - so tall his head touched the stars. He had the torso of a man, but each leg
was an enormous viper coil that writhed and hissed as he moved. He had a main head that
hosted 100 snake heads that constantly screamed the sounds of various animals. All that
is described of his human-like head are glowing red eyes that drove fear into the hearts of
all that looked upon them, and a "savage jaw" that breathed fire. He had hundreds of
wings all over his body, and instead of ten fingers his hands were made of 100 deadly
serpents.
Typhon, in Greek mythology, was not just a monster. He was also a god - the last child of
Gaia (the Earth) and Tartarus (a violent and bottomless storm pit) who were both
considered gods. Some myths say he was instead the child of Hera (Greek mythology),
but a better explanation comes from a story where Hera, in a fit of anger toward Zeus
(Greek mythology) goes to Gaia and Tartarus and beseeches them to create a god more
powerful than Zeus. Thus, Typhon is born and Hera gets a little more than she bargained
for.
Echidna
Echidna, meaning "she-viper", is also known as the Mother of all Monsters. Her and her
mate, Typhon or Typhoeus, are the parents of every major monster in Greek Myths.
"The goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and
half again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the
secret parts of the holy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock
far from the deathless gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a
glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in Arima beneath the earth, grim
Echidna, a nymph who dies not nor grows old all her days." (Theogony, 295-305)
There were 8 offspring between Typhon and Echidna: Nemean Lion, Cerberus, Orthrus,
Chimera, Sphinx, Lernaean Hydra, Ethon, and Phaea. According to Herodotus, Hercules
had three children with her. They were, Agathyrsus, Gelonus, and Scytha/Scylla.
Amphibisbaena
The word amphisbaena comes from the Greek words amphis (both ways) and bainein (to
go), due to the creature’s ability to move both forwards and backwards. Its dietary
requirements also led to the creation of a second name, the Mother of Ants.
In Greek myths, the amphisbaena is depicted as a two-headed snake. But by Medieval
times, the amphisbaena had become a far more frightening beast. Somehow, over time,
the amphisbaena evolved, developing two or more chicken-like scaled feet, and feathered
wings. Some drawings even show it as a horned dragon, with a smaller serpent-headed
tail, whilst others have both necks and heads of equal size.
Nearly everyone agrees, though, that the amphisbaena’s eyes glow like burning candles.
The amphisbaena is not just another pretty face, for its mouth is filled with poisonous
fangs, and it can move on both land and water, being able to swim and burrow
underground. This creature can hypnotize, run like lightening, and its eye contact kills
instantly, albeit only during a full moon.
And that is not all. If chopped it half, the two parts of the amphisbaena will reattach, and
the beast will be alive and healthy once more.
Furthermore, the Ancient Greek version of the amphisbaena—the two-headed snake—
could take one head in the mouth of the other and roll in a hoop, much like the
mythological hoop snake of North America.
Phoenix
The phoenix is depicted in many different ways. It is a bird that can be reborn from ashes.
Its tears can heal you. The phoenix is very different in some cultures. Many people think
it was a bird in flames, while others thought it was a bird of shining colors. The
Egyptians depicted it as a bird of brilliant shades of red, which made the Phoenix look
like it was wrapped in fire. It was thought to be the size of an eagle, a peacock or a
heron.
The phoenix symbolized death and rebirth. When it was about to die, it would build a
nest, then set it aflame. Then a baby would come forth from the ashes. Only one phoenix
was said to live at a time. Phoenixes were said to live for five hundred to one thousand
four hundred sixty one years. The ancient Greeks thought it lived in Arabia, near a well.
When it was daybreak, the Sun God would stop his chariot to listen to the Phoenix sing
its majestic song, when the bird bathed in the well. In China, it was called the Feng. In
bad times, it would help make fruits and vegetables grow. In Egypt, after the bird sprang
forth from the ashes of its ancestor, it would sacrifice an egg at the altar of Ra. Then it
was offered in sacrifice to the God of the Sun. The Phoenix was very important, because
it symbolized death and rebirth, which the Egyptians were obsessed with.