| abstract | - In Greek mythology, possibly the oldest tale of vampirism was that of Lamia, a mortal queen of Libya with whom Zeus fell in love. Hera, jealous over her divine husband's infedelities, deprived Lamia of the children she had with Zeus. Lamia in turn "wandered the world drinking the blood of young children" so that "other mortal mothers should have to suffer as she did." As Graham Anderson writes, "A second and still more celebrated case also invites rationalisation:" Apollonius of Tyana "was reputed to have exposed a Lania ('vampire') about to devour his disciple Menippus." Bob Curran explains that in "some respects, the lamia resembled the early Sumerian demon-goddess Lilith, who also appears in Hebrew mythology as Adam's first wife. Both of these entities spawned hundreds of demons that both attacked and killed individuals. These demons were known to ancient Greeks as empusa (vampires)...and were incredibly hostile toward mankind." In Roman and Medieval European legends and beliefs, "the horrible offspring of the Lamia" are known as Lamya, Lamye, or Lamie and are "described as hybrid monsters... Specifically, the Roman poet Horace "mentioned the Lamia, a necrophagous ghoul and queen of succubi who...devoured foetuses and terroised children in the moonlight." Carole Rose writes that in "later folktales of the medieval period, the Lamya become forest-dwellers who attack any human within their range. It was said that the only cure for the unhealing wound was to hear the Lamia herself."
|
