QUEEN LAMIA IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY

In Greek mythology, Lamia was a mortal woman transformed into a daemon, or monster, because of the anger of the goddess of Hera. The anger of Hera is perhaps justifiable, as Lamia was a lover of Hera’s husband Zeus, but the punishment meted out by Hera went beyond that inflicted upon the likes of Io and other mistresses of the supreme god. 

Queen Lamia of Libya

Lamia was named as either a daughter of Poseidon, or of Belus, who himself was a son of Poseidon. Lamia would be named as a beautiful queen of Ancient Libya, the region west of the Nile.
 
The beauty of Lamia was such that Zeus was attracted to her, and the god successfully seduced the queen, who subsequently gave birth to several children by the god.

Lamia Transformed

Hera soon learned of her husband’s infidelity and sought her revenge by stealing away the children born to Lamia.
 
The loss of her children causes Lamia to go mad, and so the Queen of Libya kidnaps the children of others, and eats them. The monstrous actions of Lamia cause her facial features to distort, possibly mimicking that of a shark, and Lamia becomes a monster herself. 

Vain Lamorna, A Study for Lamia - John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) - PD-art-100

The Lamia Myth Evolves

The story of Lamia was the equivalent of the bogeyman tales of more recent history, and as a result many embellishments were made to the basic story.
 
Some versions have Hera killing the children of Lamia, or causing Lamia herself to kill the children and then devour them.

Lamia - Lord-Scadamour - CC-BY-SA-3.0

Some versions of the story of Lamia have the queen clawing out her own eyes through madness, and some tell that Hera cursed Lamia, prevent her from closing her eyes, so that she would never be able to shut away the visions of her lost children. In this latter case, Zeus is said to have enabled Lamia to remove and replace her eyes at will, possibly to allow her some respite.
 
Later depictions of Lamia had her transformed into a serpentine beast, normally Echidna like, with the upper half of a woman; again this was said to have been a curse placed on Lamia by Hera. 

Lamia the Lone Shark

The name Lamia essentially means a dangerous lone shark, and so Lamia was probably simply the personification of such a shark, and the stories of child eating were simply to warn children of the potential dangers of the sea. 

The Children of Lamia

As to the children of Lamia, presuming that Hera did not force Lamia to consume them, three are commonly named.
 
Scylla, the famous sea monster is named as a daughter of Lamia, although it was more common in antiquity to state that Scylla was a daughter of Phorcys.
 
Acheilus was certainly a son of Lamia and Zeus, and he grew up to be one of the most beautiful of mortal men, but Acheilus thought so highly of his looks that he challenged the goddess Aphrodite to a contest. Aphrodite was so angered by the hubris of Acheilus that no contest took place, instead the goddess transformed the son of Lamia into an ugly shark form daemon.
 
One daughter of Lamia to escape a monstrous future was said to be the Herophile; and this daughter of Lamia and Zeus was said to have become of the first Sibyls of Delphi. 

Lamie and the Lamiae

Very quickly the idea of Lamia evolved into the idea of many such daemons, the Lamiae, with early reference coming in the 3rd century AD and the works of Flavius Philostratus.
 
The Lamiae are more in keeping with the idea of Succubi or Vampires than the original daemon Lamia though, for the Lamiae were seducers, and eaters, of young men, rather than children.

​The Lamiae could thus assume the shape of beautiful women, hiding their serpent tail legs, to lure the unwary into bed. These Lamiae were perhaps daughters of Hecate and residents of the Underworld.
 
It is this idea of the Lamiae that has been used in subsequent imagery of the Greek mythological figures, including in Lamia by Keats. 

Lamia - John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) - PD-art-100

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