In
Greek mythology, Lamia was a
beautiful woman who, like so many other
beautiful Greek women,
got it on with
Zeus and bore a number of his
children. Zeus' wife,
Hera, was
jealous (because Hera was nearly always jealous), and she kidnapped all the children to keep them out of their
mother's arms.
Mad with
grief, Lamia began to entice
mortal children to serve as her
substitute kids. However, her
deceitful
actions caused her to
transform into a
monster with the
head and
breasts of a woman and the
body of a
giant serpent, and rather than treating the children as her own children, she began to
treat them as her own
supper,
devouring them with
gusto.
In time, Lamia was able to
reproduce, giving
life to
creatures like herself. The
lamiae had the
power to
seduce men and
suck out their
life force.