Echidna. Sculpture by Pirro Ligorio 1555, Parco dei Mostri (Monster Park), Lazio, Italy
Ekidna (Ancient Greek: Εχιδνα) is the Ancient Greek spelling for Echidna since the Greeks did not have the letter C they used the letter Kappa (K), or is a drakaina with the head and upper body of a woman and the rest of her body is a writhing snake tail. She presided over rot, slime, felid waters, illness, and disease.
Myth[]
Ekhidna said to be the "mother of all monster" (an exaggerated title), she is a drakaina, with the face and torso of beautiful woman with fair cheeks and the body of a serpent. She eats raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. There she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless gods and mortal men.
When she and her lover, Typhon, attacked the Olympians, Zeus beat them back and punished Typhon by sealing him under Mount Etna. However, Zeus allowed Ekhidna and her children to live as a challenge to future heroes. She was finally killed by Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed giant who served Hera, by having spears thrown into her until it resembled spines when she fell asleep.
Relationships[]
Parents[]
Gaia and Tartaros (according to Appollodoris) Keto and Phorkys (according to Hesiod)
Spouse & Lovers[]
Typhon - The most deadly monster of all Greek mythology and "The Father of All Monsters"
Children[]
- Orthos- the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryon
- Kerberos- the three headed dog who guarded the gates of Hades
- Khimaira- a fire breathing monster that was part lion, part goat, and had a serpent faced tail
- Lernaean Hydra- the many headed serpent if one head is cut off, two more grow back
- Kholkikos Drakon - the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece
- Kaucasian Eagle- the eagle that every day ate the liver of Prometheus
- Ladon- a drakon that guarded the golden apple tree in the garden of the Hesperides
- Krommyon Hus-A monstrous wild pig which terrorized the countryside around Krommyon on the Korinthian Isthmus.
Trivia[]
- She sometimes is depicted with two tails
- She is sometimes shown as a protector of vineyards
- The echidna(the animal) is named after Echidna (the monster) from the myth of Argus throwing spears into her until it looked like spines.
- She is the mother of almost every Greek monster.