Lamia (mythology)
Lamia ( Greek Λάμια ) was according to Greek mythology the daughter of the god Poseidon and Libya . She later became Queen of Libya and a lover of Zeus . This also gave her the ability to take her eyes out of her eye sockets as Hera punished her with insomnia. Zeus fathered a son with her, but he was killed by his constantly jealous wife Hera . Out of grief and anger at the loss of her child, Lamia turned her head into a serpent's head (similar to Medusa ) and began killing, skinning, dismembering and eating other mothers' children.
The Greek mythology , according to which should lamias be named after this Lamia. Lamia is also mentioned as the mother of the first Sibyl .
The asteroid (248) Lameia is named after her.
The English composer Dorothy Howell dedicated the late Romantic symphonic poem Lamia, which premiered in 1919, to her.
Individual evidence
- ^ Plutarch : Pyth. or. 9 and Pausanias : Helládos Periēgēsis . X, 12.1.
- ^ Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Volume 1 in the Google Book Search
