Empusa
Empusa was a shape-shifting female demon in the retinue of Hecate, said to seduce and feed upon travellers by appearing as a beautiful woman.
The Myth of Empusa
Empusa was a shape-shifting demon in the service of Hecate, goddess of crossroads and sorcery. She could assume the form of a beautiful woman, a cow, a dog, or a donkey. She had one leg of bronze and one of a donkey, though she hid these under alluring disguises. Empusa haunted roads at night, seducing travellers before drinking their blood — a vampiric figure that anticipated later folklore. In Aristophanes' comedy, Dionysus encounters an Empusa during his descent to Hades, and Hermes must calm the terrified god. Apollonius of Tyana famously unmasked an Empusa posing as a beautiful bride at Corinth. She was associated with the darkness between worlds, lurking where Hecate's torches lit the crossroads between life and death.
Symbols
Fun Fact
Empusa may be the earliest literary vampire — predating Slavic vampire folklore by over a thousand years.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Empousa
🐉 creaturedemons
A shape-shifting demoness with one bronze leg and one donkey leg who preyed on travellers
Gello
🐉 creaturechild-snatching, haunting
A female demon believed to steal and devour infants, originating from the ghost of a young woman who died before bearing children.
Lamia
🐉 creatureChild-devouring queen turned monster
Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya whom Zeus loved; when Hera killed her children in jealousy, Lamia was driven mad and became a child-snatching monster.
Ophiotaurus
🐉 creaturehybrid creatures
A creature half bull and half serpent whose entrails, if burned, could grant power to overthrow the gods
Trivia
⚡ godCrossroads, magic, night, the underworld
Roman goddess of crossroads and sorcery, equivalent to the Greek Hecate
Echidna
🐉 creatureMother of all monsters
Echidna was half woman, half serpent — called the Mother of All Monsters for bearing the most fearsome creatures of Greek mythology.
Mestra
🗡 heroshapeshifting
Daughter of Erysichthon who was given the power of shapeshifting by Poseidon, sold repeatedly by her starving father.
Melinoe
⚡ godUnderworld
A chthonic goddess of ghosts and nightmares who drove mortals to madness with spectral visions
Lamia
🐉 creaturemonsters,child-devouring
A class of bogeywoman creatures derived from the original Lamia myth — female demons said to prey on children and young men, used in antiquity to frighten children into obedience.
Sybaris
🐉 creaturemonsters
A monstrous serpent-dragon that terrorised the region around Delphi until slain by a young hero
Medusa
🐉 creatureSnake-haired Gorgon whose gaze turned men to stone
A winged Gorgon with serpents for hair whose gaze could turn any living creature to stone. Once beautiful, she was cursed by Athena and later beheaded by Perseus.
Medusa
🐉 creaturetransformation
Once a beautiful priestess of Athena, raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple and punished by the goddess with a monstrous form.