Echidna (mythology)

Echidna (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Echidna was a monster. She looked like a woman on one side and a snake on the other. She lived alone in a cave, far from other people.

Echidna was the partner of another famous monster named Typhon.

Because of her special place in the stories, Echidna was the mother of many well-known monsters in Greek myths. Her children were often powerful creatures, which made her an important figure in the old tales of gods and heroes.

Genealogy

Echidna's family is told in different ways by ancient writers. The oldest story is from Hesiod in his book Theogony. Hesiod says Echidna may be the child of the sea goddess Ceto and the sea god Phorcys. Or she might be the child of another water goddess named Callirhoe, which would make Chrysaor, the child of Medusa, her parent.

Later writers gave other parents for Echidna. Pherecydes of Athens said her father was Phorcys but did not name her mother. Pausanias said she was the daughter of the river goddess Styx and a person named Peiras. Apollodorus said her parents were Tartarus and Gaia. In one version from the Orphic tradition, Echidna was the daughter of Phanes, who was seen as the first god.

Description

In Greek stories, Echidna was a special creature who was half woman and half snake. She looked scary, with a body like a large snake with spots. One ancient writer, Aristophanes, said she lived deep under the earth and had many snake heads, just like her partner, Typhon. Another writer, Nonnus, described her as looking unpleasant and having a poisonous nature.

Offspring

In old stories, Echidna had many famous monster children with her partner Typhon. First, there was Orthrus, a two-headed dog that guarded special cattle. Then came Cerberus, the multi-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld. Another child was the Lernaean Hydra, a snake that grew two heads whenever one was cut off.

Other stories also talk about the Chimera, a creature with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a snake-headed tail, and the Sphinx, a monster with a woman’s face and a winged lion’s body. There was also the Nemean lion, which was defeated by the hero Heracles. Different tellers of these stories sometimes give different parents for these monsters, but many say they came from Echidna and Typhon.

Legend:

✓✓ = Echidna and Typhon given as parents

✓? = Only Echidna given as parent

?✓ = Only Typhon given as parent

?? = Echidna and Typhon possibly meant as parents

? = Echidna possibly meant as parent

Notes:

Cave

In Greek stories, the monster Echidna was born in a cave and lived alone there. The cave was a secret place deep under the earth, far from gods and people. It was said to be guarded by the gods and was thought to be in places like Cilicia, Syria, or near Cumae in Italy. The cave was also linked to Typhon, Echidna's partner.

Death

In some stories, Echidna lived forever and never grew old. But another story says that Echidna was attacked and killed while she was resting by Argus Panoptes, a giant with one hundred eyes. Argus served Hera, a powerful goddess.

The Scythian echidna

Further information: Snake-Legged Goddess

A long time ago, a writer named Herodotus told a story about a special creature. She was called an echidna, meaning “she-viper.” She looked like a woman from the waist up and a snake from the waist down. She lived alone in a cave and was seen as a mother figure. In the story, she helped create the people known as the Scythians.

The story says that Greeks living in Pontus, near the Black Sea, believed the hero Heracles once passed through the land that would become Scythia. One day, he woke up to find his horses missing. He found them in a cave with the snake-woman. She asked for something in return for helping him get his horses back. They had three sons together: Agathyrsus, Gelonus, and Scythes. She asked what to do with the boys when they grew up. Heracles gave her a bow and a belt and said the boy who could use the bow and wear the belt should stay, and the others should leave. The youngest, Scythes, stayed and became the founder of the Scythian people.

The Viper in the Acts of Philip

In an old story called the Acts of Philip, there is a creature named the Viper, also called Echidna. She was known as a "she dragon" and the "mother of the serpents." She lived in a special temple in a place called Hierapolis and was honored by the people there. According to the story, the Viper, along with her temple and the priests, disappeared when the ground opened up because of a curse spoken by Philip the Apostle.

Delphyne

Echidna might be linked to a monster named Delphyne. The god Apollo killed Delphyne in Delphi. In an old story, Apollo fought a female serpent named Delphyne, who was raised by Typhon. Echidna and Delphyne shared many traits. Both had the body of a woman and the tail of a snake. Both were seen as trouble for people and were tied to Typhon and a special cave called the Corycian cave.

Main article: Delphyne

Iconography

We do not have clear ancient pictures of Echidna that still exist today. A writer named Pausanias said that Echidna was shown with her partner Typhon on an old temple from the sixth century BC at Amyclae. This temple was designed by Bathycles of Magnesia. Pausanias described two standing figures on the left as Echidna and Typhon, and Tritons stood on the right, but he did not give more details about what they looked like.