Lamia Demon

I did some research about Lamia, because I was curious about Her from a game I’ve recently played and a movie I recently watched, named “Drag me to hell”.

It turned quite interesting 😉 In Gailardia the demon is shown as a female mermaid. It is not “exact” as all fiction/fantasy games but is quite near. The demon itself is present in Greek and Bulgarian mythologies.  In forgotten Bulgarian myths, the Lamya is a three-headed dragon/hydra like monster that comes to the village to steal the children. And the Naga in Hinduism are even more like the one, depicted in the games and the movies.

The Greeks, have more deep mythology and claim Lamia is a granddaughter of Poseidon and Lybie (the scaled mermaid tail seen in few manga/anime movies and one Android game is probably from this myth) and was a concubine to Zeus. Hera was so furious that she made Lamia devour her own children. This made her go insane and seeking vengeance, Lamia started kidnapping and swallowing people’s children whole (Lamia – laimios – Greek word for gullet/esophagus). There is much more written in Wikipedia article about Lamia. All in all, she is not a mermaid, but has snake skin around her waist. The devouring of children make her look so corrupted and hideous, that her face is very similar to a medusa.

In present Bulgarian family, often the Lamia is used to scare uncooperative children “The Lamya will come and steal you”. “Baba Yaga” is often used with the same goal too 😉 and … often … is not working at all after the age of 5 😀

In “Drag me to hell”, an old gipsy woman stole an item from the main character and speaking to the item invoked Lamia to make a 3 day curse. The demon in the movie is more likely greater demon called Baphomet (Bahumat), not The Lamia that’s stealing and eating kids. Don’t know if the director knew something more or simply “invented” other Lamia, than the one we know. The movie is fine OTOH. Won 3 times it’s original budget on the box office. Quite a success. Not that scary though. It involved tons of body liquids and was quite gross in moments.

Lamia is also shown as a seductive vampire living in the sewers in Realms of Arkania. It is quite hard to kill. Especially for male chars. They go berserk against one another. In the manga Shin Megami Tensei, Lamia is also depicted as a seductive mermaid.

Also, similar demon is present in Jewish mythology, but they call her Lilith. Lilith was the first wife of Adam, before Eve was made from his rib. Lilith refused to obey her husband and was banished. Either for this or because She mated with archangel Samael and  probably gave progeny to lesser demons. Lilith is often depicted naked holding a huge snake over her shoulders (Satan?).

Lilith is found in lots of games as fully developed female demon, such as Requiem: Avenging angel. I really enjoyed this game in the past.

… anyway, both Lilith and Lamia are seductress demons (succubi) that are hard to resist by males. This is what you have to be aware when playing games, especially if your main character is male.