Echidna

Echidna. Sculpture by Pirro Ligorio 1555, Parco dei Mostri (Monster Park), Lazio, Italy

Echidna (Ekhidna) (Gr: Εχιδνα) 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

Echidna, said to be the mother of all monsters, is a drakaina, with the face and torso of a 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 Echidna and her children to live as a challenge to future heroes. She was finally killed by Argus Panoptes by having spears thrown into her until it resembled spines, the hundred-eyed giant who served Hera, when she fell asleep.

Relationships

Parents

1. Gaia and Tartarus (according to Appollodoris)
2. Keto and Phorcys (according to Hesiod)

Spouse & Lovers

1. Typhon - The most deadly monster of all Greek mythology and "The Father of All Monsters"

Children

1. Orthos- the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryron
2. Cerberus- the three headed dog who guarded the gates of Hades
3. Khimaira- a fire breathing monster that was part lion, part goat, and had a serpent faced tail
4. Hydra- the many headed serpent if one head is cut off, two more grow back
5. The Colchian Dragon- the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece
6. Kaukasios Eagle- the eagle that every day ate the liver of Prometheus
7. Ladon- a drakon that guarded the golden apple tree in the garden of the Hesperides

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.