Greek mythology described Empusa, also referred to as Empousa, as a demon with a bent on witchcraft.
Serving under the goddess of witchcraft, Hecate, was her job in the demonic realm.
It was stated that Empusa possessed shape-shifting abilities that could confuse both humans and animals.
However, there was a single leg of copper that revealed her monstrous identity regardless of how she changed forms, making it possible to recognize her real form.
There are many instances of Empusa in Greek mythology.
She can be seen in a number of well-known comedies in addition to legends and lore.
She is referenced, to start, in The Frogs by Aristophanes.
She ambushed the god Dionysus and his slave, Xanthus, in a scene in that work.
Though some modern interpretations of Aristophanes's work even maintain that Xanthus was using her to play a playful prank on Dionysus
she doesn't do anything particularly terrible in that comedy work.


The autobiographical book The Life of Apollonius of Tyana mentions her in several places.
That first-century AD account recounts Empusa's seduction of one of Tyana's naive young followers.
Empusa changes into a different person and eats the unfortunate student as he throws down his guard, believing he has found true love with a worldly woman.
That story is more consistent with the way she is frequently described in myths and legends: as an alluring shapeshifter who seduces unfortunate individuals into hasty, gory demises.

свернуть