effulgentpoet:

mythology aesthetics

EMPUSA

In Greek mythology, Empusa is a shape-shifting female being, commanded by Hecate, whose precise nature is obscure. In Aristophane’s plays she is said to change appearance from various beasts to a woman. Empusa is also said to be one-legged, having one brass leg, or a donkey’s leg, thus being known by the alias Onokole. Empousa was thought to seduce and crave young men for the freshness and purity of their blood, prompting an interpretation as

a

blood-sucking vampire by Smith′s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1849). X