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Snakes were regularly regarded as guardians of the Underworld or messengers between the Upper and Lower worlds, because they lived in cracks and holes in the ground. The Gorgons of Greek myth were snake-women (a common hybrid) whose gaze would turn flesh into stone, the most famous of them being Medusa. [18]
Shahmaran is a mythical creature, half-snake and half-woman, portrayed as a dual-headed creature with a crown on each head, possessing a human female head on one end, and a snake's head on the other, possibly representing a phallic figure. [3]
In Greek mythology, Echidna (/ ɪ ˈ k ɪ d n ə /; Ancient Greek: Ἔχιδνα, romanized: Ékhidna, lit. 'she-viper', pronounced) [2] was a monster, half-woman and half-snake, who lived alone in a cave. She was the mate of the fearsome monster Typhon and was the mother of many of the most famous monsters of Greek myth. [3]
Isbell argues that for millions of years snakes were the only significant predators of primates, and that this explains why fear of snakes is one of the most common phobias worldwide and why the symbol of the serpent is so prevalent in world mythology; the serpent is an innate image of danger and death. [7] [8]
Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her was turned to stone. [4] Medusa and her Gorgon sisters Euryale and Stheno were usually described as daughters of Phorcys and Ceto ; of the three, only Medusa was mortal.
Some djinn in Islamic mythology are described as alternating between human and serpentine forms. Echidna, the wife of Typhon in Greek mythology, was half woman, half snake. Fu Xi: serpentine founding figure from Chinese mythology. Glycon: a Roman snake god who had the head of a man. The Gorgons: Sisters in Greek mythology who had serpents for hair.
Scylla – A monster from Greek mythology which has the body of a woman, six snake heads, twelve octopus tentacles, a cat's tail and four dog heads in her waist. Fenghuang – A Chinese creature with the head of a golden pheasant, the body of a mandarin duck, the tail of a peacock, the legs of a crane, the mouth of a parrot and the wings of a ...
The term "maenads" also refers to women in mythology who resisted the worship of Dionysus and were driven mad by him, forced against their will to participate in often horrific rites. The doubting women of Thebes, the prototypical maenads or "mad women", left their homes to live in the wilds of the nearby mountain Cithaeron.