women who waited by the side of the road to catch travelers and eat them, women who could kill a guy with a single, icy look … ruthless, cunning, scandalous man-eating women, temptresses with their sexual charms

1. women who waited by the side of the road to catch travelers and eat them,
women who could kill a guy with a single, icy look …
ruthless, cunning, scandalous man-eating women,
temptresses with their sexual charms
strong women with their weird animal bodies, from the snake tail to the awkward little lion body of the Sphinx ...
creepy-crawly, fanged, winged and otherwise-terrifying creatures

4. While the Greeks merely invented these stories to cope with strong, unfriendly ladies, nowadays,
these women are better known than some of the heroes who killed or outsmarted them.
These are the dangerous women of Greek Mythology …

5. Greek Mythology’s dangerous women

6. Lamia,
became a child-eating monster after her children were destroyed by Hera, who learned of her husband
Zeus’s affairs with her.
To further torment Lamia, Hera put a magic spell upon Lamia, causing her to be stricken with permanent
insomnia, reliving the deaths of her children.
Feeling sorry for Lamia and more than just a little guilty, Zeus, bestowed upon her, removable eyes,
enabling to take out her eyes at night, allowing her some relief.
Zeus also bestowed on, Lamia, the ability to shape shift and become an alluring half serpent, a sultry
seductress who enticed young men and devoured them.

7. in the wild hills of ancient Greece during an evening dim,
a young charioteer hearing a soft voice falls inextricably in love ...
he is unaware that this vision is in reality a monstrous half-serpent,
who metamorphoses into a woman’s form to prey on young men
Lamia kneels below him ...
the only clue to her nature is the glimmering of the snake-skin
draped about her
John William Waterhouse
Lamia
1905
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland

10. human legs and a snakeskin around her waist
and
a small snake on her right forearm
Herbert James Draper
Lamia
1909
Private collection

13. Medea,
isn’t the kind of girl that most guys would want to bring home to Mom. Not only is she a sorceress with a
thing for black magic, she’s also a killer.
Killed her two sons after Jason left her for a pretty young princess.
Sure, Medea had a right to be ticked off - she was the one who’d made Jason famous by helping him get
the Golden Fleece - but most people would probably agree that executing your children because
of your husband’s betrayal is a bit of an overkill.

14. Eugène Delacroix’s first version ...
the mother looks anxiously into the distance,
to see if she is being followed, or there are any witnesses about
the boys seem to know what is about to happen:
one is crying as Medea’s arm is holding him by his neck,
and the other is hiding under her skirts
Eugène Delacroix
Medea
Médée
1838
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille

17. Medea casting a spell ...
she is pulling off her necklace made of coral, the stone thought to
protect children from evil, as hatred overcomes her maternal instinct
the two copulating toads could symbolise her husband’s infidelity
in the background of the painting, the boat of her husband Jason
is shown sailing away
Frederick Sandys
Medea
1866-1868
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham

20. Medusa,
definitely isn't going to win any beauty pageants.
She and her Gorgon sisters, Euryale and Stheno, are totally revolting.
They have snakes for hair and anyone who looks them in the eyes instantly turns into stone.
Medusa became famous when the hero Perseus chopped off her head (with a little help from the goddess Athena).

21. the most famous image of the Medusa's head ...
he follows traditional lines, with ample blood and abundant
snakes, and captures the open-mouthed horror in her face
the artist’s vivid realism gives depth, making this appear
to be a painted relief not a flat canvas
Caravaggio
Medusa
Méduse
1597
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

24. an exuberant mass of snakes ...
even a lizard and a scorpion, more of which appear
to be forming in the blood exuding from her neck ...
Peter Paul Rubens
The Head of Medusa
Tête de Méduse
1617
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

27. the ‘ravishingly beautiful’ Medusa …
Arnold Böcklin
Head of Medusa
Tête de Méduse
1878
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

29. an rocky landscape ...
Medusa, her hair yet to be detailed into snakes,
is stood with a fearsome expression,
while her two immortal sisters are scrunched together
under their wings.
In Morris's poem Medusa is pacing and crying in anguish
at the loss of her once beautiful hair - the result of a curse
by the goddess Athena. Burne-Jones manages to convey
this in her expression while the intensity of her eyes hints
at her dreadful power.
Perseus stands invisible behind, using the mirror to locate
Medusa.
Edward Burne-Jones
The Perseus Series: The Finding of Medusa
Le cycle de Persée: La Découverte de Méduse
1882
Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton

31. Perseus has just cut Medusa’s head off ...
from the severed neck emerge Pegasus and Chrysaor
three of the serpents from Medusa’s head have detached
and fallen to the ground
Edward Burne-Jones
The Perseus Series: The Death of Medusa I
Le cycle de Persée : La mort de Méduse I
1882
Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton

33. Medusa's two immortal sisters take to the air to find the killer
...
aided by his helmet of invisibility Perseus slips away unseen
Edward Burne-Jones
The Perseus Series: The Death of Medusa II
Le cycle de Persée:La mort de Méduse II
1881-1882
Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton

35. Graeae,
or the three Gray Sisters, were beautiful.
They had gray hair from the day they were born and they shared one eye and one tooth,
but they lost even that when Perseus stole their eye and later threw it in a lake.
These supernatural ladies knew the location of the Nymphai, who guarded the supernatural tools
that Perseus needed to kill Medusa.
The Graeae didn’t want to help Perseus ... but Perseus was a persuasive guy.

36. Perseus holding the eye while the Graiae,
portrayed in classical drapery, grope in blindness.
(above the picture is an inscription in Latin intended to outline
the Perseus story for visitors to Balfour's music room)
Edward Burne-Jones
Perseus and the Graiae
Persée et les Grées
1877-1880
Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton

39. Hecuba,
during the Trojan war Hecuba had sent her youngest son, together with a large fortune, to safety
with Polymnestor, her son-in-law and King of Thrace
Polymnestor, however, abused Hecuba's trust in a dreadful manner, murdering and be spoiling
the defenseless child he was supposed to protect
Hecuba becomes into a raging, avenging fury …
she and her Trojan women they hold Polymnestor down, then take his sword and kill his sons,
and they gouge out his eyes with their brooch pins. So for punishment, instead of having
a quick and easy death, he is left alive to suffer just what his treachery has cost him

40. Hecuba's revenge ...
during the Trojan war Hecuba had sent her youngest son
to safety with Polymnestor, her son-in-law and King of Thrace …
Polymnestor, however, murdering the defenseless child
Giuseppe Maria Crespi
Hecuba Blinding Polymnestor
Hécube aveuglant Polymnestor
1828
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

43. Phaedra,
falls in love with Hippolytus, TheSotus' son, her husband.
When Hippolytus rejects Phaedra's advances, she gets revenge by telling Theseus that Hippolytus raped her.
Believing his wife, Theseus asks his father Poseidon to curse Hippolytus, and the beautiful boy is dragged
to his death by his own horses after a bull charges at him from the sea.
However, it turned out that Phaedra was lying about the whole thing.
Before Theseus had a chance to punish his wife for her crime, she took her own life.

44. Phaedra reveals her secret to the assistants,
her incestuous love for Hippolyte,
the son of her husband Theseus ...
extremely pale, her face transmits sadness, fear,
and unhappiness, torment for his passion
Alexandre Cabanel
Phaedra
Phèdre
1880
Musée Fabre, Montpellier

48. a story about love, deception, honesty, and vengeance
a burning passion for Hippolytus ...
Phaedra seems lost, almost crazy, her hair echoes
the monstrous Gorgon Medusa, archetype of the evil
and devious creature
Hippolytus, proud, even haughty; expresses his resistance
to Phaedra
Theseus, hand clenched in an angry fist toward his son
Pierre-Narcisse Guérin
Phaedra and Hippolytus
Phèdre et Hippolyte
1802
Musée du Louvre, Paris

51. Clytemnestra,
he never forgave Agamemnon for sacrificing Iphigenia to free the Greek ships so they could go to the Trojan War
and plotted with his lover, Aegisthus, to kill Agamemnon …
Later in life, with Electra's encouragement, her son Orestes killed Clytemnestra to avenge Agamemnon's death.

52. Clitemnestra's disappointment at Achilles' inability to act …
Agamemnon, has just revealed to the youthful Achilles
that his daughter Iphigenia is not to be married to him
but sacrificed in order to appease the goddess Diana
and so allow the Greek fleet to set sail for Troy
As Iphigenia’s mother, Clytemnestra, looks on tearfully,
Achilles angrily reaches for his sword
Jacques-Louis David
The Anger of Achilles
La Colère d'Achille
1819
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

56. Guérin’s Clytemnestra hesitates before killing
the sleeping Agamemnon ...
on the left, Aegisthus urges her on
Pierre-Narcisse Guérin
Clytemnestra hesitates before killing the sleeping Agamemnon
Clytemnestre hésitant avant de frapper Agamemnon endormi
1817
Musée du Louvre, Paris

60. Procne,
with her husband Tereus, king of Thrace, had a son, Itys.
Philomela, the beautiful sister of Procne, visited them and was raped by Tereus, who tore out her tongue
to prevent her revealing the crime.
Yet tongueless though Philomela might be, this did not stop her from telling her story: she wove a tapestry
which made it clear what had been done
and the two women took their revenge ...
Procne killed her little son Itys and then the sisters cut up the little boy’s body and cooked his flesh.
Procne served it to Tereus After he had finished his meal, the sisters presented Tereus with the severed head
of his son, and he realised what had been done. He snatched up an axe and pursued them with the intent
to kill the sisters, but at this moment the gods intervened and turned all three of them into birds.

61. Tereus, King of Thrace and wife of Procne,
raped his sister-in-law, Philomela, cutting out her tongue
in order to avoid being denounced ...
the sufferings of Itys, Procne's son,
amount to "collateral damage", he is an innocent victim
in the revenge enacted by Procne against her husband
for his brutal rape of her sister
a macabre banquet ...
the two sisters’ revenge
Philomela, thrusts Itys’ severed head into the face of Tereus
Peter Paul Rubens
Tereus' Banquet
Le repas de Térée
1636-1638
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

65. olga_oes
Greek Mythology’s dangerous women (2)
Les femmes dangereuses de la mythologie grecque (2)
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Music ThePianoGuys Something Just Like This Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
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