Why Is Echidna Such a Terrifying Mother
Echidna is one of the most important figures in Greek Mythology, and before you ask, she has nothing to do with the cute Monotreme of the same name. Trust me, those adorable little balls of spikes have nothing in common with the snake lady we are going to talk about today.
Echidna is one of the most obscure figures in Greek Mythology. It is suspected that she is the daughter of Phorcys, another sea god because yes, the Greeks felt the need to create like three of them, with Poseidon and Pontus holding on the same title. Anyways, Echidna wasn’t exactly pretty to begin with. She had the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a snake. And for those that saw the similarities with Medusa and the 2 other gorgons then congratulations, you know your stuff! Unfortunately, no she is not a gorgon at all.
Now that her appearance is covered, you might be wondering why Echidna is so important in Greek Mythology even though she appears in very few, if no fables at all. Well, you see, at one point, she married Typhon, one of the most terrible monsters on earth. Typhon was so powerful that he was compared to a god – after all he was the son of Gaia (The Earth) and Tartarus (none other than the prison of the Titans amongst other things). And together they birthed a load of powerful monsters. They didn’t receive the title of mother and father of all monsters for nothing after all.
Just to name a few, it is speculated that she is the mother of:
-Cerberus, the doggo of all doggo.
-Orthrus, a Cerberus on budget.
-Hydra, with its many-MANY heads.
-Chimera, everyone’s favourite pyromaniac.
-The Nemean Lion, also known as Heracles new cloak.
-Ladon, aka Heracles (him again?) favourite practice target.
-And the Caucasian Eagle that kept Prometheus company during his imprisonment.
Her downfall is, just like her life, not very clear and shrouded with mysteries. On one occasion, Hera, sensing the danger she was posing, sent the hundred-eyes giant Argus Panoptes to slay her. I just hope he didn’t need to go to the optician before accomplishing his mission! On another occasion, she and her husband tried to wage a war against no less than Olympus. This worked just as well as you might expect, and Zeus banished them to the underground or Mount Etna. The later might explain the volcano’s hyperactivity, so thank you Zeus, the inhabitant of Sicily are forever thankful. Am I being ironic or not? It is yours to decide!
