Empusa

For other uses, see Empusa (disambiguation).

he has a horses.
Empusa is a main antagonist turned heroine in the novel
Grecian Rune by James Matthew Byers. They may look
like humans at rst.

Empusa (Ancient Greek: , Empousa, of unknown meaning[1] ) is a demigoddess of Greek mythology. In later incarnations she appeared as a species of
monsters commanded by Hecate (known in English as an
empuse).[2][3][4]

In the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, they rst appear in The Battle of the Labyrinth as servants of Hecate,
who had by that time joined the Titan Army. The rst
empousa, who claimed to be freed from Pandoras pithos
when it had been opened, appeared in the next book, The
Last Olympian. They reappear in The House of Hades
(the penultimate book of The Heroes of Olympus, a spino series of Percy Jackson & the Olympians) as servants
of the primordial goddess Gaea. One of them, Kelli,
happens to be the same one Annabeth Chase killed in
The Battle of the Labyrinth. Another one, Serephone, is
clearly fearful of Hecate, and distrustful of Kelli, who is
now working against their mistress. They are defeated by
one of their old employers, the Titan Iapetus.

She is often associated or grouped with the demigoddesses Lamia and Mormo, who were likewise related as a
kind of spectres in later mythology (the lamias and mormolyceas, respectively).

As a demigoddess

Empusa was the beautiful daughter of the goddess Hecate

and the spirit Mormo. She feasted on blood by seducing young men as they slept (see sleep paralysis), before
drinking their blood and eating their esh.[5] Empusa is
pictured as wearing brazen slippers and bearing aming
hair. By folk etymology, her name was said to mean onefooted (from Greek *, *empous: en-, one + pous,
foot). This gave rise to the iconography of a one-legged
hybrid, with a donkey's leg and a brass prosthetic leg.[6]

In the British webseries I Am Tim,[9] the Empusa is a

female demon who is defeated by the hero, Tim Helsing in
Series 1, episode 2. The demon has the ability to turn into
re at will and is eventually defeated by using an amulet
and saying sacred words which a character looks up on
wikipedia on his iPhone.[10]
The Empusa are enemies in the video game God of War:
Ascension. They appear as half-women, half-insect, possibly due to the name ascribed to a certain group of mantids.

Later and modern usage

In later Greek mythology, her role was reduced to a

species of spectre called an empuse or empusa (pl. empusae). The empusae were sent by Hecate to guard
roads and devour travelers (Hecate was also the goddess
of roadsides). According to Philostratus, empusae ran
and hid, uttering a high-pitched scream, at the sound of
insults.[7] The empusae are best known for their appearance in Aristophanes's The Frogs, in which they scared
Dionysus and Xanthias on their way to the underworld.

Empusa (along with Lamia and Mormo) is one of the

three witches in the Film 'Stardust' (dir. Matthew
Vaughn). She is played by Sarah Alexander.[11] In
Neil Gaimans book the witches are not given individual
names.

The term is still used to refer to a shapeshifting hobgoblin

said to pester Greek shepherds in the form of a dog,
ox, or mule (perhaps harkening back to the classical
representation).[8]

[1] An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Liddell and Scott

3 References

[2] Empuse at Dictionary.com

[3] Empuse in Webtsers Revised Unabridged Dictionary
(1913)

Empusa is referenced in Rudyard Kipling's narrative

poem, Tomlinson.

[4] Empuse in Websters Dictionary (1928)

Empusa is a character in Faust: Part Two by Goethe. She

appears during the Classical Walpurgis Night as Mephisto
is being lured by the Lamiae. She refers to herself as
cousin to Mephisto because she has a donkeys foot and

[5] Graves, Robert (1990) [1955]. The Empusae. The

Greek Myths. London: Penguin. pp. 18990. ISBN 014-001026-2.

[6] Empousai on Theoi Greek Mythology

[7] Empusa in the Greek Myth Index
[8] Matthews, John and Caitlin (2006) [2005]. Empusa.
The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures. New
York: Barnes & Noble. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-7607-78852.
[9] http://www.iamtimhelsing.com/
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfZo3S-D4ic
[11] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486655/fullcredits?ref_
=tt_cl_sm#cast

REFERENCES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

Text

Empusa Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empusa?oldid=657665328 Contributors: Tucci528, Mrwojo, Darkwind, Anakolouthon,

Rvolz, Zoicon5, Robbot, Gtrmp, Mboverload, Blankfaze, Sam Hocevar, Rich Farmbrough, Hooperbloob, Japanese Searobin, Macaddct1984, Eras-mus, FlaBot, Quuxplusone, LeCire~enwiki, YurikBot, GeeJo, Iruka~enwiki, Deucalionite, Asarelah, Sandstein, Lt-wiki-bot,
Dejudicibus, The Man in Question, Zyborg, CmdrObot, JPilborough, Editor at Large, Casliber, Missvain, Scottandrewhutchins, Escarbot,
T@nn, VolkovBot, Yiorgos Stamoulis, Icecypher, SieBot, I Like Cheeseburgers, Macy, Ygrex, Mild Bill Hiccup, Lucien leGrey, Oskar71,
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Ivoryglobe2, Gnatroe, Abetterjulie and Anonymous: 70

4.2

Images

4.3

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