Gallery: Lamia, by John William Waterhouse
Bell, Women of Classical Mythology (sourced from Diodorus Siculus 22.41; Suidas 'Lamia'; Plutarch 'On Being a Busy-Body 2; Scholiast on Aristophanes' Peace 757; Eustathius on Homer's Odyssey 1714) (Mythology dictionary C20th) :
"Lamia was a daughter of Belus and a queen in Libya. She was very beautiful and attracted the attention of the ever-watchful and far-seeing Zeus. He had children by her, but Hera discovered their involvement and kidnapped the children. Their ultimate fate is unknown. This loss drove Lamia insane; in revenge and despair she snatched up the children of others and murdered them. The cruelty, which became obsessive, caused her appearance to change, and she became ugly with distorted features [a shark]. Perhaps in a well-intended gesture, Zeus inexplicably gave her the power to take out her eyes and then reinsert them."
May we preserve these philosophical beauties, and exhibit them to others. May this web site expand their elegance by the enlivening rays of the philosophic fire; and by the powerful breath of genius, scatter abroad in this virtual world these latent but copious seeds.
If some sparks of this celestial fire shall animate the reader, consider yourself as well rewarded for this laborious undertaking. Ancient philosophy has been, for centuries, the only study to break the shackles of ignorance; and in which one finds an inexhaustible treasure of intellectual wealth, and a perpetual fountain of wisdom and delight.
Presuming that such a pursuit bestows the highest benefit, I, Webmistress, desire no other reward than the wealth of wisdom, and Reason as my constant Guide. If successful, may I see the praise of the liberal; and if not, I expect no defense for failure, other than the decision of the candid, and discerning few, thus the opportunity to learn, and purgation by philosophic fire.