EchidnaBerdan

Echidna: "Winter Snake Goddess(?)"  "Mother of All Monsters" = Origins: = Echidna is the Mother of All Monsters and the one who presides over all corruption and evils. According to Hesiod's __Theogony__, she is the child of the sea dieties Phorcys and Ceto, while mythographer Appollodorus claims she is the daughter of Tartarus, who is essentially a pit that represents the underworld, and Gaia, who is Mother Earth. She was spawned, along with her mate Typhon, after the great battle between the gods and the Titans, to avenge the defeated Titans. Zeus, however, was not afraid of them and quickly trapped Typhon underneath a mountain, where he still remained, spewing smoke and lava and flames. Echidna escaped and hid in a cave, taking care of her monsterous children. She was allowed to live as a challenge to future heroes. = Appearence: = Echidna is a Drakaina: a female dragon with human-like features. She is half-woman, half-snake, the lower half being snake-like. She also has hair made of snakes. She is said to have been beautiful, and she used this beauty to draw men into her cave, where she would proceed to eat them. = Importance: = She is the mother of many of the most famous and ferocious monsters: Though she may have represented all things evil, vile, and corrupt, she was also the protector of the vineyard, but no one ever remembers because they are all too focused upon all the horrible babies she bore and all the men she ate.
 * Cerberus - three-headed dog who gaurds the underworld and the philosopher's stone
 * Chimera - part lion, part snake, part goat, all evil
 * Gorgon - snake-haired, snake-bodied humanoids whose stare could turn any man to stone (note: not to be confused with the dreaded monster known as the Mother-In-Law)
 * Hydra - nine-headed serpent that grew two new heads for every one that was cut off
 * Sphinx - half-woman, half-lion who asked people riddles and ate them if they answered wrong, due to her immense daddy issues, having been born illegitimately to Echidna and her two-headed dog-child, Orthrus
 * The Nemean Lion - a giant, town-terrorizing lion with an impenetrable hide; eventually became the Leo constellation; also sired by Orthrus
 * Orthrus - see above

= Mythological Stories: = Echidna appears in only a handful of brief stories, since her biggest contributions were her monsterour children. Echidna and her mate Typhon perpetuated an attack on Zeus and the rest of the Greek gods. Zeus, however, was far too strong for either of them and trapped Typhon under a Mount Etna. Echidna was able to escape with her life, and she and her numerous offspring were left as future challenges to heroes. She spent the rest of her days luring travellers to her cave and devouring them. Then one day, Juno's servant, Argus Panoptes came upon her in her cave as she slept and killed her. Thus ended the terrible life of Echidna. = = = = = Modern References: = The most common modern reference for Echidna is the spiny anteater who is named after her. Why? The world may never know. Another, perhaps more important reference is the one in modern Christianity, in which Echidna represents a prostitute whose visible attraction (remember, Echidna, despite all her other faults, had a pretty gorgeous face) did not conceal her shameful "lower half" ('cause her lower half was that of a snake. Very clever, Christians) = =

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