ECHIDNA'S
Story
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Part nymph and part snake, this goddess is considered to be the mother of “all” Greek monsters. Echidna is described to be a “half glancing-eyed maiden with beautiful cheeks, and/ half monstrous serpent, dreadful and huge,/ swift eater of raw flesh” (Theogony lines 298-300). She is a deadly combination of beautiful and horrifying, creating children that are equally as monstrous as she is. In fact, Echidna’s description follows the pattern of Greek monsters usually being some sort of hybrid, combining either humans and beasts or various animal species, sometimes just multiplying various features (Clay 106). On that note, Aristophanes’s Frogs is the only source that portrays Echidna as having one hundred heads when Aeacus wishes she would tear out the entrails of Dionysus for stealing Cerberus (lines 472-6).
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In Hesiod’s Theogony, Echidna is the immortal offspring of Phorkys and Keto, two sea-gods that happened to produce a lot of monsters themselves (lines 295-300). This makes her related to monsters like Scylla and the Gorgons. She and Typhon, a storm giant, then produced many key Greek figures, such as Cerberus and the Hydra. All of her offspring serves a purpose in Greek myths, typically posing challenges to Greek heros or serving as guards of some sort (Theogony lines 308-332). Specifically, Echidna and her children all lack human attributes that other Greek monsters like Typhon have (Simonsen 62).
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Fun Fact!
Echidna has an animal named after her, the Australian Echidna. The name of this cute little guy (right) came from the idea that because it is an egg-laying mammal, it shares those characteristics with our half-woman, half snake monster mother (Van Dyck 65). One thing they don't share is their appetite though, the adorable echidna eats insects whereas the goddess Echidna eats human flesh. Echidna could learn a thing or two from her animal counterpart since it is an amazing escape artist, as any unknowing naturalist learned the hard way (long story short, wrecked furniture and surprising strength).
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Beldam Class. Apollon and Python. 470 BCE. Musée Du Louvre, Paris, France
This image provides evidence for the theory that Echidna and Python may have been equated with each other. Apollo (right) slays Echidna (left) with an arrow.
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The ferocious Echidna, photo courtesy of Animal Fact Guide.
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Echidna is consistently portrayed as living deep beneath the earth with Typhon. She stands guard beneath Arima, which can be interpreted as Tartarus (Theoi Project). Hesiod describes it:
...beneath the ways of holy Gaia./
There is her cave below a hollow rock/
far from the immortal gods and mortal men, where/
the gods have apportioned her renowned hall to dwell in. (Theogony lines 300-3)
That’s also where they had all their kids, even if all of her children gradually moved above ground through some force. Additionally, Echidna is sometimes equated with fetid salt marshes or rotting sea scum, adding another disgust factor to her portrayal. Some call her the Tartarean Lamprey because she may live in a swamp in Tartarus. Echidna was also equated with Python, who was a dragon born of slime (Theoi Project). If she and Python are one and the same, then this “immortal goddess” would have been slain by Apollo with a single piercing arrow (see image on the left). Considering the text references the Chimera (one of her children) and Typhon as her consort, it is a possibility that the two were confused at some point or were the same from the beginning (Homer, Apollo Slays Python lines 356-371).
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Though Echidna has numerous, differing descriptions, nearly all are rather grotesque and unappealing. Fitting for the monstrous mother of all monsters, she definitely has had a lasting impact on historical records while retaining a sense of ambiguity, allowing her to morph through records like the serpentine form she has essentially shared in time. The sculpture in Pirro Ligorio’s Parco di Mostri in Lazio, Italy, is a prime example of Echidna’s changing appearance. While she has one solid tail on Greek vase paintings, Ligorio’s sculpture shows a split tail. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it does demonstrate that there were changes in Echidna’s depiction between ancient Greek times and the Renaissance. With this in mind, historians rely on clarity, and the only clarity the sources provide are in regards to her lovely, monstrous children.