In Greek myth, there were three different types of Vampiric demi-goddesses:
The Lamia and Mormo originially preyed on infants, either strangling them or drinking their blood. The Lamia attacked preganant women as well. The Empusa seduced young men before drinking their blood and devouring their internal organs.
One Greek myth tells of a mortal queen named Lamia who had an affair with the god Zeus. Hera, the jealous goddess and wife of Zeus, caused all of the children Lamia had by Zeus to die. In one version, Hera causes Lamia to go insane and devour her children. Another version one of the daughters survives, but becomes the water monster Scylla. The one common aspect to all
the tellings is that out of grief and rage over the death of her children, Lamia became an immortal spirit half-human and
half-monster. She strangles and drinks the blood of mortal children out of envy of their mothers. Lamia is sometimes shown with
a womans upper body and a serpents lower half.
Another myth tells us about Mormo, a mortal woman who ruled over the cannabalistic Lystregonians. She became a monstrous spirit like Lamia after she also lost her children. It was believed that there were many lamiai and mormoi, so these legends may cover an even older folk belief.
The empusai were believed to be daughters of the witch-goddess Hecate. They were shapeshifters who came out of the Underworld only at night. The normal form they took had one leg of a mule and one leg that was bronze. They would also take the form of beautiful women in order to seduce the men they preyed upon. Shepherds in their fields at night and men traveling on the roads at night were especially at risk. Hecate herself left the Underworld at night and haunted the cross-roads. Statues of her were set-up at cross-roads and offering were made there to appease her.
