Women and their sexuality were certainly feared in ancient Greece, tamed only by marriage and proper wifely seclusion, so it is only natural that some of their most fearsome creatures appeared as beautiful and sexual unwed women, like the Empusa.
Apollonius of Tyana and the Succubus
Some elements of the classic Empousa legend have been captured by Flavius Philostratus in his writings on the life of the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana.
In this tale, Menippos, a young and handsome student and friend of the philosopher, is stopped in the streets of Corinth by a stunningly beautiful young woman. She claims to have been in love with the young philosopher for a long time and invites him into her home. As it turns out, she is not only beautiful but also very rich. Menippos is soon entranced by her promises of wealth and happiness, and no doubt by other things that transpired between them during his nightly visits, and decides to marry her as soon as possible.
On the day before the ceremony, Menippos runs into the great philosopher Apollonios and invites him to the wedding. Apollonios tries to dissuade his friend from marrying by telling him his bride is a serpent. Surprisingly perhaps, to the modern reader, Apollonios is still invited to attend the wedding the following day.
That morning, all of the wedding guests have gathered at the bride’s luxurious home in a Corinthian suburb. They are drinking wine out of great gold and silver goblets, while waited on by many servants. Everyone are having a good time, until Apollonios raises again his suspicions about the bride’s intentions.
The groom, Menippos, feels as though he has no reason to doubt his lovely wife to be. He is a poor philosopher, she is the one with all the wealth and the servants and the entire wedding feast, to which he invites all of his friends, is at her expense. In a philosophical discourse, Apollonios tells him that it is all “a semblance of matter” and his bride is in fact an Empusa.
Despite her attempts to quiet them and get the philosophers to leave, all of the riches and the servants return into the thin air from which they were created. Finally, she admits that she is indeed an Empusa. She intended to fatten her groom, for she feasts on the flesh of the young and beautiful since their blood is pure.
The Old Hag and the Youth
The ancient Greek succubus was not always a young woman; she could also be an old hag. The comic playwright Aristophanes depicted two such Empusai fighting over a young man:
In this scene, an old woman is forcefully dragging a the young man with her when a girl questions her on her actions. “I am taking my husband home,” the hag responds, but the young woman is not convinced. “He is too young to sleep with you,” she counters the hag, “since you are more of a mother than a wife to him.”
That is when a second old hag enters the scene. She argues with the first hag over who was supposed to take the youth to bed with her first, and then proceeds to drag the young man away. He pleads with the young woman not to let him get taken by this monster, for she is an Empusa.
Sources
Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae.
Flavius Philostratus, Vita Apollonii.
West, D., Some Cults of Greek Goddesses and Female Demons of Oriental Origin, Darmstadt 1995.
Emma Oxenby Wohlfart - E P Wohlfart decided at age 14 that she was going to move to Scotland for university. Once there, she often sat in class thinking to ...
