In Greek mythology, Lamia was the charming daughter of King Belus of Libya. She bore several children to Zeus but his jealous wife, Hera, killed them all except for Scylla. Heart-broken over her loss, Lamia sought vengeance by stealing the babies of other women and consequently became a monster with the manners and physical traits of an animal, The word lamia can also be found in the form of an appellative: for example, in the Vulgate, Isaiah 34.14 lists the Jamia among the animals, beasts and monsters which will despoil Jerusalem when God’s judgement befalls the city. As I shall discuss below, ancient zoological works use the word to indicate what is probably a species of shark, while medieval encyclopedias add several more meanings: Jamia denotes, among other things, a hybrid creature which looks like a woman with horse legs; and a four-legged animal which damages plants in gardens at night and is likely to attack people it encounters. - [Author]

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