Femeia-demon

Sarah Clegg traces myths of female demons across 4,000 years. She starts in ancient Mesopotamia and moves to the present. This history of myth is for readers drawn to folklore. It also suits those with an interest in women's roles.

Lilith, Adam's first wife, and sirens lure men to their deaths. But older female monsters were threats to mothers and children. The demon Lamashtu had a lion's head. She killed pregnant women and strangled babies. Gello was a virgin ghost in ancient Greece. She killed mothers and children out of envy. Women gave these beings a place in rites for pregnancy and birth. Clegg asks how they came to use sex to harm men.

The book also looks at snake-like succubi. It explores Greek wolf monsters that ate children. It covers the Queen of Sheba and vampires, too. Clegg uses texts and finds from digs to study the past. She shows how groups led by men changed these myths. She then traces how female demons became signs of women's freedom. These shifts show changes in views of what being a woman means. They also show how views of sex and women's rights changed.

Alice Falcan translated this edition from Woman's Lore.