Lamia, in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit (daemon). In the earliest stories, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who had an affair with Zeus. Upon learning this, Zeus's wife Hera forced Lamia to eat her own children, the offspring of her affair with Zeus, and afflicted her with permanent insomnia. Zeus, taking pity on her, endowed Lamia with the gift of prophecy and the ability to temporarily remove her eyes to relieve her sleeplessness.
