Lamia summary

Part 1:

                                                                                                                                                          Once upon a time the god Hermes hears a female voice lamenting that she has been trapped in the body of a snake. The snake form that she inhabits is spectacularly beautiful, covered in a rich array of colours. This voice tells Hermes that she knows he is in love and is trying to search for a nymph who is hiding from him. She also says that she has given this nymph the power of invisibility but will reveal the nymph to Hermes, if only the god will allow her once again to resume her human shape, releasing her from the serpent form which currently imprisons her. Hermes is happy to agree to this, so the snake turns into a beautiful woman and vanishes, whilst the nymph appears to Hermes.

The snake-turned-woman is called Lamia; whilst she was in serpent form she had the power of sending her spirit wherever she wanted. On one of these disembodied journeys she had come across a youth called Lycius from Corinth and had been immediately attracted to him. Now, in human form, she travels to the road along which she knows Lycius will walk on his way to Corinth and stands beside it, waiting for him to arrive. When he appears she starts talking to him and asks whether he…