num_pages: 304
description: The history of a demonic tradition that was stolen from women  and then won back again.Demonic temptresses  from siren-mermaids to Lilith  are well known today and their mythology focuses around the seductive danger they pose to men. But the root of these figures can be traced back 4000 years and in their earliest incarnations they were in fact demons worshipped and feared by women: like Lamashtu the horrific talon-footed serpentine monster who strangled infants and murdered pregnant women or the Gello the ghost of a girl who had died a virgin and so killed expectant mothers and their babies out of jealousy.This history of a demonic tradition from ancient Mesopotamia to the present day  from Lamashtu and Gello to Lamia and Lilith and mermaids and vampires  shows how these demons were co-opted by a male-centred society before being recast as symbols of women's liberation. We also learn what this evolution can tell us about the experience of women and womanhood: the danger of childbirth changing attitudes towards sexuality and the movement for women's rights.
language: English
title: Woman's Lore: 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi
publisher: Head of Zeus