Vampire Legends from around the World – Ancient Greece and Rome

Much of ancient Greek and Roman mythology are the same or at least interchangeable, and this holds true in some of their vampire mythos as well. Much of what is found in classic vampire lore can be found here. Although they are not the oldest tales of vampire, much of what is popular in the modern vampire tale stems out of European vampire stories. Empusa, a Greek vampire that appears in the form of an alluring young woman, seduced men and feasted on their blood. The nocturnal aspects of vampires can be found in the Greek vampire Lamia, who had an affair with Zeus. Zeus’s wife Hera, discovered this and killed all of Lamia’s children, which drove her insane and made her unable to sleep again. Lamia then took her vengeance on the world by attacking women and children by night and draining them of their blood. Also prevalent in Roman mythology are stories of demonesses who disguised themselves as humans and drank people’s blood.

If you would like to read my interpretation of vampire lore from around the world, read my novel Blood Street, out on November 24th from True Grit Publishing.