What half-woman, half-serpent monster is known as the “Mother of All Monsters”? The answer is Echidna.
Echidna is one of Greek mythology’s great ancestral monsters. Hesiod’s Theogony describes her as part beautiful maiden and part enormous, speckled serpent. She lived in a cave, was associated with flesh-eating violence, and was portrayed as ageless and extraordinarily difficult to destroy in the oldest tradition.
Echidna was the mate of Typhon, the gigantic serpentlike enemy of Zeus. Together they were said to produce several famous monsters, including Orthrus, the two-headed hound; Cerberus, the many-headed guardian of Hades; and the Lernaean Hydra. Other traditions connect her family line with the Chimera, the Sphinx, the Nemean Lion, and possibly additional creatures.
The title “Mother of All Monsters” is a modern summary rather than a fixed ancient epithet, and ancient writers disagreed about her parents and exact offspring. She is also distinct from the Australian echidna, a real egg-laying mammal whose name was borrowed from the mythological figure.