Lamia

In a forest, a young, beautiful woman reaches out with pale arms, as if clinging to a soldier clad in armor.

Her eyes gaze passionately at him, and her light drapery, having slipped down, suggests the beginning of a sweet romance.

However, if you look closely at her feet, an iridescent, shimmering 'snakeskin' lies shed and entwined around her feet.

Indeed, she is no fragile maiden. She is Lamia, the terrifying serpent demon of Greek mythology, who seduces men and leads them to ruin.

This work is inspired by the narrative poem of 19th-century poet John Keats.

While Lamia is traditionally depicted as a fearsome, blood-sucking monster, on Waterhouse's canvas, she is portrayed as 'a woman consumed by love,' who pleaded with the gods to be united with the human youth she loves (Lycius) and was transformed into a human woman.

She seduces the man with her demonic charm, and he is captivated by her irresistible beauty.

His dropping of his weapon (a spear) suggests that he has become utterly defenseless before her, losing his masculine strength and even his reason.

However, the human form gained through magic and the false happiness it brings do not last long. Eventually, her true identity is discovered, and she vanishes with a scream, leaving the man to meet a cruel tragedy, losing his life in despair.

Despite being a 'femme fatale' who carries the danger of death, Lamia's eyes appear somewhat fragile, earnestly pleading for love.

As contemporary critics described it as 'the blossoming of the soul through suffering,' Waterhouse sought to depict not merely a terrifying monster, but a poignant figure yearning for an impossible love, struggling against an inescapable fate.

The poison that destroys men, and the purity that seeks love

It is precisely because she possesses both that she is so beautiful and perhaps drives viewers to distraction.