Lyssa

Lyssa
Goddess of rage and madness
Lyssa is depicted as a winged figure, surrounded by a nimbus and wielding a goad, below whom the Thracian king Lycurgus kills his wife. Apulian red-figure kalyx-krater, c. 360–350 BC.[1]
AnimalsDog
MountChariot
Genealogy
Parents
SiblingsThanatos, Hypnos, Erinyes, several more
Equivalents
RomanIra, Rabies

Lyssa (/ˈlɪsə/ LEE-sə; Ancient Greek: Λύσσα, romanizedLússa, lit.'rage, rabies'), also called Lytta (/ˈlɪtə/; Ancient Greek: Λύττα, romanizedLútta) by the Athenians, is a minor goddess in Greek mythology, the spirit of rage, fury,[2] and rabies in animals. She was closely related to the Maniae, the spirits of madness and insanity. Her Roman equivalent was variously named Ira, Furor, or Rabies. Sometimes she was multiplied into a host of Irae and Furores. In myth, Lyssa features in stories where she drives people insane to their doom.

The viral genus Lyssavirus, which includes the causative agent of rabies, was named after this goddess.

  1. ^ Digital LIMC 8120 (Lyssa 8); British Museum 1849,0623.48; LIMC VI.1, p. 325.
  2. ^ "Lyssavirus [lis′ə-vi′′rəs]". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 15 (8): 1184. August 2009. doi:10.3201/eid1508.999999. ISSN 1080-6040. PMC 2815993.

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