Campe- Greek CreatureCreature · Monster"Jailer of Tartarus"
Also known as: Κάμπη, Kampē, and Kampe
Description
Coils of serpent and scorpion tail wind through Tartarus, where Kronos set this she-dragon to guard the chained Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires until Zeus struck her down and freed his allies for the war against the Titans.
Mythology & Lore
Guardian of the Pit
When Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos, he did not release the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires from Tartarus as Gaia had hoped. He bound them again in that subterranean prison and set Campe to guard them. She kept watch through the long age of Kronos's reign.
When Zeus rose against the Titans, Gaia prophesied that he could not win without the prisoners of Tartarus as allies. Zeus descended into the pit, slew Campe, and freed the Cyclopes, who gave him the thunderbolt, and the Hecatoncheires, who fought at his side in the ten-year war. Apollodorus records both the imprisonment and the killing.
The Shape of the Jailer
Nonnus, in the Dionysiaca, gives the only detailed account of what Campe looked like. From the waist up she was a woman. Below, serpent coils replaced her legs. Vipers grew from her scalp and a scorpion's curved tail arched over her back. Around her waist writhed the heads of wild beasts, snapping at anything that came near. She was built to make rescue impossible.
Relationships
- Guards