K is for Keres

The Keres were the female spirits of violent or cruel death (Thanatos was the spirit of peaceful death).

They were agents of the Fates and the spirit of Doom. They are women dressed in bloody clothes, often with fangs and talons. They craved blood and feasted upon it after ripping souls from mortally wounded bodies, and sending them to Hades. Thousands of Keres haunted battlefields, and fought over the dying like vultures.

The Keres may have been released by Pandora when she opened her jar.

Comments

  1. Rob Z Tobor12 April 2013 at 10:08

    So I think we can say that the Ancient Greeks liked a good vampire story too.

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  2. Ermie12 April 2013 at 10:17

    And there was I thinking Keres sounds like such a nice name... :-/

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  3. Nick Wilford12 April 2013 at 10:34

    That Pandora had a lot to answer for!

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  4. S. L. Hennessy12 April 2013 at 14:01

    They are so, so creepy.

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  5. Fe12 April 2013 at 15:21

    Great theme, Laura.

    Lol, Ernie. I'm with you there on the name. The Greeks were quite creepy in themselves, weren't they?

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  6. Outcast12 April 2013 at 15:56

    These monsters definitely aren't the nicest of people haha, love this post though, never heard of these guys before.

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  7. Unknown12 April 2013 at 16:12

    Haven't heard of Keres before. Sounds very creepy. Thanks for releasing that one Pandora...

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  8. Unknown12 April 2013 at 18:12

    Very interesting in a horrifying kind of way.

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  9. Unknown12 April 2013 at 19:23

    Oooh...I've never heard of these but they sound awful. My mind is instantly wondering if there is anyway one of them could be reformed. Or if someone could somehow be half-kere and half something else. Something good. And what kind of battle would be going on in that creature. And what situation could motivate someone to want to save a Kere long enough to try to reform it or mate with it. Hmmmm....ideas...ideas....

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  10. Sandy12 April 2013 at 20:54

    So violence is nothing new.
    A-Z

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  11. Anonymous13 April 2013 at 01:50

    I love the scary, freaky side of mythology. It makes me wonder what it would have been like to be a Keres. Like, what if you were squeamish? I wouldn't want to rip the souls from dead warriors. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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