Temple Roles - Dragons, Wolves, Sphinxes, Medusae, Furies

...
These women were popularized with the creation of names used to describe their own proficiencies and duties.

For example,

• the "Wolves" served Aphrodite and were known for their bestial aggression, solitary independence, and unrelenting devotion to the cause.
• The "Dragons" served the temples of the Muses, were distinguished by their snakeskin-like tattoos, and were known for their assassin's ability, thanks to their expert use of paralytic venoms.
• The "Sphinxes" derived the name of their association from the Greek word denoting "strangulation" and earned their name by using toxins that would asphyxiate their victims-and of all the ancient oracular guardians, they were probably the most feared.

Most of these guards used their own drugs on themselves in small quantities in order to experience their various mind-altering effects, but they also took these drugs in order to develop immunity. Using such dangerous drugs gave oracular bodyguards a unique, fearsome mystique.

Oracular body guards were called Medusae, the Greek word for "judge" or "protector." In fact, temple guardians originally acted as the enforcement arm of oracular temples.

The infamous oracular guardian known as Medusa came from their ranks. The Greeks claimed she could quickly and efficiently paralyze her victims, and warned that the application of her poison to the eyes was all that was needed to finish off anyone attacking the oracle. As a matter of fact, there was a general rule in the ancient world that it was best not to look at the bodyguards of the oracular priestesses- lest one end up on the floor, unable to move.

The Furies were a specific group of Medusae who guarded the oracles of Black Night. As daughters of Night, and sister of the Fates, the Furies enforced the decrees of the "divine nourisher of children." As a result, they logically had june diction throughout the ancient Mediterranean in cases of crimes committed against family members. When one family member murdered another, the Furies were the special agents who would be sent to take justice on behalf of the dead.
...