What is "erichtho"

In Roman literature, Erichtho (from ) is a legendary Thessalian witch who appears in several literary works. She is noted for her horrifying appearance and her impious ways. Her first major role was in the Roman poet Lucan's epic Pharsalia, which details Caesar's Civil War. In the work, Pompey the Great's son, Sextus Pompeius, seeks her, hoping that she will be able to reveal the future concerning the imminent Battle of Pharsalus. In a gruesome scene, she finds a dead body, fills it with potions, and raises it from the dead. The corpse describes a civil war that is plaguing the underworld and delivers a prophecy about what fate lies in store for Pompey and his kin.

Enrichto's role in Pharsalia has often been discussed by classicists and literary scholars, with many arguing that she serves as a antithesis and counterpart to Virgil's Cumaean Sibyl, a pious prophetess who appears in his work the Aeneid. In the 14th century, the Italian poet Dante Aligheri referenced her in his Divine Comedy (wherein it is revealed that she once commanded Virgil to retrieve a soul from the lowest circle of Hell). She also makes appearances in both Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 18th century play, Faust, as well as John Marston's Jacobean play The Tragedy of Sophonisba.