Semiramis (believed to have historically been Shammuramat) was the Lydian-Babylonian wife of General Onnes and King Ninus, before she succeeded the latter to become queen of Assyria.

According to ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, Semiramis was the daughter of the fish goddess Atargatis/Derketo and a mortal man. She was abandoned at birth, so doves fed her until a royal shepherd named Simmas found her. When she was old enough, she married Onnes/Menones, a general serving King Ninus. During a battle at Bactria, Semiramis lead some soldiers, and was crucial in winning the battle. Ninus fell in love with her, and asked Onnes if he could have her, to the point where Ninus threatened to gouge out Onnes' eyes. Onnes ended up committing suicide, thus making Ninus the new husband of Semiramis. The two had a son named Ninyas.

After Ninus conquered Asia, he was struck by an arrow and died from his wounds. From that point on, Semiramis would become the queen regent for 42 years. She conquered much of Asia, rebuilt Babylon, built new cities and palaces, and added Libya and Ethiopia to her empire.

Though she was viewed positively, negative depictions of her would start coming to light in the Middle Ages, where she became associated with lust. One story (thought to have been popularized by Orosius' Seven Books of History Against the Pagans) had her have an affair with her own son (ew), which she later decided to justify by making that kind of relationship legal (EW!). It's presumably for this reason that Dante Alighieri, in his Divine Comedy, sees her among the damned in the Circle of Lust. Francesco Petrarch's Triumph of Love depicts her as one of three women (the others being Byblos and Myrrha) who exemplifies "evil love".

Her reputation would later recover, as she would be admired for her political achievements, and become associated with a female version of the Nine Worthies.