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Gello (Ancient Greek:Γελλώ), inGreek mythology, is a femaledemon orrevenant who threatens thereproductive cycle by causinginfertility,miscarriage, andinfant mortality. By theByzantine era, thegelloudes (γελλούδες) were considered a class of beings. Women believed to be underdemonic possession bygelloudes might standtrial or be subjected toexorcism.
Gyllou,Gylou,Gillo, orGelu are some of its alternate forms.
Gello possibly derives fromGallû, anancient Mesopotamian demon believed to bring sickness and death. The theory was advanced byCarl Frank (1881–1945) and supported byMartin Litchfield West,Walter Burkert, and others.[3][4] The name is also preserved in the later wordghoul.[5]
Greekfolk etymology links the word to the rootgel-, "grin, laugh," in the sense of mocking or grimacing, like the expression often found onthe face of the Gorgon, to which Barb linked demons exercising a malign influence on reproduction.[6] Such demons are often associated with or said to come from the sea, and demonologies identify Gyllou withAbyzou, whose name is related toabyssos, the abyss or "deep."[7]
According to ancient myth, Gello was a young woman who died a virgin, and returned as a ghost (φάντασμα,phantasma) to do harm to the children of others. The myth is given as an explanation of a proverb by the second-century compilerZenobius.[8][9] It is noted thatSappho mentioned her, implying that Gello was a feared bane of children at least as far back as the sixth century BC.[10][a]
ThelexicographerHesychius of Alexandria, who wrote in the fifth or sixth century but drew from earlierlexicons, glossedgello as a ghost (eidolon) who attacked both virgins and newborn babies.[12][13]
Since theEarly Middle Ages, Gello has often been conflated withLamia andMormo, two similar mythological figures.[14] Each originated as a single individual woman (with her ownorigin myth oraition) in Ancient Greece, but later developed into a type of frightening apparition or demon.[b][15]
Thegello eventually came to be regarded as a type of being, rather than an individual. The plural formgelloudes (γελοῦδες), not found in Ancient Greek, came into existence in theByzantine period,[16] and used in the 7th–8th century by thepatriarchJohn of Damascus, in his treatiseperi Stryggōn (περί Στρυγγῶν, "Regardingstriges").[17] Thegelloudes were considered synonymous to thestryngai (στρίγγαι, Στρῦγγαι) or "witches" by him, and described as beings that flew nocturnally, slipped unhindered into houses even when windows and doors were barred, and strangled infants.[18]
ThepolymathMichael Psellos of the 11th century inherited the notion that thestryngai andgelloudes were "interchangeable".[17] He described them as beings that "suck blood and devour all the vital fluids which are in the little infant".[19] Psellus documents a widened scope of the Gello's victims in the beliefs of the 11th century. Gello were being held responsible for the deaths of pregnant women and theirfetuses as well.[20] Gello (or Gillo) was also blamed for the condition of newborn infants whowasted away, and such infants were calledGillobrota (Γιλλόβρωτα), according to Psellus.[21][22]
Psellus sought in vain for Ancient Greek sources of these beliefs, and formulated the theory that thegello derived from the Hebrew Lilith.[19] Psellus further stated that the name "Gillo" could not be discovered in his usual sources for demonic names in antiquity, but were to be found in an esoteric or "occult" (ἀπόκρυφος) Hebrew book ascribed to Solomon.[23][24] Later, the 17th-centuryGreek Catholic scholarLeo Allatios would criticize Psellos's confounding of thegello and Lilith.[25]
The 14th-century Greekecclesiastical historianNikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos still told ofgelloudes that "bring the infant from the bedroom, as if about to devour him."[26]
Aspects of the superstitions about thegelloude may be followed from the Middle Ages from various writings and talismans, to a treatise written byLeo Allatius in the 17th century which reveal that medieval beliefs and practices were still to be found among the common people of his day.
Although reports of Gello's behavior are consistent, her nature is less determinate. In the 7-8th century,John of Damascus equated the gello with thestryggai that sometimes appeared in spirit form while at other times had solid bodies and wore clothing.[27]
The strix could be regarded an "unclean spirit" (akáthartonpneuma) subject to demonic excorcism, according to an exorcism text recorded by 17th century writer Allatius.[28] A woman could also be regarded as being agello by the populace, but the charges were dismissed in an ecclesiastical trialc. 8th century.[29] The orthodoxtheology of the Church, expounded by Psellos or Ignatius, held that a woman'sgendered nature precluded her from turning into a demon, since a demon was officially considered sexless.[30] Johnston prefers to use the Greek wordaōros oraōrē, "untimely dead"[c] for this form of transgressive orliminal soul or entity, finding the usual phrase "child-killing demon" to be misleading.[32]
It has been pointed out by modern commentators that even though the original Gello was a young woman who died a virgin, thegelloudes which became synonymous withstryggai or "witches" in the Christian era, were generally regarded as being old enviouscrones.[33]
Equatinggelloudes with thestringai, which occurred by the seventh to eighth century with John of Damascus as already noted,[18] still continued in the times of the 17th centuryLeo Allatius who said that Striges (in the sense of "witches") was also calledGellones (Latinized form) according to popular belief.[34] Allatius also recorded many variant forms, such asgelu,gello,gillo (in the singular).[35] Leo Allatius wrote that the people who were his contemporaries in Greece were already entrenched in the belief that these witches were generally old crones who contracted with the devil.[36] This, it has been argued, was a transplantation of the image ofwitch of Western Europe onto the Greek idea ofgelloudes.[37]
In the Byzantine period, mothers who had given birth customarily relied on amulets designed to protect their newborns from evil, including the Gello or Gyllou. The woman was a rare exception who would shun these charms and put her faith entirely in the power of the Cross.[38]
Leo Allatios in the 17th century would criticize such remnants of sorcery such as these charms, or the hanging ofred coral or ahead of garlic, and prescribed strictly Christian prophylactics, such as across or image ofChrist placed by a child's bed to ward off Gello or demons in general, or burninglamps to illuminate sacred images. The practice ofbaptizing infants was thought to offer protection against demon-snatching, and specifically against thegello, according toLeo Allatios.[39]
Themagico-medical compilationCyranides from theImperial period provided instructions on how to defend against the gelloudes.[40][12] The eyeballs of a hyena in a purple pouch was said to be an effective amulet against "all nocturnal terrors, also Gello, who strangles infants and troubles women in childbed".[41][12] Using an ass's skin as a bedsheet to sleep on was also prescribed as effective against the Gello.[42]
TheLithica of the late Hellenistic to early Imperial Period listed magical stones as effective charms as well, although they do not explicitly mentiongello either. However, in these texts,galactite is said to protect against eitherMegaira ("Envy"),[43] or "frightful woman" (horrida mulier) who attacked infants.[44][d]
Some Byzantine amulets against female reproductive demons are said to depict the Gello. This is sometimes asserted as a rule of thumb, without providing reasoning.[38][47] As no Byzantine amulet exists that actually labels the demon as a Gello or Gyllou,[48] the inference is made these are Gello by association with other figures labeled in the amulets, namely the demon Abyzou, the Saint Sisinnios, or the Evil Eye of "Envy".
Numerous early Byzantine amulets (6th to 7th century[49] label its demon as "Abyzou"[50] identifiable with Obyzouth, a demon that strangles newborns according to the 1st to 3rd century Greek text called theTestament of Solomon.[51][5][52] This Abyzou (Obyzouth) has been equated with the Gello (Gyllou), albeit in later literature, for example, the writings of Michael Psellos of the 11th century.[53]
Some Byzantine amulets[e] also invoke the name of Saint Sisinnios, who is known foremost as the vanquisher of Gello.[54][55] Again, the textual evidence that connect Sissinios to Gylou are from much later dates,[f] the oldest version of the "Melitine charm" orLegend of St. Sisinnios dating to the 15th century.[59][62]
A concrete example is the Schlumberger No. 1 amulet shown on the right.[g][63][h] Several scholars have hinted that the she-demon here, which has been noticed to have fish- or serpent-like attributes below the waist,[54] may refer to Gello-Gyllou.[54][65] The demon is being stabbed with a lance by a mounted figure (sometimes called the "holy rider" or "rider saint")[66][38] which may be St. Sisinnios[54] or Solomon.[i] The inscription reads "Flee, detested one, Solomon, Sisinnios and Sisinnarios pursue you".[69][70]
The same amulet has a second side, which depicts an eye as "Envy" (phthonos,φθόνος), attacked by weapons and animals.[68][54][65] One of the commentator has specifically connect the Evil Eye of Envy with the Gylou,[71] while the others connect it more vaguely to the child-stealing demon[65] or say that the beings labeled "Envy" are the ghost-demons (aōrē).[72]
Gello or Gylou's curse has been associated with theevil eye of Envy at least since the Byzantine period, according to commentators.[65][68][j]Sarah Iles Johnston views thePhtonos eye on the amulet and theMegaera ("Envious One") invoked in the entry for "galactite" in oneLithica (book of stones),[43] as not just a personfification of "Envy" but anaōrē (ghost demons) in their own rights,[72] and insinuates that these charms are meant to apply to one of her specificaōrē, the Lamia, the Gello, or the Mormo. She fortifies her thesis that theseaōrē were regarded as envious by pointing to Greek grave-markers that blame "envious demons" for robbing a young child of its life.[72]
The story of St. Sisinnios assisting his sister Melitene against the demon Gyllou occurs in a group of different texts (These are also the texts in which Gyllou is compelled to reveal its "twelve and a half names"). These have been variously referred to as the "historiola" where in "the Greek tradition the woman is usually called Melitene",Spier (1993), p. 36 or "Melitine charm",[56] or "Melitene type of Gylou story",[57] orgello exorcism texts.[58] The text group has been analyzed byRichard P. H. Greenfield in 1989, with the oldest example from a 15th century manuscript.[74][75]
In the 15th century manuscript version, the tale is set in the time of "Trajan the King".[60] After losing six children to the Gyllou, Melitene gives birth to a seventh child inside a fortification she built atChalcopratia [fr] (a part of the Constantinople). When her brothers, Sisinnios, Sines, and Sinodoros demand admittance, the "filthy" Gyllou[k] gains entry by transforming into afly clinging to the horse, and kills the child.[60][76] The saints pray and an angel appears who instructs them to pursue the Gyllou to Lebanon. The Saints compel the demon to bring back to life all of Melitene's children, which the demon accomplishes after obtaining the mother's milk from Melitene. The saints continue to beat Gyllou, who begs mercy in return for revealing that she could be kept away with a charm inscribed with the names of the saints and with all of her different names.[60] Then she proceeds to divulge her "twelve and a half names" (although what is meant by a "half name" is unclear):
My first and special name is called Gyllou; the second Amorphous; the thirdAbyzou; the fourth Karkhous; the fifth Brianê; the sixth Bardellous; the seventh Aigyptianê; the eighth Barna; the ninth Kharkhanistrea; the tenth Adikia; (…)[l] the twelfth Myia; the half Petomene.[60][77]
A different version of this story was given by Leo Allatius in the 17th century.[78][m]
Knowledge of a demon's name was required to control or compel it; a demon could act under an alias. Redundant naming is characteristic of magic charms, "stressing," as A.A. Barb noted in his classic essay "Antaura",[79] "the well-known magic rule that the omission of a single one can give the demons a loophole through which they can work their harm."[80]
In the aforementioned Leo Allatius version of theLegend of St. Sisinnos, the twelve-and-a-half names are given as Gylo, Morrha,Byzo, Marmaro, Petasia, Pelagia, Bordona, Apleto, Chomodracaena, Anabardalaea,[n] Psychoanaspastria, Paedopniktria, and Strigla.[78][o] Although magic words (voces magicae) have often beencorrupted in transmission or deliberately exoticized,[81] several of these names suggest recognizable Greek elements and can be deciphered as functional epithets: Petasia, "she who strikes"; Apleto, "boundless, limitless"; Paedopniktria, "child suffocator." Byzo is a form ofAbyzou,abyssos, "the Deep," to which Pelagia ("she of the sea") is equivalent.[82]
The names of Gylo also include Chomodracaena, containingdrakaina, "female dragon." In one text dealing with thegello, she is banished to the mountains to drink the blood of thedrako; in another, she becomes adrako and in this form attacks human beings. In other texts, the child itself is addressed as Abouzin (Abyzou).[83]
In variant tellings, the role of St. Sisinnios is supplanted by thearchangel Michael.[84] A 15th-century manuscript versions exists for this as well:
The archangel Michael said to her, 'Where have you come from and where are you going?' The abominable one answered and said, 'I am going off to a house and, entering it like a snake, like a dragon, or like some reptile, I will destroy the animals. I am going to strike down women; I will make their hearts ache, I willdry up their milk … I will strangle [their] children, or I will let them live for a while and then kill them' … .[85]
Although the name Gylou is not found on any surviving amulets, Michael is the adversary Gylou encounters most often in medieval Byzantine texts.[86]
Parallels to the lore of a child-killing demon forced to confess its secret names occur ashistoriola or folktales surrounding magic spells, in medievalmanuscripts of many languages, includingGreek,Coptic,Ethiopian,Armenian,Romanian,Slavonic,Arabic,Syriac, andHebrew.[87]
The earliest examples,[87] dating to the 5th or 6th century are theAramaic versions of the historiola found as longinscriptions on objects: a silverlamella (metal-leaf sheet) fromPalestine[88] and twoincantation bowls.[89] In these Aramaic examples, the demon bears the name Sdrws (or Sideros, which in Greek would mean "iron"), and the female victim whose twelve sons are taken is called Smamit ("lizard" or "spider").[87][90] This reading is considered to be corroborated by the name of the female demon in the Ethiopian version, Werzelya, which also means "iron".[91] The Ethiopian tradition explains that Werzelya was the evil sister of the Saint Sūsenyōs (which Budge identifies as Sisinnios), and the saint sought out to kill her.[92][93]
In hisLife of Tarasius,Ignatios the Deacon of the ninth century recounts an actual case in which two women were charged asgelloudes and brought before the father ofTarasios of Constantinople, whoacquitted them.[29]
The psychological aspects of Gello were observed also byLeo Allatius in his workDe Graecorum hodie quorundam opinionibus ("On the beliefs of the Greeks today"). Textual sources he collected on the Gello included Sappho's poem, theSuda,[94] exorcisms, a church history, theLife of Tarasios, andproverbs. Allatios's purpose was to demonstrate the continuity of customs and morals,[95] but also to show that these beliefs distorted or ran contrary to Christian doctrine. Sometimes the acts characteristic of Gello were attributed to "poor and miserable old crones," who could be accused in court asgelloudes and might even claim or confess to have acted as such.
A differentpenance was prescribedgelloudes, distinguished from infanticides in theNomocanons of the 17th century theologianJean-Baptiste Cotelier.[96] Michael Psellos, however, rejected the notion that human beings could transform into demonic beings, and so there would be no need for a particular penance; the official position of Orthodoxy was that such creatures did not exist.[97]
Despite her official non-existence, thegello is named in exorcisms, which required the attendance of apriest, and inprayer formularies. TheVirgin Mary is invoked against the child-harming demongylo:
Therefore I pray, my Lady, for your swiftest aid, so that the children of these your servants N and N may grow up,[p] and that they may live and give thanks in the sight ofthe Lord for all the days of their lives. Thus let it be, my Lady. Listen to me, asinner and unworthy servant and although I am a sinner, do not despise my poor and miserableprayer but protect the children of your servants and let them live and send the Angel of Light so that he may protect and defend them from allevil, fromwicked spirits, and fromfiends which are in the air, and do not let them be singled out by other [demons] and by the accursedgylo lest harm comes to them and their children.[98]
In one exorcism of thegello, no fewer than 36 saints are invoked by name along with Mary and the "318 Saints of the Fathers", with a final addendum of "all the saints."[99] Some prayers resemble magic spells in attempting to command or compel the saints, rather than humbly requesting aid.[100] Exorcisms emphasize that Christian families deserve exclusive protection.[101] Gello continued to be named in exorcisms into the 20th century.[95]
The old church regarded childbirth involving blood as impure, and a newborn had to wait several days before it could be baptized, while its mother could not rejoin the community for much longer. At this time, the child was considered at greater risk in the birth mother's sphere of influence, as she would be likely to attract female demons seeking blood.[102]
In the story of Melitene, sister of the saints Sisinnios and Sisynodorus, the child is in peril until it is "returned" to the hands of men. In one version, thegello swallows the child and must be forced by the male saints to regurgitate it alive. This cycle – death by swallowing, regurgitation, new life – may be symbolized in initiation ceremonies such as baptism, which marked the separation of the child from the taint of its mother'sgello-attracting blood.[103]
The Greekfolk belief continued into the modern era.[104]
One exorcism text dating from around the turn of the 19th–20th century gives Baskania as a name for thegello as well as for the evil eye.[105]
Scholarly discussions of Gello associate her with and analyze the meaning of her narrative traditions in relation to the following demons and supernatural beings:
Γελ(λ)ώ : είδωλον Ἔμπούσης το τών ἀώρων, τών παρθένων
in Byzantine times the evil creature is Gyllou, or Gyllo, the destroyer of little children, and Sisinnius is the deliverer., cited byFulghum (2001), p. 142.