Gale ( grc, Γαλῆ, Galê, weasel, marten ) is a minor character in
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
. She was a very skillful witch.
Mythology
According to
Aelian's ''On the Characteristics of Animals'', Gale was a talented witch who dealt in herbs and potions. But she was extremely incontinent, and had abnormal sexual desires. For this
Hecate
Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depict ...
, the goddess of witchcraft, turned her into a small, "evil" (in the words of Aelian) animal bearing her name, ''gale'' (a land-
marten or
polecat
Polecat is a common name for several mustelid species in the order Carnivora and subfamilies Ictonychinae and Mustelinae. Polecats do not form a single taxonomic rank (i.e. clade). The name is applied to several species with broad similarities ...
).
[ Aelian, ''On Animals']
15.11
/ref>
Thus the animal became one of the most commonly associated ones with Hecate. Martens/weasels were thought to have magical potency in ancient Greece, though not necessarily of the beneficial kind.
Gale's name shares an etymology with that of Galanthis
In Greek mythology, Galanthis or Galinthias was the woman who interfered with Hera's plan to hinder the birth of Heracles in favor of Eurystheus, and was changed into a weasel or cat as punishment for being so insolent as to deceive the goddesse ...
, another mortal woman who was turned into a weasel at the hands of an angered goddess.
See also
* Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
* Circe
Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...
* Pasiphae
* Selene
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of ...
References
Bibliography
*
* Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus ( grc, Κλαύδιος Αἰλιανός, Greek transliteration ''Kláudios Ailianós''; c. 175c. 235 AD), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severu ...
, ''On the Characteristics of Animals'', translated by Alwyn Faber Scholfield (1884-1969), from Aelian, ''Characteristics of Animals'', published in three volumes by Harvard/Heinemann, Loeb Classical Library, 1958
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Women in Greek mythology
Hecate
Metamorphoses into animals in Greek mythology
Greek mythological witches
Witchcraft in folklore and mythology
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