[897] Cf. an article by Ἀντ. Μηλιαράκης, τὸ ἐν Ἀμοργῷ Μαντεῖον τοῦ Ἁγίου Γεωργίου τοῦ Βαλσαμίτου, in Περιοδικὸν τῆς Ἑστίας, no. 411, 13th Nov. 1883.
[898] Le Père Robert (Sauger), Histoire nouvelle des anciens ducs et autres souverains de l’Archipel (Paris, 1699) pp. 196–198. Cf. Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, I. pp. 281 ff.; Sonnini de Magnoncourt, Voyage en Grèce et en Turquie, vol. I. p. 290.
[899] Bouché Leclercq, Hist. de la Divin. I. p. 187.
[900] Pausan. III. 23. 8.
[901] De sacrificiis, p. 12.
[902] Ibid. cap. 2.
[903] Plato, Sympos. p. 188.
[904] Hom. Il. IX. 497 ff.
[908] Ancient offerings of this type, as found at Epidaurus, should not I think be grouped all together as thank-offerings; many of them belonged probably to the propitiatory class.
[912] Formerly (and again latterly) called Thera.
[913] Le père Richard, Relation de ce qui s’est passé à Sant-Erini, p. 23.
[914] Called by him ὄρος τοῦ ἁγίου Στεφάνου; but the fact that there is only this one mountain in the island and that it still has a chapel of St Stephen on it places the identification beyond all doubt.
[915] This phrase as noted down by me from memory along with the rest of the story immediately after my interview is, I believe, verbally exact. The old man’s words were ἐσκεφτήκαμε λοιπὸν κι’ ἀποφασίσαμε νὰ στείλουμε ἄνθρωπο ’στὸν Ἅγι’ Νικόλα, γιὰ νά τον παρακαλέσῃ νὰ ἐπιτυχαίνουνε τὰ καράβι̯α μας στὸν πόλεμο.
[917] The term ὁ θεός could not have been intended to apply to St Nicolas; although the saints are practically treated as gods, they are not so spoken of. See above, pp. 42 ff.
[918] Plutarch, Pelop. 21 (p. 229).
[919] Porph. de Abstin. 27 and 54.
[920] Tzetz. Hist. XXIII. 726 ff.
[921] Cf. Πολίτης, Μελέτη, II. p. 341.
[922] Ραζέλης, Μυρολόγια, p. 16. Πολίτης, Μελέτη, II. 343.
[923] Popul. Carm. no. 373.
[924] Ραζέλης, Μυρολόγια, p. 36. Cf. Πολίτης, Μελέτη, II. p. 342. The line runs μαντατοφόρος φρόνιμος ’ποῦ πάει ’στὸν κάτω κόσμο.
[925] Eur. Hec. 422–3.
[926] Verg. Aen. II. 547 sqq.
[927] Diodor. Sic. V. 28.
[928] e.g. Fauriel, Chants de la Grèce Moderne, Discours Prélimin. p. 39. Rennell Rodd, Customs and Lore of Mod. Greece, p. 129.
[929] Dora d’Istria, Les Femmes en Orient, Bk. III. Letter 2.
[930] Plutarch, Vita Solon. 20.
[931] Hom. Il. XXIV. 719–775.
[932] Plato, Leg. VII. p. 801.
[933] An edict of the year 1662 preserved in the record-office (ἀρχαιοφυλακεῖον) of Zante was shown and interpreted to me by Mons. Λεωνίδας Χ. Ζώης, whose courtesy I wish here to acknowledge. The record-office contains much valuable material for the study of the period of Venetian supremacy in the Heptanesos.
[934] Soph. Antig. 29; Eur. Hec. 30; cf. also Soph. Antig. 203–4 τάφῳ μήτε κτερίζειν, μήτε κωκῦσαί τινα, and Philoct. 360.
[935] Hom. Il. XIX. 301–2.
[936] Κωνστ. Κανελλάκης, Χιακὰ Ἀνάλεκτα, pp. 335–6.
[938] Herodot. IV. 94.
[939] For the evidence see Miss Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, pp. 96 ff.
[940] Cf. Paus. VIII. 38. 7 and Porphyr. de abstinentia, II. 27.
[941] Paus. VIII. 2. 6 and VIII. 38. 7 and Frazer’s note ad loc.
[942] Paus. VIII. 38. 7.
[943] Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. p. 458.
[944] Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. p. 462.
[946] Paus. VIII. 38. 7.
[947] Schol. ad Ar. Eq. 1136 in explanation of the word δημόσιοι.
[948] Tzetzes, Hist. XXIII. 726 ff. quoting Hipponax’ authority on most points.
[949] Miss Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, pp. 95 f.
[950] op. cit. p. 108.
[951] Serv. ad Verg. Aen. III. 75 as translated by Miss Harrison, op. cit. p. 108.
[952] op. cit. p. 100.
[953] Luc. Nek. 7.
[954] Eur. Phoen. 944.
[955] op. cit. p. 100.
[956] op. cit. p. 108.
[957] Lysias, c. Andoc. 108. 4 as translated by Miss Harrison, op. cit. p. 97
[958] Ran. 734, Equ. 1405 and fragm. 532 (from Miss Harrison, op. cit. p. 97).
[959] Heard by me from a fisherman of Myconos.
[960] Πολίτης, Παραδόσεις, I. pp. 573 and 593.
[961] The list of dialectic forms compiled by Bern. Schmidt (das Volksleben der Neugriechen, p. 158) comprises, besides that which I have adopted as in my experience the most general, the following: βουρκόλακας, βρουκόλακας, βουρκούλακας, βουλκόλακας, βουθρόλακας, βουρδόλακας, βορβόλακας. To these may be added βαρβάλακας from Syme (Πολίτης, Παραδόσεις, I. 601), βουρδούλακας, from Cythnos (Βάλληνδας, Κυθνιακά, p. 125), and an occasional diminutive form such as βρυκολάκι. The κ is often doubled in spelling.
[962] A plural in -οι, -ους, with accent either paroxytone or proparoxytone, also occurs.
[963] De quorumdam Graecorum opinationibus, cap. 12 sqq.
[964] ὁποῦ τὸν ἐγνώριζε προτίτερα, leg. ἐγνώριζαν.
[965] For these memorial services (μνημόσυνα) and the appropriate funeral-meats (κόλλυβα) see below, pp. 534 ff.
[966] The reference given by Allatius is to Turco-Grecia, Bk 8, but I cannot find the passage.
[967] With this description compare a phrase used in a recent Athenian account of a vrykolakas, σὰν τουλοῦμι, ‘like a (distended) wine-skin,’ Πολίτης, Παραδ. I. 575.
[969] Relation de ce qui s’est passé de plus remarquable a Sant-Erini Isle de l’Archipel, depuis l’établissement des Peres de la compagnie de Jesus en icelle (Paris, MDCLVII.), cap. XV. pp. 208–226.
[970] In many places at the present day it is believed that vrykolakes (and sometimes other supernatural beings) cannot cross salt water. Hence to bury (not burn) the corpse in an island is often held sufficient.
[971] Some modern authorities state that Turks are believed to be more subject to become vrykolakes than Christians. Schmidt (Das Volksleben, p. 162) appears to me to overstate this point of view, which I should judge to be rarer and more local than its contrary. Even where found, it is unimportant, being a mere invention of priestcraft for purposes of intimidation. See below, pp. 400 and 409.
[972] Evidently a local form of τουμπί (= τύμπανον, cf. Du Cange, Med. et infim. Graec., s.v. τυμπανίτης), with metathesis of the nasal. Cf. the word τυμπανιαῖος above.
[973] To this phrase I return later.
[974] leg. ἄσπρος.
[975] Histoire nouvelle des anciens ducs et autres souverains de l’Archipel, pp. 255–6 (Paris, 1699).
[976] Voyage du Levant, I. pp. 158 ff. (Lyon, 1717). Cf. also Salonis, Voyage à Tine (Paris, 1809), translated by Δ. Μ. Μαυρομαρᾶς, as Ἱστορία τῆς Τήνου, pp. 105 ff.
[977] Paul Lucas, Voyage du Levant (la Haye, 1705), vol. II. pp. 209–210.
[978] Cf. Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, I. p. 164 (Lyon, 1717).
[979] Ἀντών. Βάλληνδας, Κυθνιακά, p. 125.
[980] Γρηγ. Παπαδοπετράκης, Ἱστορία τῶν Σφακίων, pp. 72–3.
[981] The writer points out in a note the correspondence of the number of priests who assemble for τὸ εὐχέλαιον, the anointing of the sick with oil.
[982] The Cretan word used throughout this passage is καταχαν-ᾶς (plur. -ᾶδες), on which see below, p. 382.
[983] διπλοσαραντίσῃ. I have given what I take to be the meaning of a popular word otherwise unknown to me.
[984] Ᾱντ. Μηλιαράκης, Ὑπομνήματα περιγραφικὰ τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων.—Ἄνδρος, Κέως, p. 56.
[985] Good examples may be found in Bern. Schmidt, Märchen, etc., no. 7, and Πολίτης, Παραδόσεις, I. 590 sqq.
[986] The Cyclades, p. 299.
[987] Πολίτης, Παραδόσεις, I. p. 577.
[988] Ibid., p. 578.
[989] In Scyros and in Cythnos, as I have noted above, this means of riddance has given place to milder remedies. But in the former I heard of fairly recent cases of vampirism, and in the latter, according to Βάλληνδας (Κυθνιακά, p. 125), the names of several persons (including one woman) who became vrykolakes are still remembered.
[990] Communicated to me by word of mouth in Maina.
[991] ἑορτοπιάσματα (see above, p. 208), who are commonly regarded as subject to lycanthropy in life and continue the same predatory habits as vampires after death.
[992] Bern. Schmidt, Das Volksleben, p. 162 (from Aráchova).
[993] This belief belongs chiefly, in my experience, to the Cyclades.
[994] Curt. Wachsmuth, Das alte Griechenland im Neuen, p. 117 (from Elis).
[995] Ibid. p. 114 (from Elis). Bern. Schmidt, op. cit. p. 162 (Parnassus district). Πολίτης, Παραδόσεις, I. 578 (Calávryta).
[996] Das Volksleben der Neugriechen, p. 170.
[997] This derivation is reviewed and rejected by Bern. Schmidt, Das Volksleben etc., p. 158.
[998] Cf. Miklosich, Etym. Wörterbuch d. Slav. Spr., p. 380, s.v. *velkŭ, Old Slav., vlъkъ, wolf....
Old Slav., vlЪkodlakЪ; Slovenian, volkodlak, vukodlak, vulkodlak; Bulg., vrЪkolak; Kr., vukodlak; Serb., vukodlak; Cz., vlkodlak; Pol., wilkodłak; Little Russian, vołkołak; White Russian, vołkołak; Russian, volkulakЪ; Roum. ve̥lkolak, ve̥rkolak; Alb., vurvolak; cf. Lith., vilkakis.
‘Der vlЪkodlak ist der Werwolf der Deutschen, woraus m. Lat. guerulfus, mannwolf, der in Wolfgestalt gespenstisch umgehende Mann.’ The second half of the compound is less certainly identified with dlaka, Old Slav., New Slav., Serb., = ‘hair’ (of cow or horse).
I am indebted for this note to the kindness of Mr E. H. Minns, of Pembroke College, Cambridge. It will be found to corroborate the view pronounced by B. Schmidt, Das Volksleben der Neugriechen, p. 159.
[999] Bern. Schmidt, Das Volksleben der Neugriechen, p. 160 (with note 1).
[1000] Ralston, Songs of the Russian people, p. 409.
[1001] Whether this word is originally Slavonic appears to be uncertain, but it is at any rate found in all Slavonic languages and is proved by the forms which it has assumed to have been in use there for fully a thousand years. This note also I owe to my friend, Mr Minns.
[1002] Abbott, Macedonian Folklore, p. 217.
[1003] Das Volksleben d. Neugr. p. 159.
[1004] Ibid. note 2.
[1005] Mannhardt’s Zeitschrift f. d. Mythol. und Sittenk. IV. 195.
[1006] Les Slaves de Turquie, I. p. 69 (Paris, 1844).
[1009] In Chios at the present day the word vrykolakas is in general usage, except that in the village of Pyrgi, owing to a confusion of vrykolakes and callicantzari, a local name of the latter is applied also to the former. Cf. Κανελλάκης, Χιακὰ Ἀνάλεκτα, p. 367, and see above p. 193.
[1010] Ἀντ. Βάλληνδας, Κυθνιακά, p. 125. The two words are given in the neuter plural τυμπανιαῖα and ἄλυτα, as equivalents of the word vrykolakas which, in the form βουρδούλακκας, is also employed.
[1011] The periodical Πανδώρα, vol. 12, no. 278, p. 335 and vol. 13, no. 308, p. 505, cited by Schmidt, op. cit. p. 160.
[1012] Schmidt, op. cit. p. 160, referring to Φιλίστωρ (periodical), III. p. 539; Πολίτης, Παραδόσεις, I. p. 574.
[1013] Πολίτης, ibid.
[1015] Βάλληνδας in Ἐφημερὶς τῶν Φιλομαθῶν, 1861, p. 1828. Schmidt interprets the word as ‘der Aufhockende,’ one who sits upon and crushes his victims, a habit sometimes ascribed to vrykolakes, but more often to callicantzari. My own interpretation has the support of many popular stories, in which, when the exhumation of a vrykolakas takes place, he is found sitting up in his tomb. See e.g. Πολίτης, Παραδόσεις, I. p. 590.
[1016] Cf. Χουρμούζης, Κρητικά, p. 27 (Athens, 1842); Γρηγ. Παπαδοπετράκης, Ἱστορία τῶν Σφακίων, pp. 72–3.
[1017] Op. cit. p. 160.
[1018] Ἄτακτα, II. p. 114.
[1020] The word is mentioned by Newton, Travels and Discoveries in the Levant, I. p. 212. I have been unable to obtain any more recent information.
[1021] Τὸ Θανατικὸν τῆς Ῥόδου (The Black Death of Rhodes), ll. 267 and 579, published in Wagner’s Medieval Greek Texts, I. p. 179 (from Schmidt, op. cit. p. 160, note 4).
[1022] I have shown above (pp. 239 ff.) that in certain districts the word λυκάνθρωπος was superseded by a new Greek compound λυκοκάντζαρος; but this new term was probably always confined, as it now is, to the vocabulary of a few districts only, while the Slavonic word vrykolakas enjoyed a wider vogue.
[1024] I quote my authority only for choice specimens which I have not myself heard. Variations may be found in almost any work bearing on popular speech or belief.
[1025] Δελτίον τῆς Ἱστορ. καὶ Ἐθνολ. Ἑταιρίας, II. 123 (from Crete).
[1026] Ibid.
[1027] Ἰ. Σ. Ἀρχέλαος, Ἡ Σινασός, p. 199 (from Sinasos in Asia Minor).
[1028] Christophorus Angelus, De statu hodiernorum Graecorum, cap. 25.
[1030] In the details of my account of this custom I follow Βάλληνδας, Κυθνιακά, pp. 113–114. But it prevails also in substantially the same form in many places besides Cythnos.
[1031] I have been at some pains to make wide enquiries on this point, but have found no example.
[1032] The version which I translate is No. 517 in Passow’s Popularia Carmina Graec. recent.
[1033] Prof. Πολίτης has collected seventeen in a monograph entitled Τὸ δημοτικὸν ἅσμα περὶ τοῦ νεκροῦ ἀδελφοῦ (originally published in the Δελτίον τῆς Ἱστορ. καὶ Ἐθνολ. Ἑταιρίας).