Also called Gelou, Gillo.
The tale
Gello was, according to an ancient proverb preserved from Sappho, a girl of Lesbos who died young and whose ghost afterwards preyed on children. In Byzantine and later Greek belief, the gello or gelou was a demon who harmed pregnant women and newborns. Protective prayers told how Saint Sisinnios forced her to reveal her many names, and whoever wrote those names down was protected.
When they are met
- Around birth and the first days of a baby's life, when she was feared
- None traditional
Staying on their good side
- None are traditional; protective prayers and amulets were used against her
- A candle lit while reading or retelling the story
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Understand her story as an old way of explaining the loss of babies, and treat it with compassion.
- Ensure good medical care for mother and baby; that is the modern answer to her.
What their tales teach
- Understanding grief over infant loss
- The history of protective charms
Symbols
- amulet
- Saint Sisinnios
- hair
Evidence for her is scattered across ancient proverbs, Byzantine charms and later folklore.
Sources
- Zenobius, Proverbs 3.3 (citing Sappho)
- Leo Allatius, De Graecorum hodie quorundam opinationibus (1645)
More Greek folklore
- The Nymphs The spirits of spring, tree and mountain
- Medusa The Gorgon whose gaze turns flesh to stone
- Circe The enchantress of the island of Aeaea
- The Sirens The singers of the deadly shore
- Satyrs The wild revellers of Dionysus
- Kallikantzaroi The goblins of the Twelve Days
- The Neraides Fairy women of springs and hills
- Vrykolakas The restless dead of Greek villages