Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Galanthis or Galinthias () was the woman who interfered with

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

's plan to hinder the birth of

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

in favor of

Eurystheus In Greek mythology, Eurystheus (; , ) was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos. Family Eurysthe ...

, and was changed into a

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

as punishment for being so insolent as to deceive the goddesses of birth that were acting on Hera's behalf.

Mythology

Ovid's account

In the version followed by

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

in ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'', Galanthis was the red-gold haired servant of

Alcmene In Greek mythology, Alcmene ( ; ) or Alcmena ( ; ; ; meaning "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon, by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known as the mother of Heracles, whose father was the god Zeus. Alcmene ...

, who assisted her during the birth of

. When Alcmene was in labor, she was having difficulty giving birth to a child so large. After seven days she called for assistance from Lucina, the goddess of childbirth (that is, the Greek Eileithyia). However, Lucina did not help her due to the wishes of

. Instead, she clasped her hands and crossed her legs, preventing the child from being born. Alcmene struggled in pain, cursed the heavens, and became close to death. Galanthis noticed Lucina and deduced Hera's plans. She told the goddess that the baby was born; this so startled her that she jumped up and unclasped her hands. This freed Alcmene, and she was able to give birth. Galanthis laughed and ridiculed Lucina, and as a punishment was turned into a weasel or cat. She continued to live with Alcmene after her transformation, thus initiating the practice of weasels being kept as household animals.

Antoninus' account

The account of

Antoninus Liberalis Antoninus Liberalis () was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between the second and third centuries AD. He is known as the author of ''The Metamorphoses'', a collection of tales that offers new variants of already familiar myths ...

makes Galinthias a daughter of the Theban Proetus, and a playmate of Alcmene. In his version, Eileithyia and the Moerae came to Alcmene and held her tight to make her labor pains last longer, so as to please Hera. Galinthias confused them by telling that Alcmene had given birth by the will of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, and accordingly all the rites in honor of the birth goddesses had been cancelled. The goddesses were taken aback and loosened their grip so Alcmene delivered. The Moerae, enraged by the fact that a mortal was able to deceive them, changed Galinthias into a weasel, an animal that in ancient times was believed to conceive through the ear and give birth through the mouth via the curse of the scorned deities.

Hecate Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associat ...

, however, took pity on Galanthis and took her in as one of her Familiars, making the weasel one of her own sacred animals. When Heracles grew up, he built a sanctuary to Galinthias and sacrificed to her; the practice of honouring Galinthias in Thebes lasted down to late times. The myth of Galanthis is also briefly mentioned by Pausanias: he recounts the Theban version of the story, which referred to the heroine as Historis, called her a daughter of

Tiresias In Greek mythology, Tiresias (; ) was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, Greece, Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes (mythology), Everes and the nymph ...

, and made no mention of her transformation. In this version, she deceived the female agents of Hera known as the Pharmacides ("Herbalists" or "Sorceresses") who had been keeping Alcmene from giving birth, by announcing the birth of the child, which made the Pharmacides leave and let Alcmene be delivered. Martens and weasels were thought to have magical potency in ancient Greece, both of the beneficial and maleficent kind. They were also credited with causing labour pains to pregnant women if they ran past them, hence Galanthis' role in Alcmene's childbirth and transformation into a weasel.

Popular culture

* Gale appears as a character in

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Jr. ( ; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million cop ...

's novels '' The House of Hades'' and '' Wrath of the Triple Goddess''. * In the game, '' Hades II'' (the sequel to ''

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

''), "Gale" is the name of the Polecat Familiar of the goddess, Hecate, and is often seen at the Crossroads, alongside her fellow Familiar, Hecuba the Black Hound. It is uncertain if Gale, here, is meant to be the same Galanthis the midwife at Heracles's birth, turned into a Polecat by Hera out of spite, or a former witch named

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

, who angered Hecate.

References

Sources

* Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...