Gale ( ) is a minor character in

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 ...

. She was a very skillful witch who earned the wrath of

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 ...

, the Greek goddess of magic.

Mythology

According to

Aelian Aelian or Aelianus may refer to: * Aelianus Tacticus, 2nd-century Greek military writer in Rome * Casperius Aelianus (13–98 AD), Praetorian Prefect, executed by Trajan * Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Pr ...

's ''On the Characteristics of Animals'', Gale was a talented witch who dealt in herbs and potions. But she was extremely lascivious, and had abnormal sexual desires (which are not described in detail). For this

, the goddess of witchcraft, turned her into a small, "evil" (in the words of Aelian) mustelid bearing her name, ''gale'' (a land-

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on ...

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 t ...

, ''On Animals'
15.11
/ref> Thus the animal became one of the most commonly associated ones with Hecate. Martens/polecats 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 goddes ...

, another mortal woman who was turned into a weasel at the hands of an angered goddess, in this case

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 ...

References

Bibliography

* *

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "h ...

, ''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 The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

, 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 {{Greek-myth-stub

Mythology

See also

References

Bibliography