Mormo (, ''Mormō'') was a female spirit in

Greek folklore Ancient Greek folklore includes genres such as mythology (Greek mythology), legend, and Folklore genre, folktales. According to classicist William Hansen (classicist), William Hansen: "the Greeks and Romans had all the genres of oral narrative kno ...

, whose name was invoked by mothers and

nurses Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

to frighten children to keep them from misbehaving. The term mormolyce (; pl. ''mormolykeia'' ), also spelt mormolyceum ( ''mormolukeîon''), is considered equivalent.

Etymology

The name ''mormo'' has the plural form ''mormones'' which means "fearful ones" or "hideous one(s)", and is related to an array of words that signify "fright". The variant ''mormolyce'' translates to "terrible wolves", with the stem ''-lykeios'' meaning "of a wolf".

Description

The original Mormo was a woman of

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

, who ate her children then flew out; according to an account only attested in a single source. Mormolyca (as the name appears in

Doric Greek Doric or Dorian (), also known as West Greek, was a group of Ancient Greek dialects; its Variety (linguistics), varieties are divided into the Doric proper and Northwest Doric subgroups. Doric was spoken in a vast area, including northern Greec ...

: ) is designated as the wetnurse () of

Acheron The Acheron ( or ; ''Acheron'' or Ἀχερούσιος ''Acherousios''; ''Acherontas'') is a river in the Epirus (region), Epirus region of northwest Greece. It is long, and has a drainage area of . The river's source is located near the vil ...

by Sophron ( 430 BC). Mormo or Moromolyce has been described as a female specter, phantom, or ghost by modern commentators. A mormolyce is one of several names given to the female ''phasma'' (phantom) in

Philostratus Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; ; 170s – 240s AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He flourished during the reign of Septimius Severus ...

's ''Life of Apollonius of Tyana''. Mormo is glossed as equivalent to Lamia and ''mormolykeion'', considered to be frightening beings, in the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'', a lexicon of the Byzantine Periods."", ''Suda On Line'', tr. Richard Rodriguez. 11 June 2009. Mombro () or Mormo are a

bugbear A bugbear is a legendary creature or type of hobgoblin comparable to the boogeyman (or bugaboo or babau or cucuy), and other creatures of folklore, all of which were historically used in some cultures to frighten disobedient children. Etymology ...

( ''phóbētron''), the ''Suda'' also says."", ''Suda On Line'', tr. David Whitehead. 27 July 2009. "Mormo" and "

Gello Gello (), in Greek mythology, is a female demon or revenant who threatens the reproductive cycle by causing infertility, miscarriage, and infant mortality. By the Byzantine era, the () were considered a class of beings. Women believed to be und ...

" were also

aliases A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

for Lamia according to one scholiast, who also claimed she was queen of the

Laestrygonians In Greek mythology, the Laestrygonians or Laestrygones () were a tribe of man-eating giants. They were said to have sprung from Laestrygon, son of Poseidon. Hesiod, '' Ehoiai'' fr. 40a as cited in ''Oxyrhynchus Papyri'' 1358 fr. 2 Accordi ...

, the race of man-eating giants.

Bugbear

The name "Mormo" or the synonymous "Mormolyceion" was used by the Greeks as a

or bogey word to frighten children. Some of its instances are found in

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

. The poet Erinna, in her poem ''The Distaff'', recalls how her and her friend Baucis feared Mormo as children. Mormo as an object of fear for infants was even recorded in the '' Alexiad'' written by a Byzantine princess around the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

Modern interpretations

A mormo or a lamia may also be associated with the empusa, a phantom sent by the goddess

Hekate 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 associated ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * 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 ...

'', London (1873)
"Mormo"
* {{Refend Greek legendary creatures Mythological anthropophages Female legendary creatures Greek folklore Bogeymen Lamia