Gello, in Greek mythology, is a female demon or revenant who threatens the reproductive cycle by causing infertility, miscarriage, and infant mortality.
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10 Facts About Gello
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2.
Gello possibliy derives from Gallu, a Babylonian–Assyrian demon believed to bring sickness and death.
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Lexicographer Hesychius who wrote in the 5th or 6th century AD but drew from earlier lexicons glossed Gello as a ghost who attacked both virgins and newborn babies.
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4.
Gello eventually came to be regarded as a type of being, rather than an individual.
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Gello described them as beings that "suck blood and devour all the vital fluids which are in the little infant".
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Gello were being held responsible for the deaths of pregnant women and their fetuses as well.
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Gello was blamed for the condition of newborn infants who wasted away, and such infants were called Gillobrota, according to Psellus.
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Psychological aspects of Gello were observed by Leo Allatius in his work De Graecorum hodie quorundam opinionibus.
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Textual sources he collected on the Gello included Sappho's poem, the Suda, exorcisms, a church history, the Life of Tarasios, and proverbs.
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10.
Gello continued to be named in exorcisms into the 20th century.
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