Vampires in Greece
In Greece the belief in vampires was once widespread, but it has been gradually dying away as education invades the remoter recesses of the land. Even in Athens one still sometimes hears, “May the vampire .take you!”, a curse of diabolical nature. But the belief in vampires is now confined to the lower classes, and perhaps chiefly to the Albanians, of whom one Von Halm relates that they entertain many other absurd superstitions, such as belief in the existence of men with tails, no doubt a reminiscence of the Satyr of classical mythology.
Most people have but a vague and indefinite idea in regard to the vampire, his raison d’etre, his haunts and habits. It seems that after death some people do not rest quietly in their graves, but come forth at night when the moon shines. They live by sucking the blood of men, and return to their tombs at the approach of dawn, after gorging themselves with human blood. There are two kinds of vampires: the blood-sucking and a less malignant variety. It is of the malignant vampire that Lord Byron speaks when he writes:
“But first, on earth, as vampire sent,
Thy corpse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race.”
The less malignant type of vampire amuses itself by playing tricks on people and by frightening them, but otherwise does them no harm. The more malignant vampire, on the contrary, is fond of the liver of its victims, whom it attacks in the form of a variety of animals or insects, such as cats, dogs, fleas, spiders, etc.
The best evidence that death has been caused by a vampire is the mark of a bite on the nape of the neck, though sudden death of any kind is regarded as its work. The fear of sudden death is said to be very great among the peoples with whom the vampire loves to dwell, for the reason that he who has been killed by a vampire himself becomes one.
One Allatlius tells us that the vampire is not the soul of the deceased, but an evil spirit which enters the body of the dead person. He says, “The corpse is entered by a demon, which is the source of ruin to unhappy men. For frequently, emerging from the tomb in the form of that body, and roaming about the city and other inhabited places, especially by night, it betakes itself to any house it fancies, and, after knocking at the door, addresses one of us inmates in a loud tone. If the person answers he is done for. If he does not answer he is safe. In consequence of this, the people of the Island of Chios never reply the first time, if any one calls them by night.”
Fire is the surest protection against vampires. It is a fearful thing to become a vampire.
