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- Emigration of Southern Slavs to Greece
- Comparative Examination of The Greek and Southern Slavic Vampire
The Southern Slavic Regions
“Slavs” designates an ethno-linguistic group native to Eurasia, united by a common cultural heritage, and a shared set of Indo-European Slavic languages. “Southern Slavs” designates a subgroup of Slavs who inhabit the area of land consisting of what was formerly Yugoslavia (translated literally as “South Slavia”) and Albania (Melton 1999). Although divided by borders and numerous cultural, linguistic, and religious distinctions, this contiguous region in the Balkan Peninsula shares a common folk heritage out of which the modern understanding of the southern Slavic vampire is derived (Melton 1999).
The Southern Slavic Vampire
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Scholars like Perkowski and McCelland trace the modern word “vampire” back to the slavic word obyri. Obyri has a number of region dependent slavic cognates, including vampir, the Serbo-Croation upirina, the Croatian vyukodulak, kosac, pikosac, and tenjac, the Bosnian lampir, the Albanian kukuthi, and the Montenegrin tenatz (Melton 1999). Some of these cognates, like lampir and vampir, were employed interchangeably. Although in vampires and vampirism in the Southern Slavic region is treated academically as a whole phenomenon, regional differences sometimes reflect differences in attributed origin, characteristics, and behaviors. However, all of the above designations refer to revivified corpses. The bloodsucking Slovenian strigon, Albanian striga, and Montenegran vjeitza, although “vampire-like,” have not been considered because they do not refer to revenant beings (Melton 1999). For more information on exsaunginator witches and spirit beings in the Southern Slavic folklore, one might look to Edith Durham and her fieldwork in Montenegro or to the published works of Slovenian historian Baron Jan Vakahart.
Attributes
A comprehensive examination of revenant vampires requires an understanding of Slavic beliefs in the properties of the human soul. According to Perkowski, the soul is understood to be “a being quite distinct from the body…free to leave even during life” (Perkowski 1989). The belief that souls frequently left the body as a bird or other small animal during sleep was not uncommon in Serbia and Montenegro. Death for the Southern Slavs then, according to Perkowski, was “nothing but a separation of soul and body”
According to Melton, unlike the popular image of the sired vampire from 20th-century literature, the Southern Slavic vampire was “the product of an irregularity in the community life, most commonly a problem with either the process of death and burial or of birth” (Melton 1999). The post-death, wandering souls of individuals whose life was marked by such “irregularity,” including, sorcerers, victims of suicide or a violent death,
Similarly to Greek folklore, there are seven described ways one may become a vampire within Slavic tradition (Jaworskij, 1898):
- Being a magician or immoral person.
- Suffering an unnatural or untimely death.
- Excommunication from the church.
- Improper burial rituals.
- An animal jumping or a bird flying over the corpse.
- Being born with a caul (an amniotic membrane covering a newborn’s head and face), teeth, or a tail.
- Being conceived on certain days, such as Saturdays.
Southern Slavic folklore reflects a tendency for vampires to assail individuals with who they shared emotionally intimate relationships
Greece
According to J. Gordon Melton, Greece remains among the oldest sources of vampire legend (Melton 1999). Though the ancient bloodsucking lamiai, empusai and mormolykai stand as precursors to the modern understanding of the vampire as a exsaunginating being, none were understood to be the risen dead and so they have not been considered here. The Greek Vampire in the following section will refer to the revenant class Vrykokolas as they were understood in the late modern period.
The Greek Vampire
In her essay, “The Greek Vampire”, Juliette du Boulay aids the reader in tracing the history of vampires in Greece. Vampires have morphed throughout history, as they have transformed from folkloric creatures, to religiously dictated figures, then to creatures inspired by Slavic tradition. Here, you will find a detailed account of the history of these transitions, using the history provided by du Boulay’s work.
There are nine listed ways that someone may raise from the dead and become a vampire, whether it was an issue with the burial itself, the process of their death, or an action committed during their lifetime (du Boulay, 1998):
- Those who do not receive the full and due rites of burial.
- Those who meet with any sudden or violent death (including suicides) or in mania, where the vendetta is still in vogue, those murdered who remain unavenged.
- Children conceived or born on one of the great church festivals, and children stillborn.
- Those who die under a curse, especially the curse of a parent or one self-invoked, as in the case of a man who, in pre-injuring himself, calls down on his own head all manner of damnation if what he says is to be false.
- Those who die under the ban of the church, that is to say, the excommunicated.
- Those who die unbaptized or apostate.
- Men of evil and immoral life in general, more particularly if they have dealt in the blacker kinds of sorcery.
- Those who have eaten the flesh of a sheep which was killed by a wolf.
- Those over whose dead bodies a cat or other animal has passed.
Though there are many ways that are believed one may become a vampire, they fall under two main classifications (du Boulay, 1998):
- Unabsolved sin, or
- Ritual neglect by the living
Folkloric Greek vampires in their purest forms were known as vrykolakas. Etymologically derived from the werewolf, vrykolakas designated a benign post-mortem being, which inhabited its former body. These creatures often resulted from mishaps either in life, death, or burial, tying their souls to their body (du Bouley 1998). While vrykolakas were exstanguinators, they were not considered to be as violently dangerous. In fact, these beings were so benign, that those who came into contact with the creatures seldom realized that they had already passed on. In fact, there were documented testimonies of civilians who were convinced that they had been in relationships with the beings.
Once the church became more connected to the folkloric traditions of Greece, the concept of vrykolakas began to morph. The new version of Greek vampires were the results of ill-fated deaths, which allowed the Devil to hijack the body, turn the soul into a demon, then force the soul into its preserved corpse (Jevons 1895). Vampires in this time wore clothing which mocked the stoles of priests, and were more mischievously geared towards hiding their vampirism, and interfering with their local communities (du Bouley 1998). For example, some vampires would resurrect in order to engage in sexual affairs with their neighbors’ or priests’ wives.
Lastly, we come to the age of vampires influences by South Slavic traditions. These vampires proved to be far more violent than those of the past. These vampires would target the community with brutal killings and mutilations. Furthermore, they were much more easily identifiable as supernatural beings, as their bodies began to show signs of their decay. These creatures were so foul, that Orthodox priests were unable to aid citizens in defeating them, lest they corrupt the most important member of the church (Dundes 1998).
Greek Burial Practice
Vampirism was often used by the church and surrounding societies to prey on people’s fears and force them into complying with their wishes. The undead were used as a symbol to govern incest prohibitions and inhibit people from partaking in “demonic activity”. In the period of time between death and burial, a body can be taken over by the Devil to become a “true vampire” (du Boulay, 1998). When a soul is involved in demonic activities, it can then become a demon and reanimate its own body. It can also choose to appear in a different form — human or animal, to then drink the blood of its own kin (du Boulay, 1998).
Solon, an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet in ancient Greece set three laws in place that are still recognized to this day in terms of burial, in order to try to combat the vampiric epidemic (Jevons, 1895).
- The placing of a cup under the bed of a dead man.
- The pouring out of the water.
- The carrying of the sweepings to the tomb.
Once the fear and realistic of evidence of vampires began to surface, people searched far and wide for ways to rid the world of them. One particular way they were attacked was through the act of cremation. However, the cautionary practices did not stop here.
The only way to fully get rid of a vampire was to ‘kill’ the corpse a second time (Mates, 2005). It was often thought that the only way to kill the corpse was a stake through the chest. In reality, bodies were also decapitated, cut into pieces, had their heart removed, thrown into rivers, or all of the above — any method that could kill the living was also believed to kill the dead (Mates, 2005). When these actions did not seem to rid the world of the blood sucking creatures, cremation was put into to play, though it was a method of last resort. When bodies were cremated, it was important to ensure the corpse was completely burned, but this was not an easy feat. It required a specific set up that allowed oxygen to circulate around the entire body, large amounts of wood, and the proper kinds of fuelants; not to mention the amount of time it takes for a single body to burn to complete ash. All of the needed supplies proved to be very expensive, so cremation was often reserved for those of higher-status (Mates, 2005).
Vampirism was also seen as a standard explanation of epidemics. Many people were dying at a rapid rate and thrown into mass graves, not allowing for a proper burial. The souls were angry and upset that their time on earth ended so quickly. This created a fear that enveloped many causing the disturbance of the dead and the exhuming of their bodies. It was believed that once a body fully stopped changing after death (hair growth ceased, nails seemed to stay the same length, skin color settled, etc.) that was when “real-death” occurred and the spirit had moved on from the body and into the afterlife (Mates, 2005). To ensure this had happened, people often dug up the bodies of their family members months after death to see if there had been any changes. If there were changes, it was believed that the body had been repossessed and came to life at night as a vampire, feeding and preying on the living (Mates, 2005).
South Slavic Burial Practice
If a corpse is buried improperly, is crossed over by an animal or bird, or commit one of the wrong doings considered necessary to become a vampire, there are several distinct stages one goes through after to death to complete the transition. The first 40 days are seen to be the most decisive in becoming a vampire (Righi, 2012). They start off as an invisible shadow, and with gradually gained strength from the lifeblood of humans, they become a typically invisible, jelly-like, boneless mass (Righi, 2012). Over time, the being slowly builds up a human-like body nearly identical to the one had during life (Righi, 2012). They ultimately leave their graves and start a new life (Righi, 2012). These entities, usually being male, become sexually active with their widows or a new wife (Righi, 2012). These women then have the potential to become vampires themselves or develop a skill for seeing and killing vampires, making them vampire hunters (Righi, 2012).
In order to protect from vampires and the horrible acts that stem from their existence, it became common to pin corpses through the heart with an iron stake, preventing them from returning from the dead (Vuković). In addition, two or three elderly women would go to a cemetery after a funeral and drive five hawthorn pegs or old knives into the grave: one placed at the chest of the deceased, and four at the arms and legs (Vuković). It was also known that one could surround a grave with a red woolen thread, followed by igniting it, and waiting until the entire string had been burned (Vuković).
Emigration of South Slavs to Greece
Since ancient times, the Greek Peninsula has been inhabited by various Greek tribes. They practiced their own cultural beliefs and engaged in a variety of folkloric and other religious practices, but eventually there was a movement of South Slavs into the northern part of the Greek Peninsula that caused a shift in population demographics. During the later part of the Byzantine Empire, there was a significant influx of immigrants into the Macedonian region as a result of various wars that caused refugees to travel to the Greek Peninsula (Nicol 1993). The most prominent ethnic groups to migrate were Serbian and Bulgarian Slavs, who settled in Macedonia and created their own ethnic neighborhoods. As of 1991, roughly 67 percent of the population are ethnically Slavic Macedonians (Cetinich 2003).
Over the years, there have been numerous attempts by Slavic nationalists to create a unified national identity. A notable supporter of this movement was Krste Misirkov, who wrote works such as On Macedonian Matters, where he argued the importance of using the term “Macedonian” when referring to someone in the region, therefore eliminating any distinction between the Greeks, Bulgarians, and Serbians (Mihailov 1969). Interestingly, when Bulgaria entered World War I with the Central Powers, the ethnic demographics of the Macedonian Slavs were considered wholly Bulgarian by the Central Powers and anything other than Bulgarian by the Allied Powers (Sophia 1978). As a result, the end of World War I in 1918 saw the rise of the national identity of Macedonian Slavs taking prominence in the region (Sofia 1978). World War II played another major role in deciding the fate of Macedonian Slavs, especially after the formation of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece into their sovereign borders that we know today. The Republic of Macedonia was created in 1991 after it declared its independence from Yugoslavia, and it has strongly denounced any ties to Bulgaria. As a result many people have accused the Republic of oppressing those who still stick to their Bulgarian roots.
Comparative Examination of the Greek and Southern Slavic Vampire
When examining the fundamentals and foundations of both the Greek and Southern Slavic vampire, it is easy to notice multiple similarities between the cultures. The Greek word for vampire, vrykolakas, has its origins in the Slavic words vuk (meaning “wolf”) and dlaka (meaning hair), and translates to “werewolf” (Barber 1988). The etymology of vrykolakas is a result of the convergence of Slavic and Greek folklore that followed after the migration of Southern Slavs into the Greek Peninsula.
Beyond the origin of the word vampire, Greek and Southern Slavic vampires also share similarities in their described appearances. Greek vampires were commonly known to have the same appearance as normal humans, which allowed them to mate with the living (Tomkinson 2004). This bares resemblance to how the Slavs described vampires as going through a process that started off with the newly turned vampire being a shadow, and over time it grows as a mass of flesh and bones until it is nearly identical to the human before it was turned, the only distinction being how their skin could look like it was rotting (Brian 2012). Once again, the vampire can be sexually active, to the point where it can sire children that have a supernatural connection. In some cases the offspring are vampires themselves, while in others they have the ability to see vampires and become vampire hunters (Brian 2012).
The similarities in describing vampires and how they can form relationships with humans is an important factor when considering how both cultures viewed vampires as being a relative or loved one coming back from the dead, usually due to improper burial rituals. The Southern Slavic tradition of vampires was usually more gruesome and fatal than what the Greeks initially believed. However, over the course of the Slavic migration to Greece, the Greek folklore began to change to match the more violent nature of how the Slavs viewed vampires.
While there a considerate amount of similarities between the vampires of the Greek and Southern Slavic cultures, it is also important to note the differences between the two. From the very beginning, Southern Slavic vampires were described as malicious beings that sought to torment a family or village, most usually through the consumption of the blood of the living (Melton 1999). This is a significant contrast from the earliest folklore of the Greek vampires, which instead described the undead beings as benign entities that would interact with the living. As the influence of the church grew, along with the immigration of Southern Slavs, the Greek vampire transformed more into a being that fed off of the blood of the living and would terrorize the local village (du Bouley 1998). Among the Southern Slavic, there also seemed to be a more popular belief that vampires shared strong connections with their family
(Melton 1999). Vampires were sometimes used as an explanation for diseases in Greece, and while Greeks did believe that vampires could be their disgruntled loved ones, the Southern Slavs tended to almost always assume that a vampire was a relative coming back to haunt them.
Page written and created by Hannah C., Jordan K., Katie S., and Kayleigh C.
