Meaning of pnigalion | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A nocturnal monster in Ancient Greece that would choke its victims; incubus; nightmare.
   historical, uncountable
2. sleep paralysis; nightmare
   archaic, uncountable

Examples

“Because the Greeks considered being choked or strangled to be one consequence of a night-mare attack, the entity was also called pnigalion (“throttler”).”

“Their guest list of night-time intruders includes: […] the Greek ephialtes ( one who leaps upon ) , mora ( the night 'mare' or monster), pnigalion ( the choker ) and barychnas (the heavy breather); […]”

“Greeks had the pnigalion (the choker) and the barychnas (the heavy breather) troubling the sleepers (Keissling, 1977).”

“Incubus (synonyms, Pnigalion, ephialtes, epibole ) .— It is an elementary form of epilepsy .”

“Themison names it pnigalion, from the Greek word for suffocating.”

“It was not merely unconsciousness, it was as if the mind were being smothered by some malign force, a pnigalion, throttling restfulness into a state of paralysis.”

CEFR level