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