Ancient Greek Ghost Stories, Part Three: How the Ancient Greeks Invented the Vampire Romance Story

Back in the late 2000s, the book Twilight was outrageously popular among teenaged girls (much to the great annoyance of everyone else). What you may not know, however, is that the vampire romance story was actually invented in ancient Greece.

In the second century A.D., the Greek writer Phlegon of Tralles wrote a book entitled The Book of Marvels. In chapter two of this book, he tells a very spooky, yet strangely familiar love story.

The story goes that, in the Greek kingdom of Makedon, there was once a teenage girl named Philinnion, who became deathly ill and perished. Her body was sealed away inside a tomb. Then, several months later, her parents, Charito and Demostratos, permitted a young male guest named Machates to sleep in the room that had once belonged to her. Then, at night, while Machates was in the room, Philinnion, risen from the dead, came to visit him. This continued for many nights until, one night while they were together, the nurse walked into the room and saw, by the light of her lamp, Philinnion sitting on the bed beside Machates. She ran and told Charito and Demostratos, who at first refused to believe her, but, then, after much convincing, the nurse persuaded them to come to the bedroom.

The two parents peered into the room to find Philinnion and Machates asleep in the bed together. Charito instantly recognized her daughter, who was wearing the exact same clothes she had been buried in.

They waited outside the room, expecting Philinnion to leave through the door, but, somehow, Philinnion simply disappeared. The next morning, Charito interrogated Machates, demanding to know what had happened. Machates replied that the girl had come to him, telling him that she was inflamed with desire for him and that her parents did not know about her coming to visit him. He also explained that the girl had given him a ring, which he showed to them. He also showed them her strophion, or breastband, which she had left behind with him the night before. The parents recognized both of these things as having been buried with their daughter.

That night, Philinnion appeared in Machates’s bedroom at the usual time. he prepared supper and they sat down and ate together, as they had often done before. Machates was astonished that Philinnion, though supposedly dead, was still able to eat and drink just like anyone else. He secretly sent his slaves to fetch Demostratos and Charito, who came running to the bedroom at once. They discovered Philinnion there and embraced her lovingly. Philinnion, however, became wrathful towards them and chastised them, saying, as rendered in the translation by Hansen, “Mother and father, how unfairly you have grudged my being with the guest for three days in my father’s house, since I have caused no one any pain. For this reason, on account of your meddling, you shall grieve all over again, and I shall return to the place appointed for me. For it was not without divine will that I came here.”

Then, upon saying this, Philinnion immediately fell over dead. The parents ordered for Philinnion’s tomb to be opened to see if she was there. The tomb was opened and it was found to be empty. The townsfolk gathered together in assembly to decide what to do with Philinnion’s corpse. Hyllos, a wise seer, advised that her body should be burned outside the city precincts since putting her back in her tomb would only result in her coming back to life once again to prey on more victims. The townsfolk agreed to do this and to also perform sacrifices to Hermes Chthonios, the Eumenides, Zeus Xenios, and Ares.

Machates, meanwhile, went completely insane over the death of his beloved and committed suicide. Although it is not directly stated in Phlegon’s narrative, it is heavily implied that Philinnion was secretly drinking Machates’s blood whilst he slept and that this is the true reason why he became mad.

Later, in 1797 A.D., the illustrious German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a poem entitled Die Braut von Korinth, which was based on this story, only, in Goethe’s rendition of it, the girl is portrayed as a Christian and her lover is portrayed as a pagan.

SOURCES
Mark, Joshua J. “An Ancient Ghost Story: Philinnion and Machates.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. http://www.ancient.eu/article/763/.
Phlegon of Tralles. The Book of Marvels 2.1.
IMAGE CREDITS
The featured image for this article is a painting by the English painter John William Waterhouse depicting Lamia, a terrifying monster from Greek mythology said to drink the blood of its victims, and a soldier. The painting may have been partially inspired by the legend just described. This image is in the public domain in the United States of America. This image was retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

Author: Spencer McDaniel

I am a historian mainly interested in ancient Greek cultural and social history. Some of my main historical interests include ancient religion and myth; gender and sexuality; ethnicity; and interactions between Greeks and foreign cultures. I hold a BA in history and classical studies (Ancient Greek and Latin languages and literature), with departmental honors in history, from Indiana University Bloomington (May 2022) and an MA in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies from Brandeis University (May 2024). View all posts by Spencer McDaniel