What are Vrykolakas? The Greek Vampires

There are vampires in all mythologies, from East to West. And one of the most popular mythologies is Greek mythology.

In Greek mythology, they gave vampires a really cool name—vrykolakas! Sounds powerful.

Vrykolakas were werewolves in life and vampires after death! And all a person needed to do to become this cool creature was to commit enough sins (easy peasy).

Well, there were also other ways to become a vrykolakas, and maybe once you read more about them you won't think it was quite so cool to become one.

But to decide for yourself, read the rest.

First Things First—How Could a Person Become a Vampire in Greek Mythology?

The first way to become a vampire after death was to become a werewolf while alive. And to become a werewolf, one either needed to be excommunicated by the church (most of us are nowadays) or eat meat from a sheep that had been wounded by a wolf or werewolf.

Someone who became a vampire through first becoming a werewolf would keep their wolf-like fangs, hairy palms, and glowing eyes.

The second way to become a vrykolakas was blasphemy or disrespecting a sacred person, object, or place.

The third way was to become cursed, usually by a priest. (That is a cool curse, though. I don't know why someone would curse a person to live forever as a powerful vampire?)

But the most common reason in Greek mythology that someone would become a vampire after death was because they lived a life of sin and vice. They were murderers, engaged in incest, or were witches and warlocks. (Be bad in life, and you will be rewarded with another life to continue being bad. What a great punishment!)

The last way to become a vampire was for a person to be buried in unholy ground with no proper funeral.

Also, if at the time of burial an animal (especially a cat) jumped on the deceased person's corpse, it would increase the chance of the deceased person becoming a vrykolakas.

Vrykolakas Features

Maybe the only downside to becoming a vrykolakas was that they would become ugly. Not just normal ugly—their body wouldn’t decompose. Instead, it would swell and take on a drum-like form. They would become large, and their skin would turn ruddy (since they would be filled with fresh blood). And sometimes, maggots would crawl through their skin!

At that time in history, being a redhead with gray eyes was not fun, as the common belief was that they were vampires.

There are some stories suggesting that in Greece, the Greek Orthodox Church provided guidelines for identifying a vampire and determining the reason they became one based on their appearance:

• If you meet someone walking in the street with a half-decomposed body, they are a vampire because someone cursed them.
• If someone had yellow skin with tons of wrinkles, they were a vampire because of witchcraft.
• If someone was deathly white, they were a vampire because they disrespected a holy object, place, or person.
• If someone had black, rotting skin, they were a vampire because they were expelled by the church.

What Did a Greek Vampire Feast On?

‍A vrykolakas doesn’t drink blood but eats the flesh of its victims, ripping them apart and eating their liver as dessert (their favorite part of the human body).

There was a belief that vrykolakas would first visit their own family members and feast upon them!

What Does a Greek Vampire Do?

‍Bad things! They were bad in life, and they would continue to be bad after life—but maybe with a bit of a difference.

In Greece, they believed vrykolakas would get up at night, knock on a door only once, call the name of a resident, and wait. If the residents of that house answered, that person would die within the next two or three days.

Sometimes, vrykolakas would just get up from their graves and engage in poltergeist-style activities, making loud noises, destroying objects, and throwing them around.

Also, some vrykolakas would find people while they were asleep and sit on them, crushing their bones and suffocating them.

Do you wonder why they wouldn’t just eat the sleeping human instead?

Some believed it was because vrykolakas don’t need to drink blood or eat humans—they do it only because they are jealous of human lives and want them to suffer.

How to Kill a Vrykolakas

‍Vrykolakas, if left alone, would grow stronger and more powerful with each passing day. And the bad news? They could only be killed on Saturdays, as it was the only day they lost their powers and rested in their graves.

There were many ways to kill a vampire on Saturdays:

• Impaling
• Beheading
• Cutting them into pieces
• Burning their bodies (cremation)

But cremating a vrykolakas had to be done at night. Doing it in the morning would wake the vampire up, making it not only attack people but also hunt down the one who revealed its grave, cursing them. If the vampire couldn’t find the person responsible, it would curse the entire village until it was fully burned.

How to Prevent a Vrykolakas from Hurting People

‍To prevent a vampire from entering a place, people would:

• Hang crosses and antidoron (blessed bread).
• Place a cross or antidoron inside the corpse’s mouth to prevent them from turning into a vrykolakas.
• Pin suspected corpses to their graves with strong metallic bonds, or place heavy stones on them so they wouldn’t be able to escape.
• Some believed that Greeks would send suspected corpses to uninhabited islands since vrykolakas couldn’t swim.

Vrykolakas in History

‍Some greeks still believed in the existence of vrykolakas during World War II.

During the Great Famine of 1941–42, 300,000 Greeks died, overwhelming graveyards and forcing families to bury their loved ones outside cemeteries. And since being buried in unholy ground could risk the corpse becoming a vrykolakas, families first beheaded their loved ones before burial.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, deceased bodies were dug up after three years, and their remains were placed in a box. Then, a priest would pour wine on them while reading scriptures.

But if the body hadn’t decayed enough, the deceased would be declared a vrykolakas and dealt with appropriately.

‍Conclusion

‍Vrykolakas are similar to the vampires we know, but with some key differences:

• They don’t drink blood—they eat flesh, with their favorite part being the liver.
• They are always evil, unlike some modern vampires.
• They are not created by a vampire’s bite but usually by sin, curses, or improper burial.

In short, vrykolakas are uglier, more brutal, and harder to kill than modern vampires.

So, if you ever hear a single knock at your door at night—don’t answer.Ghgfgb