Gelos (mythology)

Short description: Personification of laughter in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Gelos (/ˈɡɛloʊs, -ɒs/; Ancient Greek: Γέλως) was the divine personification of laughter. According to Philostratus the Elder, he was believed to enter the retinue of Dionysus alongside Comus.[1] Plutarch relates that Lycurgus of Sparta dedicated a small statue of Gelos to the god,[2] and elsewhere, mentions that in Sparta there was a sanctuary of Gelos, as well as those of Thanatos, Phobos "and other [personifications of] experiences of this kind".[3]

Risus was the Latin rendition of the name Gelos. A festival in honor of Risus (i. e. Gelos) in Thessaly was described by Apuleius,[4] but it is unknown whether it was an actual event or writer's invention.

## Notes

1. ↑ Philostratus of Lemnos, Eikones 1.25
2. ↑ Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 25.2 referring to Sosibius
3. ↑ Plutarch, Life of Cleomenes 9.1
4. ↑ Apuleius, The Golden Ass 2.31, 3.2 & 3.11 ff.

## References

* Philostratus the Elder. Imagines, translated by Arthur Fairbanks (1864-1944). Loeb Classical Library Volume 256. London: William Heinemann, 1931. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Philostratus the Lemnian (Philostratus Major), Flavii Philostrati Opera. Vol 2. Carl Ludwig Kayser. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1871. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

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