ἡ γαλῆ, -ῆς – a weasel or marten. {contracted from γαλέη}
In some dictionaries you can find the claim that in classical times people kept tame weasels in their homes which caught mice for them (since cats came to Greece only later from Egypt). However, Carla Hurt shows in this nice article (The Weasel in Antiquity) that weasels were probably more of a pest than a pet, living uninvited in people’s houses just like the mice themselves. It seems that the Greeks have rather despised than cherished the weasel, an interpretation that fits in perfectly well with today’s Aesopic myth I am going to show you: Ἀφροδίτη καὶ γαλῆ („Aphrodite and the Weasel“). Enjoy!
