Ascalabus

During Demeter's wanderings in search of her daughter Persephone, the goddess came to the house of Misme in Attica. Misme kindly offered Demeter a draught of kykeon; after Demeter emptied the vessel in one drink, Misme's son Ascalabus laughed at her and demanded a whole cask. Indignant, Demeter sprinkled the remaining drops upon him and transformed him into a gecko (the animal called ἀσκάλαβος). In Roman retellings the transformed boy is often called Stellio.

As a human Ascalabus is only identified as the son of Misme; no detailed physical description is preserved in the cited summaries. After the transformation he appears as a small lizard — a gecko — corresponding to the Greek term ἀσκάλαβος, which the tale etymologically links to his name.

The preserved accounts attribute no special powers or ongoing magical abilities to Ascalabus. His role in the sources is primarily etiological: his laughter at Demeter provokes the goddess' immediate metamorphosis of him into a gecko. The narrative records his mocking behavior (laughing and ordering more drink) but does not describe supernatural agency beyond the transformation inflicted by Demeter.