=Gessler= (_Albrecht_), the brutal and tyrannical governor of Switzerland, appointed by Austria over the three forest cantons. When the people rose in rebellion, Gessler insulted them by hoisting his cap on a pole, and threatening death to any one who refused to bow down to it in reverence. William Tell refused to do so, and was compelled to shoot at an apple placed on the head of his own son. Having dropped an arrow by accident, Gessler demanded why he had brought a second. “To shoot you,” said the intrepid mountaineer, “if I fail in my task.” Gessler then ordered him to be cast into Kusnacht Castle, “a prey to the reptiles that lodged there.” Gessler went in the boat to see the order executed, and as the boat neared land, Tell leapt on shore, pushed back the boat, shot Gessler, and freed his country from Austrian domination.—Rossini, _Guglielmo Tell_ (1829). =Geta,= according to Sir Walter Scott, the representative of a stock slave and rogue in the new comedy of Greece and Rome (? _Getês_). The principal character, upon whose devices and ingenuity the whole plot usually turns, is the _Geta_ of the piece—a witty, roguish, insinuating, and malignant slave, the confidant of a wild and extravagant son, whom he aids in his pious endeavors to cheat a suspicious, severe, and griping father.—Sir Walter Scott, _The Drama_. =Ghengis Khan=, a title assumed by Tamerlane or Timour the Tartar (1336-1405). =Giaffir= [_Djaf.fir_], pacha of Aby´dos, and father of Zuleika [_Zu.lee´.kah_]. He tells his daughter he intends her to marry the governor of Magne´sia, but Zuleika has given her plight to her cousin Selim. The lovers take to flight; Giaffir pursues and shoots Selim; Zuleika dies of grief; and the father lives on, a broken-hearted old man, calling to the winds, “Where is my daughter?” and echo answers, “Where?”—Byron, _Bride of Abydos_ (1813). =Giam´schid= [_Jam.shid_], suleyman of the Peris. Having reigned seven hundred years, he thought himself immortal; but God, in punishment, gave him a human form, and sent him to live on earth, where he became a great conqueror, and ruled over both the East and West. The bulwark of the Peris’ abode was composed of green chrysolite, the reflection of which gives to the sky its deep blue-green hue. Soul beamed forth in every spark That darted from beneath the lid, Bright as the jewel of Giamschid, Byron, _The Giaour_ (1813). She only wished the amorous monarch had shown more ardor for the carbuncle of Giamschid.—W. Beckford, _Vathek_ (1786). =Giants of Mythology and Fable.= Strabo makes mention of the skeleton of a giant 60 cubits in height. Pliny tells us of another 46 cubits. Boccaccio describes the body of a giant from bones discovered in a cave near Trapani, in Sicily, 200 cubits in length. One tooth of this “giant” weighed 200 ounces; but Kircher says the tooth and bones were those of a mastodon.