Hegelochus acted in the play Orestes by Euripides when it was performed in the City Dionysia dramatic festival in 408 BC.
In line 279 of the play, instead of "after the storm I see again a calm sea" (γαλήν' ὁρῶ, galḗn' horô), Hegelochus recited "after the storm I see again a weasel" (γαλῆν ὁρῶ, galên horô).
In the nominative, the adjective forms that give "calm sea" are γαληνός, γαληνόν (galēnós, galēnón), and "weasel" is either γαλῆ or γαλέη (galê, galéē).
[3] Moreover, the weasel was an unlucky animal, contrasting with the optimistic intent of the line.
[5] The error was mocked by Sannyrion in his Danae, in Aristophanes' The Frogs, by the comic poet Plato, and by Strattis in his The Human Orestes (Ἀνθρωπορραιστής), Kinesias (Κινησίας), and Psychastae (Ψυχασταί).