Gebon 1 was epileptic and mentally unstable (ἐπίληπτος ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τὰς φρένας οὐ πάνυ καθεστηκώς); he arrived in Constantinople in 858 from Dyrrachion dressed in clerical garb and claiming to be a son of the empress Theodora 2 by a man other than her husband, the emperor Theophilos 5 (σχῆμα μὲν περικείμενος κληρικοῦ, παῖδα δὲ ἑαυτὸν τῆς βασιλίδος Θεοδώρας ἐξ ἀνδρὸς ἑτέρου λῆρων); some of the populace of Constantinople supported his supposed claim to the throne and the authorities had him transferred to safe custody on the island of Oxeia; when soon afterwards the patriarch Ignatios 1 was deposed and exiled, Gebon 1 was transferred to the island of Prinkipo, his arms and legs were broken, his eyes were put out and he was killed (τά τε σκέλη καὶ τοὺς βραχίονας ἐξέκοψε καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξορύξας, ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτὸν); this was supposedly an act of revenge on the patriarch Ignatios 1, whose opposition to the emperor's wishes had earlier been condemned by Bardas 5 as evidence of support for the claims of Gebon 1: Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 505A-B.

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