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Daemon (mythology)
Encyclopedia
The words dæmon and daimôn are Latin
ized spellings of the Greek
"δαίμων", a reference to the daemons of Ancient Greek religion
and mythology
, as well as later Hellenistic religion
and philosophy
. Daemons are good or benevolent nature spirits beings of the same nature as both mortals and gods, similar to ghosts, chthonic
heroes, spirit guides, forces of nature or the gods themselves (see Plato's Symposium
). Walter Burkert
suggests that unlike the Judeo-Christian
use of demon
in a strictly malignant sense, “[a] general belief in spirits is not expressed by the term daimon until the fifth century when a doctor asserts that neurotic women and girls can be driven to suicide by imaginary apparitions, ‘evil daimones’. How far this is an expression of widespread popular superstition is not easy to judge… On the basis of Hesiod's myth, however, what did gain currency was for great and powerful figures to be honoured after death as a daimon…” Daimon is not so much type of quasi-divine being, according to Burkert, but rather a non-personified “peculiar mode” of their activity.
In Hesiod's
Theogony
, Phaëton
becomes an incorporeal daimon, but, for example, the ills released by Pandora
are deadly gods, keres
, not daimones. From Hesiod also, the people of the Golden Age
were transformed into daimones by the will of Zeus
, to benevolently serve mortals as their guardian spirits; “good beings who dispense riches…[nevertheless], they remain invisible, known only by their acts”. The daimon of venerated heroes, were localized by the construction of shrines, so as not to restlessly wander, and were believed to confer protection and good fortune on those offering their respects.
Characterizations of the daemon as a dangerous, if not evil, lesser spirit were developed by Plato
and his pupil Xenocrates
, and later absorbed in Christian patristic writings
along with Neo-Platonic elements.
In the Old Testament, evil spirits appear in the book of Judges and in Kings. In the Greek translation of the Septuagint, made for the Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria, the Greek ángelos (άγγελος: "messenger") translates the Hebrew word mal'ak
, while daimon (or neuter daimonion) carries the meaning of a natural spirit that is less than divine (see supernatural
) and translates the Hebrew words for idols
, foreign gods, certain beasts, and natural evils. The usage of daimon in the New Testament
's original Greek text, caused the Greek word to be applied to the Judeo-Christian concept of an evil spirit by the early 2nd century AD.
Homer
's use of the words theoí (θεοί: "gods") and daímones (δαίμονες), suggest that while distinct, they are similar in kind. Later writers developed the distinction between the two. In Cratylus
(398 b), Plato speculates that the etymology of daimôn/daēmones (δαίμονες: deity/daêmôn δαήμονες) is from knowing or wise, however, it is more probably daiō (δαίω: "to divide, to distribute destinies, to allot"). In Plato's Symposium
, the priestess Diotima
teaches Socrates that love is not a god, but rather a "great daemon" (202d). She goes on to explain that "everything daemonic is between divine and mortal" (202d-e), and she describes daemons as "interpreting and transporting human things to the gods and divine things to men; entreaties and sacrifices from below, and ordinances and requitals from above..." (202e). In Plato's Apology of Socrates
, Socrates claimed to have a daimonion (literally, a "divine something") that frequently warned him - in the form of a "voice" - against mistakes but never told him what to do. However, the Platonic Socrates never refers to the daimonion as a daimōn; it was always an impersonal "something" or "sign". Regarding the charge brought against Socrates in 399, Plato surmised “Socrates does wrong because he does not believe in the gods in whom the city believes, but introduces other daemonic beings…” Burkert notes that “a special being watches over each individual, a daimon who has obtained the person at his birth by lot, is an idea which we find in Plato, undoubtedly from earlier tradition. The famous, paradoxical saying of Heraclitus
is already directed against such a view: ‘character is for man his daimon’”.
The Hellenistic Greeks divided daemons into good and evil categories: agathodaimōn (αγαθοδαιμων: "noble spirit"), from agathós (ἀγαθός: "good, brave, noble, moral, lucky, useful"), and kakódaimōn (κακοδαίμων: "malevolent spirit"), from kakós (κακός: "bad, evil"). They resemble the jinn
(or genie) of Arab folklore, and in their humble efforts to help mediate the good and ill fortunes of human life, they resemble the Judeo-Christian guardian angel
and adversarial demon
, respectively, (see also, the problem of evil
). Eudaimonia
, the state of having a eudaemon, came to mean "well-being" or "happiness". The comparable Roman concept is the genius
who accompanies and protects a person or presides over a place (see genius loci
).
A distorted view of Homer's daemon results from an anachronistic reading in light of later characterizations by Plato
and Xenocrates
, his successor as head of the Academy
, of the daemon as a potentially dangerous lesser spirit: Burkert states that in the Symposium
, Plato has “laid the foundation” that would make it all but impossible to imagine the daimon in any other way with Eros
, who is neither god nor mortal but a mediator in between, and his metaphysical doctrine of an “incorporeal, pure actuality, energeia… identical to its performance: ‘thinking of thinking’, noesis noeseas… the most blessed existence, the highest origin of everything. ‘This is the god. On such a principle heaven depends, and the cosmos.’ The highest, the best is one; but for the movement of the planets a plurality of unmoved mover
s must further be assumed… In the monotheism of the mind philosophical speculation has reached an end-point. That even this is a self-projection of man, of the thinking philosopher, was not reflected on in ancient philosophy. In Plato there is an incipient tendency towards the apotheosis
of nous
… Such philosophical coolness will mean little to the ordinary man who is hard pressed by everyday cares. He needs a closeness and availability of the divine which is offered neither by the stars nor by metaphysical principles. Here a name emerged to fill the gap, a name which had always designated the incomprehensible yet present activity of a higher power, daimon”. Daemons scarcely figure in Greek mythology
or Greek art
: they are felt but their unseen presence can only be assumed, with the exception of the agathodaemon
, honored first with a libation
in ceremonial wine-drinking, especially at the sanctuary of Dionysus
, and represented in iconography
by the chthonic
serpent. Burkert suggests that, for Plato, theology rests on two Forms
: the Good and the Simple; which “Xenocrates unequivocally called the unity god” in sharp contrast to the poet's gods of epic and tragedy. Although much like the gods, these figures were not always depicted without considerable moral ambiguity:
In the Hellenistic ruler cult that began with Alexander the Great, it was not the ruler but his guiding daemon that was venerated. In the Archaic or early Classical
period, the daimon had been democratized and internalized for each person, whom it served to guide, motivate and inspire, as one possessed of such good spirits. Similarly, the first-century Roman Imperial cult
began by venerating the genius or numen
of Augustus, a distinction that blurred in time.
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
ized spellings of the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
"δαίμων", a reference to the daemons of Ancient Greek religion
Ancient Greek religion
Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These different groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or "cults" in the plural, though most of them shared...
and mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, as well as later Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion is any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire . There was much continuity in Hellenistic religion: the Greek gods continued to be worshiped, and the...
and philosophy
Hellenistic philosophy
Hellenistic philosophy is the period of Western philosophy that was developed in the Hellenistic civilization following Aristotle and ending with the beginning of Neoplatonism.-Pythagoreanism:...
. Daemons are good or benevolent nature spirits beings of the same nature as both mortals and gods, similar to ghosts, chthonic
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
heroes, spirit guides, forces of nature or the gods themselves (see Plato's Symposium
Symposium (Plato)
The Symposium is a philosophical text by Plato dated c. 385–380 BCE. It concerns itself at one level with the genesis, purpose and nature of love....
). Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert is a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.An emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he also has taught in the United Kingdom and the United States...
suggests that unlike the Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...
use of demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
in a strictly malignant sense, “[a] general belief in spirits is not expressed by the term daimon until the fifth century when a doctor asserts that neurotic women and girls can be driven to suicide by imaginary apparitions, ‘evil daimones’. How far this is an expression of widespread popular superstition is not easy to judge… On the basis of Hesiod's myth, however, what did gain currency was for great and powerful figures to be honoured after death as a daimon…” Daimon is not so much type of quasi-divine being, according to Burkert, but rather a non-personified “peculiar mode” of their activity.
In Hesiod's
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
Theogony
Theogony
The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC...
, Phaëton
Phaëton
In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon was the son of Helios and the Oceanid Clymene. Alternate, less common genealogies make him a son of Clymenus by Merope, of Helios and Rhode or of Helios and Prote....
becomes an incorporeal daimon, but, for example, the ills released by Pandora
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...
are deadly gods, keres
Keres (mythology)
In Greek mythology, the Keres were female death-spirits. The Keres were daughters of Nyx, and as such the sisters of Fate , Doom , Death and Sleep , Strife , Old Age , Divine Retribution , Charon, and other personifications...
, not daimones. From Hesiod also, the people of the Golden Age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
were transformed into daimones by the will of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, to benevolently serve mortals as their guardian spirits; “good beings who dispense riches…[nevertheless], they remain invisible, known only by their acts”. The daimon of venerated heroes, were localized by the construction of shrines, so as not to restlessly wander, and were believed to confer protection and good fortune on those offering their respects.
Characterizations of the daemon as a dangerous, if not evil, lesser spirit were developed by Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and his pupil Xenocrates
Xenocrates
Xenocrates of Chalcedon was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and leader of the Platonic Academy from 339/8 to 314/3 BC. His teachings followed those of Plato, which he attempted to define more closely, often with mathematical elements...
, and later absorbed in Christian patristic writings
Patristics
Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers. The names derive from the Latin pater . The period is generally considered to run from the end of New Testament times or end of the Apostolic Age Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian...
along with Neo-Platonic elements.
In the Old Testament, evil spirits appear in the book of Judges and in Kings. In the Greek translation of the Septuagint, made for the Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria, the Greek ángelos (άγγελος: "messenger") translates the Hebrew word mal'ak
Malak
Mal'ak is the Semitic word for "angel" .The plural of malak is ملائكه malaa`ikah in Arabic, מַלְאָכִים malakim in Hebrew, and መላዕክት mala`ikt in Ge'ez....
, while daimon (or neuter daimonion) carries the meaning of a natural spirit that is less than divine (see supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
) and translates the Hebrew words for idols
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
, foreign gods, certain beasts, and natural evils. The usage of daimon in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
's original Greek text, caused the Greek word to be applied to the Judeo-Christian concept of an evil spirit by the early 2nd century AD.
In mythology and philosophy
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's use of the words theoí (θεοί: "gods") and daímones (δαίμονες), suggest that while distinct, they are similar in kind. Later writers developed the distinction between the two. In Cratylus
Cratylus (dialogue)
Cratylus is the name of a dialogue by Plato. Most modern scholars agree that it was written mostly during Plato's so-called middle period...
(398 b), Plato speculates that the etymology of daimôn/daēmones (δαίμονες: deity/daêmôn δαήμονες) is from knowing or wise, however, it is more probably daiō (δαίω: "to divide, to distribute destinies, to allot"). In Plato's Symposium
Symposium (Plato)
The Symposium is a philosophical text by Plato dated c. 385–380 BCE. It concerns itself at one level with the genesis, purpose and nature of love....
, the priestess Diotima
Diotima of Mantinea
Diotima of Mantinea is a female seer who plays an important role in Plato's Symposium. Her ideas are the origin of the concept of Platonic love. Since the only source concerning her is Plato, it is uncertain whether she was a real historical personage or merely a fictional creation...
teaches Socrates that love is not a god, but rather a "great daemon" (202d). She goes on to explain that "everything daemonic is between divine and mortal" (202d-e), and she describes daemons as "interpreting and transporting human things to the gods and divine things to men; entreaties and sacrifices from below, and ordinances and requitals from above..." (202e). In Plato's Apology of Socrates
Apology (Plato)
The Apology of Socrates is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he unsuccessfully defended himself in 399 BC against the charges of "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel"...
, Socrates claimed to have a daimonion (literally, a "divine something") that frequently warned him - in the form of a "voice" - against mistakes but never told him what to do. However, the Platonic Socrates never refers to the daimonion as a daimōn; it was always an impersonal "something" or "sign". Regarding the charge brought against Socrates in 399, Plato surmised “Socrates does wrong because he does not believe in the gods in whom the city believes, but introduces other daemonic beings…” Burkert notes that “a special being watches over each individual, a daimon who has obtained the person at his birth by lot, is an idea which we find in Plato, undoubtedly from earlier tradition. The famous, paradoxical saying of Heraclitus
Heraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. He was of distinguished parentage. Little is known about his early life and education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom...
is already directed against such a view: ‘character is for man his daimon’”.
The Hellenistic Greeks divided daemons into good and evil categories: agathodaimōn (αγαθοδαιμων: "noble spirit"), from agathós (ἀγαθός: "good, brave, noble, moral, lucky, useful"), and kakódaimōn (κακοδαίμων: "malevolent spirit"), from kakós (κακός: "bad, evil"). They resemble the jinn
Jinn
Jinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
(or genie) of Arab folklore, and in their humble efforts to help mediate the good and ill fortunes of human life, they resemble the Judeo-Christian guardian angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
and adversarial demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
, respectively, (see also, the problem of evil
Problem of evil
In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...
). Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia or eudaemonia , sometimes Anglicized as eudemonia , is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare; however, "human flourishing" has been proposed as a more accurate translation...
, the state of having a eudaemon, came to mean "well-being" or "happiness". The comparable Roman concept is the genius
Genius (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, the genius was the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place or thing.-Nature of the genius:...
who accompanies and protects a person or presides over a place (see genius loci
Genius loci
In classical Roman religion a genius loci was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding a Cornucopia, patera and/or a snake. There are many Roman altars found in Western Europe dedicated in whole or in part to the particular Genius Loci...
).
A distorted view of Homer's daemon results from an anachronistic reading in light of later characterizations by Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and Xenocrates
Xenocrates
Xenocrates of Chalcedon was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and leader of the Platonic Academy from 339/8 to 314/3 BC. His teachings followed those of Plato, which he attempted to define more closely, often with mathematical elements...
, his successor as head of the Academy
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
, of the daemon as a potentially dangerous lesser spirit: Burkert states that in the Symposium
Symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
, Plato has “laid the foundation” that would make it all but impossible to imagine the daimon in any other way with Eros
Eros
Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....
, who is neither god nor mortal but a mediator in between, and his metaphysical doctrine of an “incorporeal, pure actuality, energeia… identical to its performance: ‘thinking of thinking’, noesis noeseas… the most blessed existence, the highest origin of everything. ‘This is the god. On such a principle heaven depends, and the cosmos.’ The highest, the best is one; but for the movement of the planets a plurality of unmoved mover
Unmoved mover
The unmoved mover is a philosophical concept described by Aristotle as a primary cause or "mover" of all the motion in the universe. As is implicit in the name, the "unmoved mover" is not moved by any prior action...
s must further be assumed… In the monotheism of the mind philosophical speculation has reached an end-point. That even this is a self-projection of man, of the thinking philosopher, was not reflected on in ancient philosophy. In Plato there is an incipient tendency towards the apotheosis
Apotheosis
Apotheosis is the glorification of a subject to divine level. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre.In theology, the term apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature...
of nous
Nous
Nous , also called intellect or intelligence, is a philosophical term for the faculty of the human mind which is described in classical philosophy as necessary for understanding what is true or real, very close in meaning to intuition...
… Such philosophical coolness will mean little to the ordinary man who is hard pressed by everyday cares. He needs a closeness and availability of the divine which is offered neither by the stars nor by metaphysical principles. Here a name emerged to fill the gap, a name which had always designated the incomprehensible yet present activity of a higher power, daimon”. Daemons scarcely figure in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
or Greek art
Art in Ancient Greece
The arts of ancient Greece have exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries all over the world, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models...
: they are felt but their unseen presence can only be assumed, with the exception of the agathodaemon
Agathodaemon
In ancient Greek religion, Agathos Daimon or Agathodaemon was a daemon or presiding spirit of the vineyards and grainfields and a personal companion spirit, similar to the Roman genius, ensuring good luck, health, and wisdom....
, honored first with a libation
Libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit or in memory of those who have died. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today....
in ceremonial wine-drinking, especially at the sanctuary of Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, and represented in iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
by the chthonic
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
serpent. Burkert suggests that, for Plato, theology rests on two Forms
Theory of Forms
Plato's theory of Forms or theory of Ideas asserts that non-material abstract forms , and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. When used in this sense, the word form is often capitalized...
: the Good and the Simple; which “Xenocrates unequivocally called the unity god” in sharp contrast to the poet's gods of epic and tragedy. Although much like the gods, these figures were not always depicted without considerable moral ambiguity:
“On this account, the other traditional notion of the daemon as related to the souls of the dead is elided in favour of a spatial scenario which evidently also graduated in moral terms; though [Plato] says nothing of that here, it is a necessary inference from her account, just as Eros is midway between deficiency and plenitude… Indeed, Xencrates… explicitly understood daemones as ranged along a scale from good to bad… [Plutarch] speaks of ‘great and strong beings in the atmosphere, malevolent and morose, who rejoice in [unlucky days, religious festivals involving violence against the self, etc.], and after gaining them as their lot, they turn to nothing worse.’… The use of such malign daemones by human beings seems not to be even remotely imagined here: Xenocrates' intention was to provide an explanation for the sheer variety of polytheistic religious worship; but it is the potential for moral descrimination offered by the notion of daemones which later… became one further means of conceptualizing what distinguishes dominated practice from civic religion, and furthering the transformation of that practice into intentional profanation… Quite when the point was first made remains unanswerable. Much the same thought as [Plato's] is to be found in an explicitly Pythagorean context of probably late Hellenistic composition, the Pythagorean Commentaries, which evidently draws on older popular representations: ‘The whole air is full of souls. We call them daemones and heros, and it is they who send dreams, signs and illnesses to men; and not only men, but also to sheep and other domestic animals. It is towards these daemones that we direct purifications and apotropaic ritesApotropaic magicApotropaic magic is a type of magic intended to "turn away" harm or evil influences."Apotropaic" observances may also be practiced out of vague superstition or out of tradition, as in good luck charm , or gestures like fingers crossed or knocking on wood.Apotropaic is an adjective that means...
, all kinds of divination, the art of reading chance utterances, and so on’… This account differs from that of the early Academy in reaching back to the other, Archaic, view of daemones as souls, and thus anticipates the views of Plutarch and Apuleius in the Principate… It clearly implies that daemones can cause illness to livestock: this traditional dominated view has now reached the intellectuals”.
In the Hellenistic ruler cult that began with Alexander the Great, it was not the ruler but his guiding daemon that was venerated. In the Archaic or early Classical
Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...
period, the daimon had been democratized and internalized for each person, whom it served to guide, motivate and inspire, as one possessed of such good spirits. Similarly, the first-century Roman Imperial cult
Imperial cult
An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor, or a dynasty of emperors , are worshipped as messiahs, demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense...
began by venerating the genius or numen
Numen
Numen is a Latin term for a potential, guiding the course of events in a particular place or in the whole world, used in Roman philosophical and religious thought...
of Augustus, a distinction that blurred in time.
See also
- AgathodaemonAgathodaemonIn ancient Greek religion, Agathos Daimon or Agathodaemon was a daemon or presiding spirit of the vineyards and grainfields and a personal companion spirit, similar to the Roman genius, ensuring good luck, health, and wisdom....
- Dæmon (His Dark Materials)Dæmon (His Dark Materials)A dæmon is a manifestation of a person's soul in the Philip Pullman trilogy His Dark Materials. Humans in every universe are said to have dæmons, although in some universes they are visible as entities physically separate from their humans, and take the form of animals, while in other universes...
- DaimonicDaimonicThe idea of the daimonic typically means quite a few things: from befitting a demon and fiendish, to motivated by a spiritual force or genius and inspired. As a psychological term, it has come to represent an elemental force which contains an irrepressible drive towards individuation...
- DemonDemoncall - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
- Ethereal beingEthereal beingEthereal beings, according to some belief systems and occult theories, are mystic entities that usually are not made of ordinary matter. Despite the fact that they are believed to be essentially incorporeal, they do interact in physical shapes with the material universe and travel between the...
- EudaimoniaEudaimoniaEudaimonia or eudaemonia , sometimes Anglicized as eudemonia , is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare; however, "human flourishing" has been proposed as a more accurate translation...
- FravashiFravashiA fravashi is the guardian spirit mentioned in the Avesta of an individual, who sends out the urvan into the material world to fight the battle of good versus evil...
- FylgjaFylgjaIn Norse mythology, a fylgja is a supernatural being or creature which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune...
- Genius (mythology)Genius (mythology)In ancient Roman religion, the genius was the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place or thing.-Nature of the genius:...
- HyangHyangHyang is an unseen spiritual entity that has supernatural power in ancient Indonesian mythology. This spirit can be either divine or ancestral. The reverence for this spiritual entity can be found in Sunda Wiwitan, Kejawen, and Balinese Hinduism. In modern Indonesian this term tends to be...
- KamiKamiis the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
- Shoulder angelShoulder angelA shoulder angel is a plot device used for either dramatic or humorous effect in animation and comic strips . The angel represents conscience and is often accompanied by a shoulder devil representing temptation. They are handy for easily showing inner conflict of a character...
- YakshaYakshaYaksha is the name of a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist mythology. The feminine form of the word is ' or Yakshini .In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist mythology,...
External links
- Maureen A. Tilley, "Exorcism in North Africa: Localizing the (Un)holy" explores the meanings of daimon among Christians in Roman Africa and exorcism practices that passed seamlessly into Christian ritual.
- Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol V: Cyprian, "On the Vanity of Idols" e-text Daemons inhabiting the images of gods
- Kakodaemons on Theoi.com (This Bestiary list pertains to minor gods and monsters of the Underworld and not to daemons in general.)
- Abstract Personifications (a list of daimones of Greek mythology)
- The Daemon Page