Dysnomia (deity)

In Greek mythology, Dysnomia (Ancient Greek: Δυσνομία, lit. 'Lawlessness, Bad Government, Anarchy')[1] is the personification of lawlessness. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Dysnomia was the offspring of Eris (Strife), with no father mentioned.[2] Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, Dysnomia is a personified abstraction, allegorizing the meaning of their name, and representing one of the many harmful things which might be thought to result from discord and strife, with no other identity.[3]

Hesiod associates Dysnomia with Ate [Recklessness]. He names both as offspring of Eris, on the same line (230) of his Theogony, and says that the two are "much like one another".[4]

  1. ^ 'Dysnomia' is variously translated as 'Lawlessness' (Most, p. 21; Hard, p. 31), 'Bad Government' (Gantz, p. 10), or 'Anarchy' (Caldwell, p. 42 on 212–232); compare LSJ s.v. δυσνομία.
  2. ^ Hesiod, Theogony 226 (Caldwell, p. 43).
  3. ^ Hard, p. 31; Gantz, p. 10.
  4. ^ Hesiod, Theogony 230. The phrase "much like one another" might apply to all the previously listed children of Eris, however according to Doyle, p. 25, the usual interpretation is that the phrase applies just to Dysnomia and Ate.