Daimon

This article is about the semi-divine beings of Classical Greek mythology. For the evil beings associated with the word today, see Demon. For other uses, see Demon (disambiguation) (includes daemon disambiguation) or Daimon (disambiguation).
Gold ring with Sitting goddess and row of Minoan Genius figures bearing offerings, found in context from Mycenaean Greece, but probably made in Minoan Crete

The Ancient Greek: δαίμων, spelled daimon or daemon (meaning "god", "godlike", "power", "fate"),[1][2] originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit, such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and later the daimons of Hellenistic religion and philosophy.[3] The word is derived from Proto-Indo-European daimon "provider, divider (of fortunes or destinies)," from the root *da- "to divide".[4] Daimons were possibly seen as the souls of men of the golden age, tutelary deities, or the forces of fate.[5] See also daimonic: a religious, philosophical, literary and psychological concept.

  1. ^ A. Delahunty, From Bonbon to Cha-cha: Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases (p. 90), Oxford University Press, 2008 ISBN 0199543690
  2. ^ J. Cresswell, Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins (p. 146), Oxford University Press, 2014.
  3. ^ daimōn "δαίμων". A Greek–English Lexicon.
  4. ^ "Demon", Etymology Online
  5. ^ 2323243 Perseus Digital Library Consulted 2017-05-05