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.