- Agathodaemon
In
ancient Greek religion , Agathos Daimon or Agathodaemon (Greek: "αγαθος δαιμων", "very good spirit") was a "daimon " or presiding spirit of thevineyard s and grainfields and a personal companion spirit, similar to the Roman "genius", ensuring goodluck ,health andwisdom . Though he was little noted inGreek mythology (Pausanias conjectured that the name was a mere epithet ofZeus ), [Pausanias, "Description of Greece", viii. 36. § 3] he was prominent in Greek folk religion; [Martin P. Nilsson , "Greek Folk Religion". (Columbia University Press), 1981:33, 70, 73.] it was customary to drink or pour out a few drops of unmixedwine to honor him in everysymposium or formalbanquet . InAristophanes ' "Peace", when War has trapped Peace ("Eirene") in a deep pit, Hermes comes to give aid: "Now, oh Greeks! is the moment when, freed of quarrels and fighting, we should rescue sweet "Eirene" and draw her out of this pit... This is the moment to drain a cup in honour of the "Agathos Daimon"." A temple dedicated to him was situated on the road from Megalopolis to Maenalus inArcadia .Citation
last = Schmitz
first = Leonhard
author-link =
contribution = Agathodaemon
editor-last = Smith
editor-first = William
title =Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
volume = 1
pages = 65
publisher =
place = Boston
year = 1867
contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0074.html ]"Agathos Daimon" was the spouse or companion of
Tyche Agathe ("Good Fortune"; Latin, and dialect,Agatha ); "Tyche we know at Lebadeia as the wife of the Agathos Daimon, the Good or Rich Spirit." [Jane Ellen Harrison, "Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion", 3rd ed. 1922:355ff, 543.] His numinous presence could be represented in art as a serpent or more concretely as a young man bearing acornucopia and a bowl in one hand, and apoppy and an ear of corn in the other. The agathodaemon was later adapted into a general daemon of "fortuna", particularly of the continued abundance of a family's goodfood anddrink .In the syncretic atmosphere of
Late Antiquity , Agathodaemon could be bound up with Egyptian bringers of security and good fortune: a gem carved with magic emblems bears the images ofSerapis with crocodile, sun-lion andOsiris mummy surrounded by the lion-headed snake Cnum-Agathodaemon-Aion, withHarpocrates on the reverse. [Illustrated in W. Fauth, "Helios Megistos: zur synkretistischen Theologie der Spätantike" (Leiden: Brill) 1995:85.]References
External links
* [http://www.theoi.com/ Theoi.com:] Greek and Latin sources in translation
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