Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge
Daimōn. How the gods acted in ancient Greece
Greek myths speak of gods and heroes, and cities were full of shrines in which to honor them. But archaic poetry brings to light what seems to be a third type of divine power, namely the daimōn.
What precisely does this notion cover in poetic texts from the archaic and classical periods ? Does it also have a cultic significance ? This is the subject of this book. More specifically, the author analyzes the occurrences of daimōn - radically different from our modern demon - in epic, tragic and melic poetry, while also looking for it in ritual practices.
It then becomes clear that while the term daimōn, in the plural, can designate the gods, the word used in the singular refers to a divine action whose source the human being taken as a target, for good or ill, cannot identify. Poetically, it refers to the distribution of good and evil that characterizes human life. The use of the term daimōn thus underlines the uncertainty inherent in a polytheistic, plural and abundant system, whose complexity, in terms of both representations and practices, can be better understood through the present study.
Pirenne-Delforge V., Daimōn. Modalités de l'action des dieux en Grèce ancienne, Paris, Collège de France/Les Belles Lettres, coll. " Docet omnia ", 2025, 340 p.
ISBN :978-2-251-45727-7
Price : 25 €
Publication : 6 June 2025
