How the Devil Got His Hooves and Horns: The Origin of the Motif (original) (raw)
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Association of Jewish Studies Review, 2019
This article examines a narrative about a seven-headed demon in Bavli Kiddushin 29b as an entry point into a much broader conversation about the Talmud's demonology. I first lay out the interpretive challenges of the story, then argue that B. Kiddushin's demonic discourse has more in common with ancient Near Eastern demonologies that it does with contemporaneous Zoroastrian materials. Two particular aspects of the rabbinic depiction of the demon in B. Kiddushin align with Mesopotamian characterizations of demons: (1) the physical description of the demon as a seven-headed serpent, and (2) his demonic nature. At the same time, the way that the rabbis describe the mode of the demon's defeat strongly parallels contemporaneous Syriac Christian modes of exorcism. This article demonstrates that the talmudic story exists at the intersection of more ancient and contemporary concerns and typifies rabbinic selectivity in adopting and adapting available discourses about demons. To conclude, I discuss some of the broader implications of this observation for our study of the Babylonian Talmud in its Sasanian cultural context.
Aesthetics of Evil in Middle Ages: Beasts as Symbol of the Devil
Religions
Since the very origin of art, human beings have faced the challenge of the representation of Evil. Within the medieval Christian context, we may find many beings which have attempted to convey the power of the devil. Demonic beings, terrifying beasts, fallen angels or even Satan himself can be frequently found and appear in many forms. They can be seen in chapitols, stained glass windows, codices … Our aim is to evaluate different creatures, animals and monstruous hybrids, which represent the efficient presence of the devil. We base our evaluation on some bestiaries, natural history books and encyclopedias from the XII and the XIII century, like the Bestiaire from Philippe de Thaon, Pierre de Beauvais, Guillaume le Clerc, or the so-called Cambridge Bestiary as well as the one from Oxford, the Livres dou Tresor from Brunetto Latini, the Liber monstrorum de diversis generibus, L’image du Monde from Gossuin, the Bestiario moralizzato di Gubbio, and of course, the Physiologus. Natural b...
The Survival of the Bronze-Age Demon
Illinois Classical Studies, 1988
There exist numerous representations on Minoan and Mycenaean objects of creatures that have generally come to be known as "demons" or "genii." 1981) 191-95; C. Baurain, "Pour une autre interpretation des g^nies minoens," BCH Suppl. 1 (1985) 95-1 1 8. The reader should be alerted to the following abbreviations, which will be used below: AGDS = Aniike Gemmen in deutschen Scmmlungen (Munich 1968-75) CMS -Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel (Berlin 1964-I should like to thank my colleague James Dengate for his generous assistance and encouragement V. Karageorghis, Mycenaean Art from Cyprus (Nicosia 1968) 42, PI. 38. 4; Crouwel (supra n. 1) 24, no. 3. ' J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings (New York 1970) 106, PI. 206. ''CA/5V.2no. 367. CMS V.2 no. 440. Illinois Classical Studies, XIII.l 64. Steatite cylinder from Palaikastro, Crete. A demon stands facing two females (wearing animal masks?) and two aniconic goddesses.* 65. Glass paste plaque from Mycenae. No further details are available.6 6. Stone rhyton in the form of a conch from Malia. Part of the decoration consists of two demons facing each other; one holds a libation vessel.' 67. Haematite lentoid from Cyprus. A demon with a dog on either side runs.'
Greek Demons of the Wilderness: the case of the Centaurs
Laura Feldt (ed.), Wilderness Mythologies, Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 2012, pp. 25-53, but note that the article has been updated and reprinted in my Becoming a Man in Ancient Greece and Rome (Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021) 45-63
Demonology in the Greco-Roman Period ?JANE_011_02_109-125
This paper gives an overview of the beliefs in demons as perceived by the ancient Egyptians during the later phases of the Pharaonic period and under the Greco and Roman rule. It focuses in particular on the so-called "guardian demons" represented and named on the walls of the Ptolemaic temples such as the temple of Hathor at Dendera. These figures of protectors are in fact later reinterpretations of the demonic guardians of the doors and regions of the netherworld as described in the so-called Book of the Dead. Through this and other examples taken from iconographic and textual sources mentioning demons, it is discussed how the conception and ritual practices concerning "demons" changes significantly in Greco-Roman Egypt as compared to the earlier Pharaonic period.
Review of Hector M. Patmore and Josef Lössl (eds.), Demons in Early Judaism and Christianity: Characters and Characteristics, [Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, 113], Leiden: Brill, 2022, 2024