The Daemonic ‘Beyond Good and Evil’

Abstract

The notion of the Daemonic goes back a long way. It appears in an ancient Greek context, and its history there is interesting as a background to its later fortunes. It stands for a kind of power not necessarily individualised, still less personalised.¹ It is often referred to impersonally: τò δαιμόνων. H. J. Rose² thinks a daemon may have first been a spirit, and then been thought of impersonally. E. R. Dodds says:³ ‘Such evidence as we have suggests rather that while μοίρα developed from an impersonal “portion” into a personal Fate, δαίμων evolved in the opposite direction, from a personal “Apportioner”, cf. δαιω, δαιμόνη, to an impersonal “luck”. There is a point where the two developments cross and the words are virtually synonymous.’ It can also be used adjectivally of someone or something that manifests power. In addressing a person, ώ δαιμόνιε is like ‘Your Excellency’, but sometimes also it is less respectful and more convivial—rather like ‘my good Sir’, αγαθός δαίμων is also used as a toast—‘Here’s luck’. In some of these forms of address it is not so much a status word as a property word for someone or something having some special powers, which are not quite divine but can be somehow connected with divinity.