DÆMON (δαίμων or δαιμόνιον).—The term (1) in earliest usage meant a god, one of the order of deities; (2) later, an inferior deity, acting the part of a messenger for the gods, specially in communicating their will to men; this is the sense in which it is applied to the dæmon or genius of Socrates; (3) in latest use, an evil spirit. |
Socrates declared that he had a friendly spirit, or Dæmon, who restrained him from things he was about to do.
«He is a great spirit (δαίμων), and like all that is spiritual he is intermediate between the divine and the mortal.» «And what is the nature of this spiritual power?» Socrates said. «This is the power,» Diotima said, «which interprets and conveys to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and rewards of the gods; and this power spans the chasm which divides them, and in this all is bound together» (Plato’s Symposium, 202, Jowett).
In his Apology, Socrates refers to the coming of the δαιμόνιον as a well-known characteristic of his life, inconsistent with the charge of atheism brought against him. The Daimonion is spoken of as a Voice, a God, and a Messenger from the God.
Plutarch has a Dialogue on the Dæmon of Socrates, and Apuleius also wrote De Deo Socratis (Ueberweg’s Hist., I. 236).
