Demigod: Etymology Classical Celtic Hinduism China Anitism Modern Use See Also References External Links

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Demigod

A demigod or demigoddess is a part-human and part-


divine offspring of a deity and a human,[1] or a human or
non-human creature that is accorded divine status after
death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark"
(spiritual enlightenment). An immortal demigod (-dess)
often has tutelary status and a religious cult following,
while a mortal demigod (-dess) is one who has fallen or
died, but is popular as a legendary hero in various
polytheistic religions. Figuratively, it is used to describe a
person whose talents or abilities are so superlative that
they appear to approach being divine.

Contents
Etymology
Classical
Celtic
Hinduism
China
"Cuchulain Slays the Hound of Culain",
Anitism illustration by Stephen Reid from Eleanor Hull's
Modern use The Boys' Cuchulain, 1904

See also
References
External links

Etymology
The English term "demi-god" is a calque of the Latin word semideus, "half-god".[4] The Roman poet Ovid
probably coined semideus to refer to less important gods, such as dryads.[5]
Compare the Greek hemitheos.

Classical
In the ancient Greek and Roman world, the concept of a demigod did not have a consistent definition and
associated terminology rarely appeared.[6]

The earliest recorded use of the term occurs in texts attributed to the archaic Greek poets Homer and
Hesiod. Both describe dead heroes as hemitheoi, or "half gods". In these cases, the word did not literally
mean that these figures had one parent who was divine and one who was mortal.[7] Instead, those who
demonstrated "strength, power, good family, and good behavior" were termed heroes, and after death they
could be called hemitheoi,[8] a process that has been referred to as
"heroization".[9] Pindar also used the term frequently as a synonym
for "hero".[10]

According to the Roman author Cassius Dio, the Roman Senate


declared Julius Caesar a demigod after his 46 BCE victory at
Thapsus.[11] However, Dio was writing in the third century CE —
centuries after the death of Caesar — and modern critics have cast
doubt on whether the Senate really did this.[12]

The first Roman to employ the term "demigod" may have been the
poet Ovid (17 or 18 CE), who used the Latin semideus several
times in reference to minor deities.[13] The poet Lucan (39-65) also
uses the term to speak of Pompey attaining divinity upon his death
in 48 BCE.[14] In later antiquity, the Roman writer Martianus
Capella (fl. 410-420) proposed a hierarchy of gods as follows:[15]
Väinämöinen, the central character in
the gods proper, or major gods Finnish folklore and the main
character in the national epic
the genii or daemones
Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot,[2] is an
the demigods or semones (who dwell in the upper
old and wise demigod, who is
atmosphere) possessed a potent, magical singing
the manes and ghosts of heroes (who dwell in the lower voice.[3] Picture of the
atmosphere) Väinämöinen's Play by Robert
the earth-dwelling gods like fauns and satyrs Wilhelm Ekman, 1866.

Celtic
The Celtic warrior Cú Chulainn, a major protagonist in the Irish national epic the Táin Bo Cuailnge, ranks
as a hero or as a demigod.[16]
He is the son of the Irish god Lugh and the mortal princess Deichtine.

Hinduism
In Hinduism, the term demigod is used to refer to deities who were once human and later became devas
(gods). There are two notable demigods in Vedic Scriptures:

Nandi (the divine vehicle of Shiva), and Garuda (the divine steed of Vishnu).[17] Examples of demigods
worshiped in South India are Madurai Veeran and Karuppu Sami.

The heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the five Pandava brothers, fit the Western definition of
demigods though they are generally not referred to as such. Queen Kunti, the wife of King Pandu, was
given a mantra that, when recited, meant that one of the Gods would give her his child. When her husband
was cursed to die if he ever engaged in sexual relations, Kunti used this mantra to provide her husband with
children fathered by various deities. These children were Yudhishthira (child of Dharmaraj), Bhima (child
of Vayu) and Arjuna (child of Indra). She taught this mantra to Madri, King Pandu's other wife, and she
immaculately conceived twin boys named Nakula and Sahadeva (children of the Asvins). Queen Kunti had
previously conceived another son, Karna, when she had tested the mantra out. Despite her protests, Surya
the sun god was compelled by the mantra to impregnate her. Bhishma is another figures who fits the
western definition of demigod, as he was the son of king Shantanu and Goddess Ganga.
The Vaishnavites (who often translate deva as "demigod") cite various verses that speak of the devas'
subordinate status. For example, the Rig Veda (1.22.20) reads, "oṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam sadā
paśyanti sūrayaḥ", which translates to, "All the suras [i.e., the devas] look always toward the feet of Lord
Vishnu". Similarly, in the Vishnu Sahasranama, the concluding verses, read, "The Rishis [great sages], the
ancestors, the devas, the great elements, in fact, all things moving and unmoving constituting this universe,
have originated from Narayana," (i.e., Vishnu). Thus the Devas are stated to be subordinate to Vishnu, or
God.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON) translates the Sanskrit word "deva" as "demigod" in his literature when the term
referred to a God other than the Supreme Lord. This is because the ISKCON tradition teaches that there is
only one Supreme Lord and that all others are but His servants. In an effort to emphasize their
subservience, Prabhupada uses the word "demigod" as a translation of deva. However, there are at least
three occurrences in the eleventh chapter of Bhagavad-Gita where the word deva, used in reference to Lord
Krishna, is translated as "Lord". The word deva can be used to refer to the Supreme Lord, celestial beings,
and saintly souls depending on the context. This is similar to the word Bhagavan, which is translated
according to different contexts.

China
Among the demigods in Chinese mythology, Erlang Shen and Chen Xiang are most prominent. In the
Journey to the West, the Jade Emperor's younger sister Yaoji is mentioned to have descended to the mortal
realm and given birth to a child named Yang Jian. He would eventually grow up to become a deity himself
known as Erlang Shen.[18]

Chen Xiang is nephew of Erlang Shen, birth by his younger sister Huayue Sanniang who married with a
mortal scholar.[18]

Anitism
In the indigenous religions originating from the Philippines, collectively called Anitism, demigods abound
in various ethnic stories. Many of these demigods equal major gods and goddesses in power and influence.
Notable examples include Mayari, the Tagalog moon goddess who governs the world every night,[19][20]
Tala, the Tagalog star goddess,[19] Hanan, the Tagalog morning goddess,[19] Apo Anno, a Kankanaey
demigod hero,[21] Oryol, a Bicolano half-snake demi-goddess who brought peace to the land after
defeating all beasts in Ibalon,[22] Laon, a Hiligaynon demigod who can talk to animals and defeated the
mad dragon at Mount Kanlaon,[23] Ovug, an Ifugao thunder and lightning demigod who has separate
animations in both the upper and earth worlds,[24] Takyayen, a Tinguian demigod and son of the star
goddess Gagayoma,[25] and the three Suludnon demigod sons of Alunsina, namely Labaw Dongon,
Humadapnon, and Dumalapdap.[26]

Modern use
The term demigod first appeared in English in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, when it was
used to render the Greek and Roman concepts of semideus and daemon.[4] Since then, it has frequently
been applied figuratively to people of extraordinary ability.[27] John Milton states in Paradise Lost that
angels are demigods.[28]
In Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series, based on the 1997 film, while the title character was only
referred to as a mortal in the film, he was referred to as a demigod in the series. He also had cousins appear
in the series, like Triton, the son of Poseidon.

Demigods are important figures in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books, in which many of the characters,
including Percy Jackson himself, are demigods. In Riordan's work, a demigod is defined as an individual
born of one human and one divine parent.[29]

See also
Chinese demigods
Christ myth hypothesis
Greek hero cult
Greek mythology
List of demigods

References
1. Woody Lamonte, G. (2002). Black Thoughts for White America (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=I3eEcWFMJ2EC&q=demigod+male+god+and+female+humans&pg=PA21).
ISBN 9780595261659.
2. Siikala, Anna-Leena (2013). Itämerensuomalaisten mytologia. Finnish Literature Society.
ISBN 978-952-222-393-7.
3. Siikala, Anna-Leena (30 July 2007). "Väinämöinen" (https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbio
grafia/henkilo/5435). Kansallisbiografia. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
4. Oxford English Dictionary. Vol. 3. UK: Oxford University Press. 1961. p. 180.
5. Weinstock, Stefan (1971). Divus Julius (https://archive.org/details/divusjulius00wein)
(Reprinted ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 53 (https://archive.org/details/divusjulius00wei
n/page/n57). ISBN 0198142870. "[...] 'semideus' [...] seems to have been coined by Ovid."
6. Talbert, Charles H. (January 1, 1975). "The Concept of Immortals in Mediterranean
Antiquity". Journal of Biblical Literature. 94 (3): 419–436. doi:10.2307/3265162 (https://doi.or
g/10.2307%2F3265162). ISSN 0021-9231 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0021-9231).
JSTOR 3265162 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3265162).
7. William, Hansen (2005). Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks
and Romans. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 199. ISBN 0195300351.
8. Nagy, Gregory (2018). Greek Mythology and Poetics. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-
150-173-202-7.
9. Price, Theodora Hadzisteliou (1 January 1973). "Hero-Cult and Homer". Historia: Zeitschrift
für Alte Geschichte. 22 (2): 129–144. ISSN 0018-2311 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0018-2
311). JSTOR 4435325 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4435325).
10. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1894). A Greek–English Lexicon (5th ed.). Oxford:
Oxford University Press. p. 596.
11. Dio, Cassius. Roman History. 43.21.2.
12. Fishwick, Duncan (January 1, 1975). "The Name of the Demigod". Historia: Zeitschrift für
Alte Geschichte. 24 (4): 624–628. ISSN 0018-2311 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0018-231
1). JSTOR 4435475 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4435475).
13. Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1980). An Elementary Latin Dictionary (Revised ed.).
Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 767. ISBN 9780198642015.
14. Lucan. The Civil War. Vol. Book 9.
15. Capella, Martianus. De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii. 2.156.
16. Macbain, Alexander, ed. (1888). "The Celtic Magazin" (https://books.google.com/books?id=
5WZJAAAAMAAJ). 13. Inverness: A. and W. Mackenzie: 282. "The Irish Fraoch is a
demigod, and his story presents that curious blending of the rationalised supernatural - that
is , the euhemerised or minimised supernatural - with the usual incidents of a hero's life, a
blending which is characteristic of Irish tales about Cuchulain and the early heroes, who, in
reality, are only demigods, but who have been fondly deemed by ancient tale-tellers and
modern students to have been real historical characters exaggerated into mythic
proportions."
17. George M. Williams (2008). Handbook of Hindu Mythology (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=N7LOZfwCDpEC). Oxford University Press. pp. 21, 24, 63, 138. ISBN 978-0-19-
533261-2., Quote: "His vehicle was Garuda, the sun bird" (p. 21); "(...) Garuda, the great sun
eagle, (...)" (p. 74)
18. Yuan, Haiwang (2006). The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales From the Han Chinese.
Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 1-59158-294-6.
19. Notes on Philippine Divinities, F. Landa Jocano
20. Philippine Myths, Legends, and Folktales | Maximo Ramos | 1990
21. "Benguet community races against time to save Apo Anno" (https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/108
1535/benguet-community-races-against-time-to-save-apo-anno). 5 February 2019.
22. Three Tales From Bicol, Perla S. Intia, New Day Publishers, 1982
23. Philippine Folk Literature: The Myths, Damiana L. Eugenio, UP Press 1993
24. Beyer, 1913
25. Cole M. C., 1916
26. Hinilawod: Adventures of Humadapnon, chanted by Hugan-an and recorded by Dr. F. Landa
Jocano, Metro Manila: 2000, Punlad Research House, ISBN 9716220103
27. "demigod" (http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/demigod). Collins English
Dictionary. Collins. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
28. Milton, John (1667). Paradise Lost. 9.937.
29. Riordan, Rick (2010). Percy Jackson: The Demigod Diles. London: Puffin Books. p. 71.
ISBN 978-0141329505.

External links
Media related to Demigods at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Demigod&oldid=1083802687"

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