Analogous to the Western concept of Faerie, there exists in the Greek world the exotiká
A main doctrinal point of Orthodoxy is NO DUALISM. Satan is not to be regarded as a power equal to God. He is God's creation and operates subject to divine will. The following are further doctrinal points, in some cases best regarded as tendencies, which arise in the light of this crucial distinction.
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Most of the exotiká contravene at least one of these tendencies and thus, from an informed theological viewpoint, they could not masquerade as the Devil or as demons (fallen angels), the only categories within Orthodoxy where they could possibly fit. One would expect as a result that they should be regarded as pernicious superstitions whenever recognized by the Church. Indeed this is often the case. At times individual exotiká such as kallikántzaroi or vyrkólakes receive direct excoriation while in other places the whole group, referred to as "demons" (daímones), is dismissed as non-Christian. For the most part, however, the exotiká did not arouse the same sort of concerted reaction as Bogomilism. This is probably because they are not a theological system. Furthermore, they are not supported by a set of alternative ritual practices; they are not promulgated by a distinct sect posing a more direct social threat to the Orthodox community. Unlike Bogomilism, the disordered set of beliefs and opinions that comprise the exotiká only infringe on Orthodox theological tendencies. They do not obviously and flagrantly contravene the sanction against dualism.
Protection of its ritual and social authority is important to the Church. The exotiká attracted stern disapproval only where they underpinned alternative ritual practices such as astrology, sorcery or divination. For the most part, however, they were left alone as a body of relatively benign beliefs. Although the exotiká could potentially have been distinguished from Orthodox conceptions of the Devil and the demons listed above, people were not always so vigilant and analytical. They often did not bother to make a distinction.
The difficulty of isolating the exotiká is attributable to a number of factors, including the historical interrelation among Hellenistic Greek, Hebrew and Christian cosmologies. Greek paganism, which largely set the tone of religious culture in Greece at the time of Christ, drew almost no distinction between daímones and theoí (gods). They existed together as a class of air spirits situated in the lower atmosphere between man and an abolsute god who, in Stoic and Neo-Platonist thought, was increasingly considered as unitary and more akin to a philosophical principle than a deity to whom a cult should be addressed. As E.R. Dodds observed,
Virtually everyone, pagan, Jewish, Christian or Gnostic, believed in the existence of these beings and in their function as mediators, whether he called them daemons or angels or aions or simply "spirits." In the eyes of many pious pagans even the gods of Greek mythology were by this time no more than mediating daemons, satraps of an invisible and supramundane King.
Despite this elaborate demonology, there existed no indigenous Greek category corresponding to "the Devil." There was no prince of evil. Satan was a Hebrew concept, "diáblos" its direct translation into Classical Greek. The root sense of both of these words would have been "opponent," although diáblos in Greek has more the sense of "slanderer, calumniator." In the New Testament the terms "Satan" and "devil" are used thirty-three times each, in addition to other expressions such as Bellzebul, the Tempter, the Evil One and Beliar.
The Devil, even though a new concept, was given no systematic introduction. Apparently, Greek converts to Christianity made perfect sense of him on the basis of existing concepts (e.g., familiar chthonic deities such as Pan and the satyrs). The historian Jeffrey Burton Russell considers this the likely reason why certain diabolical attributes such as goat horns and geet, hairiness and a large phallus were elaborated above other features mentioned in the New Testament. Meanwhile, the very satyrs, sprites and spirits that were drawn upon in the construction of the Devil continued to form part of everyday local belief throughout the Greek-speaking world. These same creatures that funded the Greek conception of the Devil similarly informed representations of the exotiká. It can be easily argued that they themselves simply evolved historically into the exotiká.
The scriptural basis of the Devil and the doctrinal tendencies of Chruch tradition regarding the Devil were, to some extent, internalized by the population at large. The effect of these stated Church propositions were to create a sense - strongest among theologians, but diffused throughout all levels of society - that there exist two markedly different bodies of knowledge pertaining to demonology: the conception of the Devil and his demons (Orthodox) and that of the various named exotiká (superstitions). The high degree of similarity between the Devil and the exotiká, both in form and moral function, was ignored even though it could be taken as indicative of a continuum between the two. Orthodox theology could thus be said to have selected and elaborated the Devil from an indigenous Greek cultural, symbolic category and then legislated a distinction between this elaboration and the indigenous category that had funded it.
In some contexts it seems certain that people were aware that a given story concerned a specific exotikó. In telling it, however, they purposely - perhaps even under duress at times - changed this name to "devil" in order to escape the charge of superstitiousness. Delatte remarks that the word "spirit" (pnévma) was systematically substituted for "demon" (daímon) both in Greece and elsewhere during the Middle Ages "to avoid the accusation of demon worship."
Because Christianity is an indigenous great tradition in Greece (i.e., the product of local elaboration rather than an outside, perhaps colonial imposition) it is conceivable that people could not easily tell the difference between the Devil and the exotiká (or, for that matter, between saints and heroes). This in turn may have led to a further mixing of the two categories. Given the degree of formal similarity between demons and their Devil, their different names were practically the only way of keeping them separate. Arbitrary literalism thus often obscured deeper theological issues. If something was called the Devul, then it had to be the Devil; if a demon was called a gorgóna or gelló, it was categorically a "non-Chrtistian" supersition, no matter how conventional or innocuous its action. In any case, the Church did allow that the Devil could assume innumerable forms, which meant that any exotikó could be viewed as a metamorphosis of Satan. Such a view enables the strategic accomodation of the exotiká completely within the framework of Orthodox faith.
The very Orthodox rituals - churching, baptism and exorcism - that are effective against the Devil are popularly held to be equally effective against the exotiká. Many stories regarding child-stealing female demons speak of how their power is neutralized once the mother is churched and the baby is baptized. In other accounts, involving the full range of exotiká, a frequent solution to demonic attack is to call the priest to read an exorcism. Besides rituals, certain christian symbols were used to ward off the Devil are also the most effective against the exotiká: the sign of the cross, recitation of a few lines of prayer or Scripture, holy water and even spitting. A number of non-Christian apotropaics such as black-handled knives and magic circles are also frequently mentioned in popular accounts as being efficacious not only against the exotiká, but the Devil as well. The absence of discrete ritual and apotropaic practices has further contributed to the uncertain division between Orthodox and non-Orthodox demons.
Not suprisingly, in view of all these formal convergences, evidence from throughout Greece indicates a broad linguistic conflation of the exotiká with the devil. The whole range of exotiká may be referred to by generic terms such as diávoloi/diavólisses (devils, masc. and fem.), daímones (demons), peirasmoí (tempters), ponirá or kaká pnévmata (deceitful, evil spirits) or satanádes (satanic beings). Most of these names are also used, sometimes in slightly varying forms to refer to the Devil in the New Testament.
The following account explains the close relation of the devil and various exotiká by reference to a mythical event that seemingly confuses Christian theology with the historical decline of paganism:
In the time of the ancient Greeks, the ancient Greeks wanted to assert their superiority over God. So they no longer set foot in the church; instead they came mounted on horseback and they speared the host with their swords without even dismounting. God struck them down there and transformed them into devils. The Archangel them warned him, "Dear God, when all those falling reach earth they will set the whole world on fire!" God answered him, "Hold them back," and the Archangel commanded the ancient Greeks, "By God's command, stop where you are and disperse!" What happened next? Those which had not quite reached earth became air demons; those which had already fallen to earth became mountain demons, whule the rest, which had fallen in the sea, became nereids.
Some accounts of devils do not noticeably diverge from traditional Orthodox notions of the Devil, while others begin in accordance with Church doctrine but then proceed in un-Orthodox directions. Other accounts apparently have nothing whatsoever to do with Orthodox tradition. In north central Greece, the devil and the exotiká play musical instruments in riverbeds. If one hears such music, especially at night, one should head in the opposite direction. Elsewhere it is held that the devils lay their table at crossroads, and if people should walk by and accidently step on the table, the demons attack, driving their victims insane or else bewitching them.
Thus far an attempt has been made to uncover the criteria distinguishing the Orthodox Devil from the popular devil and the exotiká generally. While the Church posits a sharp division between the two, both formal criteria and lay opinion argue in favor of a continuum joining them. Importantly, popular traditions seem to have influenced the Church view almost as much as Church doctrine has affected popular conceptions.
The exotiká are not the abstract evil principle as the Devil. Instead, they mediate the Church's almost philosophical notion of evil and translate it into humanly perceptible terms. At times their action may be ambiguous and not evil.
The saints stand in an opposite, but analogous position to the exotiká. They mediate between humanity and the abstract principle of beneficence, Divinity. Saints are humans become like God, while the exotiká are often demons become like humans.
The nymphs appear often in Greek and Roman mythology, sometimes as objects of lust, sometimes as wives or mothers of better known characters. They form a rather ill-defined group of characters. What they have in common is that they are always female, beautiful, and closely related to nature. In terms of power and importance, they are somewhere between gods and humans. "They rank neither with mortals nor with immortals: long indeed do they live, eating heavenly food and treading the lovely dance among the immortals" (Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.247). They can grant prayers and are sometimes worshipped but they are not found on Olympus with the other gods. The nymphs were either immortal of long-lived. According to Pausanias, the "poets say the nymphs live a great number of years but are not entirely exempt from death" (Description of Greece; 10.31.10). However, Hesiod refers to Echidna as "an immortal and ageless nymph for all days" (Theogony: 305). Whether or not immortality was common to all of them, all nymphs were ageless. They remained forever young, always at about the age at which women were just on the verge of marriage.
The nymphs were worshipped as a group often along with Dionysus, Demeter, and Pan, all of whom are considered pastoral deities. In Ancient Greece there were altars specifically for the worship of nymphs. On special occasions they were given sacrifices and they were regularly honored with garlands. They sometimes gave oracles and according to Pausanians there was a prophet, Bacis, who was "possessed by nymphs" (Description of Greece: 5.5.11).
The nymphs are often thought of as personifications of the beautiful and gentle aspects of nature. Sometimes they are also seen as protectresses of nature, taking care of the animals that live in their streams, or the trees that grow in their forests. The male equivalent of nymph is thought to be the satyr, although the two groups did not usually get along. Satyrs were somewhat more bestial and often tried to rape the nymphs. Nymphs have also been compared to the fairies of other cultural legends.
Nymphs are characterized by youth, beauty, and a carefree nature. As described by Longus, "their feet were bare; their arms were bare to the shoulder; their hair hung loose over their necks; they had belts on their waists, smiles on their faces - the whole appearance was that of a group of dancers" ("Daphnis and Chloe", pg. 290). Many of the nymphs were followers of Artemis and therefore insistent on remaining virgins. These nymphs often accompanied Artemis in hunting. Other nymphs took on more stereotypically female roles such as weaving. Nymphs in mythology are often found bringing up children, either their own or someone else's. They were thought to sometimes save and rear children who had been exposed. According to the Pseudo-Apollodoran Library, Zeus himself was nursed by the nymphs Ida and Adrastia (1.1.6).
Types of Nymphs:The nymphs are divided into many groups, some based on parentage, others based on their domain in nature, and still other based on the geographical region over which they presided. Classes of nymphs include: Naiads (presiding over springs and rivers), Potamids (presiding over rivers), Okeanids (daughters of Okeanos and Tethys, usually seen as presiding over the sea), Nereids (daughter of Nereus and Doris, said to preside over the Mediterranean), Dryads/Hamadryads (presiding over forests), Epimeliads (?), Oreads (presiding over mountains), Limoniads (presiding over meadows), Limniads (presiding over lakes, marshes and swamps), Napaea/Auloniads (presiding over valleys), and Pleiades/Atlantids/Hyads (daughters of Atlas by various mothers). These numerous types of nymphs mentioned by modern and ancient sources are not clearly defined and are sometimes overlapping. However, there is usually a distinction made between nymphs of the water and nymphs of the land. Though the nymphs were said to preside over certain aspects of nature, ancient sources often locate them in caves. This is perhaps to explain the fact that they were rarely seen by mortals.
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Last modified: Mon Dec 14, 1998