Inpolytheistic religions and mythologies, ademigod ordemigoddess is a being half-divine and half-mortal born of adeity and ahuman, or any other mortal creature[1][better source needed] or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). Animmortal demigod often hastutelary status and areligious cult following, while amortal demigod is one who has fallen or died, but is popular as alegendary hero. Figuratively, the term is used to describe a person whose talents or abilities are so elevated that they appear to approach divinity.
TheEnglish term "demi-god" is acalque of theLatin wordsemideus, "half-god".[4] The Roman poetOvid probablycoinedsemideus to refer to less-important gods, such asdryads.[5]Compare theGreekhemitheos. 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 ofsemideus and daemon.[4][6]Since then, it has frequently been applied figuratively to people of extraordinary ability.[7]
In theancient Greek andRoman world, the concept of a demigod did not have a consistent definition and associated terminology rarely appeared.[8][need quotation to verify]
The earliest recorded use of the term occurs in texts attributed to thearchaic Greek poetsHomer andHesiod. Both describe dead heroes ashemitheoi, 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.[9] Instead, those who demonstrated "strength, power, good family, and good behavior" were termedheroes, and after death they could be calledhemitheoi,[10] a process that has been referred to as "heroization".[11]Pindar also used the term frequently as a synonym for "hero".[12]
According to the Roman authorCassius Dio, theRoman Senate declaredJulius Caesar a demigod after his 46 BCE victory atThapsus.[13] 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.[14]
The first Roman to employ the term "demigod" may have been the poetOvid (17 or 18 CE), who used the Latinsemideus several times in reference to minor deities.[15] The poetLucan (39-65) also uses the term to speak ofPompey attaining divinity upon his death in 48 BCE.[16] In later antiquity, the Roman writerMartianus Capella (fl. 410-420) proposed a hierarchy of gods as follows:[17]
TheCeltic warriorCú Chulainn, a major protagonist in the Irishnational epic theTáin Bo Cuailnge, ranks as ahero or as a demigod.[18] He is the son of theIrish godLugh and the mortal princessDeichtine.[19]
In the immediate pre-Roman period, the Celtic Gallaceian tribe in Portugal made powerful, large stonestatues of deified local heroes, which stood on hill forts in the mountainous regions of - what is today -Northern Portugal andSpanish Galicia.
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InHinduism, the term demigod is used to refer to deities who were once human and later becamedevas (gods). There are two notable demigods inVedic Scriptures:
Nandi (thedivine vehicle ofShiva), andGaruda (the divine vehicle ofVishnu).[20] Examples of demigods worshiped inSouth India areMadurai Veeran andKaruppu Sami.
The heroes of the Hindu epicMahabharata, the fivePandava brothers and their half brotherKarna, fit the Western definition of demigods though they are generally not referred to as such. QueenKunti, the wife of KingPandu, 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 wereYudhishthira (child ofDharmaraj),Bhima (child ofVayu) andArjuna (child ofIndra). She taught this mantra toMadri, King Pandu's other wife, and she immaculately conceived twin boys namedNakula andSahadeva (children of theAshvins). 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 bless her.Bhishma is another figures who fits the western definition of demigod, as he was the son of KingShantanu and GoddessGanga.
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 theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) translates the Sanskrit word "deva" as "demigod" in his literature when the term referred to a God other than theSupreme Lord. This is because theVaishnava 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 ofdeva. However, there are at least three occurrences in the eleventh chapter of Bhagavad-Gita where the worddeva, used in reference to LordKrishna, is translated as "Lord". The worddeva can be used to refer to the Supreme Lord, celestial beings, and saintly souls depending on the context. This is similar to the wordBhagavan, which is translated according to different contexts.
Among the demigods inChinese mythology,Erlang Shen andChen Xiang are most prominent. In theJourney to the West, theJade Emperor's younger sisterYaoji 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.[21]
Chen Xiang is nephew of Erlang Shen, birth by his younger sisterHuayue Sanniang who married with a mortal scholar.[21]
Abe no Seimei, a famousonmyōji from theHeian period was supposed to be one. His father, Abe no Yasuna (安倍 保名), was human. Still, his motherKuzunoha, was aKitsune, a divine fox, being this the origin of Abe no Seimei's magical prowess.
In the indigenous religions originating from thePhilippines, collectively calledAnitism, 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,[22][23] Tala, the Tagalog star goddess,[22] Hanan, the Tagalog morning goddess,[22] Apo Anno, a Kankanaey demigod hero,[24] Oryol, a Bicolano half-snake demi-goddess who brought peace to the land after defeating all beasts in Ibalon,[25] Laon, a Hiligaynon demigod who can talk to animals and defeated the mad dragon at Mount Kanlaon,[26] Ovug, an Ifugao thunder and lightning demigod who has separate animations in both the upper and earth worlds,[27] Takyayen, a Tinguian demigod and son of the star goddess Gagayoma,[28] and the three Suludnon demigod sons of Alunsina, namely Labaw Dongon, Humadapnon, and Dumalapdap.[29]
[...] 'semideus' [...] seems to have been coined by Ovid.
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.
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