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ArchivesDesdemona: Of the devil or ill-fated?
According to someone on Namenerds, it could mean of the devil. Her reasoning:
As far as the etymology goes... dysdaimon, the Greek word that it comes from, contains two elements - dys and daimon. Daimon is also the word that "demon" was derived from. In Greek, though, and someone can correct me if I have this wrong, daimon was used for all theistic beings that weren't gods (ie spirits). Dys simply meant bad, so a literal translation then might have been "bad spirit" - so "of the devil" might not be far off.
On this board, it doesn't.
I'm curious... can it?
As far as the etymology goes... dysdaimon, the Greek word that it comes from, contains two elements - dys and daimon. Daimon is also the word that "demon" was derived from. In Greek, though, and someone can correct me if I have this wrong, daimon was used for all theistic beings that weren't gods (ie spirits). Dys simply meant bad, so a literal translation then might have been "bad spirit" - so "of the devil" might not be far off.
On this board, it doesn't.
I'm curious... can it?
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Replies
It's not far off, but it sounds a little anachronistic to me. The adjective dusdaimon is quite old, and the word daimon itself apparently older--but the farther back you go, the more neutral it is. (The Homeric gods are called daimones.) Fast forward, and classical Greek uses dusdaimon in the sense of "ill-fated." The opposite is eudaimon, "good-fated," and the general idea is this: are the gods/fate/whatever controls stuff on your side or not?
The Devil (in the primarily Christian sense, which I think might be implied here--correct me if I'm wrong) is not referred to as a daimon in the New Testament; the daimones there are lesser baddies that go around infecting people. Incidentally, the instances I found of early Christian authors even using the word dusdaimon consist of quotes from classical authors, e.g. Euripides.
So claiming Desdemona means "of the devil" strikes me as a little off.
The Devil (in the primarily Christian sense, which I think might be implied here--correct me if I'm wrong) is not referred to as a daimon in the New Testament; the daimones there are lesser baddies that go around infecting people. Incidentally, the instances I found of early Christian authors even using the word dusdaimon consist of quotes from classical authors, e.g. Euripides.
So claiming Desdemona means "of the devil" strikes me as a little off.
This message was edited 10/2/2005, 11:01 AM
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I've seen the meaning as 'wretched one'.
We seem to having a Shakespeare theme around the boards lately.
We seem to having a Shakespeare theme around the boards lately.
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