‘He is borne away by an angel,’ ἀγγελοφορᾶται[772], suggests a quiet
passing, as of Lazarus who was carried by the angels into Abraham’s
bosom; while the word ἀγγελομαχεῖ, ‘he is fighting with an angel,’ an
expression used in Laconia of a protracted death-struggle, and again
ἀγγελοκρούσθηκε[773], ‘he was stricken by an angel,’ a term which
denotes a sudden death, argue rather the presence of the evil angel.
Another kind of _genius_ sometimes associated with men is the ἴσκιος
(the modern form of σκιά), the ‘shadow’ personified. The phrase ἔχει
καλὸ ἴσκιο, ‘he has a good shadow,’ is used of a man who enjoys good
fortune, and he himself is described sometimes as καλοΐσκι̯ωτος[774],
‘good-shadowed,’ that is, ‘lucky.’ But apparently a man may also get
into trouble with this shadow no less than with an angel. The word
ἰσκιοπατήθηκε, ‘he has been trampled upon by his shadow[775],’ is
used occasionally of a man who has been stricken down by some sudden,
but not necessarily fatal, illness such as epilepsy or paralysis.
This personification of the shadow as _genius_ is perhaps responsible
in some measure for the fear which the peasant feels of having the
foundation-stone of a building laid upon his shadow; but, as I have
said above, the principle of sympathetic magic will explain the cause
of fear without this supposition.
To these _genii_ might reasonably be added the Fate (ἡ Μοῖρα or, more
rarely, ἡ Τύχη) of each individual. But these lesser Fates, as well as
the great Three, have already been discussed, and there is nothing to
add here save that by virtue of the close connexion of each lesser Fate
with the life of one man these too might be numbered among _genii_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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