genius
The genius ( Pl. Genien or Latin Genii ) was the personal protective spirit of a man in the Roman religion and an expression of his personality, his destiny and especially his fertility. With the death of the man, the genius died out.
description
Originally the geniuses were ancestral spirits who watched over their descendants. From these personal protective spirits developed, to whom one sacrificed and from whom one hoped for help and inspiration in difficult life situations. The festival of genius was the bearer's birthday.
Since the genius was seen as a kind of operating principle, other collectives such as troops and colleges, but also places ( genius loci ) such as provinces, cities, markets and theaters could have a genius. From there to the overarching Genius of Rome ( Genius urbis Romae or Genius populi Romani ) is only one step. In the imperial cult eventually was Genius Augusti revered.
In the Aramaic language, the genius corresponded to gny ' , vocalized ginnaya (plural ginnayē ). These were comparable guardian spirits in northern Arabia who were thought of as human beings and were often addressed in pairs. At the time, they resembled the Arab idea of the jinn . Both terms originally referred to full deities, they were worshiped as such or at least as serving and protecting angels . The epithet šbb ' (“close, near”) alludes to the guarding function of the ginnayē . It was only under the influence of Islam that the jinn were degraded to ghosts with rather little use.
The genius was usually depicted with a beard (later also as a boy), with a bare upper body, a cornucopia and mostly a sacrificial bowl. The genius loci often appears in the form of a snake . In Roman art, genii are also depicted as winged beings.
The female Juno corresponded to the male genius . The Greek daimon corresponds to the Roman genius .
See also
literature
- Werner Eisenhut: Genius. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 2, Stuttgart 1967, Col. 741 f.
- Wilhelm Friedrich Hermann Reinwald : From Geniis. Friedemann Christoph Hartmann, Meiningen 1768.
- Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler : Genius. On the history of the impact of ancient mythologems in Goethe's time . Beck, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-406-03916-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Javier Teixidor: The Pantheon of Palmyra. Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Émpire romain 79. Leiden 1979, p. 77 f