Demigod

A demigod or demigoddess is a part-

human and part-divine offspring of a deity
and a human,[1] or a human or non-human
creature that is accorded divine status
after death, or someone who has attained
the "divine spark" (spiritual
enlightenment). An immortal demigod(-
dess) often has tutelary status and a
religious cult following, while a mortal
demigod(-dess) is one who has fallen or
died, but is popular as a legendary hero in
various polytheistic religions. Figuratively,
it is used to describe a person whose
talents or abilities are so superlative that
they appear to approach being divine.

"Cuchulain Slays the Hound of Culain", illustration by Stephen Reid from Eleanor Hull's The Boys' Cuchulain, 1904
Etymology

Väinämöinen, the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala by Elias
Lönnrot,[2] is an old and wise demigod, who possesses a potent, magical singing voice.[3] Picture of the Väinämöinen's
Play by Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1866.

The English term "demi-god" is a calque of

the Latin word semideus, "half-god".[4] The
Roman poet Ovid probably coined
semideus to refer to less important gods,
such as dryads.[5] Compare the Greek
hemitheos.

Classical
In the ancient Greek and Roman world, the
concept of a demigod did not have a
consistent definition and associated
terminology rarely appeared.[6]

The earliest recorded use of the term

occurs in texts attributed to the archaic
Greek poets Homer and Hesiod. Both
describe dead heroes as hemitheoi, 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.[7] Instead, those who
demonstrated "strength, power, good
family, and good behavior" were termed
heroes, and after death they could be
called hemitheoi,[8] a process that has
been referred to as "heroization".[9] Pindar
also used the term frequently as a
synonym for "hero".[10]

According to the Roman author Cassius

Dio, the Roman Senate declared Julius
Caesar a demigod after his 46 BCE victory
at Thapsus.[11] 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.[12]

The first Roman to employ the term

"demigod" may have been the poet Ovid
(17 or 18 CE), who used the Latin
semideus several times in reference to
minor deities.[13] The poet Lucan (39-65)
also uses the term to speak of Pompey
attaining divinity upon his death in 48
BCE.[14] In later antiquity, the Roman writer
Martianus Capella (fl. 410-420) proposed a
hierarchy of gods as follows:[15]

the gods proper, or major gods

the genii or daemones
 the demigods or semones (who dwell in
the upper atmosphere)
the manes and ghosts of heroes (who
dwell in the lower atmosphere)
the earth-dwelling gods like fauns and
satyrs

Celtic
The Celtic warrior Cú Chulainn, a major
protagonist in the Irish national epic the
Táin Bo Cuailnge, ranks as a hero or as a
demigod.[16] He is the son of the Irish god
Lugh and the mortal princess Deichtine.

In the immediate pre-Roman period, the

celtic Gallaceian tribe in Portugal made
powerful, large stone statues of deified
local heroes, which stood on hill forts in
the mountainous regions of - what is today
- Northern Portugal and Galicia.

in the 1st century CE celtic peoples in the north of portugal built statues of deified local heroes which stood as guardians
over hill forts

Hinduism
In Hinduism, the term demigod is used to
refer to deities who were once human and
later became devas (gods). There are two
notable demigods in Vedic Scriptures:

Nandi (the divine vehicle of Shiva), and

Garuda (the divine steed of Vishnu).[17]
Examples of demigods worshiped in South
India are Madurai Veeran and Karuppu
Sami.

The heroes of the Hindu epic

Mahabharata, the five Pandava brothers, fit
the Western definition of demigods though
they are generally not referred to as such.
Queen Kunti, the wife of King Pandu, 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 were Yudhishthira
(child of Dharmaraj), Bhima (child of Vayu)
and Arjuna (child of Indra). She taught this
mantra to Madri, King Pandu's other wife,
and she immaculately conceived twin boys
named Nakula and Sahadeva (children of
the Ashvins). 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 impregnate
her. Bhishma is another figures who fits
the western definition of demigod, as he
was the son of king Shantanu and
Goddess Ganga.

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 the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
translates the Sanskrit word "deva" as
"demigod" in his literature when the term
referred to a God other than the Supreme
Lord. This is because the ISKCON 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 of deva.
However, there are at least three
occurrences in the eleventh chapter of
Bhagavad-Gita where the word deva, used
in reference to Lord Krishna, is translated
as "Lord". The word deva can be used to
refer to the Supreme Lord, celestial beings,
and saintly souls depending on the
context. This is similar to the word
Bhagavan, which is translated according to
different contexts.

China
Among the demigods in Chinese
mythology, Erlang Shen and Chen Xiang
are most prominent. In the Journey to the
West, the Jade Emperor's younger sister
Yaoji 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.[18]

Chen Xiang is nephew of Erlang Shen, birth

by his younger sister Huayue Sanniang
who married with a mortal scholar.[18]

Japan
Abe no Seimei, a famous onmyōji from the
Heian period was supposed to be one. His
father, Abe no Yasuna ( 安倍 保名), was
human. Still, his mother Kuzunoha, was a
Kitsune, a divine fox, being this the origin
of Abe no Seimei's magical prowress.

Anitism
In the indigenous religions originating
from the Philippines, collectively called
Anitism, 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,[19][20] Tala,
the Tagalog star goddess,[19] Hanan, the
Tagalog morning goddess,[19] Apo Anno, a
Kankanaey demigod hero,[21] Oryol, a
Bicolano half-snake demi-goddess who
brought peace to the land after defeating
all beasts in Ibalon,[22] Laon, a Hiligaynon
demigod who can talk to animals and
defeated the mad dragon at Mount
Kanlaon,[23] Ovug, an Ifugao thunder and
lightning demigod who has separate
animations in both the upper and earth
worlds,[24] Takyayen, a Tinguian demigod
and son of the star goddess Gagayoma,[25]
and the three Suludnon demigod sons of
Alunsina, namely Labaw Dongon,
Humadapnon, and Dumalapdap.[26]

Polynesian

Samoan

Tongan

Māori

Māui

Hawaii

Māui
Modern use
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 of
semideus and daemon.[4] Since then, it has
frequently been applied figuratively to
people of extraordinary ability.[27] John
Milton states in Paradise Lost that angels
are demigods.[28]

In Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series,

based on the 1997 film, while the title
character was only referred to as a mortal
in the film, he was referred to as a
demigod in the series. He also had
cousins appear in the series, like Triton,
the son of Poseidon.

In the Inuyasha franchise, the Nintendo DS

video game Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine
Jewel, in the Heian period, a human named
Tsugumi and fell in love with a god named
Datara and gave birth to a demigod
daughter. After Tsugumi killed her child
from the hands of Gorai and the demon
mask have been put on her husband as
she sealed him by using the Lightning
Sealing Arrow during the interruption of
Tsugumi's and Datara's wedding ceremony
in 1000 AD, it reincarnated to American girl
named Janis. In Yashahime: Princess Half-
Demon, in the Sengoku period, a human
named Oharu who fell in love with a god
named Mahiruma and gave birth to a
demigod son named Goro.

In The Mummy Returns, a man named

Mathayus the Scorpion King have been
nearly dead in the Sahara Desert, and he
was forced to make a deal with Anubis,
where he would give Anubis his soul if
Anubis helped him defeat his enemies.
Anubis fulfilled his part of the deal and
helped Mathayus destroy Thebes,
providing him with command of his army
of Anubis Warriors, jackal-headed warriors
that can only be killed by beheading.
Afterwards Anubis transformed Mathayus
into a centaurid scorpion-monster
possessing a humanoid head and torso
with scorpion claws and main body in
place of his hands and legs, condemned to
serve him for all time as a demigod.

Demigods are important figures in Rick

Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians
books, in which many of the characters,
including the titular character himself, are
demigods. In Riordan's work, a demigod is
defined as an individual born of one
human and one divine parent.[29]
In the God of War franchise by Santa
Monica Studio, developed for PlayStation
consoles, the main protagonist Kratos and
his brother Deimos are revealed to be
demigods as they are the sons of the
Olympian god Zeus and his human wife
Callisto.

In Moana the 2016 film, Maui have been

abandoned by his human parents as a
baby, the gods took pity on him and made
him a demigod and gave him a magic fish
hook that gives him the ability to shape-
shift. In the song "Shiny" composed by Lin-
Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina,
Tamatoa called Maui "Ya little semi-demi-
mini-god".

See also
Chinese demigods
Christ myth theory
Greek hero cult
Greek mythology
List of demigods

References
1. Woody Lamonte, G. (2002). Black Thoughts
for White America (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=I3eEcWFMJ2EC&q=demigod+
male+god+and+female+humans&pg=PA2
 1) . ISBN 9780595261659.
2. Siikala, Anna-Leena (2013).
Itämerensuomalaisten mytologia. Finnish
Literature Society. ISBN 978-952-222-393-7.
3. Siikala, Anna-Leena (30 July 2007).
"Väinämöinen" (https://kansallisbiografia.fi/
kansallisbiografia/henkilo/5435) .
Kansallisbiografia. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
4. Oxford English Dictionary. Vol. 3. UK:
Oxford University Press. 1961. p. 180.
5. Weinstock, Stefan (1971). Divus Julius (http
s://archive.org/details/divusjulius00wein)
(Reprinted ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
p. 53 (https://archive.org/details/divusjuliu
s00wein/page/n57) . ISBN 0198142870. "
[...] 'semideus' [...] seems to have been
coined by Ovid."
6. Talbert, Charles H. (January 1, 1975). "The
Concept of Immortals in Mediterranean
Antiquity". Journal of Biblical Literature. 94
(3): 419–436. doi:10.2307/3265162 (http
s://doi.org/10.2307%2F3265162) .
ISSN 0021-9231 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/issn/0021-9231) . JSTOR 3265162 (http
s://www.jstor.org/stable/3265162) .
7. William, Hansen (2005). Classical
Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World
of the Greeks and Romans. New York:
Oxford University Press. p. 199.
ISBN 0195300351.
8. Nagy, Gregory (2018). Greek Mythology and
Poetics. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-
150-173-202-7.
 9. Price, Theodora Hadzisteliou (1 January
1973). "Hero-Cult and Homer". Historia:
Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 22 (2): 129–
144. ISSN 0018-2311 (https://www.worldca
t.org/issn/0018-2311) . JSTOR 4435325 (ht
tps://www.jstor.org/stable/4435325) .
10. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1894).
A Greek–English Lexicon (5th ed.). Oxford:
Oxford University Press. p. 596.
11. Dio, Cassius. Roman History. 43.21.2.
12. Fishwick, Duncan (January 1, 1975). "The
Name of the Demigod". Historia: Zeitschrift
für Alte Geschichte. 24 (4): 624–628.
ISSN 0018-2311 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/issn/0018-2311) . JSTOR 4435475 (http
s://www.jstor.org/stable/4435475) .
13. Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1980). An
Elementary Latin Dictionary (Revised ed.).
Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 767.
ISBN 9780198642015.
14. Lucan. The Civil War. Vol. Book 9.
15. Capella, Martianus. De nuptiis Philologiae
et Mercurii. 2.156.
16. Macbain, Alexander, ed. (1888). "The Celtic
Magazin" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=5WZJAAAAMAAJ) . 13. Inverness: A.
and W. Mackenzie: 282. "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."
17. George M. Williams (2008). Handbook of
Hindu Mythology (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=N7LOZfwCDpEC) . Oxford
University Press. pp. 21, 24, 63, 138.
ISBN 978-0-19-533261-2., Quote: "His
vehicle was Garuda, the sun bird" (p. 21); "
(...) Garuda, the great sun eagle, (...)" (p. 74)
18. Yuan, Haiwang (2006). The Magic Lotus
Lantern and Other Tales From the Han
Chinese. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 1-59158-
294-6.
19. Notes on Philippine Divinities, F. Landa
Jocano
20. Philippine Myths, Legends, and Folktales |
Maximo Ramos | 1990
21. "Benguet community races against time to
save Apo Anno" (https://newsinfo.inquirer.n
et/1081535/benguet-community-races-agai
nst-time-to-save-apo-anno) . 5 February
2019.
22. Three Tales From Bicol, Perla S. Intia, New
Day Publishers, 1982
23. Philippine Folk Literature: The Myths,
Damiana L. Eugenio, UP Press 1993
24. Beyer, 1913
25. Cole M. C., 1916
26. Hinilawod: Adventures of Humadapnon,
chanted by Hugan-an and recorded by Dr. F.
Landa Jocano, Metro Manila: 2000, Punlad
Research House, ISBN 9716220103
 27. "demigod" (https://www.collinsdictionary.co
m/dictionary/english/demigod) . Collins
English Dictionary. Collins. Retrieved
2 August 2013.
28. Milton, John (1667). Paradise Lost. 9.937.
29. Riordan, Rick (2010). Percy Jackson: The
Demigod Diles. London: Puffin Books. p. 71.
ISBN 978-0141329505.

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