On Thu, 16 Oct 2003, Johne Cook wrote:
>I do, too, because it refers to a concept and not a literal fallen
>angel, a spirit being of the same name.
>
"fallen angel", bah.
And for that matter, there's also this:
"That's true, Mr.--Mr.--Demon," said the boy. "Excuse me if I
don't get your name right, but I understood you to say you are a
demon."
"Certainly. The Demon of Electricity."
"But electricity is a good thing, you know, and--and--"
"Well?"
"I've always understood that demons were bad things," added Rob,
boldly.
"Not necessarily," returned his visitor. "If you will take the
trouble to consult your dictionary, you will find that demons may
be either good or bad, like any other class of beings. Originally
all demons were good, yet of late years people have come to
consider all demons evil. I do not know why. Should you read
Hesiod you will find he says:
'Soon was a world of holy demons made,
Aerial spirits, by great Jove designed
To be on earth the guardians of mankind.'"
"But Jove was himself a myth," objected Rob, who had been
studying mythology.
The Demon shrugged his shoulders.
"Then take the words of Mr. Shakespeare, to whom you all defer," he
replied. "Do you not remember that he says:
'Thy demon (that's thy spirit which keeps thee) is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable.'"
"Oh, if Shakespeare says it, that's all right," answered the boy.
"But it seems you're more like a genius, for you answer the summons
of the Master Key of Electricity in the same way Aladdin's genius
answered the rubbing of the lamp."
"To be sure. A demon is also a genius; and a genius is a demon,"
said the Being. "What matters a name? I am here to do your bidding."
-- The Master Key, by L. Frank Baum
And as for spelling it one way or the other, I note that the OED says:
Socrates himself claimed to be guided, not by a /daimon/
[delta-alpha-iota_accent-mu-omega-nu] or dæmon, but by a /daimonion/
[delta-alpha-iota-mu-omicron_accent-nu-iota-omicron-nu], divinum
quiddam (Cicero), a certain divine principle or agency, an inward
monitor or oracle. It was his accusers who represented this as a
personal dæmon, and the same was done by the Christian Fathers
(under the influence of sense 2), whence the English use of the
word, as in the quotations.
The OED has the Shakespeare quote as well, and it's from /Antony and
Cleopatra/, just in case anyone is interested.