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Demonology: Demon Names: Mephistopheles

Demons List: Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles (Wikipedia)

Mephistopheles flying over Wittenberg, in a lithograph by Eugène Delacroix.

Mephistopheles (also Mephistophilus, Mephistophilis, Mephostopheles, Mephisto and variants) is a name often given to one representation of the devil or Satan. It is also the name used for the demon in the Faust legend.

Satanic representation

In contrast to the devil usually known as Satan, who appears with cloven hooves and horns, Mephistopheles is usually portrayed as more humanoid, often taking the form of a tall man dressed all in black. An image often associated with this form of the devil is the red book, which people who sell their souls to him must sign. The Staff of Hell is also more closely related with the human Mephistopheles than the goat-like Satan.

In the Faust legend

MEPHISTO_PHILES in the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana attributed to Faust.

The name is associated with the Faust legend of a scholar who wagers his soul against the devil being able to make Faust wish to live, even for a moment, based on the historical Johann Georg Faust.

The name appears in the late 16th century Faust chapbooks. In the 1725 version which was read by Goethe, Mephostophiles is a devil in the form of a greyfriar summoned by Faust in a wood outside Wittenberg. The name Mephistophiles already appears in the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana, printed in Passau, alongside pseudo-Hebrew text. It is best explained as a purposely obscure pseudo-Greek or pseudo-Hebrew formation of Renaissance magic.

From the chapbook, the name enters Faustian literature and is also used by authors from Marlowe down to Goethe. In the 1616 edition of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Mephostophiles became Mephistophilis.

Burton (1992, p. 61) speculates on Greek elements that may have played a part in the coining of the name, including Greek mÄ "not", phÅs "light" and philos "lover", suggesting "not a lover of light" in parody of Lucifer ("light-bearer", a common epithet of Satan); in that case the change from the presumed original mephoto- to mephist- may be due to a suggestion of Latin mephitis ("pungent"). Alternately, phosto- may be a variation of "Faust", yielding "not Faust-loving". Hamlin (2001, p. 9) suggests a derivation from the Hebrew Mephistoph, meaning "destroyer of the good." Another possibility is a combination of the Hebrew words mephiz ("liar") and tophel ("destroyer").

Mephistopheles is also a name for the devil himself. Mephistopheles in later treatments of the Faust material frequently figures as a title character: in Meyer Lutz' Mephistopheles, or Faust and Marguerite (1855), Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868), Klaus Mann's Mephisto, and Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes.

Outside the Faust legend

Shakespeare mentions "Mephistophilus" in the Merry Wives of Windsor (Act1, Sc1, line 128), and by the 17th century, the name had begun to lead an existence independent of the Faust legend. Burton (1992, p. 61) finds, "That the name is a purely modern invention of uncertain origins makes it an elegant symbol of the modern Devil with his many novel and diverse forms."

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Notes

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