Mephistopheles: the demon who rejects the light (and torments Faust)

Mephistopheles: the demon who rejects light.

Mephistopheles’ celebrity is primarily literary, although his name is mentioned in several grimoires and banned books of the Middle Ages.

That literary history of Mephistopheles begins with the legend of the doctor SplendorGerman scientist and occultist whose life forged the cultural parameters of the satanic pact.

This satanic pact was made between Splendor and Mephistopheleswho in exchange for granting him wisdom, fame, money and pleasures for twenty-four consecutive years, ensured the acquisition of his soul once the term had expired.

Although the myth of the purchase of souls and spiritual benefits is notoriously old and appears in various cultures, none is comparable to the model established by Mephistopheles and Splendor, which would culminate in three masterpieces of literature: the Faust of the Elizabethan playwright Marlowe, the Faust of Goethe, and finally that of Thomas Mann; in addition to having multiple other testimonies based on his copious oral tradition.

Mephistopheles (also called Mephisto) does not come from Hebrew myths, much less from biblical myths, but from the copious and ancient Norse mythology, although his name seems to directly relate him to Greek myths.

Indeed, Mephistopheles He was a practically unknown demon in classical antiquity. His name comes from the Greek mephostophiles, which means “he who rejects the light”; strange nickname for a representative of the Luciferian aspect of evil and, consequently, a giver of knowledge who likes to tempt and make proposals to the lucid, artists and intellectuals.

During the Renaissance he was known by the name Mephostófiles, from which the most plausible of his etymologies is derived. In this variant, its name comes from the Greek negative particle μὴof φῶςwhich means “light”, and φιλής, “he who loves.” Therefore, Mephostófiles could be translated as “he who does not love the light.”

However, there are other interpretations. Some point out that his real name was Mefaustofiles, that is, “the enemy of Faustus”; or Mefiz-Tofel, which in Hebrew means “destroyer-liar.”

The personality of Mephistopheles It is quite ambiguous. On the one hand he is presented as a tragic figure; a being obsessed with diverting men of genius from the path of justice. On the other hand, he appears as a refined and exquisite representative of evil, owner of a cold, calculating, rational mind, with a powerful discursive logic.

Perhaps that is why, throughout his entire history, Mephistopheles leans towards all those who do not conform to the rigidity of dogmas or the narrow walls of revealed truth.

More demonological dictionary. I Dictionary of female demons.

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