eidolon

ancestor intermediate Ancient Greece single tradition · 1

In ancient Greek literature, an eidolon is a spirit-image of a living or dead person; a shade or phantom look-alike of the human form. In the Homeric epic, it plays two functions: one as an image of the dead; and, as the deceased in propria persona.

When

First attested
800 BCE
Attested period
-800 – -100
Historical notes
Appears in Homeric epic poems.

Relationships

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Sources

wikipedia (1)

Source passages

“Homer uses the concept as a free-standing idea that gives Helen life after death. Euripides entangles it with the idea of kleos, the one being the product of the other.”

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