Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven

Use in the book

At 984d–e the Athenian places daimons next after and below the visible stellar gods, then the aerial kind in the third and middle seat. The supplied reading distinguishes these with δέ, “and/but,” rather than identifying every daimon as aerial through the apparatus alternative γε. The following sentence discusses two kinds, ether and air, together. In the sequence, the ethereal kind is naturally associated with the daimons immediately below the stars, while the aerial kind occupies the next seat.

The aerial kind is called the cause of interpretation, and prayerful honor is required for the sake of auspicious passage. The exact scope of “passage” should not be over-specified as a detailed posthumous journey. The text soon describes the middle beings' own movement to earth and throughout heaven, and that gives a concrete context for intermediation. A fully elaborated itinerary for dead souls is not supplied here.

At 985a–b both finer middle kinds know all human thought and respond to the good and bad among us. They then interpret everyone and everything to one another and to the highest gods. The breadth of πάντας τε καὶ πάντα is important. The account makes the inhabited universe communicatively connected, not simply a one-direction dispatch of human requests upward. Their light rush enables movement both to earth and across the whole heaven.

The earlier dismissal of human prophecy and interpretation at 975c is not the same claim. There the arts fail to make a practitioner wise because the interpreter knows what is said without having learned its truth. Here the divine middle beings themselves possess extraordinary intelligence and memory. A theory that communication occurs does not prove the wisdom of every mortal who reports, decodes, or claims to receive it. The epistemic gap explains why later cult reports are treated cautiously.

The edition compares Diotima's account in Symposium 202e, where the daimonic interprets and conveys between gods and humans. That comparison identifies a related mediating function, not identity in all classifications. The Epinomis uses a five-bodied cosmos and distinguishes ether from air. The supplied passage also says that the highest god knows comprehensively. Mediation should therefore not be described as a remedy for ignorance that the same text expressly denies to completed divinity.

Finally, the courteous δαιμόνιε addressed to the Athenian at 980c and the substantive τὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου at 992d belong to different constructions. Neither automatically names the ethereal species in the technical sequence. The local sense of the word-family must be preserved instead of flattening all its occurrences into this single hierarchy.

Places to read

1. 984d–eμετὰ δὲ τούτους καὶ ὑπὸ τούτοις ἑξῆς δαίμονας — Daimons stand after and below the stellar gods
2. 984eτῆς ἑρμηνείας αἴτιον — The aerial kind supplies interpretation
3. 984eεὐχαῖς τιμᾶν … χάριν τῆς εὐφήμου διαπορείας — Auspicious passage calls for prayerful honor
4. 985aγιγνώσκειν μὲν σύμπασαν τὴν ἡμετέραν αὐτὰ διάνοιαν — The two finer kinds know all human thought
5. 985bἑρμηνεύεσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους τε καὶ τοὺς ἀκροτάτους θεούς — Communication joins the intermediaries and the highest gods
6. 985bπάντας τε καὶ πάντα — Its objects are all persons and all things
7. 985bἐλαφρᾷ φερόμενα ῥύμῃ — Their light movement enables passage through the whole

Translation in this edition

“Daimon” avoids the alien associations of the English “demon.” “Interpret” retains the link with the earlier art of interpretation without erasing the difference in the agents' knowledge. “Know our thought” does not say literally that they hear silent speech; hearing belongs separately to human encounters with voices and oracles at 985c.

Third middle seat — ἀέριος (aerios)

ἀέριος (aerios)

Third middle seat. The aerial kind is distinguished from the preceding daimons by Burnet’s reading and is designated cause of interpretation. The following account assigns communicative capacities to ether and air together. Attested: ἀέριον (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

A fitting passage — εὔφημος (euphēmos)

εὔφημος (euphēmos)

A fitting passage. Auspicious qualifies the passage for whose sake prayers honor intermediaries. Its religious force should remain without specifying an itinerary the text does not give. Attested: εὐφήμου (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Interpretive function — αἴτιος (aitios)

αἴτιος (aitios)

Interpretive function. The aerial middle kind is a cause of interpretation. The same causal vocabulary now specifies a communicative function within the populated cosmos. Attested: αἴτιον (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Divine intermediary rank — δαίμων (daimōn)

δαίμων (daimōn)

Divine intermediary rank. Daimons follow below the stellar gods and precede the aerial kind. The ensuing ether–air pairing supports associating this rank with ethereal beings; it does not justify translating the word as a malevolent demon. Attested: δαίμονας (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

A populated and connected heaven — συμπλήρης (symplērēs)

συμπλήρης (symplērēs)

A populated and connected heaven. The heaven is full of living beings, providing the setting for the intermediaries’ communication throughout it. Fullness belongs to the cosmological account, not to an empirical census reproduced in the dialogue. Attested: συμπλήρους (985b). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Upper recipients of mediation — ἄκρος (akros)

ἄκρος (akros)

Upper recipients of mediation. The superlative identifies the highest gods to whom the middle beings interpret. It marks hierarchical height without implying that those gods otherwise lack knowledge. Attested: ἀκροτάτους (985b). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Prayerful honor of intermediaries — τιμᾶν (timan)

τιμᾶν (timan)

Prayerful honor of intermediaries. The middle beings are to be honored with prayers for auspicious passage. Their invisibility does not exclude them from religious recognition. Attested: τιμᾶν (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Universal communicative mediation — ἑρμηνεύεσθαι (hermēneuesthai)

ἑρμηνεύεσθαι (hermēneuesthai)

Universal communicative mediation. The middle beings interpret everyone and everything to one another and to the highest gods. The claim establishes connectedness rather than proving every human interpreter wise. Attested: ἑρμηνεύεσθαι (985b). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Communication between levels — ἑρμηνεία (hermēneia)

ἑρμηνεία (hermēneia)

Communication between levels. Interpretation is the function assigned especially to the aerial middle kind. The later sentence expands communication to the ethereal and aerial beings together. Attested: ἑρμηνείας (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Ease of intermediary movement — ἐλαφρός (elaphros)

ἐλαφρός (elaphros)

Ease of intermediary movement. Light qualifies the rush that carries middle beings to earth and through the whole heaven. Their ease of passage supplies the spatial basis for their communicative work. Attested: ἐλαφρᾷ (985b). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Auspicious intermediary passage — διαπορεία (diaporeia)

διαπορεία (diaporeia)

Auspicious intermediary passage. Prayers honor the middle beings for auspicious passage. Their movements to earth and through heaven contextualize the phrase without establishing a complete afterlife itinerary. Attested: διαπορείας (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Honor through prayer — εὐχή (euchē)

εὐχή (euchē)

Honor through prayer. Prayers are the manner of honoring the middle beings for the sake of auspicious passage. The passage places prayer within a communicatively connected divine order without specifying a complete itinerary for human souls. Attested: εὐχαῖς (984e). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Light movement of intermediaries — ῥύμη (rhymē)

ῥύμη (rhymē)

Light movement of intermediaries. A light rush carries the middle beings through earth and heaven. The word can describe movement within an ensouled account even though bodily rushes alone failed as ultimate causes. Attested: ῥύμῃ (985b). Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.

Everyone and everything communicated (contextual phrase)

ἑρμηνεύεσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους τε καὶ τοὺς ἀκροτάτους θεοὺς πάντας τε καὶ πάντα (985b)

The pronouns broaden mediation to all persons and things, while the destinations include one another and the highest gods. The picture is of universal connectedness, not only the upward delivery of human petitions. The highest gods’ knowledge is affirmed separately, so mediation does not establish their ignorance. Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven.