Page:Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals.djvu/307

 [Greek: angeloskiazetai], 'he is terrified of an angel.' In these expressions it is not clear which of the two angels is intended; but, to judge from other expressions, popular belief recognises the activity of the one or the other according to the peace or pain of the death. 'He is borne away by an angel,' [Greek: angelophorâtai], suggests a quiet passing, as of Lazarus who was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom; while the word [Greek: angelomachei], 'he is fighting with an angel,' an expression used in Laconia of a protracted death-struggle, and again [Greek: angelokroústhêke], 'he was stricken by an angel,' a term which denotes a sudden death, argue rather the presence of the evil angel.

Another kind of genius sometimes associated with men is the [Greek: iskios] (the modern form of [Greek: skiá]), the 'shadow' personified. The phrase [Greek: echei kalo iskio], 'he has a good shadow,' is used of a man who enjoys good fortune, and he himself is described sometimes as [Greek: kaloïsk[i(]ôtos], 'good-shadowed,' that is, 'lucky.' But apparently a man may also get into trouble with this shadow no less than with an angel. The word [Greek: iskiopatêthêke], 'he has been trampled upon by his shadow ,' is used occasionally of a man who has been stricken down by some sudden, but not necessarily fatal, illness such as epilepsy or paralysis. This personification of the shadow as genius is perhaps responsible in some measure for the fear which the peasant feels of having the foundation-stone of a building laid upon his shadow; but, as I have said above, the principle of sympathetic magic will explain the cause of fear without this supposition.

To these genii might reasonably be added the Fate ([Greek: hê Moîra] or, more rarely, [Greek: hê Tychê]) of each individual. But these lesser Fates, as well as the great Three, have already been discussed, and there is nothing to add here save that by virtue of the close connexion of each lesser Fate with the life of one man these too might be numbered among genii.

The same belief in a guardian-deity presiding over each human life is to be found throughout ancient Greek literature. In Homer the name for such a genius is [Greek: Kêr] (at any rate if it be of an evil