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Divinity, Adieu!

The Devil You Know

Created on 2008-03-28 21:47:20 (#15256026), last updated 2008-11-30

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Name:	Mephistophilis

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Why weep’st thou? ‘Tis too late! Farewell!
Fools that will laugh on earth must weep in Hell.
Burton (1992, p. 61) speculates on Greek elements that may have played a part in the coining of the name, including Greek mē "not", phōs "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").

Mephistophilis (or Mephistophilus, Mephistopheles or Mephisto, if you'd prefer) is one of the Fallen. For the most part, he actually comes off as nicer than many of his brethren. If you're interested in knowing his rank, he's one of the senior Dukes of Hell. Nevertheless, he tends to keep out of infernal politics (you think that your lot play dirty?) and prefers walking the world, taking a more hands-on approach than many others might. He likes to think of himself as a people person.

[This characterization of Mephistophilis will be taken from a variety of sources, but mainly Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Bits here and there may be from Goethe. Layout from