Eurynomos (daemon)

In Greek mythology, Eurynomos (/jʊəˈrɪnəməs/; Greek Εὐρύνομος; Latin Eurynomus) was the netherworld daimon (spirit) of rotting corpses dwelling in the Underworld.^[1] Eurynomos is either a minor figure whose associated literature is lost to time, or possibly an invention by the painter Polygnotos. The sole piece of evidence concerning him comes from Pausanias,^[2] in his description of a painting of Hades by Polygnotos at Delphoi, Phocis:

Eurynomos, said by the Delphian guides to be one of the daimones of Hades, who eats off all the flesh of the corpses, leaving only their bones. But Homer's Odyssey, the poem called the Minyad, and the Returns, although they tell of Hades and its horrors, know of no daimon called Eurynomos. However, I will describe what he is like and his attitude in the painting. He is of a colour between blue and black, like that of meat flies; he is showing his teeth and is seated, and under him is spread a vulture's skin.^[3]

Notes

^ Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Eurynomus"
^ RE, s.v. Eurynomos (1).
^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.28.7

References

Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

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Further reading