Genius
（“creator, begetter,” from
gigno). The Italian
peoples regarded the Genius as a higher power which creates and maintains life, assists at the
begetting and birth of every individual man, determines his character, tries to influence his
destiny for good, accompanies him through life as his tutelary spirit, and lives on in the
Lares after his death. (See
Lares.) As a creative
principle, the Genius is attached, strictly speaking, to the male sex only. In the case of
women his place is taken by Iuno, the personification of woman's life. Thus, in a house
inhabited by a man and his wife, a Genius and a Iuno are worshipped together. But in
common parlance, it was usual to speak of the Genius of a house, and to this Genius the
marriage bed (
lectus genialis) was sacred. A man's birthday was naturally
the holiday of his attendant Genius, to whom he offered incense, wine, garlands, cakes,
everything, in short, but bloody sacrifices, and in whose honour he gave himself up to
pleasure and enjoyment; for the Genius wishes a man to have pleasure in the life that he has
given him. Hence
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Genius of Wine. (Pompeian Mosaic.)
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the Romans spoke of enjoying one's self as indulging one's Genius, and of
renunciation as spiting him (
Hor. Carm. iii. 17,
14;
Pers. iv. 27). Men swore by their Genius as by their
higher self, and by the Genius of persons whom they loved and honoured. The philosophers
originated the idea of a man having two Genii, a good and a bad one; but in the popular belief
the notion of the Genius was that of a good and beneficent being. Families, societies, cities,
and peoples had their Genius as well as individuals. The Genius of the Roman people
(
Genius Publicus or
Genius Populi Romani) stood in the Forum,
represented in the form of a bearded
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Harpocrates, and Snake as Genius Loci. ( Pitture d'Ercolano , i.
207.)
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man crowned with a diadem, a cornucopia in his right hand, and a sceptre in
his left. An annual sacrifice was offered to him on the 9th of October. Under the Empire the
Genius of Augustus, the founder of the Empire, and of the reigning emperor, were publicly
worshipped at the same time. Localities also, such as open spaces, streets, baths, and
theatres, had their own Genii
(Inscr. Orell. 343, 1697). These were usually
represented under the form of snakes; and hence the common habit of keeping tame snakes. See
Anguis.
The Greeks also had a similar belief in Genii, calling them
δαίμονες, or daemons, of whom Hesiod mentions the number as 30,000, who are
appointed to be the ministers of Zeus and the guardians of men. He regards them as the souls
of the righteous. Pindar speaks of a
γενέθλιος δαίμων, which
seems to be exactly the equivalent of the Roman Genius. See
Daemon.
