# I thought..... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 11, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought/147993 "2003-01-11T18:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bonitak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bonitak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonitak)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought/147993/1 "2003-01-11T18:55:34Z")
I was under the impression that the figure of the devil came from the pagan god of hunting? Bonnie - Greenfield, MA ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought/147993/2 "2003-01-12T14:45:29Z")
The physical image probably came from the classical pagan god of wildness (not hunting). The notion of the devil appears to have been floating around in late-BC Judaism, whence Christianity picked it up. Zoroastrianism probably had some influence, too. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought/147993/3 "2003-01-14T03:09:40Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link: [Why is Satan often shown as having goatlike features? (04-Jun-1999)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990604a.html) * * * moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)» ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought/147993/4 "2003-01-14T03:10:24Z")
bonitak, who is this pagan god of hunting of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought/147993/5 "2003-01-20T02:52:50Z")
I don’t know if this is who she means, but here’s a link: [http://www.pagannews.com/cgi-bin/gods3.pl?Uller](http://www.pagannews.com/cgi-bin/gods3.pl?Uller) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought/147993/6 "2003-01-20T15:27:06Z")
There is no pagan god of hunting. There are several pagan belief systems, many of which have a god who hunts, and who may be invoked before, after, or during the hunt, and none that I know of has goat-like features. Most hunting gods are described as thoroughly human, and preternaturally handsome to boot (Uller, Apollo, Artemis, etc.) Pan, the true source of the goat-devil image, is occasionally described as a hunter, but this is an anomaly, as Pan is an agrarian god, associated with goatherding, beekeeping, and wild nature.