# Mythology: Is there a term for this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2006, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929 "2006-08-16T11:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/1 "2006-08-16T11:14:01Z")
Is there a term in today’s English language for an offspring resulting from a god mating with a mortal? And/or, perhaps English has borrowed a term from the classic Greeks and Romans to classify such individuals? Just wondering because it seems to be a common occurence in classic mythology. - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/2 "2006-08-16T11:31:41Z")
Demigod. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/3 "2006-08-16T12:39:11Z")
**Maastricht** is quite correct. On a related topic, the process/event of a Mortal _becoming_ a Diety is _Apotheosis_. This being a _very_ good career move, I should point out. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/4 "2006-08-16T13:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] **Maastricht** is quite correct. On a related topic, the process/event of a Mortal _becoming_ a Diety is _Apotheosis_. This being a _very_ good career move, I should point out. [/QUOTE] Yes, but you need a PhD for that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/5 "2006-08-16T13:15:41Z")
And then there’s **Apocolocyntosis** , the term used by a satiric writer (probably Seneca, everybody thinks) for what happened to the emperor Claudis after his death. Instead of “deification” (which is what _Apotheosis_ means), it means “pumpkinification”: [http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/L015.html](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/L015.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/6 "2006-08-16T13:26:49Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] Yes, but you need a PhD for that. [/QUOTE] No, silly! You need a ThD! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/7 "2006-08-16T13:31:45Z")
And if two demigods mate, they have a one in four chance of producing a god. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/8 "2006-08-16T13:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > And if two demigods mate, they have a one in four chance of producing a god. They could have demidemigods Or semidemigods Or even hemidemigods. Allowing redneck Athenian peasants to ask “That thing a Hemi?” ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/9 "2006-08-16T14:03:53Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] They could have demidemigods Or semidemigods Or even hemidemigods. Allowing redneck Athenian peasants to ask “That thing a Hemi?” [/QUOTE] hee hee hee! ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/10 "2006-08-16T14:06:17Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] They could have demidemigods Or semidemigods Or even hemidemigods. Allowing redneck Athenian peasants to ask “That thing a Hemi?” [/QUOTE] Pratchett used this in, i think Hogfather. Soemone at the Quirm Academy for Young Ladies (or whatever it was called) was a hemi demi semi god or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/11 "2006-08-16T14:18:26Z")
> [@](#): > > it means “pumpkinification”: I thought pumpkins were New World. Did Romans have them or is this a slightly metaphoric translation? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/12 "2006-08-16T14:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought pumpkins were New World. Did Romans have them or is this a slightly metaphoric translation? > [@](#): > > The title Apokolokyntosis (“Pumpkinification” or “Gourdification”) comes from the Roman historian Dio Cassius, who wrote in Greek. Dio Cassius attributed authorship of a satirical text on the death of Claudius, called Apokolokyntosis, to Seneca the Younger. > **[Apocolocyntosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocolocyntosis)** > > The Apocolocyntosis (divi) Claudii, literally Pumpkinification/Gourdification of (the Divine) Claudius, is a satire on the Roman emperor Claudius (r. AD 41 – 54), which, according to Cassius Dio, was written by Seneca the Younger. A partly extant Menippean satire, an anonymous work called Ludus de morte Divi Claudii ("Play on the Death of the Divine Claudius") in its surviving manuscripts, may or may not be identical to the text mentioned by Cassius Dio. "Apocolocyntosis" is a word play on "ap T... Propbably because it sounds so ludicrous, “pumppkinification” seems to be the standard English translation. Even this page I cite uses it. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/13 "2006-08-16T14:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] They could have demidemigods Or semidemigods Or even hemidemigods. Allowing redneck Athenian peasants to ask “That thing a Hemi?” [/QUOTE] One might think one would need a [Venn Diagram](http://regentsprep.org/Regents/math/venn/LVenn.htm) to predict just how much godliness one would inherit. Then again, if Mercury and Neptune were your fathers, you could inherit the wind. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/14 "2006-08-16T14:55:26Z")
Nope – it’s been mapped out. GG = god gg = mortal A union between a god and a human results in Gg – a demigod: GG = gg Gg Gg Gg Gg A union between two demigods has four outcomes: Gg = Gg GG Gg Gg gg Thus, there is a one in four chance that their child will be a full-fledged god, a one in four chance it’ll be purely mortal, and a two in four chance that it’s a demigod. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/15 "2006-08-16T15:45:20Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] Yes, but you need a PhD for that. [/QUOTE] Somehow, that wasn’t on the curriculum (though a couple of professors clearly felt they had done it themselves). Euhemerization is the idea that the gods weren’t really gods, just heroes of the past that got promoted in an excess of enthusiasm. [QUOTE=RealityChuck] Nope – it’s been mapped out. GG = god gg = mortal A union between a god and a human results in Gg – a demigod [/QUOTE] Mythology doesn’t need to follow your rules, man. Gilgamesh was one-third mortal and two-thirds god. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/16 "2006-08-16T16:20:24Z")
What if the mother is a god who transformed himself into a mare and the father is a gigantic stallion? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/17 "2006-08-16T16:33:24Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] What if the mother is a god who transformed himself into a mare and the father is a gigantic stallion? [/QUOTE] Oooh… yes, tough one. Neither the labels homosexuality, bestiality, or trans-species-transsexuality really apply, do they? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/18 "2006-08-16T16:49:21Z")
For the classic instance of semi-divine incestuous homosexual bestiality (with offspring, no less), see the tale of Math in the _Mabinogi_. The cut-and-pastable copyright-free translation is a little sketchy on the details, but what happens is two brothers, Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, are punished by being transformed into pairs of animals, one male and one female. Each year they return to King Math to change forms (men \> deer \> boars \> wolves), swap genders (M\>M\>F\>M & M\>F\>M\>F), and hand over their sons (one a year). ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/19 "2006-08-16T17:35:17Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Oooh… yes, tough one. Neither the labels homosexuality, bestiality, or trans-species-transsexuality really apply, do they? [/QUOTE] –rubs palms together, cackles gleefully-- We get to make up a new word here, right? Yes? Excellent !! I propose **Equiidiem**. From Equus, and Diety. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929/20 "2006-08-16T17:58:04Z")
I’m going to dare to be slightly more serious for a moment. In Greek myth, usually the child of a god and a mortal is just a mortal (Helen, Hercules, Achilles). A COOL mortal, sure, but a plain ol’ mortal nonetheless. On the other hand, sometimes the child of a god and a human is a full-fledged god, like Dionysus. And sometimes the children of titans are mortal. And sometimes not. Basically, look for no rhyme or reason. In essence, Greek myth didn’t really have the concept of a demigod. People were all the way gods, or all the way mortal. Cool mortal children of gods are usually termed ‘heroes’. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-is-there-a-term-for-this/368929.md?page=2)