Bies or bes (russian: бес ) is an evil spirit or
demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
in
Slavic mythology
Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the B ...
. Under the influence of Christianity the word often became synonymous with
chort
A chort (Russian: чёрт, Belarusian and Ukrainian: чорт, Serbo-Croatian ''čort'' or ''črt'', Polish: ''czort'' and ''czart'', Czech and Slovak: ''čert'', Slovene: ''črt'') is an anthropomorphic malign spirit or demon in Slavic folk ...
.
After the acceptance of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
the ''bies'' (same as chort) became identified with the
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
, corresponding to the being referred to in
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
, as either ''daimon'' (δαίμων), ''daimónion'' or ''pneuma'' (πνεῦμα). For example, ''biesy'' (Russian plural of ''bies'') is used in the standard Russian translation of Mark 5:12, where we have ''the devils'' entering the swine in
KJV
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
. Compare to
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
''bisy'' or ''bisytysia'' and
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
''zbiesić się'' (to go mad). In Slovenian (bes), Croatian (bijes) and Serbian (bes) the word means "rage", "fury".
Equivalents in non-Slavic traditions
In the mythology of
Jah Hut people
Jah Hut people are one of the Orang Asli tribes living in Pahang, Malaysia. As of 2000, the population of the Jah Hut people are 2,442 and by 2005, it is estimated that there are approximately 4,000 people living in 11 kampungs (villages) that a ...
, one of the Orang Asli tribes living in Malaysia, there are beings called bès. This word generally refers to dangerous spirits living in the jungle and often attacking people, causing illnesses by
spirit possession
Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and rel ...
etc. It is possible to tame them by carving "sepili" - small wooden sculptures depicting the bès one has troubles with. If the bès likes its look, they may move into the sculpture in which moment they can be trapped inside by a special ritual. After it's done, people must make sure to get the sepili as far away from their village as possible to avoid bès' anger once they break free. Traditionally, they bury the sepili deep in the jungle. Nowadays, many native artists also sell their sepili as souvenirs to tourists.
Examples in culture
*In
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
's ''
The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda
"The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda" (russian: «Сказка о попе и о работнике его Балде», Skazka o pope i o rabotnike yego Balde) is a fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin wrote the tale ...
'', there is a scene in which Balda has to force the "devils" (черти, Chorti) of the sea to pay an ancient rent, and interacts with an "Old Bies" who is their leader and his grandson. It is also the title of his poem "Demons"
Бесы.
*The original Russian title of
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
's novel known in its English translation as ''
The Possessed'' is ''Besy'' (Бесы) (Russian plural of ''bes''), i.e., more literally, ''The Evil Spirits''.
*
Fyodor Sologub
Fyodor Sologub (russian: Фёдор Сологу́б, born Fyodor Kuzmich Teternikov, russian: Фёдор Кузьми́ч Тете́рников, also known as Theodor Sologub; – 5 December 1927) was a Russian Symbolist poet, novelist, trans ...
’s most famous novel was Мелкий бес (''The Petty Demon'', 1907)
*The Black Tapes
*In the 2015 videogame ''
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'',
fiends (called ''bies'' in the original version) are massive horned predators who possess hypnotic and self-healing powers.
*In
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (; 18 April 1874 – 21 September 1938) was a Croatian writer. Within her native land, as well as internationally, she has been praised as the best Croatian writer for children.
Early life
She was born on 18 April 1874 i ...
's ''
Croatian Tales of Long Ago
''Croatian Tales of Long Ago'' ( hr, Priče iz davnine lit. "Stories from Ancient Times"), is a short story collection written by the acclaimed children's author Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (sometimes spelled as "Ivana Berlić-Mažuranić" in Englis ...
'' "bjesovi" appear.
References
≃
Slavic demons
Devils
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