In demonology, Belphegor (or Beelphegor, Hebrew: בַּעַל-פְּעוֹר Báʿal-pəʿór – Lord of the Gap) is a demon, and one of the seven princes of Hell, who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich.
[external_link_head] [external_link offset=1]Bishop and witch-hunter Peter Binsfeld believed that Belphegor tempts by means of laziness.[1] Also, according to Peter Binsfeld’s Binsfeld’s Classification of Demons, Belphegor is the chief demon of the deadly sin known as Sloth in Christian tradition.[2]
History[edit]
According to Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal, Belphegor was Hell’s ambassador to France. Consequently, his adversary is Mary Magdalene, one of the patron saints of France.[citation needed ]
Belphegor also figures in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and in Victor Hugo’s Toilers of the Sea.[citation needed ] Belfagor arcidiavolo by the Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli was first published in 1549 and regales how the demon comes to earth to find a mate. This story became the initial source material for Ottorino Respighi’s opera Belfagor which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1923.
[external_link offset=2]In popular culture[edit]
- The PZL M-15 Belphegor, a 1970s Polish utility airplane, was named after the demon, due to its strange look and the noise of its jet engine
- Belphegor appears as a young human male in the final season of the TV show Supernatural played by Alexander Calvert.
- Belphegor is a recurring demon/persona in the Megami Tensei and video game series
- Belphegor is the youngest demon brother in the otome game Obey Me. He appears as the avatar of sloth and the twin brother of Beelzebub.
- Belphegor is a blackened death metal band.
- Belphegor is the Storm Officer of the Varia in the Anime and Manga series, Hatekyo Hitman Reborn. He is also known as ‘Prince the Ripper’. [3]
References[edit]
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