Momos- Greek SpiritSpirit
Also known as: Μῶμος and Momus
Domains
Description
Where other gods created, Momos found fault. He said Prometheus's man needed a window in its chest so hidden thoughts could be read, and that Zeus's bull should have horns below its eyes so it could see where it struck. Zeus threw him off Olympus. Hesiod names him a child of Nyx, born from night alone.
Mythology & Lore
The Critic of Olympus
In Aesop's fable, Zeus, Prometheus, and Athena each fashioned something and brought it to Momos for judgment. Momos declared that Prometheus's man should have had a door in its chest so that no thought could be hidden. Zeus's bull, he said, was poorly designed: the horns should have been set below the eyes, so the beast could see where it struck. He found fault with Athena's house as well. Zeus, tired of a judge who could praise nothing, threw Momos off Olympus.
In Lucian's Jupiter Tragoedus, Momos reappears among the gods as a sharp-tongued critic of Zeus's governance, questioning why mortals should believe in gods who cannot keep their own affairs in order.