| Dagon | |
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Other Names |
Dagon, Dagan |
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First Appearance |
Syrian Mythology |
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Created by |
Syrian Mythology |
Origin[]
Dagon or Dagan was a god worshipped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attestations of his cult come from cities such as Mari and Emar as well. In settlements situated in the upper Euphrates area he was regarded as the "father of gods" similar to Mesopotamian Enlil or Hurrian Kumarbi, as well as a lord of the land, a god of prosperity, and a source of royal legitimacy. A large number of theophoric names, both masculine and feminine, attests that he was a popular deity. He was also worshiped further east, in Mesopotamia, where many rulers regarded him as the god capable of granting them kingship over the western areas.
In the Hebrew Bible, Dagon is referenced three times as the head god of the Philistines; however, there are no references to Dagon as a Canaanite god. According to the Bible, his temples were located at Beth-dagon in the territory of the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19.27), and in Gaza (see Judges 16.23, which tells soon after how the temple is destroyed by Samson as his last act). Another temple, located in Ashdod, was mentioned in 1 Samuel 5:2–7 and again as late as 1 Maccabees 10.83 and 11.4. King Saul's head was displayed in a temple of Dagon after his death (1 Chronicles 10:8–10). There was also a second place known as Beth-Dagon in Judah (Joshua 15.41).
The account in 1 Samuel 5.2–7 relates how the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and taken to Dagon's temple in Ashdod. The following morning the Ashdodites found the image of Dagon lying prostrate before the ark. They set the image upright, but again on the morning of the following day they found it prostrate before the ark, but this time with head and hands severed, lying on the miptān translated as "threshold" or "podium". The account continues with the puzzling words raq dāgōn nišʾar ʿālāyw, which means literally "only Dagon was left to him." (The Septuagint, Peshitta, and Targums render "Dagon" here as "trunk of Dagon" or "body of Dagon", presumably referring to the lower part of his image.
Dagon is also mentioned in the First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees (12:12), which was composed sometime in the 4th century AD.
In the stories of Lovecraft and others, he presides over the Deep Ones, a hidden amphibious humanoid race that resides in the Earth's oceans, and is worshiped by the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a secret cult based in Innsmouth. He is the consort of Mother Hydra.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Bible
- Samson Agonistes (1671)
- Paradise Lost (1667)
- Dagon (1919)
- The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936)
- Middlemarch (1871-1872)
Notes[]
In Project Superpowers, Dagon faces The Mighty Samson in issue 2 of the Meet the Bad Guys miniseries.