Asmodeus

Asmodeo, known as Aeshma-daeva in the Zoroastrian texts such as the Avesta, sinks its roots in the daeva of wrath and violent fury of ancient Persia, described as a force that incites envy and aggression against the followers of Ahura Mazda and that is defeated by Sraosha, the genius of divine order (asha). This entity transforms in the Jewish traditions upon passing to the Book of Tobit, one of the deuterocanonical books, where Asmodeo falls in love with Sarah and kills out of jealousy her seven successive husbands on the wedding night, until the angel Raphael teaches Tobit how to drive him away by burning the heart and liver of a fish. This fusion of the Persian and Israelite heritage makes him a transcultural demonic prince, transformed from the Iranian daeva into the Hebrew daemonium.

Asmodeo is represented in grimoires such as the Lemegeton (Ars Goetia) with three heads: that of a bull, that of a man and that of a ram, mounted on an infernal dragon, carrying a spear and a banner, and with goose or palmiped feet that tradition attributes to him. This image of multiple heads reflects his composite nature as sovereign of destructive emotions, and some magical traditions link him with Venus or with Mars as a force of sexual seduction and of wrath respectively. In later art and demonology he appears with twisted horns, flaming eyes and a fierce expression, surrounded by the retinue of lustful spirits that embody his dominion over corrupted earthly desires and murderous jealousies.

In the demonic hierarchy of grimoires such as the Lesser Key of Solomon, Asmodeo figures as one of the kings of the Goetia and rules over seventy-two legions of spirits. He is considered one of the princes of Hell, associated with the sin of lust, and tradition attributes to him teaching arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and other arts, in addition to conferring the ring of virtues and revealing hidden treasures. His powers include sowing discord in marriages, stirring up jealousy and disordered desire and harshly punishing whoever invokes him without due ceremonial respect. The Testament of Solomon, a pseudoepigraphic text, counts him among the demons dominated by King Solomon and forced to collaborate in the construction of the Temple.

Asmodeo has been employed in Western literature and art as a symbol of destructive sexual temptation and unbridled wrath. His most influential appearance in fiction is the novel El diablo cojuelo by Luis Vélez de Guevara (1641), and its French adaptation Le Diable boiteux by Alain-René Lesage (1707), where a demon called Asmodeo lifts the roofs of houses to show the secrets of their inhabitants. In contemporary popular culture he endures as one of the most recognizable princes of Hell, present in games, comics and series, and the esoteric tradition sometimes associates him with Lilith. His double-faced figure, between lust and wrath, keeps him as one of the most complex and cited demons of Western demonology.