| Belphegor | |
|---|---|
Sloth | |
 Belphegor illustration from the Dictionnaire Infernal. |
In Christian demonology, Belphegor (Hebrew: בעל־פעור) is the Arch-devil. In qabalah, Belphegor is a demon who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich, stagnating that which could not be accredited to itself.[1][non-primary source needed]
Auxiliary Bishop and witch-hunter Peter Binsfeld believed that Belphegor tempts by means of laziness.[2] Also, according to Peter Binsfeld's Classification of Demons, Belphegor is the chief demon of the deadly sin known as Sloth in Christian tradition.[3]
The novella Belfagor arcidiavolo by Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli was first published in 1549, and regales how the demon comes to earth to find a mate.
Belphegor figures in Paradise Lost by John Milton, 1667.[citation needed]
According to the 1818 Dictionnaire Infernal by Collin de Plancy, Belphegor was Hell's ambassador to France. The same claim was repeated by Victor Hugo in Toilers of the Sea (1866).
In the grimoire Key of Solomon (translated into English by S.L. Mathers in 1889), Belphegor is listed near the end of the book as an Assyrian idol, now destroyed.
The novella by Machiavelli became the basis for the opera Belfagor by Ottorino Respighi, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1923.