Bies or bes (russian: бес ) is an evil spirit or demon in

Slavic mythology Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The So ...

. Under the influence of Christianity the word often became synonymous with chort. After the acceptance of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

the ''bies'' (same as chort) became identified with the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

, corresponding to the being referred to in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

, as either ''daimon'' (δαίμων), ''daimónion'' or ''pneuma'' (πνεῦμα). For example, ''biesy'' (Russian plural of ''bies'') is used in the standard Russian translation of Mark 5:12, where we have ''the devils'' entering the swine in KJV. Compare to Ukrainian ''bisy'' or ''bisytysia'' and Polish ''zbiesić się'' (to go mad). In Slovenian (bes), Croatian (bijes) and Serbian (bes) the word means "rage", "fury".

Equivalents in non-Slavic traditions

In the mythology of Jah Hut people, one of the Orang Asli tribes living in Malaysia, there are beings called bès. This word generally refers to dangerous spirits living in the jungle and often attacking people, causing illnesses by

spirit possession Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and re ...

etc. It is possible to tame them by carving "sepili" - small wooden sculptures depicting the bès one has troubles with. If the bès likes its look, they may move into the sculpture in which moment they can be trapped inside by a special ritual. After it's done, people must make sure to get the sepili as far away from their village as possible to avoid bès' anger once they break free. Traditionally, they bury the sepili deep in the jungle. Nowadays, many native artists also sell their sepili as souvenirs to tourists.

Examples in culture

*In

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

's ''

The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda "The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda" (russian: «Сказка о попе и о работнике его Балде», Skazka o pope i o rabotnike yego Balde) is a fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin wrote the tale ...

'', there is a scene in which Balda has to force the "devils" (черти, Chorti) of the sea to pay an ancient rent, and interacts with an "Old Bies" who is their leader and his grandson. It is also the title of his poem "Demons"
Бесы
. *The original Russian title of

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

's novel known in its English translation as '' The Possessed'' is ''Besy'' (Бесы) (Russian plural of ''bes''), i.e., more literally, ''The Evil Spirits''. * Fyodor Sologub’s most famous novel was Мелкий бес (''The Petty Demon'', 1907) *The Black Tapes *In the 2015 videogame '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'', fiends (called ''bies'' in the original version) are massive horned predators who possess hypnotic and self-healing powers. *In

Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (; 18 April 1874 – 21 September 1938) was a Croatian writer. Within her native land, as well as internationally, she has been praised as the best Croatian writer for children. Early life She was born on 18 April 1874 i ...

's '' Croatian Tales of Long Ago'' "bjesovi" appear.

References

≃ Slavic demons Devils {{Europe-myth-stub