Flooding the Zone of the Ancients

Developers and fantasy authors share a penchant for the ancients. In naming things, mostly.

An unintended consequence of this - obscuring the original sources.

An innocent flooding the zone with @mentions and blogposts, making the original material near-unfindable.

Burrying historical whispers beneath the algorithm.

The original Daemons were spirits of the Greek world; one of whom was the spirit inside. Famously, Socrates listened intently to the guidance of his Daemon. Who inevitably spoke to him in the negative—telling him what to avoid.

Surely a thread worth exploring. So thought the 18th century Romantics, as they too flooded the zone in their own way. Again famously, Goethe's daemon was a spirit that dwelled within him, compelling him to fulfil his destiny.

Without the algorithm as guide, the term evolved in meaning but not in discoverability.

Then into the 20th century and the creation of software daemons running in the background and later Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials with fantasy spirit-friends guiding the characters.

Onwards to 2018, George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood and Daemon Targaryen rising to prominence in the TV adaptation, House of the Dragon. This Targaryen, the only daemon on TikTok, the principal one on Google.

Burying original references deep in the literature.

Socrates’ spirit snuffed out.