thumb|150px|right|Santo Agostinho em um retrato do século VI Na língua gaulesa, DusiosXavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Éditions Errance, 2003), p. 158. The Latinized form would be dusius, most often in the plural dusii. foi um ser divinoPerhaps a deus. As late as the 13th century, Thomas Cantipratensis asserted that some people still regard groves as consecrated to dusii and entered them to sacrifice to "their own gods" (suis diis, dative plural of deus); see discussion under Surviving tradition below. The 19th-century Celiticist Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville regarded the dusii as divinities who might be compared to aquatic deities of the Homeric tradition in Greece as lovers who begat children with mortal women; see "Esus, Tarvos trigaranus," Revue Celtique 19 (1898), pp. 228, 234–235, 251 online. With reference to a highly speculative etymological connection between dusios and the English word "dizzy," Arbois de Jubainville saw the effects of these spirits as comparable to those of the Greek nymphs or Italic lymphae. J.A. MacCulloch, The Religion of the Ancient Celts (Forgotten Books edition 2007, originally pub. 1911), p. 232 online thought that the dusii "do not appear to represent the higher gods reduced to the form of demons by Christianity, but rather a species of lesser divinities, once the object of popular devotion." entre os celtas continentais,Galli as designated by Augustine and Isidore (see following). In antiquity, Galli refers both to inhabitants of the geographical region Gallia as it was delineated by the Greeks and Romans, and to peoples who spoke a form of Celtic (that is, who spoke gallice, "in Gaulish") or who were perceived by the Greeks and Romans as ethnically "Celtic." See J.H.C. Williams, Beyond the Rubicon: Romans and Gauls in Republican Italy (Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 1–17 et passim. identificado com o deus Pã da religião grega antiga e com os deuses Fauno, Ínuo, Silvano, e Íncubo da religião romana antiga. Como essas divindades, eleBoth ancient Greek and Latin categorize nouns within three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Although grammatical gender is distinguished from biological gender, Latin places humans (homines), animals (animalia), and anthropomorphic beings perceived as having sexual characteristics in their gender-specific category. Some "monsters" are neuter (the sea monster ketos in Greek, for instance). The dusii are masculine in both grammatical gender and in their sexual behavior in all the sources in which they appear, with the possible exception of Gervase of Tilbury, who seems to think they can also be female; see below. The Greco-Roman deities to whom they are compared are aggressively masculine, often depicted as ithyphallic. pode ser visto como de natureza múltipla,The multiplicity of the group of deities to which the dusii belong — Pan/panes, Faunus/fauni, Inuus/inui, Silvanus/silvani, Incubus/incubi — is related to the question of monotheistic tendencies in ancient religion: "Lower gods were executors or manifestations of the divine will rather than independent principles of reality. Whether they are called gods, demons, angels, or numina, these immortal beings are emanations of the One": Michele Renee Salzman, "Religious koine in Private Cult and Ritual: Shared Religious Traditions in Roman Religion in the First Half of the Fourth Century CE," in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 113. The name of Pan was sometimes etymologized as meaning "All"; although scientific linguistics has shown this derivation to be incorrect, it appears in the Homeric Hymn to Pan (6th century BC) and influenced theological interpretations in antiquity, including the speculations of Plato: see H.J. Rose and Robin Hard, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology (Routledge, 2004), p. 215 online, and David Sedley, Plato's Cratylus (Cambridge University Press) pp. 96–97 online, where Pan as "all" is connected to the logos: "This is the climax of the divine etymologies." The "all-ness" of Pan accounted for his multiple manifestations, reflected by nominal plurals. On the distinction between modern scientific and ancient theological etymology, see Davide Del Bello, Forgotten Paths: Etymology and the Allegorical Mindset (Catholic University of America Press, 2007). e referido no plural (dusioi), mais comumente em latim como dusii. Embora o Dusios celta não seja descrito em fontes da antiguidade tardia independentemente das divindades gregas e romanas, a funcionalidade comum dos outros residia na sua capacidade de engravidar animais e mulheres, muitas vezes de surpresa ou à força. Os Dusii continuam a desempenhar um papel nos sistemas de crenças mágico-religiosos da Gália e da Frância como um tipo de íncubo no paganismo e no cristianismo do início da Idade Média.
Em Agostinho e Isidoro Referências aos dusii aparecem nos escritos dos Padres da Igreja, onde são tratados como demônios.For further discussion, see Christianity and Paganism. Os primeiros escritores cristãos ainda consideravam as religiões tradicionais da antiguidade como poderosos sistemas de crenças concorrentes. Em vez de negar a existência de deuses rivais, frequentemente buscavam demonstrar sua natureza inferior por meio de argumentos teológicos, ridículo, ou demonização.For an extended discussion, see Carlos A. Contreras, "Christian Views of Paganism," Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.23.1 (1980) 974–1022, noting, for instance, the Church Fathers' habit of "applying Christian conceptions to pagan ideas in order to condemn them" (p. 1010 online). "Our knowledge of such things comes from Christian writers who are openly concerned to discredit all aspects of pagan idolatry," states Peter Stewart, Statues in Roman Society: Representation and Response (Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 266, note 24 online. Santo Agostinho menciona os dusii em uma passagem que critica a crença de que, no início da história da humanidade, anjos pudessem ter relações sexuais com mulheres mortais, gerando a raça de gigantes ou heróis. Agostinho redefine as crenças tradicionais dentro de uma estrutura cristã e, nessa passagem, não faz uma distinção clara entre a natureza essencial dos anjos e dos demônios:Corinne J. Saunders, "'Symtyme the fende': Questions of Rape in Sir Gowther," in Studies in English Language and Literature. 'Doubt Wisely': Papers in Honour of E.G. Stanley (Routledge, 1996), p. 296 online.
Frequentemente se ouve falar, cuja confiabilidade não deve ser questionada, pois é confirmada por diversas pessoas que sabem por experiência própria ou alheia, que Silvani e Pans, comumente chamados de íncubos, frequentemente apareciam para as mulheres como homens perversos, tentando dormir com elas e conseguindo. Esses mesmos demônios, a quem os gauleses chamam de Dusii, estão implacavelmente comprometidos com essa corrupção, tentando e conseguindo tantas coisas desse tipo que negá-las pareceria descarado. Com base nisso, não ouso arriscar uma afirmação definitiva sobre se pode haver alguns espíritos, de substância aérea (pois essa substância, quando posta em movimento por um leque, é percebida como sensação dentro do corpo e como tato), que tomam forma corporal e até mesmo experimentam esse desejo sexual, de modo que, por quaisquer meios possíveis, eles se misturam sensualmente com as mulheres. Mas os santos anjos de Deus não caíram de maneira semelhante durante aquela era — que eu acreditaria.Augustine of Hippo, De civitate Dei 15.23: Et quoniam creberrima fama est multique se expertos uel ab eis, qui experti essent, de quorum fide dubitandum non esset, audisse confirmant, Siluanos et Panes, quos uulgo incubos uocant, inprobos saepe extitisse mulieribus et earum appetisse ac peregisse concubitum; et quosdam daemones, quos Dusios Galli nuncupant, adsidue hanc inmunditiam et temptare et efficere, plures talesque adseuerant, ut hoc negare inpudentiae uideatur: non hinc aliquid audeo definire, utrum aliqui spiritus elemento aerio corporati (nam hoc elementum etiam cum agitatur flabello sensu corporis tactuque sentitur) possint hanc etiam pati libidinem, ut, quo modo possunt, sentientibus feminis misceantur. Dei tamen angelos sanctos nullo modo illo tempore sic labi potuisse crediderim; for an alternative English translation by Marcus Dods, from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 2 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887), revised and edited by Kevin Knight, see New Advent.
Isidoro de Sevilha ecoa de perto Agostinho, mas expande as identificações com outras figuras divinas:
Os 'peludos' (pilosi)For a discussion of "hairy demons", in early sources sometimes translated as satyrs, see Unclean spirit. são chamados em grego de Pans, em latim de Incubi, ou Inui por causa de sua entrada (ineundo) com animais por toda parte."Everywhere" = Latin passim; as with the theological interpretation of Pan's name as "All," the ubiquity of this type of divinity is emphasized. Por isso também os Incubi são assim chamados porque o sexo ilícitoLatin stuprandum, gerund from stupro, stuprare, refers to illicit sexual activity, including adultery and other sex outside marriage, participation in which renders the woman impure; consent is not at issue. The word is not a synonym for "rape," but does not exclude forced sex; Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, 1985 reprinting), entries on stuprum (noun) and stupro (verb), p. 1832. See also discussion by Elaine Fantham, "Stuprum: Public Attitudes and Penalties for Sexual Offences in Republican Rome," in Roman Readings: Roman Response to Greek Literature from Plautus to Statius and Quintilian (Walter de Gruyter, 2011); and Victoria Emma Pagán, Conspiracy Narratives in Roman History (University of Texas Press, 2004), p. 58 online, where the penetration of the male as an act of stuprum is an emphasis. é incumbente sobre eles.A literal translation fails to capture the etymological echoes of incubi and incumbendo: "Hence also the Incubi are named from 'lying on,' that is, from having wrongful sex." Pois muitas vezes os perversos também se apresentam às mulheres e conseguem dormir com elas. Os gauleses chamam esses demônios de Dusii, porque seduzemAgain Isidore's etymological echoes between Dusios and adsidue are lost in a literal translation; "because they relentlessly achieve this defilement." implacavelmente.Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae 8.11.103: Pilosi, qui Graece Panitae, Latine Incubi appellantur, sive Inui ab ineundo passim cum animalibus. Unde et Incubi dicuntur ab incumbendo, hoc est stuprando. Saepe enim inprobi existunt etiam mulieribus, et earum peragunt concubitum: quos daemones Galli Dusios vocant, quia adsidue hanc peragunt immunditiam; Katherine Nell MacFarlane, "Isidore of Seville on the Pagan Gods (Origines VIII. 11)," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 70 (1980), pp. 36–37.