Dysnomia (deity)

In Greek mythology, Dysnomia (Ancient Greek: Δυσνομία, lit. 'Lawlessness, Bad Government, Anarchy')^[1] is the personification of lawlessness. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Dysnomia was the offspring of Eris (Strife), with no father mentioned.^[2] Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, Dysnomia is a personified abstraction, allegorizing the meaning of their name, and representing one of the many harmful things which might be thought to result from discord and strife, with no other identity.^[3]

Hesiod associates Dysnomia with Ate [Recklessness]. He names both as offspring of Eris, on the same line (230) of his Theogony, and says that the two are "much like one another".^[4]

Solon

The Athenian statesman Solon contrasted Dysnomia with Eunomia, the personification of the ideal government:^[5]

This is what my heart bids me teach the Athenians, that Lawlessness [Dysnomia] brings the city countless ills, but Lawfulness [Eunomia] reveals all that is orderly and fitting, and often places fetters round the unjust.^[6]

Solon makes Dysnomia the cause of the "countless" evils besetting Athens: greed, the injustice of the city's leaders, the slavery of the poor, and civil war.^[7]

Legacy

In 2005, Dysnomia was chosen as the name for the moon of the dwarf planet Eris.^[8]