Myths & disputes

Mephistopheles

The devil of the Faust legend first appears in a German chapbook of 1587 as Mephostophiles; nobody knows what the name means, and the Hebrew and Greek explanations offered for it are guesses. Goethe's Faust made Mephistopheles famous in Russian, French (Gounod), Italian (Boito), Spanish, Polish and Japanese.

Weakest linkDisputed

The story you may have heard

Often explained as Hebrew mēp̄îṣ 'destroyer' + tōp̄ēl 'liar' (K. J. Schröer, 1886) or as Greek 'not loving the light'; both are speculation, and the name's origin is unknown.

The road to English

From German to German, Russian

From German to French

From German to Italian

From German to Spanish

From German to Polish

From German to Japanese

1587German

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

Mephistopheles

Weakest linkDisputed

The road to English

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