G & R Myth Part 2

I was flipping through the mythology glossary for something and I saw this entry:

genius: See demon.

So, naturally, I looked up demon because I couldn't understand what the connection between the two was. This is what I read:

demon/demoniac/demonic/demonology: In Greek daimon was a word of rather fluid definition. In Homer the Olympians are referred to as either gods (theoi) or daimones ("divine powers"). In later literature the daimones became intermediate beings between gods and men, or often the spirits of the dead came to be called daimones, especially among the Romans. Daimon could also denote the particular spirit granted to each mortal at his birth to watch over its charge. This corresponds to the Roman Genius, a vital force behind each individual, originally associated with male fertility and particularly with the male head of the household. Later it became a tutelary spirit assigned to guide and shape each person's life. With the triumph of Christianity, all pagan deities were suspect, and daimon, viewed solely as a power sprung from the devil, became our demon (any evil or satanic spirit)...
(Lenardon & Morford's A Companion to Classical Mythology, pg.271-2)

I found this totally fascinating. It brings new meaning to all of the stories in the New Testament about casting out demons simply because of this information about the Roman Empire and their view of "demons".

So that's my newest bit of info. More to come...