Momus

### Occupation

Greek Second Generation Protogenai God and the Personification of Satire, Mocker, Poets, Writers, Blame, and Critics

## Physical description

### Gender

Male

**Momus**, also known as **Momos**, is the Second Generation Primordial God and the personification of satire, mocker, poets, writers, blame, and critics who two stories about whom figure among Aesop's Fables.

## Overview

Momus was a son of Night (Nyx), "though she lay with none", and father by Erebus along with his twin, the misery goddess Oizys. His constant mockery of the Olympians eventually resulted in his exile from Mount Olympus by order of Zeus. Momus' opposite counterpart was Eupheme (Praise).

It was Momus’ goal to find fault in anything and everything so that he could ridicule it.

## History

### Criticizing of the Gods

Two of Aesop's fables feature the god. There Momus is asked to judge the handiwork of three gods (who vary depending on the version): a man, a house and a bull. He found all at fault: When Prometheus made mankind, Momus criticized him for not creating a door in man’s chest so that his thoughts could be seen and dishonesty could be prevented. Athena was mocked by Momus for having built a home without wheels because it could not be relocated away from unwanted neighbors. Momus criticized Poseidon’s handiwork when he built a bull because Momus believed it should have eyes in its horn to make it gore more effectively.

As another result, Momus became a by-word for fault-finding, and the saying that if not even he could criticize something then that was the sign of its perfection. Looking the lovely Aphrodite over, he could not find anything about her to fault. Some believe that Aphrodite annoyed Momus because he could find nothing to criticize in her perfect form. Other literary sources though say that Momus criticized her for having creaky sandals and for talking too much.

### Banishment from Olympus

Momus took a leading role in a discussion on how to purge Olympus of foreign gods and barbarian demi-gods who are lowering its heavenly tone. Momus even had the audacity to mock the king of the gods, Zeus, for being violent and for lusting after so many women. As a sharp-tongued spirit of unfair criticism, Momus was eventually expelled from the company of the gods on Mount Olympus.

His continued criticism of the gods was destabilizing the divine establishment, Zeus bound him to a rock and had him castrated. Later, however, missing his candor, he sought out a manuscript that Momus had left behind in which was described how a land could be ruled with strictly regulated justice which continued with the god's story after his exile to Earth.

## Description

Momus is typically depicted as a man lifting a mask from his face. In more modern art, he is depicted as a fool or king’s jester. Momus also is to blame for Zeus’s decision to start the Trojan war as a way of reducing the population. Being from the realm of the Greek Underworld, Momus also has a dark side. He would often instill in men feelings of failure in regards to new ideas or new ventures. Oizys, Momus’ twin, was a misery goddess. She was known for being the goddess of anxiety, worry, and distress. She played a part in inciting many wars, feuds, and disputes.

Greek tragedian Sophocles wrote a satyr play called Momus. Satyr plays were tragicomedies with choruses of satyrs. The plays were often full of drunkenness, sexuality, sight gags, and other forms of merriment. The play itself is now almost entirely lost. Momus is associated with writers and poets because he is also known as the god of censure and the god of satire. Censure means harsh criticism, strong disapproval, or strong condemnation, explaining its connection to Momus.

## Powers and Abilities

**Blame Embodiment:** Momus becomes the physical manifestation or personification of blame. Momus gains the ability feed off of the blame and unfairness of others or themselves in order to get stronger. Momus can also reflect substantial amounts of prejudice or injustice from others whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual.

**Censorship Embodiment:** Momus is or becomes the embodiment of censorship - the act of the suppressing speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient. This allows some level of control over whatever concept Momus can censor, and can even outright destroy that concept all-together.

**Detection:** Momus can sense the presence of anything/everything, including matter/energy, power, concepts, etc. and possibly gain detailed understanding about whatever they are sensing, including the amount/size of it and whether it is hidden and/or guarded.

**Empathic Mimicry:** Momus can duplicate the powers of those around them by channeling an emotion that are connected to the powers and reproduce them at will. (Ex, if the other subject is angry, a user can focus on the emotion in order to gain their ability, it's the same with fear etc). Either way, any emotion Momus channels, can allow access to a person's power.

**Irony Inducement:** Momus can make any situation ironic, causing a certain level of Unpredictability, making the least expected conclusion occur.

**Literature Embodiment:** Momus becomes the embodiment of literature - written works and publishing, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.

**Mockery Physiology:** Momus with this power is or can transform themselves or others into mockeries - grotesque, exaggerated, monstrous versions of themselves or others.

**Poetry Embodiment:** Momus becomes the embodiment of poetry - the form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language - such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre - to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.

**Shapeshifting:** Momus can change their shape, size, color, density, texture, cellular composition, and/or atomic composition to mimic qualities, impersonate entities, amplify abilities, and/or traverse environments. The origins of this power play a significant role in their capabilities and limitations; altering oneself on a cellular, atomic, and/or conceptual level will permit varying degrees of alteration; while methods that defy the laws of reality, such as magic, will most likely keep to their own set of conventions.

**Treachery Embodiment:** Momus is the embodiment of treachery, they are only loyal to themselves or have other reasons use this power to get around and infiltrate enemy lines so they can destroy them from the inside. Momus may also manipulate others into fighting each other for the sake of accomplishing their own goals. Then at the proper opportunity Momus can eliminate any loose ends.

**Voice Manipulation:** Momus is freely capable of manipulating their voice, allowing them to control their voices to imitate sounds of creatures such as animal noises and explosions or increase or decrease the tone of their voice.

**Wing Manifestation:** Momus has or is able to manifest wings that grow or are attached to the body allowing flight. They may also protect from rear attacks or detach and re-grow for quick getaways.