Pharmakos
/ˈfɑːr.mə.kɒs/noun
A person ritually expelled or killed in ancient Greek ceremonies as a scapegoat for a community’s troubles.
Did you know?The Greek word pharmakos is closely associated with pharmakon, meaning a drug, poison, or remedy—revealing an ancient idea that one person could function as a dangerous cure for social corruption.
Etymological Timeline
Archaic Greek
Greek
φαρμακός (pharmakos)
“A ritual scapegoat or person expelled to cleanse a community of pollution and misfortune.”
5th Century BCE
Greek
φαρμακός (pharmakos)
“A person used in civic purification rituals, sometimes publicly humiliated, expelled, or killed.”
5th–4th Century BCE
Greek
φάρμακον (pharmakon)
“A drug, remedy, poison, or magical substance; the related semantic field connected healing with harm.”
Hellenistic Period
Greek
φαρμακός (pharmakos)
“A scapegoat figure discussed in Greek literary and philosophical traditions.”
20th Century
English
pharmakos
“A scholarly term for the ancient Greek scapegoat ritual and its human representative.”
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