eidola

Eidola (singular eidolon) is the plural form of the Greek term eidolon, from eidōn “image” or “appearance.” In ancient Greek usage, eidolon signified a form, likeness, or phantasm—an outward image that may or may not correspond to the real thing.

In philosophy, eidola were images that the senses present to the mind, often in tension with true forms or essences. In Plato, the shadows and reflections that people perceive can be described as eidola—images that imitate but do not reveal the true reality.

Neoplatonists and later medieval writers sometimes treated eidola as deceptive appearances produced by material causes, distinct from the eternal ideas or forms. The concept was used in discussions of epistemology and aesthetics to distinguish appearance from reality and to analyze why perception can mislead thought.

In the Renaissance and early modern period, scholars often encountered Greek texts through Latin translations and used eidola to discuss images that distort judgment, whether produced by sense or mind. The term is now primarily of historical interest in studies of ancient philosophy and the history of epistemology.

See also: Eidolon, Plato, illusion, perception, icon.