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Tag Archives: Hubris

Angels & Archangels: Michael, Lucifer…

30 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Angels, Beast Literature

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Angels and Archangels, Dante, Guardian Angel, Healers, Hubris, Islam, John Milton, Messengers, Michael and Lucifer, Notre Seigneur en pauvre, Sir Ernest MacMillan, War in Heaven

640px-Guido_Reni_031

Archangel Michael wears a late Roman military cloak and cuirass in this 17th-century depiction by Guido Reni (Caption and Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Angel bearing Veronica’s Veil by Cosimo Fancelli at Ponte Sant Angelo

Angel bearing Veronica’s Veil by Cosimo Fancelli at Ponte Sant’ Angelo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Angelology, the study of angels, is an extremely complex area of knowledge. Consequently, this post is a limited discussion. In fact, I will write a rather informal account of my findings, as though I were addressing students who have first been given the full written text.

First, angels are supernatural creatures and, therefore, immortal beings found in several religions and mythologies. In the beginning, they were members of a divine council and were referred to as “sons of God.” Later on, the term “sons of God” was applied to angels who engaged in sexual intercourse with women, mere mortals. (See Fallen angels, Wikipedia.) These angels could not return to heaven. They were “fallen angels” and, henceforth, mortals. But most angels have fallen led by Lucifer.

A War in Heaven

Michael
Lucifer/Satan
the Dragon
 

According to certain Muslim accounts,[1] Lucifer fell from grace because he would not bow to Adam, the first human being. In Greco-Roman mythology, hubris “extreme pride or self-confidence” leads to the demise of Icarus. (See Hubris, Wikipedia.)

“And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven… ” (The Apocalypse or Book of Revelation, 12.7)[2]

 

For most members of the Western Church, Lucifer fell from grace when, as the leader of rebellious angels, he was defeated by the archangel Michael, God’s “holy fighter.” There was a war in heaven, and Michael proved a stronger warrior than Lucifer. In Western Christianity, the archangel Michael is St Michael. His feast day, the former Michaelmas, is 29 September and it coincides with the fall equinox. In 2014, the fall equinox–equal daylight and darkness–occurred on 23 September.

The Islamic and Christian interpretations of Lucifer’s downfall do not contradict one another, which should be noted. One does not rebel against God. Lucifer, the defeated archangel became Satan, and he and his troops were sent to hell: inferno. Inferno is the title of the first book of Dante‘s (C. 1265 – 1321), Divine Comedy, Lucifer’s story parallels the fall of man and is also told in John Milton‘s (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) Paradise Lost.

These two books are monumental literary works and both have been illustrated by French engraver Gustave Doré (6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) who portrayed Lucifer not as a dragon, evil incarnate, but as a human being with wings resembling those of a bat (la chauve-souris or, literally, the bald mouse).

In both Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost, the account of the fall of man is associated with that of the fall of angels. God told Adam and Eve not to eat at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the archangel Raphael re-warned them. But they defied God’s directives, hubris, and thus lost their immortality. They were driven out of Paradise and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel (evil and good).

Angels as Zoomorphic Creatures

In appearance, angels are zoomorphic, a blend of animal features or human and animal features. In the eyes of some early Christian Church fathers and lesser Christians, this was not altogether acceptable. Certain fathers of the Western Christian Church did not like the fact that angels had wings, an animal feature.

One reticent early saint was St. John Chrysostom (c. 349 – 407). How could nascent Christianity be burdened by so many winged creatures, all of whom were males?  But the opposite could be just as embarrassing. How could a sacred text not shelter supernatural beings, despite their wings? Fortunately, it occurred to John Chrysostom that wings gave angels “sublimity.”  Moreover, without wings, how could an angel be an intermediary between God and mere mortals? How could he be a prophet? (See Angel, Wikipedia.)

“Not that angels have wings, but that you may know that they leave the heights and the most elevated dwelling to approach human nature. Accordingly, the wings attributed to these powers have no other meaning than to indicate the sublimity of their nature.” (See Angel, Wikipedia.)
 

At any rate, we do swear on the Bible despite the presence of angels. As for Satan,[3] the “shining one, morning star, Lucifer,” (see Strong’s Concordance  [1822–1894], Wikipedia) he did lead rebellious angels. However, despite his fall from grace, Satan retained his name and, as Lucifer, the “morning star,” he remains the Christian counterpart to Roman mythology’s goddess Aurora, the goddess of dawn.

GustaveDoreParadiseLostSatanProfile

Gustave Doré, Depiction of Satan, the antagonist of John Milton‘s Paradise Lost, c. 1866 (Caption and Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lucifer3

Gustave Doré, illustration to Paradise Lost, book IX, 179–187: “… he [Satan] held on /His midnight search, where soonest he might finde /The Serpent: him fast sleeping soon he found…”   (Caption and Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Origins

Historically, angels originate in Zoroastrianism, a monotheistic religion that arose in the ancient Persian Empire in the 6th century BCE. Zoroastrianism is named after the philosopher Zoroaster, also called Zarathustra, as in Friedrich Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra, set to music, a tone poem, by Richard Strauss.

Angels also originate in Abrahamic religions or Semitic religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith. However, the notion of angels and demons is rooted in Zoroastrianism, a religion that postulates a constant struggle between good and evil. It resembles the Manichean heresy.

Angels and Archangels

Michael and Lucifer are archangels, a higher realm than angels. In Judaism, there were seven archangels. (See Archangels, Wikipedia.) The Eastern Christian Church also has a larger number of archangels than the Western Christian Church. But Catholicism has  three archangels: Michael, God’s fighter, Gabriel, God’s messenger, and Raphael, “God who heals.” (See Raphael, Wikipedia.) A fourth archangel was Lucifer or Satan, a fallen angel.

Raphael would be an ancestor to Christianity’s “ministering angel” a female angel. There is a “ministering angel” in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1598-1602): “a ministering angel shall my sister be[.]” The same words are used by Sir Walter Scott in Marmion (1808):[4]

When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou!
 

Raphael would also be an ancestor to guardians angels. Angels have always been guides or counselors and this role has become their chief duty, a duty performed by a female.

As for Uriel, a post-Exilic Rabbinic angel, he could be the fourth Catholic archangel, but he belongs to other Christian traditions, not Catholicism.

Roles Angels Play

Michael is God’s fighter, Gabriel (Jibra’il or Jibril in Islam), God’s messenger, and Raphael, a healer. The archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was bearing Jesus. Gabriel therefore straddles Judaism and Christianity or the Old Testament and New Testament.

In Islam, angels are often made to carry messages from God to his prophets, one of whom is Muhammad, and another, Jesus. (See Prophets in Islam, Wikipedia.) Muhammad was also visited by Gabriel. (See Muhammad, Wikipedia.) But as messengers, angels and archangels have, at times, also been counsellors or guides. Had Adam and Eve listened, they would have retained their immortality.

Cortona_Guardian_Angel_01

Gardian Angel by Pietro da Cortona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Angels now

“Notre Seigneur en pauvre” (folklore)
the “ministering angel”
the “guardian angel”
 

Angels have long been “ministering angels.” Their role as healers dates back to Raphael. Moreover, the following sentence points to godliness in the humblest among humans:

“Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2)

In French Canada, leaving a place at table for the beggar who might knock at the door was a tradition. One also left a bench at the door for the beggar (un gueux) to sleep on. The bench was a chest. I suppose there were blankets inside the chest. That beggar could have been Jesus himself.

Sir Ernest MacMillan set that legend to music, but very few people remember the story. Sir Ernest entitled his composition “Notre Seigneur en pauvre” (Our Lord as a poor man). I have inserted an untitled video at the foot of this post. It may be untitled, but that piece of music is Sir Ernest’s “Notre Seigneur en pauvre.”

Most importantly, however, angels are guardian angels. Guardian angels are sometimes portrayed looking after children who are about to cross a narrow bridge over a precipice or are standing near a precipice.

Schutzengel (English: "Guardian Angel") by Bernhard Plockhorst depicts a guardian angel watching over two children

Schutzengel (Guardian Angel) by Bernhard Plockhorst depicts a guardian angel watching over two children (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Conclusion

Where are seraphs and cherubs? Well, there simply was not enough room to include seraphs and cherubs in this post. Nor was there sufficient room to mention putti. These “angels” can be discussed at a later point. I was somewhat surprised to see that the entire Middle East harboured angels. The extent to which North Americans believe in angels is equally surprising. That figure, nearly 75%, is their true measure. The prominence of the fallen angel as an archetype is also astonishing.

Apologies and my kindest regards to all of you.

Sources and Resources

  • The Divine Comedy is Gutenberg’s [eBook #8800]
  • Paradise Lost is Gutenberg’s [eBook #26]
  • The Fallen Angels
  • Gustave Doré, The Divine Comedy illustrations
  • Gustave Doré, Paradise Lost illustrations

_________________________

[1] The Fallen Angels

[2] In the Book of Revelation, also entitled the Apocalypse, the bad angel is a dragon, a mythical and zoomorphic being, but above all a symbol of evil. However, St. George slays a dragon.

[3] In Hebrew, Satan means adversary.

[4] Water Scott, Marmion (1808), quoted in Elizabeth Knowles, ed. “Ministering Angel,” The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

The Alcan Quartet performs Sir Ernest MacMillan‘s “Notre Seigneur en pauvre”

640px-St__Uriel-_St_John’s_Church,_Boreham

Mosaic of St. Uriel by James Powell and Sons, at St John’s Church, Boreham, Wiltshire. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
30 November 2014
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Winged Creatures: Pegasus and Icarus

20 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Angels, Bestiaries, Winged Creatures

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Angels, Bellerophon, Bestiary, Daedalus, Greco-Roman Mythology, Hubris, Icarus, Medusa, Pegasus, Poseidon

Pegasus: the Winged Horse

Pegasus: the Winged Horse, 1914 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is within the nature of the human mind to invent what is lacking. We cannot fly, but birds fly. Flying is so powerful a wish that we have invented angels and archangels who inhabit not only the Old and the New Testaments, but also belong to other cultures. For instance, there are Islamic angels and their role is that of messengers, or oracles. According to the Old Testament, Gabriel is the archangel who announced to Mary that she was bearing Jesus. In Islam, Gabriel (Jibra’il) is one of four archangels whose duty it is to deliver God’s messages to prophets. We also have “pagan” angels.

The Wish to Fly

The wish to fly has led to the invention of aircrafts. Humans can now fly to the moon. However, this post is not about the history of aviation. It is about the wish to fly as expressed in Greco-Roman mythology. Not that such a wish begins with Greco-Roman mythology but that Greco-Roman mythology tells the story of Pegasus and Icarus and, by the same token, that of their entourage: Bellerophon, who rode Pegasus, Daedalus, who crafted wings for Icarus, not to mention Medusa and Chimera, female monsters.  

Medusa, by Caravaggio

Medusa by Caravaggio (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Chimera

The Chimera on a red-figure Apulian plate, c. 350–340 BCE (Musée du Louvre) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pegasus & Bellerophon

Pegasus is the son of Poseidon, a god, and the Gorgon Medusa, a monster
Medusa was slain by Perseus 
Pegasus, a winged horse, was tamed by Bellerophon 
Bellerophon, a slayer of monsters, tamed Pegasus
Pegasus helped Bellerophon kill the Chimera, also a monster
 
 

There are many winged creatures in Greek mythology, but the most famous are  Pegasus and Icarus.

Pegasus,[1] is a winged horse who “carrie[d] the thunder and lightning of Zeus [Jupiter].”[2] He is the son of Poseidon,[3] the “god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses.” (See Poseidon, Wikipedia.) His mother, however, is Medusa,[4] a mortal Gorgon and a monster. She had living venomous snakes in place of hair. The coupling of gods and mortals sometimes led to the birth of “monsters.”

Medusa was killed by Perseus, who, like Bellerophon, was also a slayer of monsters. In order to destroy Medusa, Perseus was provided with “winged sandals, Hades‘ cap of invisibility and a sickle.” As mentioned above, Hades is the god of the Underworld, but he is also capable of making himself invisible, another one of mankind’s wishes.

Pegasus was born from the blood flowing from the severed head of Medusa, his mother. A lesser sibling, Chysaor, was also born from the blood pouring out of Medusa’s head. Both were Poseidon’s offsprings. (See Gorgon, Wikipedia, and Gorgo/ Medusa, the Oxford Classical Dictionary.)

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Perseus, bronze sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini, 1545–54 (Photo credit: Art Resource, NY, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Bellerophon and Chimera

Pegasus was tamed by Bellerophon, who slayed monsters. In fact, Pegasus helped Bellerophon kill Chimera, a female and mortal sibling of Cerberus/ Kerberos (GR), the three-headed dog who guarded the entrance to the Underworld.

Bellerophon’s story 

Bellerophon was falsely accused of trying to rape Anteia (later called Stheneboea). Anteia’s husband, Proetus, sent him to Iobates, king of Lycia and Anteia’s father. Bellerophon was to deliver a sealed letter in which Proetus was requesting that Iobates kill the bearer of the letter, Bellerophon.

Convinced that Bellerophon would not survive what seemed an impossible mission, Iobates asked him to slay Chimera. He also asked him to fight the Solymi and the Amazons. With the help of Pegasus, Bellerophon performed the tasks assigned to him successfully. Iobates therefore married him to his daughter.

Bellerophon died when he flew Pegasus to Olympus, home of the twelve Olympians. Flying to Olympus was hubris, or “extreme pride and self-confidence,” on the part of Bellorophon. (See Hubris, Wikipedia.) The gods of antiquity always punished hubris. Pegasus, a zoomorphic being, did not perish because he was born a winged creature. No god would punish him for being what he was. After Bellerophon’s death, Pegasus became a constellation and was made a symbol of immortality in Latin Mythology. 

“In late antiquity Pegasus’s soaring flight was interpreted as an allegory of the soul’s immortality; in modern times it has been regarded as a symbol of poetic inspiration.”[5]

Charles_Le_Brun_-_Daedalus_and_Icarus_-_WGA12535

Daedalus and Icarus by Charles Le Brun (1619–1690), c. 1645,  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Icarus and Daedalus

Master craftsman Daedalus had a son named Icarus. Daedalus had built the labyrinth inside which the Minotaur, part bull, part man, was held. Daedalus crafted wings for his son Icarus who wanted to fly, which was hubris. Icarus defiantly flew so close to the sun, the god Helios, that the wax used to attach wings to his body melted. He therefore fell to his death into the sea of Icarus, named after him. Mere mortals cannot fly.

Daedalus had accompanied Icarus, but managed to land in Sicily and he became an Etruscan, ancient Italy, celebrity. His image appears on a gold coin or seal called a bulla. However, there are divergent accounts of Daedalus’ fate. Greek historians differ. According to one account, Daedalus became jealous of Talos, his nephew and apprentice, who invented the saw, thereby surpassing his mentor, Daedalus.

Daedalus was known as the best craftsman. Talos’ invention therefore aroused Daedalus’ jealousy. So envious was Daedalus that he pushed Talos off the Acropolis. The goddess Athena saved Talos by turning him into a partridge, a metamorphosis. Talos acquired a new name, Perdix (partridge or une perdrix [FR]). As for Daedalus, he left Athens. (See Daedalus, Wikipedia.)

Conclusion

Pegasus could fly. He was a beautiful white and winged horse. But in Greek mythology, one does not defy the gods with impunity. Bellerophon tried to fly Pegasus to mount Olympus, attracting the wrath of the gods. He therefore fell to his death. For his part, Icarus soared so high that the sun, Helios, melted the wax that kept his wings attached to his body. So he too fell to his death.

The story of Pegasus is an interesting case of zoomorphism. Only his wings differentiate Pegasus from a horse. Similarly, only their wings differentiate angels from human beings. However, Chimera combined many features and was viewed as a monster. She was in fact grotesque but not in the same way as gargoyles and the large number of figures ornamenting misericords. The Medieval Bestiary is its own world. Or is it the other way around? Greco-Roman Mythology is its own world?

I should note that:

“Chimera, or chimère, in architecture, is a term loosely used for any grotesque, fantastic, or imaginary beast used in decoration.”[6]

Zoomorphism is a complex subject. For instance, we have yet to discuss shapeshifting  beings: lycanthropy or the werewolf (le loup-garou), a dual incarnation with a human literary counterpart, Robert Louis Stevenson‘s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

 
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The Chimera of Arezzo, bronze, Etruscan, 5th century BCE; in the Museo Archeologico, Florence. (Photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, New York & Britannica)

Sources and Resources

  • Robert Graves, The Golden Fleece (London: Cassell, 1944)
  • Edith Hamilton, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes (Little, Brown & Company, 1942)
  • Theoi Greek Mythology

—ooo—

[1] “Pegasus”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 15 nov.. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/448740/Pegasus&gt;.

[2] Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, revised and edited, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edition (Oxford University Press, 2003).

[3] “Poseidon”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 15 nov.. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/471736/Poseidon&gt;.

[4] “Medusa”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 19 nov.. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/372807/Medusa&gt;.

[5] “Pegasus”. op. cit.

[6] “Chimera”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 19 nov.. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/111597/Chimera>.

Christoph Willibald Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice, 1774
Luciano Pavarotti (12 October 1935 – 6 September 2007), tenor
Pegasus

Pegasus http://www.theoi.com

© Micheline Walker
19 November 2014
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