Tuesday's Serials: "The Epic of Hades" by Lewis Morris (in English) - X

MEDUSA

                                 Leaving him enwrapt

In musings, to a gloomy pass I came

Between dark rocks, where scarce a gleam of light,

Not even the niggard light of that dim land,

Might enter; and the soil was black and bare,

Nor even the thin growths which scarcely clothed

The higher fields might live. Hard by a cave

Which sloped down steeply to the lowest depths,

Whence dreadful sounds ascended, seated still,

Her head upon her hands, I saw a maid

With eyes fixed on the ground—not Tartarus

It was, but Hades; and she knew no pain,

Except her painful thought. Yet there it seemed,

As here, the unequal measure which awaits

The adjustment, and meanwhile, inspires the strife

Which rears life's palace walls; and fills the sail

Which bears our bark across unfathomed seas,

To its last harbour; this bore sway there too,

And 'twas a luckless shade which sat and wept

Amid the gloom, though blameless. Suddenly,

She raised her head, and lo! the long curls, writhed

Tangled, and snake-like—as the dripping hair

Of a dead girl who freed from life and shame,

From out the cruel wintry flow, is laid

Stark on the snow with dreadful staring eyes

Like hers. For when she raised her eyes to mine,

They chilled my blood, so great a woe they bore;

And as she gazed, wide-eyed, I knew my pulse

Beat slow, and my limbs stiffen. Then they wore,

At length, a softer look, and life revived

Within my breast as thus she softly spoke:

 

      "Nay, friend, I would not harm thee. I have known

Great sorrow, and sometimes it racks me still,

And turns me into stone, and makes my eyes

As dreadful as of yore; and yet it comes

But seldom, as thou sawest, now, for Time

And Death have healing hands. Only I love

To sit within the darkness here, nor face

The throng of happier ghosts; if any ghost

Of happiness come here. For on the earth

They wronged me bitterly, and turned to stone

My heart, till scarce I knew if e'er I was

The happy girl of yore.

                                           That youth who dreams

Up yonder by the margin of the lake,

Knew but a cold ideal love, but me

Love in unearthly guise, but bodily form,

Seized and betrayed.

                                        I was a priestess once,

Of stern Athené, doing day by day

Due worship; raising, every dawn that came,

My cold pure hymns to take her virgin ear;

Nor sporting with the joyous company

Of youths and maids, who at the neighbouring shrine

Of Aphrodité served. Nor dance nor song

Allured me, nor the pleasant days of youth

And twilights 'mid the vines. They held me cold

Who were my friends in childhood. For my soul

Was virginal, and at the virgin shrine

I knelt, athirst for knowledge. Day by day

The long cold ritual sped, the liturgies

Were done, the barren hymns of praise went up

Before the goddess, and the ecstasy

Of faith possessed me wholly, till almost

I knew not I was woman. Yet I knew

That I was fair to see, and fit to share

Some natural honest love, and bear the load

Of children like the rest; only my soul

Was lost in higher yearnings.

                                                      Like a god,

He burst upon those pallid lifeless days,

Bringing fresh airs and salt, as from the sea,

And wrecked my life. How should a virgin know

Deceit, who never at the joyous shrine

Of Cypris knelt, but ever lived apart,

And so grew guilty? For if I had spent

My days among the throng, either my fault

Were blameless, or undone. For innocence

The tempter spreads his net. For innocence

The gods keep all their terrors. Innocence

It is that bears the burden, which for guilt

Is lightened, and the spoiler goes his way,

Uncaring, joyous, leaving her alone,

The victim and unfriended.

                                                   Was it just

In her, my mistress, who had had my youth,

To wreak such vengeance on me? I had erred,

It may be; but on him, whose was the guilt,

No heaven-sent vengeance lighted, but he sped

Away to other hearts across the deep,

Careless and free; but me, the cold stern eyes

Of the pure goddess withered; and the scorn

Of maids, despised before, and the great blank

Of love, whose love was gone—this wrung my heart,

And froze my blood; set on my brow despair,

And turned my gaze to stone, and filled my eyes

With horror, and stiffened the soft curls which once

Lay smooth and fair into such snake-like rings

As made my aspect fearful. All who saw,

Shrank from me and grew cold, and felt the warm,

Full tide of life freeze in them, seeing in me

Love's work, who sat wrapt up and lost in shame,

As in a cloak, consuming my own heart,

And was in hell already. As they gazed

Upon me, my despair looked forth so cold

From out my eyes, that if some spoiler came

Fresh from his wickedness, and looked on them,

Their glare would strike him dead; and those fair curls

Which once the accursèd toyed with, grew to be

The poisonous things thou seest; and so, with hate

Of man's injustice and the gods', who knew

Me blameless, and yet punished me; and sick

Of life and love, and loathing earth and sky,

And feeding on my sorrow, Hate at last

Left me a Fury.

                               Ah, the load of life

Which lives for hatred! We are made to love—

We women, and the injury which turns

The honey of our lives to gall, transforms

The angel to the fiend. For it is sweet

To know the dreadful sense of strength, and smite

And leave the tyrant dead with a glance; ay! sweet,

In that fierce lust of power, to slay the life

Which harmed not, when the suppliants' cry ascends

To ears which hate has deafened. So I lived

Long time in misery; to my sleepless eyes

No healing slumbers coming; but at length,

Zeus and the goddess pitying, I knew

Soft rest once more veiling my dreadful gaze

In peaceful slumbers. Then a blessed dream

I dreamt. For, lo! a god-like knight in mail

Of gold, who sheared with his keen flashing blade;

With scarce a pang of pain, the visage cold

Which too great sorrow left me; at one stroke

Clean from the trunk, and then o'er land and sea,

Invisible, sped with winged heels, to where,

Upon a sea-worn cape, a fair young maid,

More blameless even than I was, chained and bound,

Waited a monster from the deep and stood

In innocent nakedness. Then, as he rose,

Loathsome, from out the depths, a monstrous growth,

A creature wholly serpent, partly man,

The wrongs that I had known, stronger than death,

Rose up with such black hate in me again,

And wreathed such hissing poison through my hair,

And shot such deadly glances from my eyes,

That nought that saw might live. And the vile worm

Was slain, and she delivered. Then I dreamt

My mistress, whom I thought so stern to me,

Athené, set those dreadful staring eyes,

And that despairing visage, on her shield

Of chastity, and bears it evermore

To fright the waverer from the wrong he would,

And strike the unrepenting spoiler, dead."

 

      Then for a little paused she, while I saw

Again her eyes grown dreadful, till once more,

And with a softer glance:

                                                "From that blest dream

I woke not on the earth, but only here.

And now my pain is lightened since I know

My dream, which was a dream within the dream

Which is our life, fulfilled. And I have saved

Another through my suffering, and through her

A people. Oh, strange chain of sacrifice,

That binds an innocent life, and from its blood

And sorrow works out joy! Oh, mystery

Of pain and evil! wrong grown salutary,

And mighty to redeem! If thou shouldst see

A woman on the earth, who pays to-day

Like penalty of sin, and the new gods

(For after Saturn, Zeus ruled; after him

It may be there are others) love to take

The tender heart of girlhood, and to immure

Within a cold and cloistered cell the life

Which nature meant to bless, and if Love come

Hold her accursèd; or to some poor maid,

Forlorn and trusting, still the tempter comes

And works his wrong, and leaves her in despair

And shame and all abhorrence, while he goes

His way unpunished,—if thou know her eyes

Freeze thee like mine—oh! bid her lose her pain

In succouring others—say to her that Time

And Death have healing hands, and here there comes

To the forgiven transgressor only pain

Enough to chasten joy!"

                                             And a soft tear

Trembled within her eyes, and her sweet gaze

Was as the Magdalen's, the horror gone

And a great radiance come.

 

 

ADONIS

                                                      Then as I passed

To upper air, I saw two figures rise

Together, one a woman with a grave

Fair face not all unhappy, and the robes

And presence of a queen; and with her walked

The fairest youth that ever maiden's dream

Conceived. And as they came, the throng of ghosts,

For these who were not wholly ghosts, arose,

And did them homage. Not the chain of love

Bound them, but such calm kinship as is bred

Of long and difficult pilgrimages borne

Through common perils by two souls which share

A common weary exile. Nor as ghosts

These showed, but rather like two lives which hung

Suspended in a trance. A halo of life

Played round them, and they brought a sweet brisk air

Tasting of earth and heaven, like sojourners

Who stayed but for awhile, and knew a swift

Release await them. First the youth it was

Who spake thus as they passed:

                                                             "Dread Queen, once more

I feel life stir within me, and my blood

Run faster, while a new strange cycle turns

And grows completed. Soon on the dear earth

Under the lively light of fuller day,

I shall revive me of my wound; and thou,

Passing with me yon cold and lifeless stream,

And the grim monster who will fawn on thee,

Shalt issue in royal pomp, and wreathed with flowers,

Upon the cheerful earth, leaving behind

A deeper winter for the ghosts who dwell

Within these sunless haunts; and I shall lie

Once more within loved arms, and thou shalt see

Thy early home, and kiss thy mother's cheek,

And be a girl again. But not for long;

For ere the bounteous Autumn spreads her hues

Of gold and purple, a cold voice will call

And bring us to these wintry lands once more,

As erst so often. Blest are we, indeed,

Above the rest, and yet I would I knew

The careless joys of old.

                                             For in hot youth,

Oh, it was sweet to greet the balmy night

That was love's nurse, and feel the weary eyes

Closed by soft kisses,—sweet at early dawn

To wake refreshed and, scarce from loving arms

Leaping, to issue forth, with winding horn,

By dewy heath and brake, and taste the fair

Young breath of early morning; and 'twas sweet

To chase the bounding quarry all day long

With my true hounds and rapid steed, and gay

Companions of my youth, and with the eve

To turn home laden with the spoil, and take

The banquet which awaited, and sweet wine

Poured out, and kisses pressed on loving lips;

Circled by snowy arms. Oh, it was sweet

To be alive and young!

                                            For sure it is

The gods gave not quick pulses and hot blood

And strength and beauty for no end, but would

That we should use them wisely; and the fair,

Sweet mistress of my service was, indeed,

Worthy of all observance. Oh, her eyes

When I lay bleeding! All day long we rode,

I and my youthful peers, with horse and hound,

And knew the joy of swift pursuit and toil

And peril. At the last, a fierce boar turned

At bay, and with his gleaming tusks o'erthrew

My steed, and as I fell upon the flowers,

Pierced me as with a sword. Then, as I lay,

I knew the strange slow chill which, stealing, tells

The young that it is death. Yet knew I not

Of pain or fear, only great pity, indeed,

That she should lose her love, who was so fond

And gracious. But when, lifting my dim gaze,

I saw her bend o'er me,—the lovely eyes

Suffused with tears, and her sweet smile replaced

By agonized sorrow,—for a while I stayed

Life's ebbing tide, and raised my cold, white lips,

With a faint smile, to hers. Then, with a kiss—

One long last kiss, we mingled, and I knew

No more.

                    But even in death, so strong is Love,

I could not wholly die; and year by year,

When the bright springtime comes, and the earth lives,

Love opens these dread gates, and calls me forth

Across the gulf. Not here, indeed, she comes,

Being a goddess and in heaven, but smooths

My path to the old earth, where still I know

Once more the sweet lost days, and once again

Blossom on that soft breast, and am again

A youth, and rapt in love; and yet not all

As careless as of yore; but seem to know

The early spring of passion, tamed by time

And suffering, to a calmer, fuller flow,

Less fitful, but more strong."

 

 

PERSEPHONE

                                                     Then the sad Queen

"Fair youth, thy lot I know, for I am old

As the old earth and yet as young as is

The budding spring, and I was here a Queen,

When Love was not or Time, and to my arms

Thou camest as a little child, to dwell

Within the halls of Death, for without Death

There were nor Birth nor Love, nor would Life yearn

To lose itself within another life,

And dying, to be born. I, too, have died

For love in part, and live again through love;

For in the far-off years, when Time was young,

And Love unborn on earth, and Zeus in heaven

Ruled, a young sovereign; I, a maiden, dwelt

With dread Demeter on the lovely plains

Of sunny Sicily. There, day by day,

I sported with the maiden goddesses,

In virgin freedom. Budding age made gay

Our lightsome feet, and on the flowery slopes

We wandered daily, gathering flowers to weave

In careless garlands for our locks, and passed

The days in innocent gladness. Thought of Love

There came not to us, for as yet the earth

Was virginal, nor yet had Eros come

With his delicious pain.

                                             And one fair morn—

Not all the ages blot it—on the side

Of Ætna we were straying. There was then

Summer nor winter, springtide nor the time

Of harvest, but the soft unfailing sun

Shone always, and the sowing time was one

With reaping; fruit and flower together sprung

Upon the trees; and blade and ripened ear

Together clothed the plains. There, as I strayed,

Sudden a black cloud down the rugged side

Of Ætna, mixed with fire and dreadful sound

Of thunder, rolled around me, and I heard

The maids who were my fellows turn and flee

With shrieks and cries for me.

                                                        But I, I knew

No terror while the god o'ershadowed me,

Hiding my life in his, nor when I wept

My flowers all withered, and my blood ran slow

Within a wintry land. Some voice there was

Which said, 'Fear not. Thou shalt return and see

Thy mother again, only a little while

Fate wills that thou shouldst tarry, and become

Queen of another world. Thou seest that all

Thy flowers are faded. They shall live again

On earth, as thou shalt, as thou livest now

The Life of Death—for what is Death but Life

Suspended as in sleep? The changeless rule

Where life was constant, and the sun o'erhead,

Blazed forth for ever, changes and is hidden

Awhile. This region which thou seest, where all

The trees are lifeless, and the flowers are dead,

Is but the self-same earth on which erewhile

Thou sportedst fancy free.'

                                                  So, without fear

I wandered on this bare land, seeing far

Upon the sky the peaks of my own hills

And crests of my own woods. Till, when I grew

Hungered, ere yet another form I saw;

Along the silent alleys journeying,

And leafless groves; a fair and mystic tree

Rose like a heart in shape, and 'mid its leaves

One golden mystic fruit with a fair seed

Hid in it. This, with childish hand, I took

And ate, and straight I knew the tree was Life,

And the fruit Death, and the hid seed was Love.

 

      Ah, sweet strange fruit! the which if any taste

They may no longer keep their lives of old

Or their own selves unchanged, but some weird change

And subtle alchemy comes which can transmute

The blood, and mould the spirits of gods and men

In some new magical form. Not as before,

Our life comes to us, though the passion cools,

No, never as before. My mother came

Too late to seek me. She had power to raise

A life from out Death's grasp, but from the arms

Of Love she might not take me, nor undo

Love's past for all her strength. She came and sought

With fires her daughter over land and sea,

Beyond the paths of all the setting stars,

In vain, and over all the earth in vain,

Seeking whom love disguised. Then on all lands

She cast the spell of barrenness; the wheat

Was blighted in the ear, the purple grapes

Blushed no more on the vines, and all the gods

Were sorrowful, seeing the load of ill

My rape had laid on men. Last, Zeus himself,

Pitying the evil that was done, sent forth

His messenger beyond the western rim

To fetch me back to earth.

                                                   But not the same

He found me who had eaten of Love's seed,

But changed into another; nor could his power

Prevail to keep me wholly on the earth,

Or make me maid again. The wintry life

Is homelier often than the summer blaze

Of happiness unclouded; so, when Spring

Comes on the world, I, coming, cross with thee,

Year after year, the cruel icy stream;

And leave this anxious sceptre and the shades

Of those in hell, or those for whom, though blest,

No Spring comes, till the last great Spring which brings

New heavens and new earth; and lay my head

Upon my mother's bosom, and grow young,

And am a girl again.

                                      A soft air breathes

Across the stream and fills these barren fields

With the sweet odours of the earth. I know

Again the perfume of the violets

Which bloom on Ætna's side. Soon we shall pass

Together to our home, while round our feet

The crocus flames like gold, the wind-flowers white

Wave their soft petals on the breeze, and all

The choir of flowers lift up their silent song

To the unclouded heavens. Thou, fair boy,

Shalt lie within thy love's white arms again,

And I within my mother's. Sweet is Love

In ceasing and renewal; nay, in these

It lives and has its being. Thou couldst not keep

Thy youth as now, if always on the breast

Of love too late a lingerer thou hadst known

Possession sate thee. Nor might I have kept

My mother's heart, if I had lived to ripe

And wither on the stalk. Time calls and Change

Commands both men and gods, and speeds us on

We know not whither; but the old earth smiles

Spring after Spring, and the seed bursts again

Out of its prison mould, and the dead lives

Renew themselves, and rise aloft and soar

And are transformed, clothing themselves with change

Till the last change be done."

                                                       As thus she spake,

I saw a gleam of light flash from the eyes

Of all the listening shades, and a great joy

Thrill through the realms of Death.

Monday's Illustrated Word: "Sentimental Safari" by Unknown Writer (in English)

 art by John Buscema - Confessions of the Lovelorn #109 - American Comics Group, November 1959.

 

 

 

Good Reading: "Mille Rimedi Invan l’Anima Tenta" by Michelangelo Buonarroti (in Italian)

   Mille rimedi invan l’anima tenta:
poi ch’i’ fu’ preso alla prestina strada,
di ritornare endarno s’argomenta.
  Il mare e ’l monte e ’l foco colla spada:
in mezzo a questi tutti insieme vivo.
Al monte non mi lascia chi m’ha privo
dell’intelletto e tolto la ragione.

Friday's Sung Word: "Minha Viola" by Noel Rosa (in Portuguese)

Minha viola
Ta chorando com razão
Por causa duma marvada
Que roubou meu coração

Eu não respeito cantadô que é respeitado
Que no samba improvisado me quisé desafiá
Inda outro dia fui cantá no galinheiro
O galo andou o mês inteiro sem vontade de cantá
Nesta cidade todo mundo se acautela
Com a tal de febre amarela que não cansa de matá
E a dona Chica que anda atrás de mal conselho
Pinta o corpo de vermelho
Pro amarelo não pegá

Minha viola
Ta chorando com razão
Por causa duma marvada
Que roubou meu coração

Eu já jurei não jogá com seu Saldanha
Que diz sempre que me ganha
No tal jogo do bilhar
Sapeca o taco nas bola de tal maneira
Que eu espero a noite inteira pras bola carambolá
Conheço um véio que tem a grande mania
De fazê economia pra modelo de seus filho
Não usa prato, nem moringa, nem caneca
E quando senta é de cueca
Prá não gastá os fundilho

Minha viola
Ta chorando com razão
Por causa duma marvada
Que roubou meu coração

Eu tive um sogro cansado dos regabofe
Que procurou o Voronoff, doutô muito creditado
E andam dizendo que o enxerto foi de gato
Pois ele pula de quatro miando pelos telhado
Adonde eu moro tem o Bloco dos Filante
Que quase que a todo instante um cigarro vem filá
E os danado vem bancando inteligente
Diz que tão com dor de dente
Que o cigarro faz passá.

 

 You can listen "Minha Viola" sung by the Bando de Tangarás here.

 

 

You can listen "Minha Viola" sung by Ione Papas here.

Thursday's Serial: "Against Heresies" by St. Irenaeus of Lyon (translated into English by Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut) - V

Chapter 26

Doctrines of Cerinthus, the Ebionites, and Nicolaitanes.

1. Cerinthus, again, a man who was educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, taught that the world was not made by the primary God, but by a certain Power far separated from him, and at a distance from that Principality who is supreme over the universe, and ignorant of him who is above all. He represented Jesus as having not been born of a virgin, but as being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course of human generation, while he nevertheless was more righteous, prudent, and wise than other men. Moreover, after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from the Supreme Ruler, and that then he proclaimed the unknown Father, and performed miracles. But at last Christ departed from Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and rose again, while Christ remained impassible, inasmuch as he was a spiritual being.

2. Those who are called Ebionites agree that the world was made by God; but their opinions with respect to the Lord are similar to those of Cerinthus and Carpocrates. They use the Gospel according to Matthew only, and repudiate the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he was an apostate from the law. As to the prophetical writings, they endeavour to expound them in a somewhat singular manner: they practise circumcision, persevere in the observance of those customs which are enjoined by the law, and are so Judaic in their style of life, that they even adore Jerusalem as if it were the house of God.

3. The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practise adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the Word has also spoken of them thus: "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." Revelation 2:6.

 

 

Chapter 27

Doctrines of Cerdo and Marcion.

1. Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers of Simon, and came to live at Rome in the time of Hyginus, who held the ninth place in the episcopal succession from the apostles downwards. He taught that the God proclaimed by the law and the prophets was not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but the latter unknown; while the one also was righteous, but the other benevolent.

2. Marcion of Pontus succeeded him, and developed his doctrine. In so doing, he advanced the most daring blasphemy against Him who is proclaimed as God by the law and the prophets, declaring Him to be the author of evils, to take delight in war, to be infirm of purpose, and even to be contrary to Himself. But Jesus being derived from that father who is above the God that made the world, and coming into Judæa in the times of Pontius Pilate the governor, who was the procurator of Tiberius Cæsar, was manifested in the form of a man to those who were in Judæa, abolishing the prophets and the law, and all the works of that God who made the world, whom also he calls Cosmocrator. Besides this, he mutilates the Gospel which is according to Luke, removing all that is written respecting the generation of the Lord, and setting aside a great deal of the teaching of the Lord, in which the Lord is recorded as most dearly confessing that the Maker of this universe is His Father. He likewise persuaded his disciples that he himself was more worthy of credit than are those apostles who have handed down the Gospel to us, furnishing them not with the Gospel, but merely a fragment of it. In like manner, too, he dismembered the Epistles of Paul, removing all that is said by the apostle respecting that God who made the world, to the effect that He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also those passages from the prophetical writings which the apostle quotes, in order to teach us that they announced beforehand the coming of the Lord.

3. Salvation will be the attainment only of those souls which had learned his doctrine; while the body, as having been taken from the earth, is incapable of sharing in salvation. In addition to his blasphemy against God Himself, he advanced this also, truly speaking as with the mouth of the devil, and saying all things in direct opposition to the truth — that Cain, and those like him, and the Sodomites, and the Egyptians, and others like them, and, in fine, all the nations who walked in all sorts of abomination, were saved by the Lord, on His descending into Hades, and on their running unto Him, and that they welcomed Him into their kingdom. But the serpent which was in Marcion declared that Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and those other righteous men who sprang from the patriarch Abraham, with all the prophets, and those who were pleasing to God, did not partake in salvation. For since these men, he says, knew that their God was constantly tempting them, so now they suspected that He was tempting them, and did not run to Jesus, or believe His announcement: and for this reason he declared that their souls remained in Hades.

4. But since this man is the only one who has dared openly to mutilate the Scriptures, and unblushingly above all others to inveigh against God, I purpose specially to refute him, convicting him out of his own writings; and, with the help of God, I shall overthrow him out of those discourses of the Lord and the apostles, which are of authority with him, and of which he makes use. At present, however, I have simply been led to mention him, that you might know that all those who in any way corrupt the truth, and injuriously affect the preaching of the Church, are the disciples and successors of Simon Magus of Samaria. Although they do not confess the name of their master, in order all the more to seduce others, yet they do teach his doctrines. They set forth, indeed, the name of Christ Jesus as a sort of lure, but in various ways they introduce the impieties of Simon; and thus they destroy multitudes, wickedly disseminating their own doctrines by the use of a good name, and, through means of its sweetness and beauty, extending to their hearers the bitter and malignant poison of the serpent, the great author of apostasy. Revelation 12:9.

 

 

Chapter 28

Doctrines of Tatian, the Encratites, and others.

1. Many offshoots of numerous heresies have already been formed from those heretics we have described. This arises from the fact that numbers of them — indeed, we may say all — desire themselves to be teachers, and to break off from the particular heresy in which they have been involved. Forming one set of doctrines out of a totally different system of opinions, and then again others from others, they insist upon teaching something new, declaring themselves the inventors of any sort of opinion which they may have been able to call into existence. To give an example: Springing from Saturninus and Marcion, those who are called Encratites (self-controlled) preached against marriage, thus setting aside the original creation of God, and indirectly blaming Him who made the male and female for the propagation of the human race. Some of those reckoned among them have also introduced abstinence from animal food, thus proving themselves ungrateful to God, who formed all things. They deny, too, the salvation of him who was first created. It is but lately, however, that this opinion has been invented among them. A certain man named Tatian first introduced the blasphemy. He was a hearer of Justin's, and as long as he continued with him he expressed no such views; but after his martyrdom he separated from the Church, and, excited and puffed up by the thought of being a teacher, as if he were superior to others, he composed his own peculiar type of doctrine. He invented a system of certain invisible Æons, like the followers of Valentinus; while, like Marcion and Saturninus, he declared that marriage was nothing else than corruption and fornication. But his denial of Adam's salvation was an opinion due entirely to himself.

2. Others, again, following upon Basilides and Carpocrates, have introduced promiscuous intercourse and a plurality of wives, and are indifferent about eating meats sacrificed to idols, maintaining that God does not greatly regard such matters. But why continue? For it is an impracticable attempt to mention all those who, in one way or another, have fallen away from the truth.

 

Chapter 29

Doctrines of various other Gnostic sects, and especially of the Barbeliotes or Borborians.

1. Besides those, however, among these heretics who are Simonians, and of whom we have already spoken, a multitude of Gnostics have sprung up, and have been manifested like mushrooms growing out of the ground. I now proceed to describe the principal opinions held by them. Some of them, then, set forth a certain Æon who never grows old, and exists in a virgin spirit: him they style Barbelos. They declare that somewhere or other there exists a certain father who cannot be named, and that he was desirous to reveal himself to this Barbelos. Then this Ennœa went forward, stood before his face, and demanded from him Prognosis (prescience). But when Prognosis had, [as was requested,] come forth, these two asked for Aphtharsia (incorruption), which also came forth, and after that Zoe Aionios (eternal life). Barbelos, glorying in these, and contemplating their greatness, and in conception [thus formed], rejoicing in this greatness, generated light similar to it. They declare that this was the beginning both of light and of the generation of all things; and that the Father, beholding this light, anointed it with his own benignity, that it might be rendered perfect. Moreover, they maintain that this was Christ, who again, according to them, requested that Nous should be given him as an assistant; and Nous came forth accordingly. Besides these, the Father sent forth Logos. The conjunctions of Ennœa and Logos, and of Aphtharsia and Christ, will thus be formed; while Zoe Aionios was united to Thelema, and Nous to Prognosis. These, then, magnified the great light and Barbelos.

2. They also affirm that Autogenes was afterwards sent forth from Ennœa and Logos, to be a representation of the great light, and that he was greatly honoured, all things being rendered subject unto him. Along with him was sent forth Aletheia, and a conjunction was formed between Autogenes and Aletheia. But they declare that from the Light, which is Christ, and from Aphtharsia, four luminaries were sent forth to surround Autogenes; and again from Thelema and Zoe Aionios four other emissions took place, to wait upon these four luminaries; and these they name Charis (grace), Thelesis (will), Synesis (understanding), and Phronesis (prudence). Of these, Charis is connected with the great and first luminary: him they represent as Soter (Saviour), and style Armogenes. Thelesis, again, is united to the second luminary, whom they also name Raguel; Synesis to the third, whom they call David; and Phronesis to the fourth, whom they name Eleleth.

3. All these, then, being thus settled, Autogenes moreover produces a perfect and true man, whom they also call Adamas, inasmuch as neither has he himself ever been conquered, nor have those from whom he sprang; he also was, along with the first light, severed from Armogenes. Moreover, perfect knowledge was sent forth by Autogenes along with man, and was united to him; hence he attained to the knowledge of him that is above all. Invincible power was also conferred on him by the virgin spirit; and all things then rested in him, to sing praises to the great Æon. Hence also they declare were manifested the mother, the father, the son; while from Anthropos and Gnosis that Tree was produced which they also style Gnosis itself.

4. Next they maintain, that from the first angel, who stands by the side of Monogenes, the Holy Spirit has been sent forth, whom they also term Sophia and Prunicus. He then, perceiving that all the others had consorts, while he himself was destitute of one, searched after a being to whom he might be united; and not finding one, he exerted and extended himself to the uttermost and looked down into the lower regions, in the expectation of there finding a consort; and still not meeting with one, he leaped forth [from his place] in a state of great impatience, [which had come upon him] because he had made his attempt without the good-will of his father. Afterwards, under the influence of simplicity and kindness, he produced a work in which were to be found ignorance and audacity. This work of his they declare to be Protarchontes, the former of this [lower] creation. But they relate that a mighty power carried him away from his mother, and that he settled far away from her in the lower regions, and formed the firmament of heaven, in which also they affirm that he dwells. And in his ignorance he formed those powers which are inferior to himself — angels, and firmaments, and all things earthly. They affirm that he, being united to Authadia (audacity), produced Kakia (wickedness), Zelos (emulation), Phthonos (envy), Erinnys (fury), and Epithymia (lust). When these were generated, the mother Sophia deeply grieved, fled away, departed into the upper regions, and became the last of the Ogdoad, reckoning it downwards. On her thus departing, he imagined he was the only being in existence; and on this account declared, "I am a jealous God, and besides me there is no one." Exodus 20:5; Isaiah 45:5-6 Such are the falsehoods which these people invent.

 

 

Chapter 30

Doctrines of the Ophites and Sethians.

1. Others, again, portentously declare that there exists, in the power of Bythus, a certain primary light, blessed, incorruptible, and infinite: this is the Father of all, and is styled the first man. They also maintain that his Ennœa, going forth from him, produced a son, and that this is the son of man— the second man. Below these, again, is the Holy Spirit, and under this superior spirit the elements were separated from each other, viz., water, darkness, the abyss, chaos, above which they declare the Spirit was borne, calling him the first woman. Afterwards, they maintain, the first man, with his son, delighting over the beauty of the Spirit — that is, of the woman— and shedding light upon her, begot by her an incorruptible light, the third male, whom they call Christ, — the son of the first and second man, and of the Holy Spirit, the first woman.

2. The father and son thus both had intercourse with the woman (whom they also call the mother of the living). When, however, she could not bear nor receive into herself the greatness of the lights, they declare that she was filled to repletion, and became ebullient on the left side; and that thus their only son Christ, as belonging to the right side, and ever tending to what was higher, was immediately caught up with his mother to form an incorruptible Æon. This constitutes the true and holy Church, which has become the appellation, the meeting together, and the union of the father of all, of the first man, of the son, of the second man, of Christ their son, and of the woman who has been mentioned.

3. They teach, however, that the power which proceeded from the woman by ebullition, being besprinkled with light, fell downward from the place occupied by its progenitors, yet possessing by its own will that besprinkling of light; and it they call Sinistra, Prunicus, and Sophia, as well as masculo-feminine. This being, in its simplicity, descended into the waters while they were yet in a state of immobility, and imparted motion to them also, wantonly acting upon them even to their lowest depths, and assumed from them a body. For they affirm that all things rushed towards and clung to that sprinkling of light, and begin it all round. Unless it had possessed that, it would perhaps have been totally absorbed in, and overwhelmed by, material substance. Being therefore bound down by a body which was composed of matter, and greatly burdened by it, this power regretted the course it had followed, and made an attempt to escape from the waters and ascend to its mother: it could not effect this, however, on account of the weight of the body lying over and around it. But feeling very ill at ease, it endeavoured at least to conceal that light which came from above, fearing lest it too might be injured by the inferior elements, as had happened to itself. And when it had received power from that besprinkling of light which it possessed, it sprang back again, and was borne aloft; and being on high, it extended itself, covered [a portion of space], and formed this visible heaven out of its body; yet remained under the heaven which it made, as still possessing the form of a watery body. But when it had conceived a desire for the light above, and had received power by all things, it laid down this body, and was freed from it. This body which they speak of that power as having thrown off, they call a female from a female.

4. They declare, moreover, that her son had also himself a certain breath of incorruption left him by his mother, and that through means of it he works; and becoming powerful, he himself, as they affirm, also sent forth from the waters a son without a mother; for they do not allow him either to have known a mother. His son, again, after the example of his father, sent forth another son. This third one, too, generated a fourth; the fourth also generated a son: they maintain that again a son was generated by the fifth; and the sixth, too, generated a seventh. Thus was the Hebdomad, according to them, completed, the mother possessing the eighth place; and as in the case of their generations, so also in regard to dignities and powers, they precede each other in turn.

5. They have also given names to [the several persons] in their system of falsehood, such as the following: he who was the first descendant of the mother is called Ialdabaoth; he, again, descended from him, is named Iao; he, from this one, is called Sabaoth; the fourth is named Adoneus; the fifth, Eloeus; the sixth, Oreus; and the seventh and last of all, Astanphæus. Moreover, they represent these heavens, potentates, powers, angels, and creators, as sitting in their proper order in heaven, according to their generation, and as invisibly ruling over things celestial and terrestrial. The first of them, namely Ialdabaoth, holds his mother in contempt, inasmuch as he produced sons and grandsons without the permission of any one, yea, even angels, archangels, powers, potentates, and dominions. After these things had been done, his sons turned to strive and quarrel with him about the supreme power — conduct which deeply grieved Ialdabaoth, and drove him to despair. In these circumstances, he cast his eyes upon the subjacent dregs of matter, and fixed his desire upon it, to which they declare his son owes his origin. This son is Nous himself, twisted into the form of a serpent; and hence were derived the spirit, the soul, and all mundane things: from this too were generated all oblivion, wickedness, emulation, envy, and death. They declare that the father imparted still greater crookedness to this serpent-like and contorted Nous of theirs, when he was with their father in heaven and Paradise.

6. On this account, Ialdabaoth, becoming uplifted in spirit, boasted himself over all those things that were below him, and exclaimed, "I am father, and God, and above me there is no one." But his mother, hearing him speak thus, cried out against him, "Do not lie, Ialdabaoth: for the father of all, the first Anthropos (man), is above you; and so is Anthropos the son of Anthropos." Then, as all were disturbed by this new voice, and by the unexpected proclamation, and as they were inquiring whence the noise proceeded, in order to lead them away and attract them to himself, they affirm that Ialdabaoth exclaimed, "Come, let us make man after our image." Genesis 1:26 The six powers, on hearing this, and their mother furnishing them with the idea of a man (in order that by means of him she might empty them of their original power), jointly formed a man of immense size, both in regard to breadth and length. But as he could merely writhe along the ground, they carried him to their father; Sophia so labouring in this matter, that she might empty him (Ialdabaoth) of the light with which he had been sprinkled, so that he might no longer, though still powerful, be able to lift up himself against the powers above. They declare, then, that by breathing into man the spirit of life, he was secretly emptied of his power; that hence man became a possessor of nous (intelligence) and enthymesis (thought); and they affirm that these are the faculties which partake in salvation. He [they further assert] at once gave thanks to the first Anthropos (man), forsaking those who had created him.

7. But Ialdabaoth, feeling envious at this, was pleased to form the design of again emptying man by means of woman, and produced a woman from his own enthymesis, whom that Prunicus [above mentioned] laying hold of, imperceptibly emptied her of power. But the others coming and admiring her beauty, named her Eve, and falling in love with her, begot sons by her, whom they also declare to be the angels. But their mother (Sophia) cunningly devised a scheme to seduce Eve and Adam, by means of the serpent, to transgress the command of Ialdabaoth. Eve listened to this as if it had proceeded from a son of God, and yielded an easy belief. She also persuaded Adam to eat of the tree regarding which God had said that they should not eat of it. They then declare that, on their thus eating, they attained to the knowledge of that power which is above all, and departed from those who had created them. When Prunicus perceived that the powers were thus baffled by their own creature, she greatly rejoiced, and again cried out, that since the father was incorruptible, he (Ialdabaoth) who formerly called himself the father was a liar; and that, while Anthropos and the first woman (the Spirit) existed previously, this one (Eve) sinned by committing adultery.

8. Ialdabaoth, however, through that oblivion in which he was involved, and not paying any regard to these things, cast Adam and Eve out of Paradise, because they had transgressed his commandment. For he had a desire to beget sons by Eve, but did not accomplish his wish, because his mother opposed him in every point, and secretly emptied Adam and Eve of the light with which they had been sprinkled, in order that that spirit which proceeded from the supreme power might participate neither in the curse nor opprobrium [caused by transgression]. They also teach that, thus being emptied of the divine substance, they were cursed by him, and cast down from heaven to this world. But the serpent also, who was acting against the father, was cast down by him into this lower world; he reduced, however, under his power the angels here, and begot six sons, he himself forming the seventh person, after the example of that Hebdomad which surrounds the father. They further declare that these are the seven mundane demons, who always oppose and resist the human race, because it was on their account that their father was cast down to this lower world.

9. Adam and Eve previously had light, and clear, and as it were spiritual bodies, such as they were at their creation; but when they came to this world, these changed into bodies more opaque, and gross, and sluggish. Their soul also was feeble and languid, inasmuch as they had received from their creator a merely mundane inspiration. This continued until Prunicus, moved with compassion towards them, restored to them the sweet savour of the besprinkling of light, by means of which they came to a remembrance of themselves, and knew that they were naked, as well as that the body was a material substance, and thus recognised that they bore death about with them. They thereupon became patient, knowing that only for a time they would be enveloped in the body. They also found out food, through the guidance of Sophia; and when they were satisfied, they had carnal knowledge of each other, and begot Cain, whom the serpent, that had been cast down along with his sons, immediately laid hold of and destroyed by filling him with mundane oblivion, and urging into folly and audacity, so that, by slaying his brother Abel, he was the first to bring to light envy and death. After these, they affirm that, by the forethought of Prunicus, Seth was begotten, and then Norea, from whom they represent all the rest of mankind as being descended. They were urged on to all kinds of wickedness by the inferior Hebdomad, and to apostasy, idolatry, and a general contempt for everything by the superior holy Hebdomad, since the mother was always secretly opposed to them, and carefully preserved what was peculiarly her own, that is, the besprinkling of light. They maintain, moreover, that the holy Hebdomad is the seven stars which they call planets; and they affirm that the serpent cast down has two names, Michael and Samael.

10. Ialdabaoth, again, being incensed with men, because they did not worship or honour him as father and God, sent forth a deluge upon them, that he might at once destroy them all. But Sophia opposed him in this point also, and Noah and his family were saved in the ark by means of the besprinkling of that light which proceeded from her, and through it the world was again filled with mankind. Ialdabaoth himself chose a certain man named Abraham from among these, and made a covenant with him, to the effect that, if his seed continued to serve him, he would give to them the earth for an inheritance. Afterwards, by means of Moses, he brought forth Abraham's descendants from Egypt, and gave them the law, and made them the Jews. Among that people he chose seven days, which they also call the holy Hebdomad. Each of these receives his own herald for the purpose of glorifying and proclaiming God; so that, when the rest hear these praises, they too may serve those who are announced as gods by the prophets.

11. Moreover, they distribute the prophets in the following manner: Moses, and Joshua the Son of Nun, and Amos, and Habakkuk, belonged to Ialdabaoth; Samuel, and Nathan, and Jonah, and Micah, to Iao; Elijah, Joel, and Zechariah to Sabaoth; Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel, to Adonai; Tobias and Haggai to Eloi; Michaiah and Nahum to Oreus; Esdras and Zephaniah to Astanphæus. Each one of these, then, glorifies his own father and God, and they maintain that Sophia, herself has also spoken many things through them regarding the first Anthropos (man), and concerning that Christ who is above, thus admonishing and reminding men of the incorruptible light, the first Anthropos, and of the descent of Christ. The [other] powers being terrified by these things, and marvelling at the novelty of those things which were announced by the prophets, Prunicus brought it about by means of Ialdabaoth (who knew not what he did), that emissions of two men took place, the one from the barren Elizabeth, and the other from the Virgin Mary.

12. And since she herself had no rest either in heaven or on earth, she invoked her mother to assist her in her distress. Upon this, her mother, the first woman, was moved with compassion towards her daughter, on her repentance, and begged from the first man that Christ should be sent to her assistance, who, being sent forth, descended to his sister, and to the besprinkling of light. When he recognised her (that is, the Sophia below), her brother descended to her, and announced his advent through means of John, and prepared the baptism of repentance, and adopted Jesus beforehand, in order that on Christ descending he might find a pure vessel, and that by the son of that Ialdabaoth the woman might be announced by Christ. They further declare that he descended through the seven heavens, having assumed the likeness of their sons, and gradually emptied them of their power. For they maintain that the whole besprinkling of light rushed to him, and that Christ, descending to this world, first clothed his sister Sophia [with it], and that then both exulted in the mutual refreshment they felt in each other's society: this scene they describe as relating to bridegroom and bride. But Jesus, inasmuch as he was begotten of the Virgin through the agency of God, was wiser, purer, and more righteous than all other men: Christ united to Sophia descended into him, and thus Jesus Christ was produced.

13. They affirm that many of his disciples were not aware of the descent of Christ into him; but that, when Christ did descend on Jesus, he then began to work miracles, and heal, and announce the unknown Father, and openly to confess himself the son of the first man. The powers and the father of Jesus were angry at these proceedings, and laboured to destroy him; and when he was being led away for this purpose, they say that Christ himself, along with Sophia, departed from him into the state of an incorruptible Æon, while Jesus was crucified. Christ, however, was not forgetful of his Jesus, but sent down a certain energy into him from above, which raised him up again in the body, which they call both animal and spiritual; for he sent the mundane parts back again into the world. When his disciples saw that he had risen, they did not recognise him — no, not even Jesus himself, by whom he rose again from the dead. And they assert that this very great error prevailed among his disciples, that they imagined he had risen in a mundane body, not knowing that "flesh and blood do not attain to the kingdom of God."

14. They strove to establish the descent and ascent of Christ, by the fact that neither before his baptism, nor after his resurrection from the dead, do his disciples state that he did any mighty works, not being aware that Jesus was united to Christ, and the incorruptible Æon to the Hebdomad; and they declare his mundane body to be of the same nature as that of animals. But after his resurrection he tarried [on earth] eighteen months; and knowledge descending into him from above, he taught what was clear. He instructed a few of his disciples, whom he knew to be capable of understanding so great mysteries, in these things, and was then received up into heaven, Christ sitting down at the right hand of his father Ialdabaoth, that he may receive to himself the souls of those who have known them, after they have laid aside their mundane flesh, thus enriching himself without the knowledge or perception of his father; so that, in proportion as Jesus enriches himself with holy souls, to such an extent does his father suffer loss and is diminished, being emptied of his own power by these souls. For he will not now possess holy souls to send them down again into the world, except those only which are of his substance, that is, those into which he has breathed. But the consummation [of all things] will take place, when the whole besprinkling of the spirit of light is gathered together, and is carried off to form an incorruptible Æon.

15. Such are the opinions which prevail among these persons, by whom, like the Lernæan hydra, a many-headed beast has been generated from the school of Valentinus. For some of them assert that Sophia herself became the serpent; on which account she was hostile to the creator of Adam, and implanted knowledge in men, for which reason the serpent was called wiser than all others. Moreover, by the position of our intestines, through which the food is conveyed, and by the fact that they possess such a figure, our internal configuration in the form of a serpent reveals our hidden generatrix.

 

 

Chapter 31

Doctrines of the Cainites.

1. Others again declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves. On this account, they add, they have been assailed by the Creator, yet no one of them has suffered injury. For Sophia was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her from them to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.

2. I have also made a collection of their writings in which they advocate the abolition of the doings of Hystera. Moreover, they call this Hystera the creator of heaven and earth. They also hold, like Carpocrates, that men cannot be saved until they have gone through all kinds of experience. An angel, they maintain, attends them in every one of their sinful and abominable actions, and urges them to venture on audacity and incur pollution. Whatever may be the nature of the action, they declare that they do it in the name of the angel, saying, "O you angel, I use your work; O you power, I accomplish your operation!" And they maintain that this is "perfect knowledge," without shrinking to rush into such actions as it is not lawful even to name.

3. It was necessary clearly to prove, that, as their very opinions and regulations exhibit them, those who are of the school of Valentinus derive their origin from such mothers, fathers, and ancestors, and also to bring forward their doctrines, with the hope that perchance some of them, exercising repentance and returning to the only Creator, and God the Former of the universe, may obtain salvation, and that others may not henceforth be drawn away by their wicked, although plausible, persuasions, imagining that they will obtain from them the knowledge of some greater and more sublime mysteries. But let them rather, learning to good effect from us the wicked tenets of these men, look with contempt upon their doctrines, while at the same time they pity those who, still cleaving to these miserable and baseless fables, have reached such a pitch of arrogance as to reckon themselves superior to all others on account of such knowledge, or, as it should rather be called, ignorance. They have now been fully exposed; and simply to exhibit their sentiments, is to obtain a victory over them.

4. Wherefore I have laboured to bring forward, and make clearly manifest, the utterly ill-conditioned carcass of this miserable little fox. Song of Songs 2:15; Luke 13:32. For there will not now be need of many words to overturn their system of doctrine, when it has been made manifest to all. It is as when, on a beast hiding itself in a wood, and by rushing forth from it is in the habit of destroying multitudes, one who beats round the wood and thoroughly explores it, so as to compel the animal to break cover, does not strive to capture it, seeing that it is truly a ferocious beast; but those present can then watch and avoid its assaults, and can cast darts at it from all sides, and wound it, and finally slay that destructive brute. So, in our case, since we have brought their hidden mysteries, which they keep in silence among themselves, to the light, it will not now be necessary to use many words in destroying their system of opinions. For it is now in your power, and in the power of all your associates, to familiarize yourselves with what has been said, to overthrow their wicked and undigested doctrines, and to set forth doctrines agreeable to the truth. Since then the case is so, I shall, according to promise, and as my ability serves, labour to overthrow them, by refuting them all in the following book. Even to give an account of them is a tedious affair, as you see. But I shall furnish means for overthrowing them, by meeting all their opinions in the order in which they have been described, that I may not only expose the wild beast to view, but may inflict wounds upon it from every side.

Good Reading: "The Monk and the Bird" by Ludwing Bechstein (translated into English)

 Many years ago the young monk Urban lived in a cloister. He stood out as more earnest and devout than his fellows and was therefore entrusted with the key of the convent library. He took very good care of the books and scrolls and other things there, besides reading in the books himself. One day he read, "A day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." The thought seemed impossible to him.

One morning the monk went out of the library into the cloister-garden and saw a little bird perched on the bough of a tree there, singing sweetly. The bird was a nightingale, and did not move when the monk came nearer until he was quite close. Then she flew to another bough and again another as the monk followed her. Still singing the same sweet song, the nightingale flew on. The monk, eager to hear her song, followed her on out of the garden into the world outside for three minutes. Then he stopped and turned back to the cloister.

But everything about it seemed changed to him. Everything had become larger, more beautiful and older - both the buildings and the garden. And in the place of the low, humble cloister-church there was a large cathedral with three towers toward the sky. This seemed very strange to the monk, but he walked on to the cloister-gate and timidly rang the bell.

A porter that was wholly unknown to him answered his summons and drew back in amazement when he saw the monk.

The monk went in and wandered through the church, gazing with astonishment on memorial-stones that he never remembered to have seen before. Then the brethren of the cloister entered the church, but all stepped back when they saw the monk.

The abbot only - but not his abbot - stooped and stretched a crucifix before him, exclaiming, "Who are you? And what do you seek here among the living?"

The monk suddenly trembled and tottered like an old man. When he looked down, he noticed for the first time a long silvery beard was flowing from his chin and down over his girdle, where the key of the library was still hanging.

The monks now led him to the chair of the abbot with a mixture of awe and admiration. There the long-bearded monk gave the key of the library to a young man, who opened it and read a chronicle about the monk Urban who had disappeared three hundred years ago. No one knew what had become of him.

"Forest bird, is this due to your song?" said the monk Urban with a heavy sigh. "I followed you for three minutes it seemed, listening to your notes, and yet three hundred years passed away! You must be an awfully old bird! Now I know."

With these words he sank to the ground while his spirit swooshed into heaven.