The Triumph of the Morning Star

Seeing it now as nothing more or less than the greatest trial of their kinship, Eve embraced the distressed Adam, as he took the accursed fruit from her palm (for the previous episode in this story, please click here). As the first man and woman embraced, so was man’s Paradise Lost forever, or so it seemed. Triumph his at last, Satan released his grip on the Serpent, making good his escape from Eden, for well did he know the retribution that would soon be vented upon the once serene Garden.

Adam and Eve hide from the Lord
Engraving by Gustave Doré

As the flesh of the forbidden fruit was pierced by Adam’s teeth, a second time Earth groaned and Nature wailed. Storm clouds gathered over Eden, as the azure Sky turned a putrid black. Rain fell from once cloudless skies, tears wept by Nature at the original sin. The taste of the fruits flesh did intoxicate them both, and both felt ‘divinity within them breeding wings’. Knowledge of good and evil did it bring, but so too the temptation of evil, as the first man and the first woman first set lascivious eyes upon the other, and so corrupted forever the purity of their bond. So was sealed the guilt of original sin. When, not long later, both rose from their slumber, shorn of strength and bare of virtue, they were aware now of their nakedness. Anguish shook their mutual bond, as Adam despaired of their fall. ‘O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give ear to that false worm… How shall I behold the face henceforth of God or angel, erst with joy and rapture so oft beheld?’ In their great shame, the first man and woman took dignity of a fig tree which grew in Eden yonder, taking great boughs of leaves to gird their unclad waists. Emotions fresh now flooded both; anger, hate, mistrust, suspicion, discord, all fallout of Satan’s dark craft. Adam turned on his bride, chastising her for not remaining by his side. ‘Hadst thou been there, or here th’ attempt, thou couldst not have discerned fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake’, pleaded Eve, seduced as she had been by Satan’s honeyed words. In that moment did Adam, who chose willingly death together over immortal bliss alone, realise the folly of them both. For both had been warned by the Archangel Raphael that the Enemy lurked within the Garden, an Enemy which found them now. For many dark hours did both sit in terrified silence, dreading the judgement that was surely to come.

As fear polluted the earthly Paradise, word arrived in unearthly Paradise of Man’s transgression, for what can escape the eye of the Almighty, and what deceive the Omniscient? Satan’s ploy had run unhindered by the Most High, for to all things had he granted free will, even his first and greatest Creation, Lucifer, as he was once known. Great consternation there was in Heaven, for the angels loyal still sat distraught, for how could the Fiend have penetrated the Garden? With a crash of glorious thunder the voice of the Lord rang true, ‘Be not dismayed, nor troubled at these tidings from the Earth, which your sincerest care could not prevent’. He had not interfered, but Man had fallen still, and now judgement must be done. To his radiant Son the Lord turned, ‘Man’s friend, his Mediator, his designed both ransom and redeemer’. The Son blazed forth in ethereal glory, resplendent in the magnificence of Heaven, as he decreed that the transgressors would be judged, but one day would come their redemption with his own fall. From his mighty throne did he rise, and flash down to Earth, such purity to a now unclean land.

The voice of the Lord sounded in Eden, and Adam was afraid. In shame deplorable did Adam and Eve seek to conceal themselves from his coming within the trees. ‘Where art thou Adam, wont with joy to meet my coming seen far off?’ spoke the voice of the Lord. Terror flooding his body, the first man found no place to hide. His voice trembling, the first man replied, ‘I heard thee in the Garden, and of thy voice afraid, being naked, hid myself’. ‘My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not feared, but still rejoiced, how is it now become so dreadful to thee? That thou art naked, who hath told thee? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I gave thee charge thou shouldst not eat?’ Throwing his head high, Adam cried, ‘O Heav’n! In evil strait this day I stand before my judge…’. He confessed it all, his crime and that of Eve, both their calamitous sin. ‘Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey?’ replied the voice of the Lord. To Eve he turned, ‘Say woman, what is this thou hast done?’ Hanging her head, the first woman told her tale, of her temptation by the Serpent, and her crime. When the Lord heard this he turned at once to the Serpent, though it was but an instrument of the Fallen Angel:


           “ Because thou hast done this, thou art accursed
             Above all cattle, each beast of the field;
             Upon thy belly grovelling thou shalt go,
             And dust shalt eat all the days of thy life.
             Between thee and the woman I will pout Enmity, and between thine and her seed;
             Her seed shall bruise thy head, and thou bruise his heel ”
                       - THE JUDGEMENT OF THE SERPENT


So ever after, all serpents crawled along the ground, and were the foe of Man. To Eve now the Lord turned, and his sentence turned:


                            “ Thy sorrow I will greatly multiply,
                               By thy conception; children thou shalt bring
                               In sorrow forth, and to thy husband’s will
                               Thine shall submit, he over thee shall rule ”
                                       - THE JUDGEMENT OF EVE

So ever after, woman was cursed to give birth only through extreme pain, and to be subservient to men. Now to Adam the Lord did turn with curse new:


                         “ Cursed is the ground for thy sake, thou in sorrow
                            Shalt eat thereof all the days of thy life;
                            Thorns also and thistles it shall bring thee forth
                            Unbid, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field,
                            In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
                            Till thou return unto the ground, for thou
                            Out of the ground was taken; know thy birth,
                            For dust thou art, and shalt to dust return… ”
                                      - THE JUDGEMENT OF ADAM


So ever after, man was cursed to need food to survive, and be able to obtain only through the sweat of his brow, labouring in the fields, cursed in the knowledge that one day he too would lie in the dust. Justice passed, the Son returned to the Most High, though pity great did he feel for the first man and woman, clothing them before he left.

Sin and Death
Engraving by Gustave Doré

Far below the earthly sphere sat Sin and Death before the Gates of Hell. Change in the air did they sense, a weakening of their bonds. The Gates flew open wide ‘belching outrageous flame far into Chaos, since the Fiend passed through’. Sin, mother to Death, turned to her son, and declared ‘Methinks I feel new strength within me rise, wings growing and dominion giv’n me large’. Sensing the triumph of the Morning Star, they rejoiced, hailing the Dark Prince as their Saviour new. Bound in the infernal keep no longer, Earth now was their kingdom, and man their servants. A strange attraction overcame them both, attraction to this new realm. Turning his cold nose to the stars, Death caught scent of life afar, passion firing anew. Ecstasy was theirs, and in their joy they raised a deplorable bridge, forever binding the world of men with the world of Hell, spanning the chasm of Chaos once crossed by the Fallen Angel.

A blinding light, a shout of triumph, both heralds of Satan’s return, coming now resplendent as a burning angel of Heaven. Jubilation was his, and greater still, when he saw the mighty bridge now yonder, craft of his children. Hell, his daughter proud, exclaimed with joy her foreknowledge of his triumphs, for Hell could bind them no longer. The Great Liberator they hailed now. Their great defeat had been avenged. Satan smiled upon his kin, proclaiming Eden theirs forever to rule, bidding them go forth and grant their Dominion to the race of Men. Bidding them make all haste, the Morning Star sped on down into the depths, unguarded as they were, for all the Infernal host had gained word of their leader’s victory.

To Pandaemonium the fiery city did he soar, summoning High Council amongst his brethren, one third of the angelic host of Heaven of old, blackened by the soot of Hell. Blazing with regal glory, all that was left of his once Heavenly brilliance, he marched forth, and deafening was his acclaim. ‘I call ye and declare ye now, returned successful beyond hope, to lead ye forth, triumphant out of this infernal Pit, abominable, accursed, the house of woe, and dungeon of our Tyrant’. Proud of his craft, Satan told his story:


                             “ The new created world, which fame in Heav’n
                                Long had foretold, a fabric wonderful
                               Of absolute perfection, therein man
                               Placed in a Paradise, by our exile
                               Made happy: him by fraud I have seduced
                               From his Creator, and the more to increase
                               Your wonder, with an apple; he thereat
                               Offended, worth your laughter, hath giv’n up
                               Both his beloved man and all his world,
                               To Sin and Death a prey, and so to us… ”
                                      - THE TRIUMPH OF SATAN

The Fallen Angels Metamorphise
Engraving by Gustave Doré

A while the Fallen One stood, expecting a rousing shout and highest applause. But Satan heard not cries of glee, but ‘a dismal, universal hiss’, as though of scorn. Not long did he have to wonder at this noise, for he presently felt a shocking sensation. His flesh suddenly drawn tight to his form, his arms clung to his ribs and his legs intertwined each other, he powerless to resist the force which contorted him savagely now. His metamorphoses complete, the Fallen Angel fell to the ground, now a monstrous serpent. Punished now in the shape by which he sinned, Satan would have spoke, perhaps cried out anguish and rage, but his forked tongue flickered and only a hiss emerged, one among the many, for all the fallen angels were now as snakes. ‘Dreadful was the din’, as hideous contortions broke out hither and thither, the shape of all manner of nightmarish creatures did they take. In their midst, the bane of Man was nigh on rent asunder as his form was twisted into a monstrous dragon, mightier than any wyrm that trod the Earth, but undampened was his resolve, nor his power over the others. The rebel angels looked amongst each other, expecting to see their dread leader bedecked in glory, fresh from triumph, but saw in horror and sorrow only vile serpents all around. Spear and shield fell to the ground, useless now for bodies with no hands.

Then in their midst sprung up a grove, not unlike the Forbidden Tree of Eden, instrument of Man’s demise. Suddenly the power of the Lord waxed strong again, and his retribution terrible. Each one among them felt a ‘scalding thirst and hunger fierce’, as fruit burst forth from the seductive boughs of the Tree. Desperate from their pangs, they fell upon it, each and all, and sunk their razor teeth into the fruit. But here fell God’s curse anew, as the fruit turned to bitter ashes in their mouths. Each among them spat in frustrated agony. Thus was the fallen host ‘plagued and worn with famine, long and ceaseless hiss’, until the time came they assumed their former shapes. Once a year, on the anniversary of the temptation of the first man and woman, the spirits of the Pit undergo this transformation, ‘to dash their pride, and joy for man seduced’…
   


United Kingdom

Paradise Lost:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(A sweeping epic poem telling the story of mankind's fall and Satan's rebellion against God)

United States

Paradise Lost:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(A sweeping epic poem telling the story of mankind's fall and Satan's rebellion against God)

The Forbidden Tree

One of the most curious things about the myths and legends of the past is how strikingly similar they can be, even when arising in total isolation from others. When all other traditions of culture seem alien, our stories unite us all. One such story from Aztec lore holds this particularly true. For on first reckoning there seems never to have been two more unlikely faiths to have common ground as Christianity and the religion of the Aztecs, but common ground there is aplenty.

Xochiquetzal
Image taken from the Codex Rios

" Hail to our Mother, from whose hand
  the yellow flowers blossomed,
  the seeds of the maguey were scattered,
  as she came forth from Paradise...

  Hail to the goddess,
  radiant as the bright butterfly
  in the bush of thorns.... "
        - HYMN TO THE ALL MOTHER

Long ago in the most ancient times, when the gods were at constant war with one another, each yearning for mastery over the cosmos, there lived a fair goddess in a fair land. Xochiquetzal, as she was called, was a youthful deity, and a sight of wonder to behold. With flowers in her hair, and a soothing, songlike voice, she reigned in a lost age of innocence, an age of dance and laughter. The land within which she dwelled was a Paradise worthy of her beauty. For this was Tamoanchán, the fairest of all the Thirteen Heavens. Vast, sweeping fields rolled away for eternity, towering peaks soared into the sky, topped with a snow which did not melt. The boughs of the trees bowed under the abundance of fruits and blossoms, as the eternal rays of the sun shone through to the soft grass below. One tree above all others stood in the very centre of this land, towering above all others in stature and in splendour. When the golden rays of the radiant sun fell upon its leaves, the Tree released the most alluring perfume into the air, which the breeze would soon carry to the four corners of this idyllic land. It was said that the birds which roosted in its branches serenaded Tamoanchán with the most enchanting evensong the Thirteen Heavens ever heard. This was a land of the purest tranquillity. The Great Creator, Ometeotl (for his role in the Creation, please click here), had gifted this land to Xochiquetzal with but one command - that she never eat from the fruit of the Tree.

Mictlantecuhtli
Statue in the National Museum
of Anthropology, Veracruz

Meanwhile in the cosmos, it was the dawn of the fifth age of the Sun. The hopes of an at last peaceful era were high, in the wake of the terrible destruction unleashed in the first four incarnations, the last ending in a cataclysmic flood at the hands of the goddess Chalchiúhtlicue (for the story of these struggles, please click here). Now Quetzalcóatl, the Plumed Serpent, and Tezcatlipoca, Lord of the Smoking Mirror, united to build the world anew (two friends who would one day become the most terrible of foes, in a story told here). From the body of the Earth Monster Tlaltecuhtli they wove the new land, and from her skin and bones they fashioned new gods. But the infant world was barren and lifeless, for all had been destroyed in Chalchiúhtlicue's wrath. It was Quetzalcóatl who reasoned that only from the bones of the previous races of man to walk the earth could a new one rise. The gods agreed, and the Plumed Serpent set off in search of the bones, held in the grim world of Mictlán - the Underworld. For while all else on Earth may change, the land of the dead never shows a new face. No less stubborn was the grisly lord of the dead, the god Mictlantecuhtli, who personally tore the souls of men from their mortal forms, and ruled Mictlán with his consort Mictecacíhuatl. No one, not even a god, could enter Mictlán whilst alive. With no other god eager to venture into that dark realm, Quetzalcóatl resolved to embark on the grim quest. Raising a pyre high, and setting in its heart a flame, Quetzalcóatl faced death with valour, and stepped into the roaring conflagration.

Isla Bay - the furthest corner of the Aztec World
Photograph taken by 'Intersofia'

The pain at last subsiding, Quetzalcóatl awoke with a start. The darkness was heavy here, and a ghastly smell of rotting corpses poisoned the air. Turning north, the air grew fouler still, in a world so far away from idyllic Tamoanchán. After a while, when the stench of death choked even the Plumed Serpent, Quetzalcóatl at last found he who no other dares to seek - Mictlantecuhtli. Sitting upon a high throne, skeletal, emaciated and grimacing, Mictlantecuhtli gazed upon the intruder with unblinking, baleful eyes. The Plumed Serpent bowed before Death, and asked for the bones of the extinct animals, fish and men who had once walked the Earth. The dark god, who resented the other gods for residing in the sunlit lands, had no desire to grant Quetzalcóatl's request. Glowing with malice, he agreed to relinquish the bones on the condition that Quetzalcóatl travel four times around Mictlán whilst trumpeting on a holeless conch shell, a feat he deemed impossible, and indeed would at once make a fool of the god. Quetzalcóatl, however, was unfazed. Looking around him, he saw the worms and carrion that feasted upon the decaying corpses of Mictlán, and hatched a plan. Summoning the dark creatures to him, he commanded the worms to burrow through the shell, and the swarm of bees to enter it. The buzzing of the bees, amplified by the shell, became a pleasant music, such that had never been heard in Mictlán before. Mictlantecuhtli, furious that he had been outwitted, caused the very ground to quake and rend asunder in his rage.


Seizing his chance, Quetzalcóatl dived for the bones and made his escape. Just as he neared the mouth of Mictlán, however, he tripped on a fissure the dark god's anger had torn in the ground. Slamming into the bones, with a sickening crunch many of them broke, but the Plumed Serpent recovered and stole away. Coming to Tamoanchán, the gods resolved to create a new human race, to populate this perfect land. Taking blood from each god, Quetzalcóatl prepared the rites necessary to craft a man. Upon opening the pouch which contained the bones, however, the Plumed Serpent saw that they were broken, and knew not how they should be. It is for this reason that mankind has such infinite variety.

Pico de Orizaba
Photograph taken by 'Marte'

For a time, the harmony in Xochiquetzal's domain was absolute, and it seemed that the serenity would endure for all time. But soon, Xochiquetzal, distracted by her new company, began to forget the warning Ometeotl had decreed. One day, when the sun rose, and the perfume of the Forbidden Tree rose hhigh into the sky, Xochiquetzal could resist the temptation no longer. The other gods, and first humans, who had not known of their true nature, encouraged her to seek out the fruits of the Tree. There were so many fruits hanging from its leafy, blossomed boughs, that no one would notice if just one went missing? Tentatively, she edged towards the tree, entranced by its beauty. The Great Creator would not notice if she were to just pick one, she thought. Stretching out her hand, her fingers clasped a ripe, blood red fruit, and gently, she pulled it free. From the moment her fingers touched the fruit, however, a ripple of foreboding thundered through her. Blood dripped from the branch from whence the fruit came. With a scream, she backed away, as the Tree split clean in two, blasted apart by some unseen power. Lightning arced through the sky, and darkness rolled across the land. Spirited away to a lonely mountainside, Xochiquetzal wept, and Ometeotl condemned her for her actions. Since she had disobeyed the Creator's command, she would henceforth be banished from Tamoanchán, never to return. She, along with mankind, would be sent down to the dry, dusty plains of the Earth, and would know suffering. For ever after, Xochiquetzal would never be able to enjoy the beauty of flowers around her, for her eyes would ever stream with tears, tears at her Paradise lost...

The story of Xochiquetzal's exile was a shameful event to the Aztecs, as the reason why they lived in a world of peril. But what must have been equally, if not more, shocking, was the realisation in the minds of the Spanish conquistadores when they heard this tale from their newfound subjects. The parallel between this story and the events in the Garden of Eden are striking, yet the Aztecs had never before known the ways of the Old World. Perhaps the Aztecs were not the aliens they had first appeared after all...

United Kingdom

Aztec Prayers:
Rig Veda Americanus
(A small collection of prayers and hymns to the pagan gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish account of the Conquest of Mexico:
The Conquest of New Spain
(A written account of the conquest given by a soldier who actually served under Cortés himself)

Mythology:
Mythology of the Aztec and Maya
(A colourful and nicely presented introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, and an excellent choice for 'getting into it'. The actual cover is different from the one Amazon displays, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

United States

Aztec Prayers:
Rig Veda Americanus
(A small collection of prayers and hymns to the pagan gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish account of the Conquest of Mexico:
The Conquest of New Spain
(A written account of the conquest given by a soldier who actually served under Cortés himself)

Mythology:
Mythology of the Aztec and Maya
(A colourful and nicely presented introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, and an excellent choice for 'getting into it'. The actual cover is different from the one Amazon displays, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

  

The Rise of the Morning Star

We return today to the story of Paradise Lost, and the story of how Satan, once the brightest of the Archangels of Heaven, foiled in open rebellion against God, turned to other means to topple the Highest Throne (for the previous episode of this saga, please click here). Recalling an ancient prophecy they once heard as loyal Seraphim in Heaven, the Fallen Angels resolved to seek out and corrupt God's new creation - Man. With no other brave enough to walk the path of the abyss, and break out from the confines of Hell, Satan himself volunteers to carry out this dark deed, to tumultuous applause.

Satan confronts Sin and Death

Engraving by Gustave Doré

Leaving the gathered Fallen Angels to explore the dank depths of their infernal new prison, Satan takes flight through the endless reaches of Hell. Passing over the fire, mountains and sorrowful dales which are to one day be home to the cruellest of men and most savage of beasts, proud Satan soars to the summit of his new domain, bent on vengeance against the Most High. Reaching the boundaries of the Accursed Pit, the Morning Star finds his way blocked by thrice threefold gates, three of brass, three of iron and three of adamantine, all wreathed in fire. Before the gateway, however, stood two figures. On one side stood what seemed a woman to the waist, yet ending in a serpent's coils, with demonic hounds snapping at from her chest. The other was a shape, yet also shapeless, a shadow black as the Night, yet bearing a crown upon its head. The dark creature and Satan approached one another, as Hell itself trembled with each stride. Satan warns the being to back down, that nothing will stand in his way, that nothing can stand before the Spirits of Heaven. The dark creature, dauntless, replied:

                         " Art thou that traitor angel, art thou He who first broke

                           peace in Heav'n and faith, till then unbroken? "

                                                 - DEATH CONFRONTS SATAN

Roused to indignation by the grisly creature's challenge, Satan raised his spear, driven to battle rage. So too did the ghastly being, both terrible spirits poised to strike. Just then, the creature's companion called out in anguish, chastising Satan for daring to strike his own son. Bemused, Satan demands she explain her charge, for he has no son. Saddened, the monstrous lady reveals herself to be his daughter too, that at the moment of Satan's rebellion against God, she was born, fully armed, from his head. Alarmed at her sight, the loyal angels of Heaven gave her the name Sin, born a living incarnation of Satan's pride. As the glorious plains of Heaven turned to war, she writhed in the pangs of childbirth, and a son was born of her and Satan's dark deeds, the grim shadow he now confronts. For he is Death himself, a name Hell fears to speak. Sin's existence is one of endless pain, as fearsome demons claw their way from her womb, the Furies, spirits which will one day pursue and torture the minds of murderers. Softened by her words, Satan demands passage out of Hell, pledging to regain Paradise once more, and honour her in the lush fields of Heaven. She relents, and brandishes the keys to the nine doors. Death, all powerful, who senses what is to come, smiled wide, as his ravenous hunger yearns for the souls of men.

Omniscient Chaos

Engraving by Gustave Doré

Passing through the mouth of Hell, Satan passes into the realm of Chaos, a world between worlds. Above an endless ocean endless anarchy plays out. Here in the days when the cosmos are beginning to come into existence, the elements strive for mastery amid confused screams. Undaunted, the Morning Star soars through the dark desert realm to the thrones of the spirits of Chaos, lord of this world, Night, his consort, Rumour and Chance, Tumult and Discord all bawling with a thousand mouths. Turning to Chaos, Satan boldly states his purpose, vowing passage through this realm, which borders on the Heavenly cosmos. Satan's reputation is already legend even here, Chaos replies in confused speech, all here know of the defiant stand against God. It was through this dimension that the Fallen Angels fell when cast from the gates of Heaven. Go forth, Chaos bids the Fallen One, for "Havoc and spoil and ruin are my gain". Relentless, Satan takes flight, rising through the warring elements, the ancestors of Nature, the endless abyss far below. Feeling old energy in his wings, Satan reaches the boundaries of the Heavenly realm, where Chaos begins to weaken and order prevails. Satan, triumphant, has broken free of Hell.

Far beyond, upon the Highest throne, the Lord in his radiant glory sees the Fallen Archangel borne on wings toward this world, and points him out to the Son who sits at his right side. Omnipotent, God sees Satan's dark designs, foretelling with sorrow the coming perversion of man. But the Lord is irresolute, he has granted by the laws of Heaven free will to man, and none shall be denied his grace. For Satan fell of his own malice, but men will fall from Satan's seduction. What grace is there in praise from slavish obedience, compared with the prayers of free mortals? The Son turns to the Father in admiration of his grace, yet troubled. Must the Adversary be allowed to corrupt mankind unhindered? Must he take the human race entirely down to Hell? Never shall man be lost, the Lord replies, never shall repentance be in vain. For within all men the spirit of the Lord will be bound, and those who heed it will find Paradise, and all who scorn it will find no mercy. Satan has brought Death to the cosmos, and only upon Death will man be redeemed. The Heavenly host stood silent, but moved by pity, the Son offers himself in their place:

                   " Behold me then, me for him, life for life

                     I offer, on me let thine anger fall;

                     Account me man; I for his sake will leave

                     Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee

                     Freely put off, and for him lastly die... "

                              - THE SON OFFERS HIMSELF IN PLACE OF MAN

Death will never hold him for long, he declares, as Heaven will triumph over Death in the end, and at the end of times, graves will open, the dead shall be summoned forth, and man will be judged by Him, and the multitude of the redeemed shall march unto Heaven. Not a spirit in Heaven stood unmoved with admiration at these words, as even the Lord looked fondly upon his Son. The full power of Heaven will be in Him, and the Lord, God commands, until the day comes when the King of Heaven needs his royal sceptre no more. Heaven was given over to joy as the angelic host began to sing in exultation.

Satan looks down upon the Garden of Eden

Engraving by Gustave Doré

Far below, the sounds of joy fell deaf on the mind of Satan, gliding through the ethereal plain. Seeing vast orbs hang in the cosmos, Satan soars through the outer reaches of the Universe, searching for the World of Men. Powering beyond the realm of Limbo, and past the stairs to Heaven, Satan passes the stars, eventually coming to rest upon the brilliant glare of the orb men would one day call the Sun. Gazing upon the newly born Universe, Satan spots a glorious angel in the distance, a spirit whose pure back was turned. Conceiving a daring plan, Satan cast aside his dread visage, assuming the persona of a bright angel of Heaven, something of his former light. Drawing before the angel, Satan recognises the spirit as Uriel, one of the Seven Archangels of Heaven, and once his comrade in the days before his rebellion. Uriel greeted the stranger, unawares of his dark nature. Satan greeted Uriel, and spoke of reverence for God's grace, and his desire to honour his new creation, praising the hosts of Heaven. Bowing, he asked of the whereabouts of the World of Men, so that he might pay homage to the blessed race. Deceived, Uriel welcomed the Cherub before him, inviting him to rejoice with him, beckoning at the World in the distance, where even now Adam strode in the Garden. Eyes glinting with malice, Satan bowed low to Uriel, and sped forth with all speed to the world before him, leaving the archangel unaware of the grave danger he had unknowingly unleashed. Coming to rest upon Mount Niphates, Satan looked down in triumph upon the Garden of Eden, ready to unleash an eternity of agony upon the first Man...

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:

Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)

(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:

Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)

(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:

Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)

(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:

Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)

(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preferece)

The Fate of Sisyphus

Whilst the gods of ancient times were benefactors, patrons and sometimes creators of the human race, for a mortal human to scorn their authority was a dangerous game to play. For though the rewards of virtue in the afterlife could be eternal bliss in the tranquil, golden and peaceful fields of Elysium, those possessed of an evil spirit would be condemned to a terrible ordeal. Heaven and Hell, the places of ceaseless reward and torture after death, are not a Christian invention. The ideas are far more ancient. Indeed the stories of Heaven and Hell which are so remembered in the works of Dante and Milton (stories which are told on this site, please browse the archives for these), are directly inspired by the heroic stories of ancient Greece and Rome. The shades in the Underworld, and their fate there, could become legendary. One such man was just that. His name was Sisyphus.

The Isthmus of Corinth
Photograph taken by the author.

Sisyphus was descended from noble stock. The son of Aeolus and Enarete, grandson of Hellen (the father of the Hellenic race, and hence why anything Greek is referred to as ‘Hellenic’ – even the modern country of Greece is officially titled the Hellenic Republic) and great grandson of Zeus himself, the master of Olympus. Sisyphus’ own grandson was the hero Bellerophon (the story of whom is told here), slayer of the monstrous Chimaera. Scheming and malevolent, Sisyphus seized the throne of the great city of Corinth from his brother by force and seduced his own niece. Under his rule, however, Corinth grew rich and powerful through trade and violence to become one of the most majestic cities in Greece. However it was achieved through deceit and cruelty. Sisyphus held no qualms about cruelly murdering guests of his own household, and travellers to his lands. Hospitality, and the bond between host and guest, was a sacred concept to the Greeks even more so than it is today. Zeus himself was patron of it, and violation of it was one of the very worst of crimes, tantamount to a transgression of divine law.

Yet he did not stop there. Zeus, the master of the gods, was infamous for his unfaithfulness to his wife Hera, and frequently stole away with various nymphs, in hiding from her. One such nymph was Aegina, daughter of the River god Asopus, whom the Thunderer spirited away from her homeland in the guise of an eagle. Arising the next day, Asopus looked for his daughter, but in vain. Stricken by grief, Asopus searched the lands for her, calling her name. Sisyphus however, had inadvertently witnessed the abduction. Seizing his chance to humble the mightiest of gods, Sisyphus confided Zeus’ secret to the god of the river, who was outraged. But if he was outraged, it was nothing compared to the fury of Zeus, fury that a mortal considered himself just in confiding the secrets of Olympus.

Thanatos - the daemon of Death
Photograph taken by Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Preparing for what was to come, Sisyphus decided to test the loyalty of his wife, Queen Merope, with a strange request. He ordered her that on the day of his death, his body was not to be buried, but to lie dirtied in the streets, the plaything to the crows and jeers of the people. Bewildered and reluctant, Merope relented at last after Sisyphus’ urging. Meanwhile, Zeus summoned to him the grim god Thanatos. Thanatos was an ancient daemon, the son of Darkness and Night, brother of Sleep and Death incarnate. Hated by mortals and immortals alike, Pitiless in the execution of his duty and a terrifying figure upon which the rays of the Sun never fell, Thanatos was the harbinger of doom to all beings when their time was up. The time for Sisyphus’ passing was decreed, and the Thunderer ordered Thanatos to seize the cruel king and bind him in chains in the Underworld. The god commanded and the merciless daemon obeyed. Seeing his torment upon him, Sisyphus seemed resigned to his fate. Before bowing to the daemon’s command, Sisyphus asked him if he might demonstrate himself the strength of the chain first, so that he might marvel at its magnificence. Thanatos agreed, and bound himself in the chains to show that not even he could escape from them. Sisyphus gave a shout of malicious joy, taunting Death that he had bound him in his own chains. Laughing at his own cunning, Sisyphus climbed his way back to Earth, leaving the daemon of Death straining against his incarceration.

Tartarus
Painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder.

The uproar was catastrophic. With Thanatos bound in the Underworld, no mortal could die and complete their passage to the afterlife without him. The natural order of the cosmos had been overturned completely, the delicate balance thrown into chaos. Disease and Plague found no victim, Old Age broke none and however grievous their wounds, no soldier would die in war. Ares, the Lord of Slaughter and god of war grew angry. Battle had lost its glory when his foes would no longer die, and blood would no longer flow from either side on the field of war. Marching into Hades himself, Ares found the bound daemon and freed him from his bonds. Death was allowed once again to carry out his fell work. His first target was Sisyphus.

The Torture of Sisyphus
Painting by Titian.

Dragging the deceitful king to Hades, Sisyphus was condemned for a second time to the House of Death. However, there was a problem. No soul of the deceased could pass beyond the River Styx if their corporeal form had not received the proper burial rites. So the second scheme of Sisyphus came to play, for he had ordered his wife to hurl his corpse into the dusty square of Corinth. Sisyphus appealed to the Lady Persephone, the wife of Hades himself, asking her to allow him to return to Earth, so that he might chastise his wife for her disloyal and disrespectful treatment of his corpse. Falling for his persuasive words, the Queen of the Underworld relented, and granted her assent for this task. Silently exultant once again, for the second time Sisyphus marched unopposed from the Underworld. Returning to his city, taking up the royal mantle once more, he refused to return to Hades. Enraged at his insubordination, Zeus ordered Hermes to forcefully drag Sisyphus to the Underworld. This time, however, there was to be no chance of escape. Zeus condemned Sisyphus to Tartarus, the deepest part of the Underworld. It was a land of fire, smoke and ash, where only the cruellest of souls could be sent. The Titans themselves were bound in this land (for more on this, please click here). Doomed to an eternity of frustration and torment, Sisyphus was forced to carry out a fruitless task until the end of time. Cast at the foot of a great mount, the cruel king was forced to bear a heavy boulder up its steep slopes, amid the burning heat and acrid fumes of Tartarus:

              “ Bracing himself and thrusting with hands and feet he pushed the boulder
                uphill to the top. But every time, as he was about to send it toppling over
                the crest, its sheer weight turned it back, and once again towards the plain
                the pitiless rock rolled down. So once more he had to wrestle with the thing
                and push it up, while the sweat poured from his limbs and the dust rose high
                above his head. ”
                                             - THE TORMENT OF SISYPHUS

So would the endless cycle begin. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot push the boulder that last yard over the top. Such is the fate of Sisyphus, a man who dared to challenge a god.

The story of Sisyphus is legend. His name is as famous as his punishment, such that now any venture deemed fruitless or never ending is called 'sisyphean' in the English language. It is a powerful tale of pride and the consequences of it - a favourite moral tale to the ancients as much as it is to us. The story of Man against God, man against Nature and Man against Death is a motif which will endure as long as men can die. Sisyphus is mentioned in many places throughout Classical literature, but here I list a few of the most substantial episodes, all in easily available form from Amazon:

United Kingdom

The Odyssey:
The Odyssey (Penguin Classics)
(A masterpiece of literature, containing the description of Sisyphus's ordeal)

The Library of Greek Mythology:
The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
(Less poetic, but contains a collection of many of the myths of Greece)

United States

The Odyssey:
The Odyssey (Penguin Classics)
(A masterpiece of literature, containing the description of Sisyphus' ordeal)

The Library of Greek Mythology:
The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
(Less poetic, but contains a collection of many of the myths of Greece)

The Fall

           

The Angelic Host rejoices
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Here all ye angels, progeny of Light,

  Thrones, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers,

  Hear my decree, which ever shall stand.

  This day I have begot whom I declare

  My only Son, and on this holy hill

  Him have anointed, whom ye now behold

  At my right hand; your head I him appoint;

  And by myself have sworn to him shall bow

  All knees in Heav’n,

  And shall confess him Lord. ”

       - GOD COMMANDS THE ANGELS

And so unto the angelic host God gave his command. Rejoice abounded in the heavenly choirs it seemed, as the winged Seraphim greeted the news of the Son of God. All seemed well, but all was not well. For within the crowds on high was one who fell silent of praise, one who did not greet this command with joy at all... We look today to the story of Lucifer’s fall from grace, turning once more to the pages of Paradise Lost (for the first post on this, please click here), and read of the beginning of Evil.

Raphael tells the story of Lucifer
Engraving by Gustave Doré

Some time after Satan (the name Lucifer assumed after his rebellion against God) was hurled to the Pit of Hell, God sent down to the Garden of Eden one of the most trusted of Archangels, Raphael, to bear a message to Adam and Eve. After sharing joyous company and dining, Adam questions the angel of the Lord as to his coming. With a heavy heart, Raphael tells them that God has sent him to warn them of their Enemy, whose ever present threat of deceit and trickery pervades the Blessed Paradise of Eden. Little do they know that Satan himself has already broken into the Garden, and even now torments Eve with nightmares. Sighing, the Archangel sets the scene, of a time before the World and Man were created. Raphael speaks of the ecstasy in Heaven at the announcement of the arrival of the Son of God, and the honouring of the Messiah, how the angels danced and sang and made merry at the wondrous tidings. Until that day, highest in the favour of the Most High and the bright Morning Star, Lucifer was the shining prodigy of the celestial plains. If there was any imperfection within that which seemed perfect, it was that He bore within his frame that most terrible of vices – pride. The command to bow before the new and young Son of God, so honoured by the Almighty, Lucifer - whose name “Is heard no more in Heav’n” -  could not bear the sight.  Deepest malice, envy and rage radiated from his dark mind. As midnight fell on the Heavens, “he resolved with all his legions to dislodge, and leave unworshipped, unobeyed the throne supreme”.

Awakening, Satan turns to his lieutenant and bids him summon all loyal angels under their banners to his side. Satan’s dark thoughts go not unnoticed within the wisdom of the Almighty, who warns his Son “such a foe is rising, who intends to erect his throne equal to ours”. But Satan, “far advanced on winged speed”, flies to his palace in Heaven, raised on a Mount in imitation of that Mount upon which the Messiah was declared. He calls to him the summoned angels, feigning council to appraise the new Son of God. Speaking of bowing before the Son of God, Satan dares to question God’s command:

                                          “ But what if better counsels might erect

                                            Our minds and teach us to cast off this yoke?

                                            Will ye submit your necks, and choose to bend

                                            The supple knee? Ye will not if I trust

                                            To know ye right, or if ye know yourselves

                                            Natives and sons of Heav’n possessed before  

                                            By none, and if not equal all, yet free... ”

                                                   - SATAN REFUSES TO BOW TO MAN

Divided were the angels who stood before the Morning Star, some falling to his heresy, others shocked:

Abdiel rebukes Satan
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Thus far his bold discourse without control

  Had audience, when among the Seraphim

 Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adored

 The Deity, and divine commands obeyed,

 Stood up, and in a flame of zeal severe

 The current of his fury thus opposed.

 ‘Oh argument blasphemous, false and proud!

 Words which no ear ever to hear in Heav’n

 Expected, least of all from thee, ingrate

 In place thyself so high above thy peers'...”

      - ABDIEL DEPLORES SATAN

Abdiel orders Satan to bow before the Will of God at once, and pray for the mercy of forgiveness for his impious words. Dismayed and enraged that no other rises to second his order, Abdiel turns to the Fallen Angel, who rejoices in the power of his words. The loyal angel reminds Satan that God created all things, even him. Eyes burning with malice, Satan’s heresy goes deeper still, as he questions the very authority of God himself:

                                           “ Who saw when this Creation was?

                                              Remember’st thou thy making,

                                              While the Maker gave thee being?

                                              We know no time when we were not as now...

                                              Our puissance is our own, our own right hand

                                              Shall teach us highest deeds...”

                                                         - SATAN RENOUNCES GOD

His words echoed with impassioned applause around the vault of Heav’n, as the rebellion is proclaimed. Abdiel looks on in horror to see such betrayal in the faultless plains of Heaven. Turning to the Morning Star one last time, he declares him a traitor to God, warning him of the Almighty’s wrath:

Satan rouses the rebel angels to War
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ O alienate from God, O Spirit accursed,

  Forsaken of all good; I see thy fall

  Determined, and thy hapless crew involved

  In this perfidious fraud, contagion spread

  Both of thy crime and punishment: henceforth

  No more be troubled how to quit the yoke

  Of God’s Messiah; those indulgent laws

  Will not be now vouchsafed, other decrees

  Against thee are gone forth without recall;

  That golden sceptre which thou didst reject

  Is now an iron rod to bruise and break

  Thy disobedience...”

            - ABDIEL UNVEILS SATAN'S TREACHERY

Alone among the faithless, faithful only was Abdiel, “unmoved, unshaken, unseduced and unterrified”. Taking to flight, and jeered at by the treacherous legions, the angel fled at once, desperately bearing word of the rebellion of the greatest of the Archangels to the Most High. Through the unyielding expanse of the Heavens, the lone angel sped, yet not far behind marched the traitor legions. War was declared in Heaven...

Thus was Lucifer re'christened' Satan ('The Adversary') and Evil was first born. Act One of Satan's rebellion was complete. The time for words was now over, and now He dared to lead a war to dethrone God himself from Heaven. The gripping account of the First Traitor will be continued next time, as the celestial plains of Heaven witness the First War. Here Milton really gets into his stride, as the tension in Paradise Lost begins to build to a new height. Herein lies the beginning of suffering, that curse which Satan lays upon mankind, one already underway within the First Woman, even as Raphael tells his story...


                                      For Part Two, please click here...

Paradise Lost is a rite of passage. With nothing else like it written in the English language, it occupies a special place in literature, and indeed theology. I strongly recommend anyone to give it a read - you will not be disappointed. It is available in many translations, all available cheaply and easily on Amazon:

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Into the Inferno

Dante lost in the wood
Engraving by Gustave Doré. 

“ Midway along the journey of our life

   I woke to find myself in a dark wood,

   wandered from the straight path. ” 

       - DANTE AWAKES IN THE FOREST








So begins the Divine Comedy, as Dante finds himself alone and vulnerable in the wilderness of the dark forest. The fear wells up within him as the eerie silence and blackness of the wood begins to take its grip. An uneasy feeling possesses Dante, a thought that he has stumbled upon ‘the pass that never let a living soul escape’. Unsure of himself, and if he is awake or even alive, Dante begins to climb the slope ahead. No sooner had he begun than he is faced by the form of a leopard, which marks his every move. Just as our pilgrim recovers his nerve, a lion appears and starts toward him. Following in its wake was a she-wolf, who ‘forced me back to where the sun is mute’.

Bracing for his end, Dante spies the figure of a man approaching and cries, ‘Have pity on my soul... whichever you are, shade or living man!’ The stranger reveals to Dante that he once was a poet of old who ‘sang of that just man, son of Anchises, who sailed off from Troy after the burning of proud Ilium’ (He refers to his epic poem – The Aeneid). Dante rejoices as he recognises Virgil, and begs the poet to protect him from the savage beasts. ‘But you must journey down another road’, the great man answered, when he saw Dante lost in tears, ‘if ever you hope to leave this wilderness’. Guided by the comforting words and company of the legendary poet, Dante discovers that he is to be lead through Hell:



                               “ Where you will hear desperate cries, and see

                                    Tormented shades, some old as Hell itself,

                                    And know what second death means, from their screams. ”

                                                               - VIRGIL WARNS US OF WHAT IS TO COME


Our pilgrim is filled with dread at the thought of descending to the Pit, and confesses to his guide that he feels unworthy to follow in the steps of other great men, like Aeneas or St Paul, who once trod the path to Hell. Virgil explains how it was he came to Dante, guided by the will of the Virgin Mary, who took pity on our wandering pilgrim, lost in the forest. The departed soul of Dante’s beloved Beatrice in Heaven came down to Hell and tasked Virgil as to be his infernal guide. Comforted by his story, and word of Beatrice, Dante renews his journey to the accursed place armed with fresh courage. Descending down a barren slope, the two poets reach a vast Gate, the way to the vestibule of Hell itself. Dante spies, in horror, the legend inscribed above the Gate, the last line of which has entered immortality:

 

                                “ I AM THE WAY INTO THE DOLEFUL CITY,

                                    I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL GRIEF,

                                    I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN RACE.



                                  JUSTICE IT WAS THAT MOVED MY GREAT CREATOR;

                                   DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE CREATED ME,

                                   AND HIGHEST WISDOM JOINED WITH PRIMAL COMPASSION.



                                  BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS

                                   WERE MADE, AND I SHALL LAST ETERNALLY.

                                   ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE. ”

                                                             - THE GATE OF HELL

The descent into Hell
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Virgil turns to his faithful follower, and warns him that all his cowardice and distrust must die on this spot, if he is to brave the journey and the sight of the tormented souls. Placing his hand upon Dante’s shoulders, and encouraging him with a smile, the two cross the Gate of Hell. Immediately an unearthly din breaks the deathly silence:



                             “ Here sighs and cries and shrieks of lamentation

                                  Echoed throughout the starless air of Hell;

                                  At first these sounds resounding made me weep:

                                Tongues confused, a language strained in anguish

                                  With cadences of anger, shrill outcries

                                  And raucous groans that joined with sounds of hands, ”

                                                      - DANTE HEARS THE CRIES OF THE DAMNED



Our pilgrim turns to his guide and asks of the souls so overwhelmed with grief. The great poet reveals that these are the souls of those who lived a life of neither blame nor praise. Men and women who stood undecided, neither faithful nor faithless. So too lie the ‘repulsive choir of angels’ who took no side in the War in Heaven between Satan and God. ‘Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them out, but even Hell itself would not receive them, for fear the damned might glory over them’. As for the men and women - unknown in life, both Heaven and Hell turn from them, as they bathe in melancholy at their separation from God. 'Why do they lament so bitterly?' asks Dante. Gazing upon the ghastly sight before him, Dante finds his courage, and stomach, tested once again. He spies a banner rushing through the dank air, as though fated to never stop, and behind it follow vainly the souls of the indecisive. Punished to chase a thing and never catch it, this was not the only torment the souls endured:



                             “ These wretches, who had never truly lived,

                                  Went naked, and were stung and stung again

                                  By the hornets and the wasps that circled them



                               And made their faces run with blood in streaks;

                                 Their blood, mixed with their tears, dripped to their feet,

                                 And disgusting maggots collected in the pus. ”

                                                  - THE PUNISHMENT OF THE INDECISIVE



Filled with nausea, our pilgrim gazed beyond and saw a throng of souls gathered upon the shore of a large river. Asking his guide for what they waited, Virgil leads the way to the River Acheron, which forms the boundary of Hell. Suddenly, across the dark waters appeared a boat, steered by an ancient man, ‘with eyes of glowing coals’- Charon, the boatman, who bears the souls of the damned into Hell. Aware that Dante was of the land of the still living, Charon commands our pilgrim to get away from, ‘all these people who are dead’. Placating the boatman, Virgil reveals his purpose there, and his words bring silence to the fearsome Charon:



Charon goads the damned onto the ferry
Engraving by Gustave Doré.



“ But all those souls there, naked, in despair

Changed colour and their teeth began to chatter

At the sound of his announcement of their doom ”

        - THE DAMNED BEMOAN THEIR FATE

Weeping bitterly, the souls of the damned board the craft, as Charon strikes with his oar all those who lag behind. A sudden wind blasted forth from the ‘tear drenched land’, filling Dante with panic, and bringing our two poets on their way into the First Circle of Hell...

The Divine Comedy is the cornerstone of Italian literature, and indeed even the Italian language. Being the first work of epic poetry written in Italian, it formed the model for all that has come since. Most of the stereotypes of what Hell, Heaven and Purgatory are like come directly from this. The punishment of the damned is a classic example of Contrapasso, the idea that the punishment fits the crime. It is a powerful piece epitomising the fear of what lurks after death takes us, and a grisly warning against trespassing the laws of good. In future posts, we will descend with Dante into Hell, and see the hideous fates of the evil men and women of history. Inspiring countless motifs in modern culture, the Divine Comedy is easily available at a low price from Amazon:

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:

Dante: Inferno (Penguin Classics)

(A nice edition which even has the original Italian on the left hand side of the page!)

Oxford World's Classics:

The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

United States

Penguin Classics:
The Divine Comedy: Volume 1: Inferno (Penguin Classics) (Pt. 1)
(A nice edition which even has the original Italian on the left hand side of the page!)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)