Atheism in Pagan Antiquity Part 8

P. 129. Image-worship and demon-worship not conciliated: _e.g._ Tertull.

_Apologet._ 10-15 and 22-23, comp. 27.-Jewish demonology: Bousset, _Religion d. Judentums_, p. 326 (1st ed.).-Fallen angels: _e.g._ Athenag.

24 foll.; Augustine, _Enchir._ 9, 28 foll.; _de civ. Dei_, viii. 22.

P. 130. Euhemerism in the Apologists: _e.g._ Augustine, _de civ. Dei_, ii.

10; vi. 7; vii. 18 and 33; viii. 26.-Euhemerism and demonology combined: _e.g._ Augustine, _de civ. Dei_, ii. 10; vii. 35; comp. vii. 28 fin.-Worship of the heavenly bodies: _e.g._ Aristid. 3 foll.; Augustine, _de civ. Dei_, vii. 29 foll.

P. 131. Paganism a delusion caused by demons: Thomas Aq. _Summa theol._ P.

ii. 2, Q. 94, art. 4; comp. below, note on p. 135.

P. 133. For the following sketch I have found valuable material in Gedike's essay, _Ueber die mannigfaltigen Hypothesen z. Erklarung d.

Mythologie_ (_Verm. Schriften_, Berlin, 1801, p. 61).

P. 134. Milton: _Paradise Lost_, i. 506. The theory that the pagan oracles fell mute at the rise of Christianity is also found in Milton, _Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity_, st. xviii. foll.

P. 135. G. I. Voss; _De Theologia Gentili_, lib. i. (published, 1642)-Voss's view is in the main that idolatry as a whole is the work of the Devil. What is worshipped is partly the heavenly bodies, partly demons, partly (and princ.i.p.ally) dead men; most of the ancient G.o.ds are identified with persons from the Old Testament. Demon-worship is dealt with in ch. 6; it is proved among other things by the true predictions of the oracles. Individual Greek deities are identified with demons in ch. 7, in a context where oracles are dealt with. On older works of the same tendency, see below, note on p. 140; on Natalis Comes, _ibid._ A fuller treatment of Voss's theories is found in Gruppe's work, -- 25.-Thomas Aquinas: _Summa theol._ P. ii. 2, Q. 94, art. 4; comp. also Q. 122, art.

2.-Dante: Sommo Giove for G.o.d, _Purg._ vi. 118; his devils: Charon, _Inf._ iii. 82 (109 expressly designated as "dimonio"); Minos, _Inf._ v. 4; Geryon, _Inf._ xviii. (there are more of the same kind).-"Dei falsi e bugiardi": _Inf._ i. 72. (Plutus, who appears as a devil in _Inf._ vii.

was probably taken by Dante for an antique G.o.d; but the name may also be a cla.s.sicising translation of Mammon.)

P. 136. Mediaeval epic poets: Nyrop, _Den oldfranske Heltedigtning_, p.

255 and 260; Dernedde, _Ueber die den altfranzos. Dichtern bekannten Stoffe aus dem Altertum_ (Diss. Gotting. 1887).-Confusion of ancient and Christian elements: Dernedde, p. 10; the G.o.ds are devils: Dernedde, pp.

85, 88.-Euhemerism: Dernedde, p. 4.-I have tried to get a first-hand impression of the way the G.o.ds are treated by the old French epic poets, but the material is too large, and indexes suited to the purpose are wanting. The paganism of the original is taken over navely, _e.g._, by Veldeke, _Eneidt_, i. 45, 169.-On magic I have consulted Horst's _Damonomagie_ (Frankf. 1818); and his _Zauber-Bibliothek_ (Mainz, 1821-26); Schindler, _Der Aberglaube des Mittelalters_ (Breslau, 1858); Maury, _La magie et l'astrologie dans l'antiquite et au moyen age_ (Paris, 1860). These authors all agree that mediaeval magic is dependent on antiquity, but that the pagan G.o.ds are superseded by devils (or the Devil). The connexion in substance with antiquity, on which Maury specially insists, is certain enough, but does not concern us here, where the question is about the theory. In the _Zauber-Bibl._ i. p. 137 (in the treatise _Pneumatologia vera et occulta_), the snake Python is put down among the demons, with the remark that Apollo was called after it.-Magic formulae with antique G.o.ds: Heim, _Incantamenta magica_ (in the _Neue Jahrbb. f. Philologie_, Suppl. xix. 1893, p. 557; I owe this reference to the kindness of my colleague, Prof. Groenbeck). Pradel, _Religionsgesch.

Vers. u. __ Vorarb._ iii., has collected prayers and magic formulae from Italy and Greece; they do not contain names of antique G.o.ds.

P. 137. Acosta: Joseph de Acosta, _Historia naturale e morale delle Indie_, Venice, 1596. I have used this Italian translation; the original work appeared in 1590.-Demons at work in oracles: bk. v. ch. 9; in magic: ch. 25.

P. 138. Demon in Brazil: Voss, _Theol. Gent._ i. ch. 8.-Pagan worship in the Florentine and Roman Academies: Voigt, _Wiederbelebung d. kla.s.s.

Altertums_, ii. p. 239 (2nd ed.); Hettner, _Ital. Studien_, p. 174.-On the conception of the antique G.o.ds in the earlier Middle Ages, see Gruppe, -- 4.-Thomas Aquinas: _Summa theol._ P. ii. 2, Q. 94, art. 4.-Curious and typical of the mediaeval way of reasoning is the idea of seeking prototypes of the Christian history of salvation in pagan mythology. See v. Eicken, _Gesch. u. System d. mittelalt. Weltanschauung_ (Stuttg. 1887), p. 648, and (with more detail) F. Piper, _Mythologie u. Symbolik d.

christl. Kunst_ (Weimar, 1847-51), i. p. 143; comp. also Gruppe, -- 8 foll.

Good instances are the myths in the _Speculum humanae salvationis_, chs. 3 and 24.

P. 139. On Hebraism in general, see Gruppe, -- 19 and -- 24 foll.; on Huet, -- 28. Nevertheless, Huet operates with demonology in connexion with the oracles (_Dem. evang._ ii. 9, 34, 4).

P. 140. On Natalis Comes, see Gruppe, -- 19. In bk. i. ch. 7, Natalis Comes gives an account of the origin of antiquity's conceptions of the G.o.ds; it has quite a naturalistic turn. Nevertheless, we find in ch. 16 a remark which shows that he embraced demonology in its crudest form; compare also the theory set forth in ch. 10. His interpretations of myths are collected in bk. x.-On Bacon, see Gruppe, -- 22. Typhoeus-myth: introduct. to _De sapientia veterum._-Alchemistic interpretations: Gedike, _Verm.

Schriften_, p. 78; Gruppe, -- 30. Of the works quoted by Gedike, I have consulted Faber's _Panchymic.u.m_ (Frankf. 1651) and Toll's Fortuita (Amsterd. 1687). Faber has only some remarks on the matter in bk. i. ch.

5; by Toll the alchemistic interpretation is carried through. Gedike quotes, moreover, a work by Suarez de Salazar, which must date from the sixteenth century; according to Jocher (iv. 1913) it only exists in MS., and I do not know where Gedike got his reference.-Thomas: _Summa_, P. ii.

2, Q. 172, arts. 5 and 6.

P. 141. Demonology as explanation of the oracles: see van Dale, _De oraculis_, p. 430 (Amsterd. 1700); he quotes numerous treatises from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I have glanced at Moebius, _De oraculorum ethnicorum origine_, etc. (Leipzig, 1656).-Caelius Rhodiginus: _Lectionum antiq._ (Leyden, 1516), lib. ii. cap. 12; comp. Gruppe, -- 15.-Caelius Calcagninus: _Oraculorum liber_ (in his _Opera_, Basle, 1544, p. 640). The little dialogue is not very easy to understand; it is evidently a satire on contemporary credulity; but that Caelius completely rejected divination seems to be a.s.sumed also by G. I. Voss, _Theol. Gent._ i. 6.-Machiavelli: _Discorsi_, i. 56.-Van Dale: _De oraculis gentilium_ (1st ed. Amsterd. 1683); _De idololatria_ (Amsterd. 1696). Difficulties with the biblical accounts of demons: _De idol._, dedication.-Fontenelle: _Histoire des oracles_ (Paris, 1687). The little book has an amusing preface, in which Fontenelle with nave complacency (and with a sharp eye for van Dale's deficiencies of style) gives an account of his popularisation of the learned work. On Fontenelle and the answer by the Jesuit, Balthus, see for further details Banier, _La mythologie et les fables expliquees par l'histoire_ (Paris, 1738), bk. iii. ch. 1. Van Dale's book itself had called forth an answer by Moebius (included in the edition of 1690 of his work, _de orac. ethn. orig._).-On the influence exercised by van Dale and Fontenelle on the succeeding mythologists, see Gruppe, -- 34.-Banier: see Gruppe, -- 35.

P. 143. Vico: _Scienza nuova_ (Milan, 1853), p. 168 (bk. ii. in the section, Della metafisica poetica); political allegories, _e.g._ p. 309 (in the Canone mitologico). Comp. Gruppe, -- 44.-Banier: in the work indicated above, bk. i. ch. 5.

P. 144. On the mythological theories of the eighteenth century, comp.

Gruppe, -- 36 foll.; on Bryant, -- 40; on Dupuis, -- 41.-Polemic against Euhemerism from the standpoint of nature-symbolism: de la Barre, _Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de la religion en Grece_, in _Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscr._ xxiv. (1749; the treatise had already been communicated in 1737 and 1738); a posthumous continuation in _Mem._ xxix. (1770) gives an idea of de la Barre's own point of view, which was not a little in advance of his time. Comp. Gruppe, -- 37.

P. 145. A good survey of modern investigations in the field of the history of ancient religion is given by Sam Wide in the _Einleit. in die Altertumswissensch._ ii.; here also remarks on the mythology of older times. The later part of Gruppe's work contains a very full treatment of the subject.