The Egyptian Elements IN THE Legend of the Body and Soul H SMssertation PRESENTED TO THE FA'T'LTY OF BRi'N MAWR COLLEGE IN I'ARTIAL FULFILMENT GF THE REQ1 rREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY APRIL. 1910 LOUISE DUDLEY M BALTIMORE J. H. FURST COMPANY 19 11 j. fm Ae founding of a. CoUe&rMjjt^elo^ I • Y^ILE«¥]MH¥EI^Sinr¥« Acquired by Exchange Sb THE EGYPTIAN ELEMENTS IN THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL H Dissertation PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF BRYN MAWR COLLEGE IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOE THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY APRIL, 1910 BY LOUISE DUDLEY BALTIMORE J. H. FURST COMPANY 1911 PEEFACE The following study, practically as it stands, was pre sented to the Faculty of Bryn Mawr College in April, 1910, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. My interest in the legend of the Body and Soul began when I was a member of the Seminary in Middle English at Bryn Mawr during the year 1906-7. Professor Brown then pointed out to me a pseudo-Augustinian homily which contained the theme of the soul's address to its body, suggesting .that I determine its relation to other Body and Soul material. The results of that investigation were embodied in an article, "An Early Homily on the ' Body and Soul ' Theme," which, though completed in that year, was not published until April, 1909, in the Journal of English and Germanic Philology. In the autumn of 1908 I continued my investigation of the legend at the Bibliotheque Rationale. It was at first my intention to devote myself to a comparative study of the late versions; the amount and importance of early material, however, soon convinced me that the prob lem of sources demanded precedence. Accordingly, I determined to restrict the field of my inquiry to the Christian Egyptian influences in the legend. The extension of this subject to include also the Ancient Egyptian origins of the Christian themes, was largely a matter of chance. From the notes to many translations from the Coptic, especially those of Mr. Forbes Robinson, and of M. Amelineau, I became interested in the sur vivals of Ancient Egypt, and tried, though only in a iii IV PREFACE general way, to define that influence with relation to the ideas of the Body and Soul legend. To M. Amelineau I owe the suggestion that I work out these relations in some detail. The discussion of these Egyptian themes is, of course, here limited to the motives which appear in the Body and Soul legend. In my treatment of them, however, I have allowed myself some latitude, and have included material not essentially relevant to my immediate sub ject, even at the risk of impairing' the proportions of the , work as a whole. I have been led to do this by my con viction that the material presented, which is, I think, largely unknown to students of mediaeval literature, will prove valuable in the interpretation of later religious literature. Nevertheless, the chapters presenting the Egyptian beliefs do not claim to be either complete, or absolutely accurate in all details. A critical discussion would neces sarily be based upon the original Greek, Hebrew, and Coptic texts, while I have been compelled to use them in translations. In all probability much additional material exists in texts which' have been inaccessible to me ; also the translations on which I have depended may not be in all points accurate. I have, however, tried to cover as nearly as possible the material which has been translated, and I have sought to avoid the mistakes of translators by collating important passages whenever more than one translation is in existence. In conclusion, I feel that I can use translations with comparative safety because my discussion does not demand the exact reading of the texts, but is concerned only with the fundamental ideas ex pressed. i Though working on a legend which has been the sub ject of much study, I have included in this dissertation no PREFACE V statement of former theories, or refutation of them. M. Batiouchkof is the only person whose work on the legend touches the present field of investigation. He has pub lished a long article in Romania (Vol. xx), and several articles in Russian — only one of which I have been able to consult. His study of the legend in Romania is the most important which has yet appeared, and it is the one which formed the starting point for the present investiga tion. I have not made a detailed study and refutation of the opinions it expresses, however, because, though my con clusions differ from his at almost every point, the trend of our arguments is at bottom the same, and my own work is in the broader sense only a continuation of his. To M. Batiouchkof, therefore, I owe my first acknowl edgment of indebtedness in the writing of this disserta tion. From his article I have taken not only much of my material, but also many of my fundamental hypotheses. Whenever it has seemed pertinent I have acknowledged particular borrowings in the footnotes or in the text. My general indebtedness to him, however, deserves recognition here. It is a pleasure, also, to acknowledge my great obliga tions to M. E. Amelineau of the Ecole des Hautes Mudes, {Sciences Religieuses) . I have used his translations from the Coptic very extensively, and furthermore I am in debted to him for personal aid. To him I owe, as I have said, the suggestion that I study in detail the survivals of Ancient Egypt in the Christian themes. He has also suggested many individual points in the first chapters, especially in regard to those details of the ancient religion which are carried over directly into the Christian literature. My obligations to Dr. Montague Rhodes James, Proj VI PREFACE vost of King's College, Cambridge, are of a similar nature. I owe to his editions of early Christian Apocrypha many of my texts and references, and I have often based my conclusions on the opinions he has set forth in his intro ductions. Dr. James has also been kind enough to allow me to discuss with him almost all the questions which I have treated in chapters two to five. To Dr. Carleton Brown of Bryn Mawr College, I am indebted not only for the initial impulse to this study, but also for much assistance in the course of putting the results into their present form. He has read the entire manuscript several times, and there is hardly a page but owes something to his careful supervision. For the general arrangement of the material, however, as for the opinions expressed, I alone am responsible. L. D. Georgetown, Kentucky, August, 1910. CONTENTS PAGE Preface iii List of Texts Most Frequently Cited ix I. Introduction 1 1. The Importance of the Egyptian Church ... 2 2. References to Egypt in Versions of the Body and Soul Legend 3 3. Parallels in Egyptian Tradition 4 4. Ancient Egypt the Ultimate Source .... 6 5. The Transfer from Egypt to Rome .... 8 6. Egyptian Influence in Mediaeval Literature ... 11 7. Method 14 II. The Manner in which the Soul is Separated from its Body 18 1. The Departure of the Good Soul 18 2. The Extraction of the Evil Soul 24 3. The Conception of the Soul in Ancient Egypt . . 28 III. The Angels by whom Souls are Removed ... 32 1. The Angel of Death 32 2. A Special Class of Angels Appointed to Remove Souls . 35 3. The Beautiful Angels and the Hideous Angels . . 38 4. The Angels and the Demons 42 5. The Deaths of the Saints 44 6. The Egyptian Genii 47 IV. The Dangerous Path to Heaven 51 1. The Struggle with the Spirits 51 2. Confusion of the Spirits with the Angels who Remove Souls 59 3. The Coptic Texts 63 4. The Series of Dangers in the Egyptian Other-world . 69 V. The Tour of the Universe 74 1. The Spurious Homily of Macarius .... 74 2. The Pistis Sophia 77 vii Vlll CONTENTS PAGE 3. The Pachomius Vision and the Apocalypse of Elias . 80 4. The Fourth Book of Ezra 81 5. The Visio Pauli 83 6. Analysis °4 VI. The Latin Homily 91 1. The Demons around the Death-bed .... 92 2. The Separation of the Evil Soul from its Body . . 94 3. The Departure of the Good Soul 98 4. The Tour of the Universe 100 5. The Mouth of Hell 102 6. The Speech of the Soul to its Body .... 104 7. The Four Versions 110 VII. The "Visio Fulberti" and the "Samedi" . . . 114 1. The Visio Fulberti 115 2. The Middle English Debate 118 3. The Samedi ..." 121 4. The Relation of the Debates to the Homily ... 123 5. The Description of the Soul 125 VIII. The Irish Homily 128 1. The Angels and Demons at the Death-beds . . . 129 2. The Soul's Exit 131 3. The "Robe of Sin" 132 4. Dependence on the Visio Pauli 135 5. The Speeches of Soul and Body 139 6. Conclusion 141 General Conclusion 145 Appendix A— The "Refusal to Die" 151 Appendix B— Egyptian Elements in the Sermons of Ephraem Syrus 16i Appendix C— An Unpublished Homily on the Soul's Exit from its Body jg4 Appendix D— The Egyptian Motives in Mediaeval Literature . 167 A LIST OF THE TEXTS MOST FREQUENTLY CITED Apocrypha Anecdota- (Apoc. Anec. I). Edited by M. R. James. Texts and Studies, n, 3. Cambridge, 1893. Apocrypha Anecdota, Second Series {Apoc. Anec. II). Edited by M. R. James. Texts and Studies, v, 1. Cambridge, 1897. The Apocalypse of Elias. (1) Edited and translated by Georg Steindorff. Texte und Untersuchungen, N. F. n, 3a. Leipzig, 1899. (2) Translated by Ludwig Stern under the title, Apoca lypse of Zephaniah. Zeitschrift fur Agyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, 1886. Pp. 115-135. The Book of the Dead. The Life-Work of Sir Peter Le Page Renouf, First Series, Vol. rv. Translation and commentary continued and completed by Prof. E. Naville. Paris, 1907. Contes et Romans de I'Ulgypte Chrdtienne (Contes et Romans). Par E. Amelineau. Collection de Contes et Chansons Popu lates, xni-xrv. Paris, 1888. Coptic Apocryphal Gospels (Copt. Apoc. Gosp.). Translated by Forbes Robinson. Texts and Studies, rv, 2. Cambridge, 1896. lMoge de Pisentios. ( 1 ) tstude sur le Christianisme en tigypte au Septieme Siecle. Par E. Amelineau. Paris, 1887. (2) A translation of the mummy episode has been made by E. Rev- illout, Les Affres de la Mort chez les ilgyptiens. Revue tgyptologique, n (1881). Pp. 69-71. The Fourth Book of Ezra (TV Ezra). (1) Latin text edited by R. L. Bensly. Introduction by M. R. James. Texts and Studies, in, 2. Cambridge, 1895. (2) Ethiopia text trans lated by Ren6 Basset. Les Apocryphes tsthiopiens, rx. Paris, 1899. Histoire des Monasteres de la Basse-tlgypte, Vies des Saints Paul, Antoine, Macaire, Maxime et Domece, Jean le Nam, etc. Coptic texts edited and translated by E. Amelineau. Annates du Mus4e Guimet, xxv. Paris, 1894. (Cited as Musie Guimet, xxv.) X BIBLIOGRAPHY Die Jiidische Litteratur seit Abschluss des Kanons (Jiid. Litt.). Herausgegeben von Dr. J. Winter und Prof. Aug. Wunsehe. Trier, 1894. Life of Pachomius. (1) Histovre de Saint Paklwme et de ses CommunauUs. Coptic and Arabic texts edited and translated by E. Amelineau. Annales du Mus6e Guimet, xvn. Paris, 1899. (2) A portion of the vision of the death of a righteous man has been translated by 13. Dulaurier, Fragment des R6v6lations Apocryphes de Saint Barthilemy, e de I'Histoire des Commun- ante's Religieuses. Paris, 1835. Pp. 16-18. Monuments pour servir a I'Histoire de Vtlgypte Ohretienne au IVe et Ve Siecles. Par E. Amelineau. Memoires Publics par les Membres de la Mission ArcMologique Francaise au Caire, TV. Paris, 1888. (Cited as Mission au Caire, IV.) Patrologia Graeca (P. G.). Accurante J. P. Migne. Paris, 1857 +. Patrologia Latina (P. L.) . Accurante J. P. Migne. Paris, 1844 +. Pistis Sophia. ( 1 ) Herausgegeben von Dr. Carl Schmidt. Kop- tisch-Gnostische Schriften, I. Leipzig, 1905. (2) Englished from Schwartze's Latin version and checked by Amelineau's French version by G. R. S. Mead. London, 1896. (3) Traduit du copte en francais avec une introduction par E. Amelineau. Paris, 1895. (4) Descripsit et Latine vertit M. G. Schwartze. Edidit J. H. Peterman. Berlin, 1851. Un Samedi par Nuit. Herausgegeben von H. Varnhagen. Erlanger Beitrdge zur englischen Philologie, I, Anhang i. 1889. Der Babylonische Talmud ( The Talmud ) . Herausgegeben von L. Goldschmidt; Berlin, 1897. The Testament of Abraham (Test. Abr.) . Edited by M. R. James. Texts and Studies, ii, 2. Cambridge, 1892. The Testament of Job. (1) Greek text edited by James, Apoc. Anec. II. Pp. 104-137. (2) French translation in Migne's Dic- tionnaire des Apocryphes, II. Pp. 403 ff. Visio Fulberti. (1) Edited by E. Du Meril, Poesies Populaires Latines anUrieures au douzieme siecle. Paris, 1843. Pp. 217 ff. (2) Edited from several manuscripts by H. Brandes, Zur Visio Fulberti. Potsdam, 1897. Visio Pauli, Greek Text. (1) Edited by Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apoeryphae. Leipzig, 1866. Pp. 34-69. (2) Translated into English in Ante-Nicene Christian Library, xvi. Pp. 477.492. BIBLIOGRAPHY XI Visio Pauli, Latin Text. (1) Edited by James, Apoc. Anec. I. Pp. 11-42. (2) Translated into English in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. rx. Pp. 151 ff. (3) A fragment of the Greek original of this version was found among some scraps of parchment and papyrus brought from Egypt, and is now in the Bodleian. It is on parchment written in the sixth century and contains parts of cc. 45 and 46, " with an offset of part of c. 47." (Cf. Madan's Summary Catalogue of Western Manu scripts in the Bodleian Library, VI, pt. I, 1906 ; p. 84, no. 31660. ) Visio Pauli, Syriac Text. (1) Translated into English by the Rev. J. Perkins Journal .of the American Oriental Society, vm. Pp. 187-211 (2) Translated into German by Dr. P. Zingerle, Heidenheim's Vierteljahrsschrift fur Deutsch- und Englisch- Theologische Forsehung und Kritik, iv. Pp. 139-183. INTEODUCTION The mention of Egypt in two Latin homilies which give a primitive form of the Body and Soul legend seems to furnish an important clue as to its original home. In the first of these versions the vision of the soul which cursed its body is introduced as " quoddam exemplum horribile, quod quidam homo sanctus in excessu mentis pos- itus vidit, et audivit de quadam anima de .ZEgypto exeunte, et contra corpus suum contendente." * The second homily prefaces the vision in this way : " Audiamus quid Macaris qui curam gerebat animarum in Alexandria, quibusdam verba faciens, se a quodam fratre monacho in excessu mentis posito audisse peribetur." 2 These definite ref erences to Egypt suggest at the very outset of our inquiry that the Body and Soul legend is a product of Christian Egypt.3 Accepting this tradition of Egyptian origin as a working hypothesis, I shall undertake in the following chapters to confirm it by other evidence and to determine to what extent the conceptions embodied in the legend are to be regarded as distinctly Egyptian. 1 P. L. 40, 1356. " Romania, 20, 576. 3 The name Macarius can not be taken as definitive either of author ship or of date, for, as M. Batiouchkof (Romania, 20, 15) has shown, Macarius was an epic personage around whom accumulated various legends as to the lot of the soul at the time of death. On the other hand, it may very probably record a tradition of origin in the Egyptian monasteries, or more broadly still, in Christian Egypt. In fact just such a reference to Egypt has been preserved in an Old French metrical version of a story taken fromi the Coptic. Cf. p. 167, pp. 20-1, and n. 5, and p. 26. 1 2 the legend of the body and soul 1. The Impoetance of the Egyptian Chuech That Egyptian Christianity should have influenced in this way the Christianity of Kome and the West is seen to be entirely possible when one considers — even though briefly — the importance of the Church of Egypt. Alex andria, its chief city, rivalled Borne and Antioch as a centre of Christian thought and culture, the home of great men and of great movements. It was there that the first Christian school of theology was founded. It was there under the brilliant leadership of Origen and Clement that the first attempts were made to reconcile Christianity and philosophy. Again, it was in the Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius, that orthodoxy found its champion against the Arian heresy. Although between the time of Athanasius and that of Egypt's separation from Rome (451), the Alexandrian school declined in bril liancy, Alexandria's connections with Borne were not lessened thereby. On the contrary they were, if anything, rather more intimate, for, owing to the Arian tendencies in Antioch after the Council of Nicsea (325), Borne was estranged from Antioch and the East.4 The Church of Egypt, in so far as it can be differ entiated from the Church of Alexandria, contributed less to the theology but more to the social organization of the Christian Church. For it was in Egypt that Christian monasticism had its origin. Not only was this the home of Paul of Thebes, and St. Anthony, the first Christian hermits, and of Pachomius, the founder of the first 4Schaff, History of the Christian Church, New York 188" + n §9, §116, §185 ff., m,§119 ff., §171. A very readable short account of the school of Alexandria is that of the Abbe Duchesne, Early History of the Christian Church, London, 1909, chap, xvni INTRODUCTION 3 Christian monastery; it was also the scene of the imme diate wide-spread adoption of monastic principles. The impulse to ascetic modes of life then spread from Egypt over the entire Church.5 In addition, the contributions of Egypt to the litera ture of the Eoman Church were important, though it is not necessary, here, to do more than indicate the main classes into which they fall. First and foremost are the writings of the Egyptian Fathers. Then come the var ious Apocryphal Books and Apocalyses which had their origin in Egypt; and lastly, the lives of the Egyptian saints and ascetics.6 The influence of Egypt was thus felt in almost every department of Christian life and thought. Therefore, while Eome was borrowing so much of great import from Egypt, she may very easily have taken over some germ of the legend of the Body and Soul. 2. Eeferences to Egypt in Veesions of the Body and Soul Legend Now that we have recognized in Christian Egypt a possible home for the legend, what proof have we that it was the actual home ? In the first place there are the references to Egypt in the two Latin homilies already mentioned. Though these establish a presumption as to the source of the legend, they cannot be accepted as in themselves conclusive evidence. Mediaeval homilists were notoriously careless in statements concerning their 0 Schaff, Ibid., in, §28 ff. " Schaff, Ibid., passim. As an example of a purely literary in fluence originating in Christian Egypt, the Bestiary is very much in point. Cf. Lauchert, Geschichte des Physiologus, Strassburg, 1889. 4 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL sources. A reference to a person or place may register a trustworthy tradition, or it may be only an ornament added by some late redactor to attract attention, or to give his sermon authority. Besides, there is always the possibility of scribal error, of the unconscious substitu tion of one name for another. We can not, therefore, be certain that these references are trustworthy. Nevertheless, their reliability is increased beyond that of the usual homiletical introduction by several consider ations which, though minor in themselves, are yet of cumulative value. They are contained in the two homilies which represent the most primitive known form of the legend,7 and which, on that account, are the most likely to retain genuine traditions of source. Again, the refer ence to Christian Egypt, though it occurs in both homilies, is not copied in one from the other: in other words, it is not a mere formula. Finally, it is a point in favor of the credibility of these references that the hypo thesis of Egyptian origin, as we have just seen, is one which is in every way possible. 3. Parallels in Egyptian Teadition The evidence necessary to support these references in the homilies is to be found in the literature of Christian Egypt. An examination of this literature reveals many texts which are obviously related very closely to the early versions of the Body and Soul legend. In spite of this close relationship, however, it is not possible to point to any particular text as the source from which the earliest version of the legend was taken. Eesemblances in thought * See my article: "An Early Homily on the 'Body and Soul' Theme '' Journal of English and Germanic Philology, April, 1909. INTRODUCTION 0 or detail which, if they occurred in a single text, might be accepted as evidence of direct relationship, are to be found in several texts; and there is no reason for pre ferring one to the other as the actual source. Not only do the exact details and ideas of the Body and Soul tradition appear in more than one text, but similar details and ideas are also of frequent occurrence in Egyptian literature. Yet the relations between these various • texts are not such as can be accounted for as literary borrowings, or even as the result of purely literary influences. Likenesses appear in manuscripts of various dates, both before and after the separation of the Egyp tian Church from Eome. They occur alike in orthodox and heretical teachings. They are not confined to one class of writings, but are met with in Saints' Lives and Apocrypha as well as in homilies. In short, the resem blances and differences between these Egyptian texts are such as can be easily explained only on the supposition that they represent popular beliefs and commonly known traditions of the Egyptian people. To what extent these were serious beliefs and to what extent they represent only common tradition, is a difficult matter to determine. The sincerity with which they are stated varies. Some texts manifestly express actual beliefs, others approach the elaboration of homiletical convention. Neither can we be certain how far these were popular beliefs, for, after all, the material from which we have to judge is limited. On the whole, however, the dominant and the primary character seems that of popular belief. This conclusion is confirmed when we find on an examination of their sources that these beliefs are, in the main, but Christianized remnants of the religion of Ancient Egypt. 2 6 the legend of the body and soul 4. Ancient Egypt the Ultimate Souece It is universally recognized that Christianity, in each of the countries to which it came, accepted much from the religion it found there. Sometimes this acceptance took the form of actual recognition on the part of the Church, of the customs and practices once pagan. More often it was only the survival of heathen beliefs and super stitions .in popular thought and tradition. The exact character and the extent of the pagan influence varied according to the particular conditions existing in each country. Always, however, the actual tendency of Chris tianity was to assimilate rather than to extirpate the older religions.8 If, now, we apply this general principle to Egypt we find that it will explain those popular beliefs which appear later in the Body and Soul legend. Among the particular conditions in Egypt which determined the nature and the extent of the influence exerted upon Christianity by the native paganism, there are two which were specially im portant in their bearing upon the beliefs we are here considering.9 The first is the agreement of Christianity 8 Cf. Revillout: "S'il est un fait absolument indiscutable dans l'histoire de l'eglise, c'est que chacun des anciens peuples de 1'orient en embrassant le christianisme lui avait apporte' en dot, pour ainsi dire, ses antiques traditions, ses aspirations, ses tendances, en un mot tout ce qui faisait le propre de sa civilisation anterieure." Rev. figypt., rv, 35. •The conditions in Egypt were somewhat peculiar. Alexandria was in many respects more a Greek city than an Egyptian, and Christianity in coming there received Greek as well as Egyptian influences. In fact the overwhelming importance of Philo and the Greek philosophy in the early years of the Egyptian Church have caused the native Egyptian elements to be rather neglected Recently, however, scholars have bestowed more attention on this introduction 7 and the Egyptian religion in their belief in immor tality. Both taught a future life, which, under certain conditions, was to be feared. The Christian teaching, however, was vague, whereas the Egyptian other-world was a definite place with definite joys and definite terrors. It was almost inevitable, therefore, that the Egyptians should fill in the hazy outlines of the new religion with definite features from the old: especially since the new religion in so far as it was explicit, hinted at terrors and joys of the same kind as those of the old. So, an Egyptian who feared great vats of fire with monsters guarding them, believed, very naturally, that the " burning of the wicked," of which he heard in the Christian teaching, took place in vats of fire, and that there were monsters standing by.10 The same tendency holds true with regard to all the eschatological ideas of the Christian religion. The essential beliefs of the two teachings being much the same, the formal expression of those beliefs tended to become identical. The eschatological doctrines of Christi anity were consequently embellished by the concrete con ceptions of the older, more definite religion. The second of the two conditions mentioned is the state of decadence into which the Egyptian religion had fallen at the time Christianity made its appearance. It had already ceased to be a living power. Internally it had begun to decay into mere formalism; externally, subject. Dr. Erman in the chapter "Aus der griechischen Zeit Agyptens " of his Agyptische Religion gives a very good statement of the mixture of the three religions. M. Amelineau in many of the introductions to his translations from the Coptic, as in his Essai sur le Gnosticisme Sgyptien, points out parallels in Ancient Egypt. Cf. also Samuel Sharpe, Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity, London, 1863; and Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. xiii. "Even the name of the Egyptian other-world (Amenti) was carried over into the Coptic writings. See below, pp. 22, 67, etc. 8 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL owing to Oreek and Hebrew influences, especially m Alexandria, it had become corrupted by confusion with other religions. Much of its real significance had thus been lost. The Egyptians themselves did not understand the deeper meanings of their own religion ; hence, when they became Christians and, unconsciously, carried over into the new religion their older native beliefs, they necessarily introduced only their understanding — or misunderstanding — of them. As the result of these conditions the influence of Ancient Egypt on Christianity is traceable in borrowings of concrete conceptions and details, rather than of abstract ideas or theological doctrines. It is the figures and the ceremonies, the formal teachings and the outward ex pressions, of the old religion which are retained in the new. And it is in elements of this kind that the con ceptions identified with the Body and Soul legend reveal their indebtedness to Ancient Egypt. Some of these are taken over bodily from the native religion; others are Egyptian only in their fundamental ideas, which are developed according to Christian stan dards, or are even combined with other pagan beliefs. Again, Egyptian influence is seen in the borrowings of specific details, which in some cases are introduced in their original settings. Often the Egyptian beliefs are misinterpreted, or perverted, in the Christian texts. In all, however, the determining influence is Egyptian. 5. The Transfer from Egypt to Eome Let us consider now the specific problem which is presented by our theory of Egyptian origin. If the ideas incorporated in the Body and Soul legend are INTRODUCTION 9 native to Egypt, it follows that the legend came ulti mately from Egypt. How, then, was the transfer to the Eoman world effected ? As has already been stated, there are no extant texts from Egypt which can be regarded as the definite literary sources of the earliest versions of the legend; consequently it is impossible to determine the exact stages through which Egyptian beliefs developed into the legend as we encounter it on Eoman soil. Nevertheless, in endeavoring to account for its passage across the Mediterranean one question may profitably be considered at the outset, namely: In what form did the legend come to Borne? Here, I think, we must recognize two possibilities. First, some early version of the legend may have been written in Egypt and brought thence to Eome. As to the exact form which it may have assumed at the time of its migration, it is hardly worth while to speculate: it may have been recounted as an actual occurrence ; more probably it was placed in the vision setting; it may have become stereotyped in the form of an exemplum. But whatever the setting, it is possible that when the legend travelled from Egypt it (had already assumed definite form. The second possibility is that the definite combination of Egyptian traditions, which we know as the legend of the Body and Soul, was made in Eome. For the Egyptian ideas were well-known in the Western Church. The relations between the two Churches were so intimate, it could hardly be otherwise. Manuscripts were con tinually being passed from one to the other; 1J there was, "The book trade of Alexandria would, in itself, be sufficient to account for such an introduction of Egyptian ideas in Rome. Take for example the manuscripts of the Bible. "All the oldest and best manuscripts of the Greek Bible now remaining were written by 10 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL too, constant communication between the two Churches, with consequent interchange of ideas.12 Indeed, it would seem that whatever religious beliefs were current in Egypt, must almost certainly have been known also in Eome. This general interchange of ideas, however, important as it was in the spread of the Egyptian beliefs through the Eoman Church, necessarily leaves but faint traces after the lapse of fifteen centuries. It is fortunate there fore that we can appeal to more tangible evidence. This we find, first, in the Egyptian writings, which themselves enjoyed great popularity in the Western Church. Some of the very texts from which I quote as illustrating the Egyptian beliefs, as the Life of St. Anthony or the Vitae Patrum, were among the most widely known and most influential books of the Middle Ages. So far as the Egyptian Apocrypha are concerned, there is absolute proof that they were known in the Eoman Church, for many of them have entirely disappeared except in manu scripts of the late Middle Ages.14 Again, we know that Alexandrian penmen, that of Paris, that of the Vatican, that of Cambridge, that of the British Museum, and that from Mount Sinai, now in Russia" (Sharpe, I. c, p. 113). 12 Some idea of the travels of the early Christians can be gained from the chapter on "Women Pilgrims" in T. R. Glover's Life and Letters in the Fowrth Century, Cambridge, 1901. Palestine was oftenest the objective point of these pilgrimages but Egypt was usually visited on the way. 13 The worship of Isis was quite general at Rome during the first centuries, and though that fact may have had something to do with a ready adoption of the ideas in the Christian Egyptian texts, it cannot account for the presence of the heathen Egyptian ideas in the Christian texts, since the texts themselves came from Egypt. "The Greek Testament of Abraham is known only in MSS. of . the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The earliest complete versions of the Visio Pauli are of the eighth and tenth centuries, etc. INTRODUCTION 1 1 these Egyptian beliefs were familiar in the Eoman Church, for we find them mirrored in various examples of its own literature. Since these Egyptian beliefs were known in Eome as well as in Egypt, we cannot decide positively whether the home of the legend, as a legend, was Egypt or Eome. The close resemblances between the Egyptian texts and the early Body and Soul versions make me of the opinion that the legend actually took form in Egypt. At most, however, the question is of comparatively little importance, as in either case the fundamental beliefs which underlie the legend would be of Egyptian origin.15 6. Egyptian Influence in Medieval Literature The whole field of Egyptian sources for the literature of the Middle Ages has been very little studied. Dr. Becker, in his dissertation on the mediaeval vision,16 sketches the part played by the Egyptian religion as one of the non-Christian influences. His discussion is suggestive so far as it goes, but it is very brief and in cludes only the most salient features of each religion.17 15 It is this possibility of the legend's having taken shape in the Roman world which makes unnecessary all discussion of its date in connection with the Egyptian Church. Of course, if the story came from Egypt as a story, it came, in all probability, before the separation of the Egyptian Church from Rome in 451. In view of the way in which stories were handed down in the Middle Ages, there is no difficulty in supposing that the legend took shape before that date. The fact that the story could have been formed in Rome, from the Egyptian ideas, however, leaves the question of date entirely open. 10 E. J. Becker, A Contribution* to the Comparative Study of the Medi&val Visions of Heaven and Hell, Johns Hopkins dissertation, Balto., 1899. 11 His statements are based almost entirely on Alger's History 12 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Other students of mediaeval legends, as for example Alfred Nutt 18 and Mr. Boswell,19 make reference to Egypt in connection with Celtic tradition. Practically all of these references, however, are based upon the assumption that Egyptian influence would reach the Eoman world only through the medium of Greek or Hebrew, Christian Egypt being entirely ignored. The question has also been approached from the other end: students of Egyptian Apocrypha refer casually to analogous ideas in the literature of the Middle Ages. Dr. Lauchert's dissertation on the Physiologus, however, is the only attempt to study exhaustively any Christian Egyptian influence upon that literature. Yet it is hardly a parallel case, for Dr. Lauchert is not concerned with the final step in our inquiry: the survivals of the religion of Ancient Egypt in Egyptian Christianity. The reasons for this general neglect are, as I have already suggested: (1) Coptic texts have been, until recent years, very little studied and are thus comparatively unknown; (2) the influence of Egypt on Christianity through the Greeks and the Jews has been deemed sufficient to account for all patently Egyptian traits in the literature of the Middle Ages; and (3) the Greek character of Alexandria and the great importance of Greek influences in Egyptian Christianity have diverted attention from the native ele ments which also went into its make-up. of the Doctrme of « Future Life. I believe that he refers once to the Book of the Dead. The literature of Christian Egypt seems to have been entirely unknown to him; he speaks only of the Ancient Egyptian and states — though without giving any authority —that the Egyptian features have probably come through the medium of the Greek (p. 16). ™The Voyage of Bran, London, 1895, I, 245, 283; n, 263 ff. 11 An Irish Precursor of Dante, London, 1908, pp. 86 ff. INTRODUCTION 13 Nevertheless, much is to be gained by studying the literature of Egypt in its relation to the Middle Ages. Nor is the influence of Egypt by any means confined to the beliefs represented in the legend of the Body and Soul. There are many other matters in the literature of the Middle Ages on which the ideas and beliefs of Egypt, either ancient or Christian, may throw light. Take for example the various forms which the soul assumes,20 or the weighing of the soul by St. Michael. The resem blance between the Ancient Egyptian and the mediaeval presentations of the weighing of the soul has been noted by more than one writer on Christian iconography.21 Again, the scala celi of the Middle Ages 22 reminds one of the ladders by which the soul was said to ascend to Heaven so far back as the Pyramid texts.23 It is probable, 20 Cf. Didron, Christian Iconography, London, 1851, u, 173 ff. ; Maury, Croyances et L6gendes du Moyen Age (nouvelle edition des F4es du Moyen Age et des L6gendes pieuses publiee par MM. A. Longnon et G. Bonet-Maury ) , Paris, 1896, pp. 210 ff.; p. 272. a J. Romilly Allen, Early Christian Symbolism in Great Britain and Ireland before the Thirteenth Century, London, 1887, pp. 179 ff.; Male, L'Art Religieux du XHIe Siecle en France, p. 476; F. Wiegand, Der Erzengel Michael in der Mldenden Kunst, Ikonograph- ische Studie, Stuttgart, 1886, pp. 38-9. Cf. also, Dr. iBecker's dis sertation, p. 16. 22 This was, I think, a common mediaeval motive, though just now I can put my hands on but few examples of it. In many illustrations to manuscripts a monk, or a, soul, is trying to mount to heaven by a, ladder, the rounds of which are identified with the various virtues. Cf. Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 37049 f. 37 b, f. 49 b, and f. 17. Saint Briocus was said to ascend to heaven by a luminous ladder (Brewer, Diet, of Miracles, p. 459). I have been referred also to a golden ladder of virtues in some of Bonaventura's writings. Cf. the Scala Colli Major, seu de ordine cognoscendi Deum in creatwris dialogus, and the Scala Coeli Minor, seu de gradibus charitatis opusculum, P. L., 172, 1229, 1239. 23 See the translations by Maspero, Recueil de Travaux Relatifs a la Philologie et a V ArcMologie tgptiennes et Assyriennes: rv, 58; V, 195; etc. I 14 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL too, that many of the popular mediaeval stories originated in Christian Egypt. It has not been pointed out, so far as I am aware, that the miracle of the roasted cock, widely known in the ballads of St. Stephen and Herod and The Carnal and the Crane, is to be found in the recently dis covered Coptic Evangel of the Twelve Apostles.24 In the same Gospel Judas' wife is made responsible for the selling of Christ 25 — a motive which should be compared with that of the sister's guilt in the ballad Judas. In another Coptic text I have identified one of the stories appearing in the Vitae Patrum.26 How many others may be traced to similar sources? Again, as Le Page Eenouf has noted, a recipe in the Medical Papyrus of Berlin re-appears with very little change in an English volume of the eighteenth century.27 These points of contact with Egypt outside of the Body and Soul material are merely men tioned in passing because they are not directly concerned with our present inquiry. In so far, however, as they serve to illustrate the influence of Egypt upon mediaeval literature, they tend to confirm the view that the legend of the Body and Soul is of Egyptian origin. 7. Method In setting out to trace the Egyptian elements in the Body and Soul legend, it will be convenient to discuss separately the Egyptian beliefs and the Body and Soul versions. In the next four chapters I shall examine, 24 Translated by E. Revillout, Revue Biblique, 1904, pp. 332-3. This Gospel was known to Origen. "Ibid., p. 330. =«See chap, n, p. 21, note 5. "Agypt. Zeitschrift, 1873, 123; cf. Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt London, 1894, p. 363. INTRODUCTION 1 5 in turn, each of the more important underlying beliefs that appear in the early versions of the legend, consider ing first its nature, then the various forms that it assumed in the Egyptian texts, and lastly its relation to the Ancient Egyptian religion.28 The remaining chapters will deal with those versions of the legend that seem most significant for its history. Chapter VI will be devoted to those homilies that repre sent the most primitive known form of the legend. In Chapter VII, I shall review the relation of the primitive versions to the Visio Fulberti, and the Samedi — the most important versions of the ' Debate ' form, and indeed, of all forms of the legend. The Irish homily is reserved for separate consideration in the concluding chapter, because, although it offers an example of a very primitive form of the legend, it is one which differs widely from the Latin versions. The various Middle English speeches of the soul to the body, and the Old English Address of the Soul to its Body have not been included in the present dis cussion inasmuch as they do not belong to the direct line of development of the legend, and also because they show no marked Egyptian influence. A word of explanation may be added at this point in regard to the documents which are used as testimony in my discussion of the Egyptian beliefs. In the text I 28 To avoid repetition, I have omitted specific references when stating generally accepted facts about the Egyptian religion. The books on which I have relied are: Ermian, Die Agyptische Religion, Berlin, 1905; Steindorff, The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, New York, 1905; Renouf, The Religion of Ancient Egypt, Hibbert Lectures, 1879; Wiedemann, Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, London, 1897; Maspero, The Dawn of Civilization, tr. by M. L. Mc- Clure, 3rd ed., New York, 1897; and Weio Light on Ancient Egypt, tr. by E. Lee, London, 1908. 16 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL confine myself to writings which can be traced to Egypt, except in a very few instances, and in these attention will be called to the fact that the material is non-Egyptian. Most of the documents from which I shall quote are obviously Egyptian, as are the translations from the Coptic, or the Greek writings of the Egyptian Fathers. Others, scholars have assigned to Egypt on the basis of internal evidence, though external evidence con necting them with Egypt is lacking. To this class belong the Testament of Abraham,29 the Testament of Job,30 and the Fourth Book of Ezra.31 The only text from which I quote to any extent that has not been assigned to Egypt, is the Visio Pauli.32 However, its latest editor, 28 Ed. James, p. 76. 30 Apoc. Anec. n, xciv. Dr. James is of the opinion that both the Testament of Abraham and the Testament of Job were written by Jews living in Egypt, in the second or third century. In this way he accounts for the Jewish and Egyptian elements in them. Since the publication of Dr. James' edition, a Coptic version of the Testament of Abraham has been published by Guidi, Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche — Serie Quinta, IX, Roma, 1900, pp. 157-80. 31 M. Basset (p. 21) says that chapters lll-xrv belong to the Apocalypse of Ezra written by a Jew of Alexandria about 97 A. D. Dr. James (p. Ixxxix) does not discuss the provenance of the book, he prints, however, the results of Kabisch, who dates the part I quote (last half of Chapter vn) from the same period, but makes Rome the place of its composition. 82 The Visio Pauli is known in Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions. The Greek was long thought the original, and the Syriac a late and corrupt translation of it. However, the Latin version, which has been published but recently, bears out the Syriac in almost every particular, thus showing that the Greek is an abbreviated form. The Latin is the most perfect version of the three, and I shall quote from it except in those cases in which the Syriac is clearer or offers a more striking parallel. — In connection with the Egyptian influences in the Visio Pauli, I may call attention to the fact that the recently discovered fragment of the Greek original of the Latin version was brought from Egypt. INTRODUCTION 1 7 Dr. James, though he has not yet, I think, published his conclusions as to its home or its original language, states that it has been influenced by Coptic works.33 Moreover, the beliefs contained in it agree with those in works which are strictly Egyptian. Therefore, I have decided to include it among the texts which illustrate Egyptian beliefs. Eeferences to non-Egyptian texts in which the beliefs in question make their appearance will be added in the foot-notes and appendices. As a rule, the few references to writings of the Eastern Church — for the most part con temporary with those of Christian Egypt — are given in the foot-notes, and references to the writings of the Eoman Church in the mediaeval period are reserved for the appendices. When, however, a Latin reference con cerns only a specific detail, it will be included among the foot-notes. There are few, if any, of these references that cannot be explained as borrowings from Egypt. It is altogether probable that many more references, of both classes, can be added to those I have noted. The references to the literature of the Eoman Church are only such as I have gathered in the course of a very limited and rather cursory reading for other purposes. But even as it is, the number of these references is significant. A systematic search through the literature of the Middle Ages would result, I am convinced, in a much larger accumulation of evidence pointing to the influence of Egyptian beliefs. 'Test. Abr., p. 21. II THE MANNEE IN WHICH THE SOUL IS SEPAEATED FEOM ITS BODY The beliefs as to the manner in which the soul is separated from its body are based on a conception of the soul as a concrete, physical being. The central theme about which they all revolve is man's unwillingness to die. The soul will not quit its body voluntarily; hence the messengers who are sent for it must employ some external means other than the mere bidding of the soul to follow. Moreover, since the soul itself is conceived in physical terms, its removal from the body is frequently represented as accomplished by physical means. But whatever the means, it is a physical separation that is effected. The concrete " life " is parted from its body, though unwillingly. Inasmuch as the removal of the good soul and that of the evil soul were effected by widely different means, these beliefs fall naturally into two general classes which must be separately considered. Under each of these divisions, I shall first present the beliefs which appear in the texts of Christian Egypt, and then shall undertake to show in what ways these beliefs link themselves to the religion of Ancient Egypt, and to what extent they have been suggested by its conceptions and ideas. 1. The Departure of the Good Soul The good soul must be taken without pain. Because it is good, God and the angels are unwilling that it should 18 THE separation of soul and body 19 suffer while being separated from its body. On that account the means employed to draw it forth are always gentle. Thus, in the Coptic Life of Pachomius it is a kind of massage. Two angels surround the dying man's bed: Au moment ou l'homme est sur le point de rendre son ame, l'un des Anges se tient pres de sa t§te, un autre a ses pieds sous la forme d'hommes qui l'oignent d'huile de leurs propres mains, jusqu'a ce que Tame sorte de son corps; l'autre deploie un grand vgtement spirituel pour l'en revStir avec gloire. Et elle, cette ame d'un homme saint, tu la trouves belle de forme et blanche eomme la neige.1 The same idea is found in the description of the death of Pisentios : II passa tout ce jour comme quelqu'un que l'on frotte d'huile. A la fin, il dit cette parole : " Voici que j'ai accompli l'ordre du Seigneur, et je suis prgt." Puis il ouvrit la bouche, il rendit son esprit entre les mains de Dieu.2 More frequently the soul is induced to come forth by persuasion, as in the second Bohairic account of the Falling Asleep of Mary : What then shall I say concerning the separation of the soul from the body? O that hour full of fear and trembling! They 'Pp. 122-3. The translation of M. Dulaurier is very similar. "L'un se tient debout pres de la tete, l'autre aupres de ses pieds, dans l'attitude d'hommes qui de leurs mains frotteraient d'huile le mourant, jusqu'a ce que l'ame s'eleve degagee des liens du corps." The Arabic account of this vision (pp. 461-2), telling of the differ ence in rank of the angels, explains that the good soul must be taken gently. "Et Dieu fait cela, afin que ceux qui viennent pour faire sortir l'homme (de ce monde) le faasent avec douceur." 2 Pp. 160-1. This rubbing of the body with oil at the hour of death suggests the sacrament of Extreme Unction. Cf. Amelineau's note and see below, pp. 95 ff. 20 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL say that two powers come after the soul, one of light, another of darkness, unseemly and full of shuddering and trembling. If it be a righteous soul, they bring it forth enticingly, being mild and gentle towards it, because they see its Maker peaceful towards it.3 or in the Syriac version of the Visio Pauli : And those good angels ruled over that righteous one. And they drew out of him the soul, while alluring it with rest; and again they restored it to him, while inviting it and saying: "O soul, be assured, as for this thy body, 0 holy one, thou wilt return into it, in the resurrection; and thou wilt receive the promises of the living God with all the saints." Then that soul was carried from the body.4 This idea of saving the soul from the pains of a forced exit by persuading it to quit its body voluntarily leaves always the possibility that the soul may fail to respond to the persuasions of the angels. The soul's exit being made a matter of its own volition, one has to consider what would happen in case the soul refused to come forth. In this event, inasmuch as the angels are unwilling to inflict the pain of ejecting it by force, only one resource remains : the soul must be taken by strategy. These points are very clearly brought out in a passage from the Vitae Patrum ¦' Posthaec autem ingressus frater ille in civitatem, invenit hominem peregrinum jacentem in platea aegrotum, non habentem qui ei curam adhiberet; et mansit cum eo die una. Et cum venisset hora dormitionis ejus, conspicit frater ille Michaelem et Gabrielem descendentes propter animam ejus. Et sedens unus a dextris et alius a, sinistris ejus, rogabant animam ejus, ut egrederetur foras; et non exibat, quasi nolens relinquere corpus suum. Dixit autem Gabriel ad Michaelem: Assume jam animam istam ut eamus. Cui 3 Copt. Apoc. Gosp., pp. 95-7. *P. 192. The Latin version (p. 16) contains little of the per suasion idea. THE SEPARATION OF SOUL AND BODY 21 Michael respondit: Jussi sumus a Domino, ut sine dolore ejiciatur, ideoque non possumus cum vi evellere eam. Exclamavit ergo Michael voce magna dieens: Domine, quid vis de anima hac, quia non acquiescet nobis, ut egrediatur? Venit autem ei vox: Eece mitto David cum cithara, et omnes Deo psallentes in Jerusalem, ut audiens psalmum ad vocem ipsorum egrediatur. Cumque descendissent omnes in circuitu animae illius cantantes hymnos, sic exiens anima ilia sedit in manibus Michael, et assumpta est cum gaudio.5 The motive appears also in the Testament of Abraham. The prophet refuses to accompany Michael, who has been sent for his soul. At Michael's second coming Abraham asks that he may see the works of creation while yet in the flesh. His request is granted, but when the visit is ended he again refuses to follow Michael. Michael reports the matter to God, who summons Death and bids him assume a lovely form and go to Abraham and take his soul with all gentleness. Abraham, however, refuses to follow Death as he had refused to follow Michael, and causes delay by asking to see Death's true form, to be told its significance, and to know the various kinds of death. At last, Abraham growing weak, Death tells him to kiss his hand and he will feel better. Abraham kisses Death's hand, his soul cleaves thereto,6 and he dies. Michael and a host of angels come and wrap the soul in a heaven- 6 P. L. 73, 1012. Forbes Robinson in the notes to his translation of the Sahidic Fragments of the Death of Joseph (Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. 233) cites from Zoega's Catalogue (p. 344 f. ) a. Coptic version of this passage. Unfortunately he gives only a brief resumg of the first half (see p. 26). The incident of the good soul, however, which he translates in full, is the same as the Vitae Patrum version, and establishes indisputably the identity of the two accounts. Mr. Robinson makes no mention of the Vitae Patrum version. * So Recension A ; in Recension B Michael takes Abraham's soul "as in a dream." In the Arabic version Michael takes Abraham's soul, wraps it in white robes, and carries it away in his fiery chariot (James, p. 42). 3 22 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL spun cloth.7 The soul of Job likewise is taken in an embrace.8 The angel Death is found again in the Coptic Apocryphal Gospels of the Death of Joseph and the Falling Asleep of Mary. These differ from the Testament of Abraham and from the other versions I have quoted in that death depends upon the actual physical presence of the angel Death. In each, however, the unwillingness to die is very promi nent, and in each Jesus gives Death explicit instructions to guard the soul carefully and to deal gently with it. XIX. I [Jesus] found him] [Joseph] with the sign of death manifest in him. And I sat by his head, and My beloved mother sat by his feet. He lifted up his eyes to My face, and was not able to speak with Me, because the dumbness of death had dominion over him. He lifted his right hand, and he uttered this great and violent groan. He kept holding My right hand, looking stead fastly at Me for a, great while, as if entreating Me and saying, O my Lord, suffer me not to be taken away. I put My hand in under his breast, and I found that his soul reached to his throat, for it was about to be brought up. And the messengers of death were waiting for him, that he should go forth from the body. But the last hour was not fulfilled: for when Death comes, he has no forbearance; for Confusion follows him, and Weeping and Destruction go before him. XXI. Then I looked to the south of the door, and I saw Death. He came, Amente following him, who is the counsellor, and the villain, the devil from the beginning, many attendants of diverse aspects following him, all armed with fire, without number, brimstone and smoke of fire coming forth from their mouth. My father Joseph looked, and he saw those who came after him, being very wrathful, even as they burn with passion and anger towards every soul of man, that comes forth from the body, and especially a ' I have here been following the summary of Dr. James, pp. 35-42. The motive of the soul's refusal to die occurs prominently in Jewish and Mohammedan mythology, though I think borrowed from the Egyptian. Cf. Appendix A. 8 Diet, des Apocryphes, u, 418. THE SEPARATION OF SOUL AND BODY 23 sinful one, if they find a token of their own in him. When the good old man saw those who came after him, he was troubled, and he wept. The soul of My father Joseph wished to go forth with great disquietude, and was seeking a place to hide in, and found not a place. And when I saw the great trouble which befell the soul of My father Joseph, and that he beheld very diverse forms, fearful to look upon; I arose straightway, and rebuked him who is the instrument of the devil and the hosts which followed him. They fled in great shame. And no man among those who were gathered to My father Joseph knew, not even Mary My mother. Now when Death saw that I rebuked the powers of darkness which followed him, and put them forth, and that they had no power against My beloved father Joseph; Death was afraid, and fled, and hid himself behind the door. Here follows Jesus' prayer for angels to guard the soul of Joseph to the other world.9 The narrative then con tinues : XXIII. Now it came to pass when I had said the Amen. . . . that straightway behold Michael and Gabriel and the choir of the angels came from heaven. They came, and stood by the body of My father Joseph. And straightway numbness and panting for breath rose against him exceedingly, and I knew that the burning hour was come. And he kept labouring as one about to bear a child, affliction pursuing after him as a violent wind, and as a great fire devouring a great wood. And as for Death also, fear did not suffer him to enter in unto the body of My beloved father Joseph, that he might separate it from the soul; for, looking in, he saw Me sitting by his head, having hold of his temples. And when I knew that Death feared to come in because of Me, I arose and went outside the porch, and I found him waiting alone in great fear. And straightway I said to him, 0 thou that hast come from the places of the south, get thee in quickly, and accomplish that which My Father hath commanded thee. But watch him as the light of thine eyes; for he is My father according to flesh. . . . Then Abaddon went in, and took the soul of My father Joseph, and brought it forth from the body at the hour when the sun was about to rise on its course, on the twenty-sixth of the month Epep, in peace.10 ' See below, p. 67. "Copt. Apoc. Gosp., pp. 155-9. 24 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Michael and Gabriel then carry off the soul in a napkin " silken and precious," each one holding by two corners. In the Falling Asleep of Mary Jesus tries to persuade Mary to die willingly by enumerating the joys and glories she will enjoy in heaven. In one of the fragments it is explicitly stated that such was the purpose of Jesus' speech : Now as the Savior was saying these things to His virgin mother, we knew that He was calling her to go forth from the body." When the time oonnes for her to die, Jesus, who has been sitting by her, leaves the room so that Death may enter in to her. When He went out, He looked up to heaven and groaned, and said, I have overcome thee, 0 Death, that dwellest in the storehouses of the south. Come, appear to My virgin mother, that she may see thee; for thou art he whom I set as king over all flesh. But let thy sting and thy victory be crushed within thee, till Mary My mother see thee no more. Afterwards devise thy fearful shape and thy sting and thy victory wherewith thou art clothed for ever. And moreover in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye, he appeared whose name is bitter with all men, even Death. It came to pass when she saw him with her eyes, her soul leaped forth from her body into the bosom of her beloved Son.12 Jesus then wraps it in fine linen and gives it to Michael to guard until He shall have arranged for the disposition of her body. 2. The Extraction of the Evil Soul Of the evil soul, on the other hand, no such care is taken. It is no less loath than the good soul to leave its body: but though it refuses to die, its refusal is not u76id., p. 69. aTbid., pp. 59-60. THE SEPARATION OF SOUL AND BODY 25 heeded. Inasmuch as it is the soul of a sinner, there is no reason for showing kindness and making its forced exit easy ; rather, suffering and pain are its due. Accord ingly it is snatched forth in haste and anger, as painfully as possible. Even physical instruments are employed for this purpose. In the Coptic Life of Pachomius these instruments are the whip and the hook. Si une ame est mauvaise, par suite de ses actions, au moment ou on la visitera, deux Anges sans pitig viennent a elle; lorsque l'homme est proche de la mort et qu'il ne connatt plus personne, l'un des Anges sans pitig se tient a sa tete, et l'autre a ses pieds, ils se mettent (alors) ainsi a le fouetter jusqu'a ce que sa pauvre ame soit sur le point de sortir du (corps). Ils lui mettent ensuite dans la bouche quelque chose de recourbe' comme un hamecon, afin de tirer sa malheureuse ame en haut de son corps, et ils la trouvent ten^breuse et tout a fait noire.13 In the passage from the Vitae Patrum it is the trident which is employed: 13 P. 127. The continuation of this passage offers interesting comment on it and on the vision of the departure of a good soul quoted on page 19. "Mais une foule d'hommes bons endurent ces souffrances pendant la maladie ou on les visitera et a l'heure ou ils rendront leurs esprits; ils ressemblent a un mets que l'on fait cuire, qui a besoin d'etre cuit au feu avant qu'on le mange: il en est ainsi des fideles que Ton passe au creuset a leurs derniers moments, avant qu'ils n'aient fini leur vie, afin qu'ils soient exempts de tout pe'che' et purs en presence de Dieu. Nous trouvons cependant quelques saints qui ont StS dans les souffrances a l'heure ou ils se sont reposfis, comme iStienne, les autres martyres et tous ceux qui leur ressemblent; . . . . au contraire, une foule de peeheurs meu- rent dans le repos, ils n'endurent aucune souffrance en ce monde a cause des afflictions et des ch&timents qui leur sont prepares, ainsi qu'il est eerit : ' On garde l'impie pour le jour mauvais.' " In other words the writer recognizes that the departure of a good or an evil soul as described earlier is inconsistent with the ideas of the martyrs so popular at that time. This is entirely in accord with our thesis that the ideas of the vision are but relics of an older time. 26 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Facta autem exitus ejus hora, vidit frater ille tartaricum inferni descendentem super solitarium ilium, habentem tridentem igneum, et audivit vocem dicentem: Sicut anima ista non me fecit quiescere, neque una hora in se, sic neque tu miserearis ejus evellens eam. Deponens igitur tartaricus ille quem tenebat tridentem igneum in cor solitarii illius, per multas horas torquens eum, abstraxit animam ejus." The same instruments, the sharp-pointed spears, are used in the Eulogy of Pisentios. The iron knives are met with for the first time. Notice also that the dying man sees Death just before his soul leaves his body, as in the Apocrypha of Mary and of Joseph. Though it is not expressly stated that the soul can not leave its body until it sees Death, this appearance of Death probably belongs to the same line of tradition. Lorsque je me suis trouvfi a la necessity de la mort, il m'est arrivfi que les gouverneurs du monde furent les premiers a venir autour de moi, ils dirent toutes les fautes que j'avais faites, et ils me disaient : " Qu'on vienne maintenant, qu'on te sauve des tourments ou l'on va te jeter." Ils avaient a la main des couteaux de fer et des broches de fer pointues comme des lances aiguisees, qu'ils enfongaient dans mes flancs, gringant des dents eontre moi. Peu de temps apres mes yeux s'ouvrirent, je vis la mort planant dans l'air sous une multitude de formes. En ce moment les anges sans pitiS emmenerent ma malheureuse ame hors de mon corps.16 The idea of the pain inflicted on the soul is most promi nent in the second Bohairic account of the Falling Asleep of Mary. If indeed it be a sinner, the powers of light withdraw themselves, and the powers of darkness draw nigh to it in anger, slaying them and hastily cleaving asunder and scourging them, grinding their teeth and sending forth flames of fire from their mouths into its face, knowing that its needs are unseemly, and that God is not at peace with it.18 "P. L. 73, 1012. 10Pp. 147-8. 18 Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. 97. THE SEPARATION OF SOUL AND BODY 27 In the Martyrdom of St. Macarius of Antioch, a man whom Macarius raises from the dead relates that his soul was ' torn from him with great ferocity.' 17 Hardly more explicit is the Visio Pauli: Those evil angels took the rule over it, and pulled it out in severe anger and haste. And when it went out, they turned it back three times, saying unto it: "Look, O miserable soul, upon thy body, and think of thy house; as for that from which thou departest, again wilt thou return unto it, in the day of the resurrection, and thou wilt be recompensed, all that is proper, for thy wicked ness." And when they pulled it out, that daring one groaned in bitterness.18 In several other texts, though the actual separation of the soul from the body is not described, we may believe that the soul was taken forcibly as in the passages cited above. Thus, in the Apocalypse of Elias the angels who take the souls of godless men .are described as carrying fiery whips in their hands.19 In a passage in the Vitae Patrum, following the ones quoted, an old man sees some black horses on which are black and terrible beings who have come to take the soul of a sinner: each one carries a fiery rod in his hands.20 And in the 17 Hyvernat, Les Actes des Martyrs de Vilgypte, Paris, 1886, p. 56. 18 P. 194. The Syriac version is again more detailed than the Latin, and more in accord with the Coptic texts. — I do not understand why the soul should be turned back to the body. This occurs also in the case of the good soul. If the removal of the soul from the body was thought painful, the turning back of the evil soul becomes, of course, by the repetition, a form of torment. But why, then, should the good soul be turned back? In no case is the departure of the soul pictured as pleasant. May it not be an early form of the motive of the soul's farewell to the body? See Chapter VI, p. 106, u. 41. 19 Ed. Steindorff, p. 150. See below, p. 40. 20 P. L. 73, 1012. Mr. Robinson summarizes only the passage just before this; I am not certain, therefore, that this paragraph is in the Coptic. 28 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Spurious Homily of Macarius the ' inclement angels ' beat the souls of the unbaptized as they remove them from their bodies.21 3. The Conception of the Soul in Ancient Egypt The most striking characteristic of this belief is the concreteness of the conception of the soul. It has a physical reality quite independent of the body: it can be torn from the body with spears, or pulled out with hooks. Even the good soul, though less obviously physical than the evil soul, is represented as wrapped in white cloths, and sitting in the hands of Michael. This con ception is entirely foreign to the two non-Egyptian religions which would have been most likely to influence Christian beliefs in Egypt, the Hebrew and the Greek. Both were more vague and much less material. With the Jews the soul was originally identified with the blood;22 the Greeks conceived of the soul as the breath.23 On the other hand, exact parallels are found in Egyptian mythology. The soul or bai which parted from the body at the moment of death had a definite form, usually that of a human-headed hawk. It is often pictured in the representations of the other world: frequently a man is pictured with his bai, holding it in his arms, or riding with it on the back of a bull.24 The existence of the bai as a concrete, physical entity apart from the man or the body, is thus indisputable. A striking example of the " life " as a concrete something which could be removed 21 P. G. 34, 391. See below, p. 77. 22 Charles, Eschatology, p. 37. See below, note 25 and Appendix A. 23Rohde, Psyche, n, 319 ff.; et passim. 24 Cf. Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, pp. 179, 183, 187, etc. THE SEPARATION OF SOUL AND BODY 29 from the body physically is found in the Tale of the Two Brothers of the Nineteenth Dynasty.25 In it the younger brother draws out his own heart, or soul, and places it for safe-keeping on an acacia flower. One remembers, too, the Dialogue Between an Egyptian and his Soul, which dates from about 2000 B. C.26 In another poem we approach even nearer to the belief we are tracing, since in it we find the idea of a physi cal separation from the body — though not this time a separation of the soul or life, but of the name, or heart, or power. It is found in a papyrus of the Twentieth Dynasty, though the events related belong to the legendary history of Egypt. When the great god Ea had become old and feeble, he had given away all his talismans except his secret name. Isis then resolved to get it from him by treachery, that by the power of his name she might make herself a goddess and the equal of Ea. Accordingly she first caused a magical snake to bite him; and when Ea asked her to remove the poison, she demanded his secret name, asserting that only by this name could she exorcise the demon of the poison. 25 Translated by Flinders Petrie, Egyptian Tales, n, 36 ff; and by Maspero, Les Contes Populaires de VUlgypte Ancienne, 3rd ed., pp. 1 ff. On the question of the separable soul see Frazer, Golden Bough, 2nd ed., London, 1900, in, 351 ff. Mr. S. B. Slack (Early Christianity, p. 43) says that this conception of the separable soul underlies Ezekiel, xm, 18-21. This is, I think, the only passage in the Bible which refers definitely to a tangible soul. 28 Erman, Abh. d. k. Akad. d. Wiss. zu Berlin, 1896. The purport of this dialogue is not very plain; Dr. Erman thinks that the man is summoning death while his soul is dissuading him from suicide. Professor Maspero, on the other hand, has expressed the opinion that the man is discoursing on the terrors of the future life, and is being reassured by his soul (New Light on Ancient Egypt, chap. xm, 109 ff.). 30 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Le venin brulait comme du feu: il etait plus fort que flamme et que fournaise. La MajestS de Ra dit: " je consens a Stre fouillS par Isis, (et a ce que) mon nom passe de mon sein dans son sein."21 Again, this belief seems to betray its Egyptian origin through the emphasis that it places upon fear of the world after death. The soul is unwilling to die, therefore exter nal means are used to bring it forth. This unwilling ness to die arises chiefly from a fear of the world after death; in many texts it is directly connected with an expression of such fear. This fear, moreover, was very characteristic of early Christian Egypt. The Egyptians had dreaded the other world for centuries before Christ, and they continued to do so after the introduction of Christianity. Consequently we find this fear expressed in Christian Egypt from the earliest times, whereas, in other nations it was a later growth. For the Latin races the cer- 27 E. Lefehure, Un Chapitre de la Chronique solaire, Agypt. Zeitschrift, 21 (1883), 30. Cf. Dawn of Civilization, pp. 160 ff. The idea of the soul's being caught on hooks as in the Pisentios episode is also a, very primitive one, and I judge, wide-spread. Mr. Frazer in the Golden Bough notes the presence of it among the Malays, though with them the purpose is to keep the soul from departing from the body. " The soul is commonly supposed to escape by the natural openings of the body, especially, the mouth and nostrils. Hence in Celebes they sometimes fasten fish-hooks to a sick man's nose, navel, and feet, so that if his soul should try to escape it may be hooked and held fast. When a Sea Dyak sorcerer, or medicine-man, is initiated, his fingers are supposed to be fur nished with fish-hooks, with which he will thereafter clutch the human soul in the act of flying away, and restore it to the body of the sufferer" (i, 251). Mr. Frazer also cites many instances of savage beliefs kindred to our Egyptian beliefs: the soul goes out by the natural openings of the body, the eyes, ears, etc. In Plutarch's discourse concerning Socrates's Daemon the vision ary imagined he felt a sharp stroke on the head, the sutures of his skull parted and his soul flew out. THE SEPARATION OF SOUL AND BODY 31 tainty of a future life was the all-important fact of Chris tianity: it filled their minds so completely, no room was left for any speculation about its possible unpleasantness. The dominant note in their early literature is, therefore, a gladness and joyousness, quite in contrast to the Egyptian unwillingness to die. The Syrian Christians, on the other hand, were able to meet death only with a kind of Epicurean indifference. There was a future life, but it was neither greatly desired nor greatly dreaded. The only consolation for death was that it was inevitable. And this again was an attitude differing markedly from that of our Egyptian texts.28 "Of. Revillout, Les Prieres pour les Morts, Rev. tgypt, rv, 1 ff. Ill THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE EEMOVED The beliefs about the angels who remove the souls of men underwent several distinct stages of development. In all the early texts, these angels are servants of the higher power, whether they are described as beautiful or as hideous, whether the souls they are taking be those of just men or of sinners. According to what seems the original tradition, the duty of removing souls rested with an angel, or a class of angels, who belonged to an inferior order and who on that account had only limited power over the souls they were taking, especially if these were souls which had been favored by God. 1. The Angel of Death In the Coptic Gospels of the deaths of Mary and Joseph, and in the Testament of Abraham a single angel, Death, removes the souls of all men. In each of the two first mentioned Apocrypha the soul cannot leave its body until it see Death. He is represented as very hideous, the sight of him is fearful, he is the consort of Amenti and the devils, but he is the servant of God, he is the one whom Jesus " set as king over all flesh." Even Jesus is obliged to recognize his power, in allowing His father and mother to see him, and in suffering the pains of death on the cross. Nevertheless, Death remains a distinctly inferior angel: he cannot enter where Jesus is. He has no power over the souls he takes. Thus the soul of Joseph as soon as it had been removed by him was 32 THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 33 received by Michael and Gabriel, and evil souls were promptly seized by the devil and his followers. More over, though Jesus gives Death power over the souls of Mary and Joseph to remove them from their bodies, • He does so with the command that Death must deal gently with them. In the Falling Asleep of Mary, Jesus seems to be commanding Death to change his hideous aspect for Mary's greater comfort, when He says : " But let thy sting and thy victory be crushed within thee, till Mary My mother see thee no more. Afterwards devise thy fearful shape and thy sting and thy victory wherewith thou art clothed forever." 1 This is the picture of Death as it appears in two of the best Coptic accounts of the gospels in question, and because they are consistent with each other and, as we shall see, with other Coptic documents, I take them to be the accounts which represent most truly the Coptic tradition. In the other Coptic versions of these gospels the duties and powers of Death vary. In the Bohairic Death of Joseph — which according to the editor gives a later form of the story than the Sahidic version I have been quoting 2 — Death does not have to separate the soul from the body, for, when he has been rebuked by Jesus he does not return : Michael and Gabriel, apparently, take Joseph's soul ; the text says only that " he gave up his spirit." 3 The Arabic version, however, is explicit ; Michael and Gabriel take Joseph's soul.4 1 See above, p. 24. 2 Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. xvi. * Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. 141. This version is very explicit in its statements that Death is a servant of God. Thus compare for ex ample : " But death is not to blame, like Adam and his wife : and death does nothing without the command of My Father " (pp. 143-4). 'Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha, 2nd ed., pp. 122-39, chap. XXIII. 34 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Mr. Eobinson prints two accounts of the Falling Asleep of Mary other than the one I have quoted. In the first, the story of Mary's death is only an abbreviated form of the passage quoted in Chapter II. Nothing, however, is said of the presence of Michael, the actual departure of Mary's soul, or of the disposition made of it.5 In the remaining version we find a change similar to that we noticed in the Bohairic Joseph. When the prayer of Mary to Jesus was ended: Behold there were thunderings and lightnings, and all the place was moved to its foundations. And there appeared in our midst the Lord Jesus, riding on a chariot of light, Moses being before Him and all the rest of the prophets, David the king and the righteous kings.6 Jesus Himself then took Mary's soul. The character of the angel Death in the Testament of Abraham is fundamentally the same as in the Death of Joseph, and the Falling Asleep of Mary. There are, however, several differences which concern us.7 In the first place Death does not necessarily visit all men, for God sends Michael to take Abraham's soul, and only when Michael has failed is Death called upon. Moreover, the idea of changing the appearance of Death that it may be in conformity with the soul to be taken — which we found hinted at in the Falling Asleep of Mary — is here explicitly stated. He appears to Abraham as an archangel, and tells Abraham that he always comes in this form to the just. To the sinful he appears in a horrible shape. His natural form is a very hideous one, *Copt. Apoc. Gosp., pp. 75-7. Mr. Robinson does not express an opinion1 as to the relative dates of these three versions. 8 Ibid., p. 103. 'I shall first discuss Recension A, which Dr. James (Test. Abr. p. 49) considers the version most faithful to the original account. THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 35 showing " seven dragon-heads and fourteen faces, fire, dark ness, viper, precipice, asp, lion, horned-snake, basilisk," etc.8 When Death has removed the soul, Michael and a host of angels come for it as in the Mary and Joseph gospels. The two other recensions of the Testament, in their differences from this recension (A), correspond to the differences already noted in the other Coptic accounts containing the angel Death. In Eecension B, Michael takes Abraham's soul as in a dream, and carries it to Heaven. In the Arabic version "Michael takes Abraham's soul, wraps it in white robes and carries it away in his fiery chariot. The angels meet it and escort it to Paradise." 9 2. A Special Class of Angels Appointed to Eemove Souls In the Pistis Sophia there is a special class of angels who remove souls. They are called " Pacific Eeceivers "10 and in many ways they correspond to the angel of Death. They are nowhere described, so we cannot say whether they were hideous or not. Their relative inferiority, "Ibid., p. 41. 'Ibid., p. 42. The Roumanian version (mss. 18th and 19th cents.) shows a different development from Recension A. Death bids Abraham kiss his hand, as in the Greek text. "But Death, when he gave him his hand, gave him also the cup with the poison of death" (Gaster, "The Apocalypse of Abraham," Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archeology, 9 (1886), 225). This change is probably due to Hebrew influence. Cf. Appendix A. "Amelineau translates " Receveurs pacifiques," Mead, "receivers of wrath." Schwartze and Schmidt print without translation the Greek, ipivaioi irapa\ijp.TTai, though Schmidt in a note suggests as a probable emendation, tpivatoi, 'friedlich' (p. 145, u. 28). 36 THE legend of the body and soul however, is shown in the varying degrees of power they possess over the souls they remove. Thus, Jesus tells His disciples that when the " Eeceivers " remove a soul which has received the mystery, it shall emit a light so great the " Eeceivers " shall become afraid and fall before it; they shall not be able to lay hold on it, and the soul unhindered shall mount on high.11 These " Eeceivers," however, would, it seems, be able to retain possession of the good soul which has not received the mystery, but it is taken from them and shown the creatures of the world by the " Eeceivers of the light of the great triple power, among whom there is one great one." 12 It is hardly necessary to call attention to the close parallel here to the apocrypha in which Death appears. Death, or the " Pacific Eeceivers," must be present to remove the soul, but it is immediately taken from him (or them) by the angels of a higher order. In the case of the evil man the '¦' Pacific Eeceivers " retain possession of the soul after they have removed it from the body and themselves conduct it through the world.13 In the fourth book of the Pistis Sophia, to which Schmidt assigns an earlier date than to the first three,14 the "Eeceivers" correspond more nearly to the angel Death in the Testament of Abraham. The angels who take the souls are not all called by the same name "Pp. 226-7. Tr. Amelineau, p. 116. The translations of Schwartze, Mead, and Schmidt retain the pagination of Schwartze's Coptic text. I shall therefore refer to those three translations by the one page number adding a reference to the corresponding page of Amelineau's translation. 12 Pp. 261-2. Tr. Amelineau, p. 135. " P. 284. Tr. Amelineau, p. 147. 14 Introduction to his translation of the Pistis Sophia, p. xvii. This part of the Pistis Sophia is entitled by Amelineau and Mead Extract from the Books of the Savior. THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 37 "Pacific Eeceivers," but are known as the "Eeceivers" of the different powers, according to the sins the soul has committed.15 The soul of the slanderer is taken by the "Eeceivers of Ariel," the soul of the murderer is taken by the " Eeceivers of Ialdabaoth," and so on. The soul of the man who has not sinned but who has not received the mystery is taken by the " Eeceivers of Bainch666ch, who is one of the triple-powered gods." Are not these the same as the " Eeceivers of the light of the grand triple power, among whom there is one great one " % If so, we have a change exactly parallel to those changes which had taken place in the three texts studied earlier — the good soul is re moved from its body by the higher orders who, in other versions, take the soul from those whose unique privilege it was to remove souls. The parallel extends further, how ever. In the Testament of Abraham Death changes his appearance and his manner of taking the soul in accord ance with its character, appearing beautiful to the good and hideous to the sinful. In this part of the Pislis Sophia distinctions are not lacking. The souls of most sinners are taken by the " Eeceivers," who then pass three days on earth, teaching it the creatures of the world. The soul of the murderer, however, is tied by its feet to a demon having the face of a horse, which gallops with it through the world. The soul of the blasphemer is tied by its tongue to a similar horse-faced demon. Moreover, the just soul is led from its body with joy and gladness, and the " Eeceivers " spend the three days on earth teaching it the creatures of the world with joy and gladness.16 15 Pp. 379 ff. Tr. Amelineau, pp. 197 ff. 16 Documentary evidence does not bear out all these points. The Testament of Abraham is older than the Mary and Joseph Apocry pha, and the last book of the Pistis Sophia is reckoned older than the first three, though I take the angel Death of the Mary and Joseph gospels and the- "Pacific Receivers" to be the more primitive 38 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL In the Spurious Homily of Macarius the angels who remove souls are described as "inclement angels." Cum mittuntur angeli animam seu justi seu injusti aceepturi, timore tremit ista, ipsamque terribilium et inclementium angelorum praesentiam exhorrescit.17 Angeli inclementes animas non baptizatas e corpore aceipiunt." They are hideous, they inspire .all with fear and dread, and contrary to the other texts, retain possession of all souls after removing them.19 Indeed there is but one slight indication that they had not the same power over all souls alike. They beat the pagan soul in removing it ; in the case of baptized souls, on the other hand, this is not stated — only their fear and dread are dwelt upon. 3. The Beautiful Angels and the Hideous Angels A third tradition states that beautiful angels are ap pointed to take good souls and hideous angels to take evil souls20. This tradition seems to me later than the type. There are several reasons why I do so. In the first place, popular beliefs change slowly and at different times in different places, so we may not unnaturally find the older belief in the later document. Moreover a change very similar to that I am urging here, has taken place in those versions of the Testament of Abraham and of the two Coptic gospels which are acknowledged of later date, so the documentary evidence is itself contradictory. Fundamentally also, the idea of a messenger of death who appears awful to all men is older and less Christian than that of a messenger who distinguishes between the good and the evil. 17 P. G., 34, 387. "Ibid., 34, 391. 19 This is certain only in the case of souls unbaptized. The narra tive is interrupted by Macarius' questions so that one cannot be certain that the angels who remove the souls are the ones who conduct them through heaven and hell. There is no reason, however for supposing that they were different. 20 The Koran says there are "angels who tear forth the souls THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 39 belief in the one inferior angel or in the inferior band of angels appointed to take all souls, and to be an outgrowth of that belief, as I have tried to show in my study of the different forms in which that belief appears. In fact we have practically the new belief in the Testament of Abra ham where Death appears in his varying shapes of beauty and hideousness, and more nearly in the Pistis Sophia where the good souls are taken by the " Eeceivers " of a higher order and sinful souls are taken by the "Eeceiv ers" of a lower order. The Coptic Life of Pachomius is a good text to begin with because we have here the distinctions in the angels corresponding to the character of the moribund just as in the Testament of Abraham and in the Pistis Sophia. Et voici comment les Anges de lumiere visitent les freres de bonne conduite, comme on le lui revela une foule de fois de la part du Seigneur. Si c'est un homme bon qui est couchfi, trois Anges viennent a lui selon le degrg de la conduite de celui qui est couchS, s'il est Sieve1 dans ses actions on lui envoie de m§me des Anges eleves et glorieux pour le conduire a Dieu; s'il est petit en ses vertus, on lui envoie de m§me des Anges inferieurs. Dieu fait cela afin que les Anges qui vont vers l'homme pour le faire sortir du corps le fassent avec une bonne longanimito, de peur que s'il envoyait des Anges eleves vers un homme inferieur en ses actions, ils ne le traitassent selon la maniere propre aux puissances de la terre; car celles-ci font acception des personnes, en raison de la richesse et de la vaine gloire, et ceux qui sont abjects parmi les pauvres, elles les traitent en raison du mepris qu'elles ont pour leur pauvrete. Mais les puissances de Dieu font toute chose selon un jugement vrai d'apres 1'ordre du Seigneur et le merite des oeuvres que l'homme a faites. Or, ces trois Anges qui sont envoyes vers l'homme, on les trouve plus eleves les uns que les autres dans la dignite du rang, obelssant a celui qui est plus elevg qu'eux, selon la hierarchies of some with violence and . . . those who draw forth the souls of others with gentleness" (Tr. Sale, chap, ucxxx). In this connec tion one might compare the legend recorded in Wolff's Muhamme- danische Eschatologie, Leipzig, 1872, pp. 55-7. 21 Pp. 121-2. 40 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL The narrative ends with the description, quoted in the preceding chapter, of the exit of a good, and of an evil soul. There are, it will be remembered, three angels who surround the righteous man's death-bed, and two "angels without pity" who extract the sinner's soul. The difference in number, however, does not imply a differ ence in tradition, for only two of the three angels are concerned with the removal of the soul: the third stands ready to receive it in a cloth. The three angels who are "greater one above the other in the dignity of rank," should be compared with the Pistis Sophia " Eeceivers of the light of the great triple power, among whom there is one great one." And the "angels without pity" corre spond very closely to Macarius' "inclement angels." These "angels without pity" should be noted, too, be cause they seem to be a class by themselves, whereas the angels who come for the good soul may be only the angels of the hierarchy of heaven. And exactly the same phraseology, is met with in the Visio Pauli where we have distinctly the two classes of angels. The fragmentary Apocalypse of Elias presents the angels who take souls in a new way, their physical ap pearance is described. Elias is being conducted through heaven by an angel: Ieh aber ging weiter mit dem Engel des Herrn, blickte vor mich und sah dort einen Ort, durch den tausehd mal Tausend und zehntausend mal Zehntausend Engel hindurchgingen, deren Gesicht wie das eines Panthers war, deren Zahne aus ihrem Munde heraus- standen wie die der Baren, wahrend ihre Augen blutunterlaufen waren und ihr Haar aufgelost wie Frauenhaar, und brennende Geisseln sich in ihren Handen befanden. Als ich sie aber gesehen hatte, bekam ich Furcht und sprach zu jenem Engel, der mit mir ging: " Wer sind diese also?" Er erwiderte mir: "Dies sind die Diener der ganzen Schopfung, welche zu der Seelen der Gottlosen kommen, sie entfuhren und hier niederlegen.22 23 Ed. Steindorff, p. 150. These fragments belong, properly speak- THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 41 No corresponding description of the angels who visit good souls has come down to us23. It is very probable, however, that they figured in one of the fragments now lost, because both classes of angels are found in the Visio Pauli, and the description of the angels who take evil souls seems to have been influenced by the passage just quoted from the Apocalypse of Elias. Et iterum respexi et uidi angelos sine misericordia, nullam habentes pietatem, quorum uultus plenus erat furore et dentes eorum extra os eminentes; oculi eorum fulgebant ut stella matutina orientis, et de capillis capitis eorum scintille ignis exiebant, siue de ore eorum. Paul asks who they are and the angel answers : Hii sunt qui destinantur ad animas impiorum in ora necessitatis, qui non crediderunt dominum habere se adiutorem nee sperauerunt in eum. And again, Respexi in altum et uidi alios angelos quorum uultus fulgebat ut sol, succinctis lumbis zonis aureis, abentes palmas in manibus eorum, et signum dei, induti uestimenta quod scriptum erat nomen filii dei, repleti autem omni mansuetudine et misericordia. Paul asks who these are, and is answered : Hii sunt angeli iusticiae qui mittuntur adducere animas iustorum in ora necessitatis, qui crediderunt dominum se habere adiutorem.2* ing, not to the Apocalypse of Elias but to some unknown apocalypse. Compare the descriptions of the New Testament Apocalypse rx, 7-8. 23 When Elias expresses his fear of these hideous messengers of death the angel tells him not to fear, that he is pure before the Lord. This is a hint, at least, that the good souls were not visited by the hideous angels, in other words that there were classes among the angels who took the souls of men. 24 P. 15. The Syriac version offers no important variations. 42 the legend of the body and soul 4. The Angels and the Demons The last stage we have to note in the development of this tradition might have been foretold. When once the cruel, hideous servants of God lost their power over the good and were restricted in their operations to sinful souls, they became identified with the demons. It was inevitable that this change should take place. The Christian Copts believed in a world peopled with demons and angels, almost as really, and almost as extensively as with human beings. They were present all the time; the slightest action could be traced to the direct influence of the one or the other of these supernatural forces, inherently at war. The angels were always good and kind and merci ful, anxious to satisfy the desires of men — even, at times, to the point of gratifying the idle curiosity of the monks. The demons were always present, but to seduce, to deceive. In the world of spirits, and one might say, of morals in general, the Copts recognized but two classes, and but two forces. The one was entirely good, the other entirely evil. The one was the help and comfort of the good, rewarding them at last in heaven; the other was the curse and punishment of the evil. Amid such conceptions an angel cruel and hideous, who punished the wicked, was a con tradiction in terms. Was a being beautiful? Did it inspire the good ? Did it gratify their wishes ? It was an angel. Was it, on the contrary, ugly and cruel ? Did it punish the wicked ? It was a demon. In the angels who took the souls of the just, the change was of course less marked and less important. They had been angels of God before and such they remained. There was a decided tendency, however, for them to become less impersonal and abstract, and to be identified with the well- THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 43 known and popular angels of the other relations of life. So the angels who were created for the purpose of taking the souls of the just, gave way to Michael and Gabriel. The passage which I quoted from the Vitae Patrum25 furnishes an example of the transition stage. A demon takes the soul, but he retains definite angel characteristics. Thus, he is described as a tartaricus inferni. Nevertheless he is conceived to be a servant of God, for when he begins to tear out the soul, a voice comes from heaven approving and giving instructions. It should be noticed, too, that in the paragraph about the good soul it is Michael and Gabriel who come to woo it forth. In the passage just following, the black and terrible beings who come for the soul taunt it when it cries to the Lord for help : "Do you remember God now when the sun is obscured ? Why did you not seek Him while you had yet the light of day? In this hour there is no hope of consolation for you."26 In the twenty-second homily of Macarius the Great, the change from the angels to the demons is completed : " Quando egreditur e corpore anima hominis, mysterium quoddam magnum illic perficitur. Si enim fuerit rea peccati, accedunt chori daemonum, et angeli sinistri, ac potestates tenebrarum, abripiunt animam illam, atque subjugatam in suas partes pertrahunt: nee debet quis propterea velut re quapiam insolita in admirationem duci. Si enim, dum viveret homo, et in hoc saiculo degeret, illis subjectus fuit et obtemperavit, ac servus illorum factus est, quanto magis cum egreditur ex mundo, detinetur ac subjugatur ab ipsis? Ex parte autem, quse melioris est conditionis, potes cognoscere, rem ita sese habere. Sanctis siquidem servis Dei ab hoc tempore astant angeli, ac Spiritus sancti circumdant, easque custodiunt. Cumque exierint e corpore, chori angelorum assumptas eorum animas in suam partem pertrahunt, in saeculum perpetuum, et sic adducunt eos ad Dominum." 27 25 See above, p. 26. 26 See above, p. 27 and note 20. 27 P. G. 34, 659. , 44 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL It is not necessary however to multiply instances of this final stage of the tradition. Demons and angels around death-beds are commonplaces. 5. The Deaths of the Saints There are, nevertheless, certain conventional accounts of saints' deaths which demand attention, because they might not seem, at first sight, connected with this par ticular tradition. They result, I think, from the obvious tendency to extravagance in the saints' lives, and from the desire of each biographer to make his saint seem greater than any who had gone before. The substitution of Michael and Gabriel for the nameless angels whose duty it was to take souls, is the first step. Sometimes Jesus Himself is made to come. Soon the archangels are accompanied by the heavenly hosts. Then, as the desire to honor the saints increases, host after host is called upon, until at last we have the whole hierarchy of heaven sur rounding the death-bed of a saint. In the meantime the original purpose of the angels' presence — the removal of the soul — is forgotten: instead, we have only the triumphant death of the saint amid a blaze of glory while the orders of angels rejoice and sing alleluias.28 28 In these versions there may also be an influence of the average death-bed scene, the dying man being surrounded by his friends and relatives, or if he was a monk, by his fellow-monks and the officers of the church. These death-bed scenes are usually set down as imitations of the Lazarus story (Luke, xvr, 22) and there can be no doubt but that it must have played a large part in their develop ment. Only, it seems to me that the angels in that story must have had some more or less definite meaning either for the author of the story, or for the imitators. I mean that the angels were probably thought of as being there to remove the soul, to honor it, or more probably, to protect it on the way to heaven. See below, p. 66, note 28. THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 45 In the Testament of Job the scene remains compara tively simple, though we have most of the elements of the later versions. Job sees the holy angels who are coming for his soul, thereupon he gives musical instruments to his daughters, who begin to sing and play and glorify God. Ensuite celui qui etait montg sur un grand char descendit, et il embrassa Job a la vue de ses trois filles, et les autres ne le virent point, et il prit Fame de Job et il s'enleva en l'emportant, et il la fit placer sur le char, et il prit sa route vers l'orient.28 Compare this description with that of the death of St. Maximus : " Levez-vous, sortons d'ici, car voici que les apStres et les prophetes sont venus pour m'emmener d'ici." Du reste il se tut. Quelque temps apres, le saint abba Macaire vit le choeur des saints venus le chercher; aussitot abba Macaire se leva, il se tint debout silencieux. ... Et le bienheureux Maxime parlait avec l'un des saints, l'interrogeant sur le nom des saints qui 1'entouraient ; pour nous, nous n'entendimes point ce qu'il disait; mais le pneumatophore abba Macaire nous informa, disant: " On lui apprend les noms des saints qui 1'entourent.'' Et lorsque son ame eflt joui de la presence des saints, aussitQt elle s'elanca avec joie hors du corps.30 But the references are too long and too numerous to be quoted entire. Besides, they are very much alike. The patriarchs with the prophets, the apostles and the arch bishops, the archmandrites with all the saints, and at last Christ Himself, with His angels, came to take the soul of Schnoudi.31 Michael and Gabriel took the soul of Mark.32 Michael with the angelic battalions came for the soul of St. Euphemia, mounted on a chariot which had the form of a boat.33 Jesus, riding upon a chariot "Diet, des Apocryphes, n, 418. ^ Mus6e Guimet, xxv, 306-7. 81 Mission au Caire, iv, 90. w Contes et Romans, n, 70. 83 Ibid., i, 44-5. In the Egyptian funeral processions the mummy was placed in a boat which was carried on a wagon, or chariot. 46 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL of light, came from heaven with thousands of angels for the soul of Isaac of Tiphre. Stopping the chariot above the holy man He cried: "Come up to Me, O beloved Isaac, and I will give unto thee the wages of the recom pense for the sufferings which thou hast endured for My Name."34 He is also said to have received the soul of St. George of Cappadocia, while Michael, displaced thus , from his usual role, used his cloth to catch the blood and milk which flowed from the martyr's wound.35 When Macarius of Tkoou was killed, he was carried to the martyrium of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the prophet; a young boy in the crowd saw these two saints embracing and kissing Macarius, after the manner of brothers.36 In the Life of Jean Kolobos we find that "there came to him crowds of angels, and the choir of all the saints sent by God . . . that they might lead their companion from service."37 St. -Macarius of Antioch bade his executioner hurry, for Jesus and His angels were even then urging him to join them.38 The souls of various other saints were seen by people on earth as they passed through the air, either escorted by glad companies of angels, or meeting with them.39 This welcome of the soul by the angelic hosts appears to have been the regular custom. Indeed, in one instance we read of a band of 34 Budge, The Martyrdom of Isaac of Tiphre, Society of Biblical Archaeology, ix, 1886, p. 88. The chariot used to carry away the soul is found also in the Syriac Departure of my Lady Mary (Wright, Journal of Sacred Literature, 4th Series, vii, 141), and in the Greek Story and Conversion of Adam (cf. article on the Books of Adam in the Dictionary of Christian Biography ) . 85 Budge, St. George of Cappadocia, p. 323. Oriental Text Series, I, London, 1888. "Mission au Caire, iv, 158. 37 Mus4e Guimet, xxv, 400. 8SHyvernat, Les Actes des Martyrs de Vlbgypte, p. 68. "Of. P. L., 73, 153; 167; 218-9; 258-9; 272; 1166-7; 1172. THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 47 martyrs about to set out with palms, perfumed boughs, and radiant garments to meet a soul which they expected to achieve martyrdom, although at the last moment they dis covered that it had failed to do so.40 An interesting example of this tendency to surround the holy with all the angels is found in a thirteenth cen tury manuscript of the passage from the Vitae Patrum.41 In the Latin version, as printed by Migne, which agrees throughout with the Coptic, David is sent with all the harpers of Israel to woo forth the soul : Cum descendissent omnes in eircuitu animae illius cantantes hymnos, sic exiens anima ilia sedit in manibus Michael, et assumpta est cum gaudio. In the manuscript of the thirteenth century this passage reads as follows: Cumque descendissent omnes patriarche ac prophete, simulque apostoli et martyres, confessores, uirgines ac monachi cum multi- tudine anglorum in eircuitu anime, ei canentes psalmis et hymnis et canticis ; sic exit anima ilia seditque in sinu Michael, et assumpta est cum gaudio magno.42 6. The Egyptian Genii The figure of Death as it appears in the Coptic gospels of the Falling Asleep of Mary and the Death of Joseph, and the band of "Pacific Eeceivers" in the Pistis Sophia represent, as I have said, the most primitive type of the angels who remove souls.43 To them the genii of the 40 Mission au Caire, iv, 190-194. "Bib. Nat. MS. Latin 2462, f. 206b.-207. 42 The soul of Mary leapt forth into the bosom of Jesus. See above, p. 24. 43 See the remarks of Dr. James on the character of Death in the Testament of Abraham (pp. 55-8). He notices briefly the char acteristics of the various messengers of death and concludes 48 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Egyptian other-world offer, I think, the prototype. The Egyptians believed in a large number of cruel servants of the highest power. The passage of a soul to the Elysian fields was merely a series of encounters with the guardians, or doorkeepers, or demons, of the different portions of the way. These were dreadful to look upon and the poor soul feared greatly in their presence. They were not forces of evil, they were not enemies of the good. On the contrary, they were the servants of the god of justice, and their business was to see that only the just entered the kingdom of Osiris. If the soul had been properly equipped and knew all the pass-words, it might stand up bravely and defy these demons; they were then powerless. But for the poor soul which had not the pass-words they were the means of annihilation. In this character of servants of the god of justice, dreadful to everyone, but possessing only a limited power over the good, they correspond to the angels who take the souls of dying men. In the pictures of the under-world these genii are repre sented with heads of animals; the jackal, the ibis, the greyhound, etc. The Coptic Martyrdom of St. Macarius of Antioch describes the messengers who come to take the soul in this same way, thus adding confirmation to my identification of the messengers with the Egyptian genii. Lorsque je fus arrivg au moment de la mort, je fus poursuivi par des Decanos de figure et de forme diverses. Les uns avaient un visage de bete ferace, d'autres un visage de dragon; ceux-ci, un visage de lion, ceux-la, un visage de crocodile ou d'ours.44 that this Death contains Egyptian and Jewish elements Considering all the texts that we have studied in this chapter we may well, I think, give to the Jewish Samael the credit of the Testament of Abraham, the Falling Asleep of Mary, and the Death of Joseph in that a single angel appears there, whereas it is a band, or order of angels, in all the other texts. See also my remarks on the Jewish angel of death in Appendix A. 44 Hyvernat, Les Actes des Martyrs de Vtsgypte, p. 56. THE ANGELS BY WHOM SOULS ARE REMOVED 40 And the true form of Death in the Testament of Abraham showed many heads of animals. These genii however are not concerned with the deaths of men, but only with their souls when they reach the under-world. An extension of their role to include the actual taking of the souls is not difficult to imagine. In fact if we may trust the translation as meaning just what it says, there is an example of it in the Litany of Ea: Oh! Ra who art in the Ament who art in the empyrean, deliver Osiris from thy conductors who separate souls from their bodies, the agile beings who move quickly in thy places of tor ment.45 45 Records of the Past, I Series, viii, 120. Isaac Myer (The Oldest Books in the World, London, 1900, pp. 139 f. ) gives references to sev eral ' messengers of death ' in pre-Christian Egyptian writings : but none of them seem to me to refer certainly to the death-angel. I have been unable to identify Mr. Myer's reference to a messenger of death in the Turin Papyrus of the Book of the Dead, chap. 125, 1, 43. Another reference is to a tablet in the British Museum, dating from the period just before the Roman conquest. I do not quote the entire text. " He whose name is Complete-death comes, when he has called all the people to him, terrifying their hearts with the fear of him, there are none, who dare look him in the face among gods and men, and for him the great are as the little. He spares not him/ who loves him, he takes the child from its mother, as well as the old man. Whosoever meets him on his path becomes fearful, and though all the people supplicate before him he does not turn his face towards them. One does not come to pray to him for he does not listen to him who implores; he does not see those who give him presents of every kind of cake.'' This passage is quoted also in Wiedemann's Religion of the Ancient Egypt ians, p. 96, and in others. The translations differ a great deal: that of Myer corresponds most nearly to the early Christian expressions of fear at the coming of death. — The Egyptian texts which refer clearly to a messenger of death have to do primarily with the life on earth. Cf. the Tomb of Nofirhotpou: " Obey thy desires, and seek thy happiness so long as thou remainest on the earth, wear not thy heart in repining until the day comes when the impassive god hearkens not to those who implore from him 50 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL a longer period of life. The lamentations of his friends do not help a man to be consoled in the tomb. Spend a happy day and enjoy it to thy utmost. For, verily, no man carries his possessions with him when he dies; verily, no one who has departed this life has ever returned" (Maspero, New Light on Ancient Egypt, p. 28). — Cf. also : " Place devant toi comme but a atteindre une vieillesse dont on puisse temoigner, afin que tu sois trouvg ayant parfait ta maison qui est dans la vallee funeraire, au matin de cacher ton corps. Place cela devant toi dans toutes les fonctions que tu as a considerer de ton ceil. Lorsque tu seras ainsi un grand vieillard, tu te coucheras au milieu d'eux: il n'y a point de surprise pour celui qui agit bien, il est prepare : ainsi quand viendra pour toi ton messager (de mort) pour te prendre, qu'il trouve quelqu'un qui est prSt. Certes, tu n'auras pas le temps de parler, car, en venant, il se precipite au-devant de toi. Ne dis pas: Je suis un jeune homme: saisis-toi (de moi) ; car tu ne connais pas ta mort. La mort vient, elle s'empare du nourrisson qui est dans les bras de sa mere, comme de celui qui est devenu vieux. Vois: je t'ai dit ces choses excel- lentes que (tu dois) considerer en ton eoeur: fais-les; tu devi- endras un homme bon et tous les maux seront eloignes de toi " (Amelineau, La Morale tlgyptienne Quinze Siecles avant notre tire, pp. 53 f.). IV THE DANGEEOUS PATH TO HEAVEN This belief in its widest acceptance means only that there are dangers which the soul has to encounter on its journey to heaven. Usually these dangers appear in a series extending the entire length of the path from earth to heaven, so that every step of the soul's passage is made fearful because of them. In the patristic texts the soul meets with recurring bands of spirits who challenge its progress ; in the Coptic texts there are beings who threaten and usually, also, physical dangers. 1. The Struggle with the Spirits The soul, as soon as it is freed from the body, ascends toward heaven. Its passage, however, is hindered by nu merous spirits, or "powers," who come to meet it, and, confronting it with the various sins, refuse to allow it to pass until it prove its innocence of them. If it be guilty, they carry it off to Hades immediately. Usually there are bands of spirits corresponding to the various sins, and the soul encounters them in a definite order. Only when it has proved its innocence of the first sin, can it encounter the spirits of the second; and so it passes throughout the entire ascent to heaven. In the greater number of the texts, also, the soul is accompanied and protected by angels, who bring forward its good deeds when the spirits present its sins, and, if occasion de mands, fight with them for the possession of the soul. 51 52 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL In a homily by Cyril of Alexandria, the sins are iden tified with a series of telonia through which the soul must pass as it ascends to heaven. Tenetur igitur animus a Sanctis angelis, per aerem sublimis prae- teriens, invenitque quosdam quasi publicanos ascensum custodientes, et ascendentes animos prehendentes, prohibentesque : nam quisque publicanorum propria habet peccata, quae illis objieiat. Alius per- peram dicta, quaecunque ore et lingua commissa sunt mentiendo, jurando, et perjurando: cum superflua, nugatoria et vana verba, turn helluationes, vinique abusum, et luxum, et immodicos inde- corosque risus, levia et inhonesta oscula, et impudica cantica. At sancti angeli animum ducentes proferunt et ipsi quaecunque ore linguaque locuti sumus bona, supplicationes, gratiarum aetiones, psalmos, carmina, laudes, divinos cantus, scriptorumque lectiones, et quaecunque per os et linguam bona Deo praemisimus. Secundum telonium est oculorum visus, quaecunque in decoro aspectu, curiosoque et effrenato intuitu et f allaci nutu committuntur. Tertium telonium est auditionis, et quaecunque per hunc sensum impuros spiritus accipiunt. Quartum est olfactus odoriferorum unguentorum, et suaviun odorum, quae mimas et impudieas decent mulieres. Quintum est eorum quae rnanuum tactu perverse et im- probe facta sunt, et caeterae vitiorum tabernae, invidiae, aemula- tionis, inanis gloriae et superbiae, acerbitatis et irae, iracundiae et furoris, scortationis et adulterii et mollitiae, homicidii et veneficii, caeterorumque impiorum et perversorum factorum, quae in praesentia minutatim persequi non licet, sed in aliud tempus differantur. Breviter eodem modo deinceps suos quilibet animi morbus et pecca- tum publicanos habet, et tributi quaestores. . . . Nam suorum quisque peecatorum oatenis constringitur. Quod si dignus fuerit, pie et ad Dei voluntatem traducta vita, assumunt eum angeli, et deinceps secures pergit, eomdtes habens sanctas potestates, . . . Tunc a pravis, improbis et horrendis illis spiritibus liberatus, vadit in illud ineffable gaudium. Sin autem inventus fuerit dissolute luxuriose vixisse, audit gravissimam illam vocem : " Tollatur impius, ne Domini gloriam videat." Tunc eum invadunt dies irae afflictionis, angoris et angustiae: dies tenebrarum, et caliginis. Tunc a Sanctis Dei angelis derelictum prehendunt .Ethiopes illi daemones, et eum crudeliter verberantes deferunt ad terram, eaque diffissa infractis colligatum yinculis pracipitant in tenebricosam et caliginosam terram, ad infima loca, in subternaneos orci carceres atque cus- todias.1 1P. G. 77, 1074-5. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 53 The word telonium (Greek reXaviov) signifies the toll-booth at which the official sits for the receipt of taxes. It is the word used in the New Testament in the account of the call of Matthew (Matt, ix, 9, Mark ii, 14, Luke v, 27). Cyril, however, uses the word to betoken the dis trict or the section of the road to which one was admitted by the paying of the tribute. He carries the figure fur ther by speaking of the spirits as "publicans," "demand- ers of tribute." In Cyril's conception, therefore, the jour ney from earth to heaven was entirely analogous to the journeys with which he was familiar on earth. As on earth he was forced to pay tribute at the entrance to each town or governmental confine, without which he could not enter that territory ; so' the way to heaven was divided, likewise, into a number of districts, and at the entrance to each were the officers demanding tribute. If the unhappy soul were unable to satisfy these publicans, it was turned back and forbidden to proceed further. The telonium occurs again in the vision of a certain Abbot Macarius in exactly the same sense as in Cyril's homily.2 Die quadam precabar ad Dominum Deum. Dein suspexi in coelum intuens, et ecce, erat apertum, et angeli Dei alii sursum meabant alii deorsum, animas efferentes. Aliquot autem nigri et tenebrosi ' There is, however, no evidence that Macarius has borrowed from Cyril; instead, he refers to the telonia as a matter of every day knowledge. We may therefore infer that the belief in the telonia was rather widespread. This inference would be more interesting and more significant were we able to fix the date of the Macarius vision, for then we should be able to decide roughly the length of time during which the belief in the telonia was popular. I would assign this homily to a comparatively late date owing to the identi fication of the spirits with the demons, the fierce activity of the angels in saving the souls, and the insistance on the doctrines of the Church, as for example, the value of confession before death, the perdition of the suicide, etc. Compare that part of the vision which I have not quoted. 5 54 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL in aere magnam habebant colluctationem rapiendi et detrahendi animas hominum. Angeli contra resistebant fortiter et vahde, utpote valde verberantes eos et salvantes animas. Rursus suspicio, et ecce duo angeli in coelum hominis animam asportantes. Ubi igitur appropinquabant telonio fornicationis et moechatioms et andromaniae— haec enim sunt omnium teloniorum turpissima; in via autem sursum ferente appropinquabant animam tenentes angeli Dei — ooepit princeps telonii obstrepere horribiliter et vehementer perturbari ac dicere ad angelos Dei: Quo pacto vos animam hanc rapitis ad nos pertinentem? Respondent angeli ei: Quo sophismate uteris in ea, die! Respondit iis: Quia usque ad finem vitae forni- ca'batur et sodomiticum peocatum saepe propria voluntate perpetra- bat. Neque id solum: et iudicabat proximum suum calumnians; et quodnam gravius hisce criminibus potestis invenire in eo? Dicunt angeli: Etiamsi haec anima in servitute erat talium libidinum, tamen eradicavit eas ex se antequam finis eius advenit. Dixit autem diabolus: Minime, non est ut dicitis, sed sine contritione permansit ad extremum usque spiritum, nee prorsus a flagitiis abstinuit. Nequaquam inveniebatur abrenuntians omnibus peccatis suis, aut abstinens a malis, sed sic decessit, utpote servus peccati et meus cooperator. Turn ait unus ex angelis Dei: Vere tibi adversario fidem non habemus. Omnino enim mendacium es, immunde. Sed arcessitor angelus inde a baptismate datus ei in custodiam, et ille indicabit veritatem, qualis est. Qui ut vocatus est illuc, erat enim oocupatus circa sepulturam corporis eius, dicunt ei angeli : Die nobis, amice; haecne anima conversa est a peccatis suis, an in iis obiit? Ac respondens iis dixit angelus: Ab hora, qua in morbum incidit, antequam ingravesceret, recordabatur mortis, et incipiebat gemere et lacrimari, et vocari iussit presbyterum ecclesiae, et singil- latim coepit plangere et deflere et confiteri omnia peecata sua Deo coram sacerdote, extendens manus suas versus coelum, amare sus- pirans et congemiscens. Si igitur remisit Deus hoc peocatum ex potestate sua, et hoc valde consentaneum est, nonne turn gloria iusto ipsius iudicio? Haec audientes lucis angeli irriserunt diabolum, mittentes eum. At vere evasit anima ilia e laqueo insidiatorum.3 Unfortunately the author becomes so interested in the strife of the demons and the angels, that he forgets all about the telonia, which are not again mentioned, though he goes on to describe the struggles over several other * P. G. 34, 223-6. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 55 souls. These struggles, however, are of the same general character as the one just quoted, and add nothing to our understanding of the tradition as a whole. In the Vita Sancti Joannis Eleemosyharii of the Vitae Patrum, the author does not mention the telonia. There is, however, a definite relation between different sins and the stages of the ascent to heaven. Etenim sanctus iste in memoria semper retinebat quod sancto Simoni, qui in columnis stetit, per revelationem factum est notum: Quia exeunte anima e corpore, obviant ei cum ascenderit a terra in coelum, chori daemonum, singuli in proprio ordine. Obviat ei chorus daemoniorum superbiae, investigat eam, si habeat opera eorum. Obviat chorus spirituum detractions : aspiciunt si quando oblocuta sit, et poenitentiam non egerit. Obviant iterum superius daemones fornieationis : scrutantur si recognoscant in ea voluptates suas. Et quando a terra usque ad coelum misera. anima positura rationem pervenerit, seorsum ab ea sancti angeli stabunt, et non adjuvabunt eam nisi bonitates suae. A little later he increases the list of the sins. Here he calls the spirits exactores and inquisitores, words which belong to the same train of ideas as Cyril's publicanos and tributi quaestores. Quid habes tu, . . dicere aut facere, quando obviaverint in faciem tuam crudeles illi et immisericordes exactores et inquisitores? Ad quantos poteris rationem reddere, ad eos qui exquirunt de mendacio, ad eos qui de detractione, ad eos qui de crudelitate, ad eos qui de avaritia, ad eos qui de memoria mali, ad eos qui de odio, ad eos qui exquirunt de perjurio? Et dementatus dicebat: Deus, tu eos increpa, nam omnis fortitudo hominum eis resistere non valet. Tu, Domine, da nobis ductores sanctos angelos, qui custodiant et gubern- ent nos; multa enim est contra nos eorum insania, multus tremor, multus timor, multum periculum pelagi aeris hujus.4 The Syriac version of the Visio Pauli explains and clarifies the evidently mutilated account of the Latin, *P. L. 73, 374-5. 56 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL and enables us to identify the spirits5 and angels who stop the passage of both the good and the evil soul, with the spirits we have been studying. And while I was beholding these things, that spirit was lifted up from the earth, that it might ascend to heaven. And there went out to meet it wicked powers, those that are under heaven. And there reached it the spirit of error, and said : " Whither dost thou pre sume, 0 soul? and art thou running that thou mayest enter heaven? Stop, that we may see; perhaps there is in thee something that be longs to us, that we may narrate a, little." And that soul was bound there; and there was a fight between the good angels and the evil angels. And when that spirit of deception saw, it bewailed with a loud voice, and said : " Woe unto thee, O soul, that we have found in thee nothing of ours! and lo, all the angels and the spirits are helping thee against us ; and behold, these all are with thee ; thou has passed out from us." And there went forth another spirit, the spirit of the Tempter, and the spirit of fornication; and they came to meet it; and when they saw it, they wept over it, and said: "How has this soul escaped from us! It did the will of God on earth, and behold, the angels help it and pass it along from us." And all the principalities and evil spirits came to meet it, even unto it; and they did not find in it any thing that was from them; and they were not able to do anything to it; and they gnashed their teeth upon that soul, and said: "How hast thou escaped from us?" And the angel which conducted it in life answered and said unto them : " Return, O ye mortified ones ; ye have no way of access to it; with many artifices ye enticed, when it was on earth, and it did not listen to you." * 5 What seems to be an earlier reference to these spirits is found on page 190 (Latin Version, p. 15). "And I looked upon the firmament of heaven; and I saw that there were there principalities who had been in the world; and there were there spirits of decep tion, who lead astray the heart of the sons of men from Gtod; and there are the evil spirits of accusation, and fornication, and the love of money, and all those things in which they walked; and, behold, they are gathered for witness; even all the evil spirits that are under heaven." Immediately after this vision, Paul sees the " angels without mercy" and the good angels who are destined to the souls of the righteous and the sinners. "P. 192. The Latin version (pp. 16-7) is as follows: "Et spiritus eius confirmauit eam et angelus eius suscepit eam et deduxit in celo : THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 57 When it [the evil soul] arrived at the door of the firmament, that soul saw hosts of the Wicked One; and it beheld those hosts that they placed a weight on its weariness — error and accusation, and the spirit of deceiving. And when they came unto it, they said: "0 soul, whither wilt thou flee? O miserable soul, stop, that we may see if there is anything of ours." And when they saw it, they rejoiced and said : " Yes, yes, there is in thee, and thou art altogether ours ; now we know that even thine angel can not help thee and save thee out of our hand.1 The latter part of this recital is confused by the author's attempt to reconcile this tradition with the belief that every soul was judged by God immediately after death. Instead, therefore, of the soul's being carried immedi ately to Hades as one expects, its angel refuses to give it up, and a voice from heaven is heard commanding that the soul be brought thither.8 In the Life of St. Anthony, attributed to Athanasius, Anthony has two visions' of the soul's journey to heaven, which may easily be identified with the tradition in ques tion, though the forms are modified. In the first Anthony has a vision of his own ascent. Demons of the air chal et ait angelus: Ubi curris, anima, et audes ingredi celum? expecta et uideamus si est aliquid nostrum in te: et eoce nihil inuenimus in te. Video etiam adiutorium diuinum et angelum tuum, et spiritus congaudens est ti'bi quoniam fecisti uoluntatem dei in terris. Et deduxerunt eam dum adusque adoret in conspectu dei." One can not tell here that the angel who addresses the soul is not the same as the angel who is bearing it to heaven. 7 P. 194. The Latin version (p. 18) of the passage of the evil soul corresponds in the details given to the passage of the good soul in the Syriac. • This voice from heaven seems to me only a rather clumsy device to evade the fact that the evil soul should remain in the hands of the demons and be carried by them to hell. In connection with this episode we may notice that in the homily of Cyril's, when the spirits of the air find the soul evil, a voice is heard from heaven, but saying : " Let the impious one be borne away, lest he see the glory of the Lord." (Vulgate, Isaiah, xxvi, 10). 58 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL lenge his passage; the angels conducting him demand the reason, there being no sin in Anthony. Thereupon the demons begin the recital of all his sins from the time of his nativity. The angels object that all those sins have been forgiven by Christ, but that if the demons know of any sin he has committed since being made a monk, they may pre sent it. The demons then accuse Anthony of many sins, but proofs being wanting, the way is opened for him.9 The second vision offers an interesting variation of the regular theme. Instead of the recurring bands of angels who fill the road to heaven, the devil himself appears in the form of a terrible figure, extending from the earth to the clouds, trying with outstretched hands to prevent the ascent of souls. Et elevatis ad coelum oculis, vidit quemdam longum atque terri- bilem, caput usque ad nubes attolentem. Vidit etiam pennatos 10 quosdam se elevare cupientes ad coelum, atque ilium extensis manibus prohibere transgressu: e quibus alios apprehensos elidebat ad terram, alios frustra retinere contendens, dolebat super se ad ccelestia transvolare: et maximum gaudium mistum moerore victi victoresque tribuebant. Statimque ad eum vox facta est, dicens: Animadverte quod vides. Et tunc ccepit illuminate corde intelligere, animarum esse conscensum, et diabolum prohibitentem ; qui est sibi retineret obnoxios, et in sanctorum, quos decipere non poterat, cruciaretur volatu." With the Homilia V in Psalmum XXXVI of Origen we return to the more orthodox expression of the tradition. Tunc et adiuvabit eos Dominus in tempore tribulationis, et eripiet eos, et auferet eos a peccatoribus, non solum ab hominibus pecca- 8 P. G., 26, 933-6, chap. 65. 10 Souls are usually pictured as the exact counterpart of the physical body on earth: the double of the Ancient Egyptians. The souls of the Egyptians were represented most often as birds. This fact probably accounts for the winged creatures Anthony saw. a P. G., 26, 937-8, chap. 66. Versio Evagrii. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 59 torihus, sed etiam a contrariis potestatibus, uel certe eo tempore cum anima separatur a corpore, et occurrunt ei peccatores daemones, aduersae potestates, spiritus aeris huius qui eam volunt detinere et reuocare ad se si quid in ea suorum operum gestorumque cogno- verint. Venit enim ad unamquamque animam de hoc mundo exeun- tem princeps huius mundi, et asreae potestates, et requirunt si inveni- ant in ea aliquid suum; si auaritiam invenerint, suae partis est; si iram, si luxuriam, si invidiam, et singula quaeque eorum similia si inuenerint, suae partis est, et sibi eam defendunt, et ad se eam trahunt, et ad partem eam peecatorum declinant. Si vero aliquia imitatus est ilium qui dixit: Ecce veniet princeps mundi huius, et in me non habet quidquam, si se ita aliquis obseruauit, veniunt quidem isti peccatores, et requirentes in eo, quae sua sunt, et non invenientes tentabunt nihilominus ad suam partem uiolenter eum detorquere, sed Dominus eripiet eum a peccatoribus. Et forte propterea jubemur cum quodam mysterio etiam in oratione petere, dicentes: Sed libera nos a malor1 Here the demons are not specifically identified with the various sins, though they are each mentioned. The attend ant angels do not appear at all: the Lord Himself inter cedes in behalf of the godly. Again, it may be ques tioned whether this inquisition is conceived to be a part of the journey to heaven, or whether it takes place at the time the soul is separated from the body ; the- latter seems more probable. 2. Confusion of the Spirits with the Angels who Eemove Souls This homily by Origen opens the way for the con sideration of a new development of the tradition. The struggle is depicted at the bedside ; then the spirits of the air and the angels who protect the souls become confused with the angels who come to remove souls from their bodies.13 UP. (?., 12, 1366. 13 There is, apparently, an example of this confusion in the para- 60 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL This confusion of tradition is shown very clearly in the mummy episode of the tiloge de Pisentios. The "rulers of the world" come and draw out the soul with iron spears exactly as the cruel angels whose business it was to take the souls of the wicked. Before doing this, however, they recite all the sins the dying man has com mitted, and say: "Let someone come now, let someone save you from the torments into which we are going to cast you!" 14 The recital of the sins, and the fear that some one might take the soul from them, belong solely to the spirits of the air. In the Visio Pauli and the Falling Asleep of Mary the influence of the spirits of the air is less strong. The good and evil powers, however, are both present, ready to "as sume" the soul as in the combats after death. The strug gle between them and the recital of the soul's good and evil deeds, are reduced to a mere recognition of the soul as good or evil : after this, the good (or evil) powers pro ceed to draw out the soul after the manner of the kind (or cruel) servants of God. This confusion of the two traditions must have been entirely unconscious. Eor the graph preceding that part of the homily by 'Cyril of Alexandria quoted above. Various " powers " for good and for evil surround the death-bed and cause the soul to fear greatly; then the soul, on going out, flees to the angels of God who start with it to heaven, rneeting with the spirits of the telonia on the way. The two forces at the bedside do not draw out the soul; moreover the antitheses between them are the same as those which are drawn later between the angels who conduct the soul, and the spirits who oppose its passage. It seems clear, therefore, that this appearance of the two forces at the bedside is but an extension of the combat between them on the way to heaven. The fact that, in other versions, we find these two powers actually removing the soul, shows that this ex tension was due to an influence of the other tradition of the angels who remove souls. 14 See above, p. 26. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 61 authors of these versions did not think of the good and evil angels at the bedside as taking the place of the spirits after death, this struggle being also represented. In the Visio Pauli Paul witnesses the departure of the good soul first: Then I, Paul, perceived that he was righteous who was now dying: and he found for himself rest, even before dying. And there ap proached him wicked angels (when a righteous one departs, they do not find a place by him), and those good angels ruled over that righteous one.15 Then he beholds the departure of an evil soul : And I saw that bitter hour; and I saw all his wickedness coming before him and after him, while it encompassed him before his eyes; and I saw that hour embittered to him from the judgment that was to come. And that man was saying: "O that I had not been born, nor brought forth in the world! " And I saw that the good angels descended to meet him: and they looked upon him, and saw darkness encompassing him around about, and the foul odor of his evil deeds,18 so that they could not come nigh unto him; amd there came also those evil angels. When that soul saw both parties, it was shaken. And those good angels saw that it had not one good "P. 192. The Latin version (p. 16) is fuller but less significant: " Et uidi omnia opera eius quecunque fecerat propter nomen dei, et omnia studia eius quorum meminitet quorum non meminit, omnia steterunt in conspectum eius in hora necessitatis; et uidi iustum profecisse et inuenisse refectionem et fldueiam, et ante quam exiret de mundo asteterunt sancti angeli simul et impii: et uidi eos omnes, set impii non inuenerunt locum hahitacionis in eum, sancti autem dominati sunt anime eius, gubernantes eam quo usque exiret de corpore." For the physical presence of the good deeds, compare the Vita Sancti Joannis quoted above, p. 55, " seorsum ab ea sancti angeli stabunt, et non adjuvabunt nisi bonitates suae." "See p. 77, n. 4. The ancient Egyptian prayed: "May the Shenit not cause my name to stink before the great god, the lord of Amentet." Budge, The Book of the Dead, Papyrus of Hunefer, p. 6. Cf. Othello IV, 2, 76, and Hamlet, in, 3, 36. 62 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL work; and when they fled away from it,17 those evil angels took the rule over it, and pulled it out in severe anger and haste.18 In the Falling Asleep of Mary the description in ques tion comes in the midst of Mary's speech telling of her dread of the terrors of the way to heaven. In order to show the connection I quote the passage in full, repeating sven those sentences I have quoted before. Therefore I fear, O my sons, because of those paths, for they are very narrow. I heard Him many times teaching the sons of men, telling them to repent, saying, There is a river of fire set in the path, tossing its waves exceedingly, and its waves are higher than any mountain. All flesh must needs cross over it, whether righteous or sinners. Can I, my sons, be delivered from this? What then shall I say concerning the separation of the soul from the body? 0 that hour full of fear and trembling! They say that two powers come after the soul, one of light, another of darkness, unseemly and full of shuddering and trembling. If it be a righteous soul, they bring it forth enticingly, being mild and gentle towards it, because they see its Maker peaceful towards it. If indeed it be a sinner, the powers of light withdraw themselves, and the powers of darkness draw nigh to it in anger, slaying them and hastily cleaving asunder and scourging them, grinding their teeth and sending forth flames of fire from their mouths into its face, knowing that its deeds are unseemly, and that God is not at peace with it. Woe to me, my sons! Who can assure me, that God is at peace with me, that I may be able to be delivered from this hour? They tell me also that there is a gloomy darkness in the path; and there are therein merciless avengers, their faces being very diverse, whom God hath "The Latin version (p. 18) reads, as do both versions in the case of the good soul, " they did not find a place by him." This idea is more closely kin to that of the strife of the demons and angels, than the " running away " of the Syriac version. 18 P. 194. This confusion is fundamental in the Visio Pauli. After the description of the good and evil angels who visit good and evil souls, the prophet asks if it is necessary that souls meet witnesses when dead, the angel replies: "Vna est uia per quam omnes transeunt ad deum, sed iusti habentes secum sanctum ad iutorem non conturbantur euntes apparere in conspectu dei" (p. 15. Syriac version, p. 191). THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 63 set to teach the lawless in the way; even as it is written. Shall I be saved from such as these? There is also in that place the worm that does not die, which eats the lawless more than any cancer. O my beloved sons, would that I might be delivered from this also! They inform me also, 0 my sons, that there is an un quenchable fire, whose flaime cannot be cooled by the waters of the sea, or by the rivers, or by the fountains, or by the rains. But they say that three tear drops extinguish its flame. Blessed is the soul that has wept over its sins, whilst it is yet in the world, or ever it reaches this fire. Woe to me! I have not yet told of the ruler of darkness, who always does what in him lies to drag down every one under his feet, save those who shall fly above him on wings of light, which are their good deeds ». Who can comfort me over the sentence, which cometh forth from the mouth of the righteous Judge, Take this soul, and give to it according to all its works. All these things, my sons, are fearful to me on every side. But the will of the Lord be done upon me.20 3. The Coptic Texts The terrors described in the Falling Asleep of Mary belong to the more popular forms of the belief, which in many respects are quite different from the patristic expositions we have studied thus far. The danger of the road to the other world is always prominent, and there are always powers who threaten. These powers, however, are never associated with particular sins, and they never come to meet the soul in a definite order, though the idea of the series of dangers is found in the various kinds of obstacles which the soul must surmount. Mary mentions the "river of fire," the "gloomy darkness" wherein are "merciless avengers," the "worm that does not die," the "unquenchable fire," and last of all, the "ruler of dark ness." The two Coptic presentations of the tradition which 11 Of. the second vision of St. Anthony, p. 58. 20 Copt. Apoc. Gosp., pp. 95-9. 64 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL correspond most nearly to the Latin and Greek forms are found in the Histoire de Marc le Salutaire and in a homily attributed to Cyril of Alexandria. The first is very short, and belongs to the traditions of the struggle just after death. Je vis sortir son ame que les Anges emportaient revetue d'un vStement blanc: ils priaient avec elle, tandis que les Satans gtaient debout, tout prepares a la lutte. Et j'entendis une voix disant : " 0 enfants de l'injustice, f uyez de devant les enfants de la lumliere ! " Et voici que les Satans s'ecrierent : " Prenez-le, il nous a confondus." Je vis alors a droite comme du feu qui se developpait, puis je ne vis plus rien.31 A The second passage is too long to quote. Sisinnios the eunuch had asked for a vision "on the subject of the safety of his soul," and it was granted him. Accom panied by a " commander " and a terrible " power " with the head of a dog and the body of a man, he marched a great distance, coming at last to a river of fire. Sisinnios prayed the "commander" not to make him enter this fire, but the "power" refused to give him up, and Sisin nios "became very tired standing while they talked one with the other." Then came some one with a book in which Sisinnios' name was written, and at last came an old bishop with eleven others. When he demanded Sisin nios in the name of Christ the "power" vanished and was seen no more.22 Here, the dispute over the soul, and 21 Contes et Romans, n., 72. A 15th century Ethiopia MS. gives magic names; if a man repeat them before death the angel of death may not torment him. There are others which will chase the angels of darkness from the seventy-seven dwellings of the angels, the angels of light will then come saying, " Come, brilliant soul," and lead it away with joy and gladness. Cf. Ren6 Basset, Enseigne- ments de Jisus-Christ a ses disciples et prieres magiques, p. 22, Les Apocryphes tlthiopiens, vn, Paris, 1896. 23 Mission au Caire, rv, 180 ff. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 65 the summoning of the powers of good for its defense are characteristics of the patristic forms which do not often appear in the Coptic. On the other hand, the river of fire and the power with the animal head are found only in the Coptic.23 In this same sermon there is another reference to the way to the other world and the powers therein. C'est une grande affliction que celle qui les surprendra en chemin avant qu'ils n'arrivent en presence de Dieu M . . Lorsqu'ils ont vu toutes ses grandes figures de tout gendre, sur le champ ils ont £t6 dans le trouble, en voyant ces visages de lions, ces visages de dragons, ces visages d'oiseaux, ces visages varies.26 The Coptic writers, however, did not stop with the de scription of concrete rivers of fire, and animal-headed monsters. Almost never did they describe the way to heaven in terms which were abstract or of universal ap plication; it was filled with real, concrete terrors to real, concrete people. As a result it could appear only in vis ions, in the recitals of the dead who themselves had ex perienced its terrors, or in the fears of the living. In the Coptic homily attributed to Cyril of Alexandria we have the vision. In the mummy episode of the Moge de Pisentios we have the witness of the mummy, though, unfortunately, without the details one expects from the sufferer : En ce moment les anges sans pitie emmenerent ma malheureuse fime hors de mon corps, ils l'attacherent sous un cheval noir non- corporel, ils m'entrainerent a l'Occident.28 Oh! malheur a tout 28 1 am speaking only of the texts definitely stating the legend in question. The river of fire occurs, of course, in the writings of the Fathers, but not, to my knowledge, as one of the dangers of the way to heaven. 24 Mission au Caire, rv, 168. "Ibid., p. 170. 28 In Revillout's translation (Rev. tigypt., n, 70), Amenti. 66 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL pficheur comme moi, qu'on a mis au monde! Oh! seigneur mon pere, on me livra aux mains de nombreux tourmenteurs sans pitie dont chacun avait une forme differente. Oh! combien de betes sauvages vis-je dans le chemin! oh! combien de puissances qui chatiaient!2r It is, however, in the third class of descriptions, in the fears expressed by the living or, more exactly, the dying, since the latter have greater occasion to fear, that this tradition is most frequent and most graphic. But, strange to say, all fear is immediately removed at the appear ance of the angels who surround the death-beds, and no one ever seems to have met with any hindrance whatever when being carried to heaven.28 Nevertheless Schnoudi sighs : Malheur a moi, car la route est longue: jusqu'a quel temps atten- drai-je afin d'aller a Dieu? Sur la route il y a des terreurs et des puissances fortes! malheur a moi jusqu'a ce que je rencontre le Seigneur.2" And St. Maximus prays : Envoie ta lumiere et ta verite 6 mon Dieu, afin qu'elles me guident sur le chemin, car certes je erois que tu rendras droit mon chemin et que tu me sauveras des mains des puissances tenfibreuses de l'air ou regnet les demons. Prepare mes pas sur tes chemins, mon Dieu, afin que j'aille jusqu'a toi sans empgchement.80 27 P. 148. 28 There is, I think, no doubt but that this fear of the road to the other world was in a measure responsible for the presence of the hosts of angels around the Saints' death-beds which we dis cussed in the preceding chapter. The influence was reciprocal. The fact that there were angels at the death-bed to remove souls led to an extension of the role of the angel-protectors to include the taking of the soul, while the idea that the soul needed protection on its way to the other world, led to the belief that it should be surrounded by very friendly angels at the time of its separation from the body even in those texts in which the idea of the removal of the soul is absent. 29 Mission au Caire, iv, 89-90. ,0 Mus6e Guimet, xxv, 306. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 67 Mary also prays: I beseech Thee, O my beloved Son, let the tyrannies of death and the powers of darkness flee from me. Let the angels of light draw nigh unto me. Let the worm that does not die be still. Let the outer darkness become light. Let the accusers of Amenti shut their mouths before me. Let the dragon of the abyss close his mouth as he sees me coming to Thee. 0 my beloved Son, command that the officers of the abyss flee away from me, and terrify not my soul. The stones of stumbling which are in those paths, let them be de stroyed before me. Let not the avengers with divers aspects see me with their eyes. The river of fire that tosseth its waves before Thee as the waves of the sea, wherein are proved the two portions, the righteous and the sinners — when I pass over it, let it not burn my soul.31 Joseph prays : Cause not the angel, appointed unto me from the day that Thou didst form me until now, to burn in his face with anger towards me in the path, as I come unto Thee: but let him be at peace with me.32 Let not those whose face is diverse trouble me in the path, as I come unto Thee. Let not those who are by the gates restrain my soul; neither put me to shame at Thy fearful judgment seat. Let not the waves of the river of fire be savage towards me, wherein all souls are purified, 'before they see the glory of Thy godhead.33 And Jesus prays for Joseph: I entreat Thee for the work of Thy hands, even My father Joseph; that Thou mayest send Me a great Cherubin and the choir of the angels, and Michael, the steward of the good things, and Gabriel, the evangelist of the aeons of light; that they may watch the soul of My father Joseph, and lead it, until it cross the seven 81 Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. 58. This prayer in the Sahidic Fragments of the Life of the Virgin (rv, p. 39) contains the sentence: "Let all the powers of darkness be ashamed today, because they have found nothing of theirs in me." This is exactly the phrasing of Origen, and of the Visio Pauli. See above, pp. 59 and 56. " Compare with the Visio Pauli, where the angel of the soul praises or blesses it, as it starts on the way to heaven. ^Copt. Apoc. Gosp., pp. 134-5. 68 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL aeons of darkness, and they pass by the dark ways, wherein it is very fearful to go, and it is very disquieting to see the powers which are upon them. Let the river of fire be as water and the sea of demons cease vexing. Let it be gentle towards the soul of My father Joseph: for this is the hour wherein he has need of mercy. Further on, Michael and Gabriel are made to watch the soul because of the "plunderers that are in the ways." 34 "Ibid., pp. 157-9. One might also call attention to the prayer in the Coptic Sacrament of Extreme Unction, " - . . et si praecepisti, ut acciperes animam ejus a manibus angelorum lucis in virtute salvante eum a daemonibus tenebrarum,. transfer eum in paradisum laetitiae, ut sit cum omnibus Sanctis in sanguine tuo, . . . Wirceburgi, 1863, (Denzinger, Ritus Orientalium Coptorum, Syrorum, et Armenorum, n, 490), or to the promise in the Coptic Encomium of St. Michael the Archangel by Theodosius, Archbishop of Alexandria: " If thou visitest a sick person in the name of the God of Michael, God will send His angel to visit thee in thy great sickness, which is the day of thy death. If thou goest to those who are in prison, and comfortest them on the festival of the Archangel Michael, God will send Michael to deliver thee from the prison of Amenti " (Budge St. Michael the Archangel, p. 44, London, 1894. — The Syriac Decease of St. John and Acts of Judas Thomas contain fears of the dying very similar to those quoted. Thus John prays: "And when I am going to Thee, let the fire depart, let the darkness be overcome, let the pit be enfeebled; let the furnace be slackened, let Gehenna be extinguished; let the angels accompany, let the demons be afraid; let the princes be cast down, let the powers of darkness fall; let the places on the right stand, but those on the left not stand; let the Slanderer be muzzled, let Satan be laughed to scorn; let his work be undone, let his glory be put to shame, let his anger be rendered vain; let his children be beaten, let his whole root be crushed. But my path unto Thee do Thou render for me free from insult and from spoliation, and (grant) that I may receive the things which Thou hast promised to those who have lived purely and have loved Thee alone" (Wright, Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, p. 67). And Thomas prays: "My Lord and my God, and my Hope and my Savior, and my Guide and Conductor in all the lands which I have traversed in Thy name, be Thou with all Thy servants, and do Thou guide me too that I may come unto Thee; for unto Thee I have committed my soul, and no man shall take it from Thy hands. Let not my sins the dangerous path to heaven 69 4. The Series of Dangers in the Egyptian Other-world This belief in the perilous path to heaven may be traced directly to the religion of Ancient Egypt.35 There, how ever, the dangerous way was not the road leading to the other world, but the road the soul must follow in the other world. And by overcoming all the difficulties in the way the soul expected at last to reach a place where he might remain in peace, just as the Christian expected to reach heaven if he succeeded in passing the dangers of the way. Many of the popular books of the Egyptians describing the Tuat, or the world of the dead, agree that the soul must pass a series of dangers, or better, that the Tuat contained many districts, or "halls," or "fields," or "cities," or "cir cles," as they were variously termed, through which the soul must pass. Each of these districts had its own gate, or door, and its gods, or guardians of the gate who, though only a part of the whole system of the underworld, had absolute power over their district. The soul passed from one district directly into the next, the exit from one being the entrance into the one following. In order to pass hinder me. Lo Lord, I fulfilled Thy will and became a slave, for the sake of this freedom which I am receiving today. Do Thou, Lod Jesus, give (it) to me and fulfil it with me; for I am in no doubt whatever regarding Thy truth and Thy love, but for the sake of these who are standing (by) that they may hear, I speak before Thee" (Wright, Ibid., p. 296). These "Acts" are known in Greek, Latin, and Syriac version®. Mr. Burkitt claims that the original language of the Acts of Thomas was Syriac (Journ. Theolog. Studies, I, 1899, 280). 85 There may be Persian influence in the tradition of the struggle between the forces of good and evil. The idea of the series of dangers which constitutes the propre of our legend is Egyptian. 6 70 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL through these gates the soul must know the name of the dis trict he was entering, and also the names of the gods ruling over it. Sometimes also to pass them successfully, the soul must recite certain prayers, or sentences, or magical words. If he did not know these pass-words, he was forthwith annihilated. In the Book Am-Tuat and the Book of Gates36 the Tuat is conceived to be the country through which the sun god, Ea, passed during the night. It contained twelve divisions corresponding to the twelve hours of the night. The souls of those who had died during the day waited on the border of the first hour until evening when the sun entered the underworld. Then if they were sup plied with the proper pass-words they might enter the boat of Ea and pass through the dangers of the under world under his protection. Like most of the gods of the Egyptians, the greater number of these gods of the otherworld had heads of ani mals. Some of them carried "slaughtering knives," some spat forth fire — all became dreadful and horrible to the poor souls not able to pass them. These districts, more over, abounded in other terrors which the soul must face : lakes of fire, serpents and crocodiles of various kinds, blazing flames, and streams of Amentet. In the Book of the Dead, the soul prays to be delivered from the "god who liveth upon the damned; whose face is that of a hound, but whose skin is that of a man; at that angle of the pool of fire; devouring shades, digesting human hearts and voiding ordure." 3T Other prayers show similar fears. 38 Translated by Budge, The Egyptian Heaven and Hell, London. 1906. 37 Tr. Renouf, ch. 17, p. 39. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 71 Deliver me from those Wardens of the Passages with hurtful fingers, attendant upon Osiris.38 Oh ye Seven Divine Masters, who are the arms of the Balance on the Night wherein the Eye is fixed; ye who strike off the heads and cleave the necks, who seize the hearts and drag forth the whole hearts, and accomplish the slaughter in the Tank of Flame: ye whom I know and whose names I know, know you me as I know your name.39 Deliver thou him from the worms which are in Re-stau, which live upon the bodies of men and women, and which feed upon their blood, for Osiris, the favored one of the god of his city, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, victorious, knoweth you, and he knoweth your names. [Let this be] the first bidding of Osiris Neb-er-tcher who keepeth hidden his body. May he give air [and escape] from the Terrible One who dwelleth in the Bight of the Stream of Amentet, and may he decree the actions of him that is rising up. Let him pass on unto him whose throne is within the darkness, who giveth glory in Re-stau. O lord of light, come thou and swallow up the worms which are in Amentet.40 The prayers for guidance, too, are very much the same. O ye who unclose the ways and open the roads to beneficent souls in the house of Osiris, unclose then the ways and open the roads to the soul of N who is with you, let him enter boldly and come forth in peace at the house of Osiris, without hindrance and with out repulse. Let him enter at his pleasure and go forth at his will, triumphantly with you; and let that be executed which he shall order in the house of Osiris.41 Oh! Ra of the Ament, who hast created the earth, who lightest the gods of the empyrean, Ra who art in thy disk, guide him on the road to the Ament, that he may reach the hidden spirits; guide him on the road which belongs to him, guide him on the Western road; that he may traverse the sphere of Ament, guide him on the road to the Ament, that the king may worship those who are in "Ibid., p. 39. "Ibid., ch. 71, p. 139. 48 Budge, Books on Egypt and Chaldaea, vi, ch. I. B, pp. 47-8. This chapter is not contained in Renouf's translation, because it " is found in so very few copies that the text cannot as yet be restored" (pp. 10-11). He notes, however, that this chapter was known down to the Roman period. "Book of the Dead, tr. Renouf, p. 2. 72 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL the hidden dwelling, guide him on the road to the Ament, make him descend to the sphere of Nun.43 These prayers and fears are almost identically the same as those we have found in the Christian texts. The "seven aeons of darkness" are the districts the soul must pass.43 The beings with heads of animals are the guard ians of the various districts; and what else are the "offi cers of the abyss," or "those who are by the gates" whom Mary and Joseph feared? In some of the homilies we have even the idea that these spirits 44 were definitely connected with different portions of the way,45 as were the Egyptian gods, or guardians. In some the soul was conducted by angels 42 Records of the Past, Series I, vrn, 113. "Mr. Robinson, the editor of the Death of Joseph, notes that in the Book of the Dead, Papyrus of Ani (ed. Budge, p. 291) there is a, series of seven arits through which the soul must pass (p. 227). M. Revillout has translated several paragraphs from this portion of the Death of Joseph, and remarked its similarity to the earlier Egyptian texts (Rev. tilgypt. n, 65, 66-7). — Mr. Boswell (An Irish Precursor of Dante, pp. 89-90) Tefers to the belief that souls must undergo a series of trials as capable of being referred to an Egyptian or a Hellenic origin, though he thinks probably the latter assumption is the correct one. I should state, however, that Mr. Boswell is here speaking primarily of the Rabbinical schools, though he Tefers also to the " early Christian divines." 44 In origin, then, the spirits of the air are the same as the angels who take souls. And what I have said of the tendency of those angels to become identified with the demons applies equally here — with the difference that these spirits are not conceived of as servants of God in any of the Christian texts. The antithesis between them and the good angels is brought out in all the versions: but they were not, strictly speaking, demons. The word demon occurs very little; otherwise they are called "spirits," "powers," "exactors," " inquisitors," etc. "This is not inconsistent with my former statement that the telonia and their spirits were the counterparts of travels on earth, for, after all, the idea of the Egyptian other-world is the same. THE DANGEROUS PATH TO HEAVEN 73 who answered for its sins and bore all the brunt of the encounter, while the soul itself stood aside, just as the Egyptian believed that his soul would enter the boat of Ea and be protected therein until he reached the abode of the blessed spirits. We can go further. The identification of the different members of a series of dangers with the different sins, occurs in the Negative Confession. The soul on entering the Hall of Maat, or Justice, where the forty-two gods were sitting, must address in turn each of these gods by his proper name and declare its innocence of the particular sin for which that god would otherwise hold him respon sible, exactly as in the homilies of Cyril, Origen, and the others it had to declare its innocence of the sins of which the spirits accused it. These gods of the Negative Confession did not demand that the soul be good, or that it have done good deeds. They required only that it be innocent of crime. So in the Christian texts the soul ascends to heaven not by virtue of any good deeds, but only if it is not stopped by the spirits accusing it of sin. Even when the angels tell its good deeds, it is not to betoken any particular merit, but only to balance the recital of its evil deeds on the part of the spirits. The Egyptian gods were not strictly identified as the gods of the different sins, as were the later spirits. This change, however, is unimportant, and may be counted as one of the Christian modifications of the tradition. These Christian modifications are numerous and ob vious. They are, however, only modifications. The foun dation and much of the super-structure remain Egyptian. V THE TOUE OF THE UNIVEESE The soul, under the guidance of angels, was supposed to visit earth, heaven, and hell during the time which elapsed between its separation from the body and its judgment by God.1 In many respects this is the most clearly defined of all the beliefs about the soul at the time of death, though its origins are rather obscure. The reason for the tour, however, is clear: the good soul is to behold the punishments of the wicked that it may be properly grateful for its deliverance from them, while the sera pcenitentia of the evil soul is to be increased by the sight of the joys it might have obtained. 1. The Spurious Homily of Macarius The Spurious Homily of Macarius,2 though of late date, may conveniently be taken as the norm by which tp 1Dr. M. R. James (Test. Abr., p. 122) calls attention to the belief that souls made a tour of the world just after death, and notes its presence in IV Esdras, the Pistis Sophia, the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, and the Spurious Homily of Macarius. In addition he notes several versions in which the visit is made in the body. To them might be added the Talmudic legends in which the Rabbis demand of the Death-angel the privilege of seeing their places in heaven before death. Cf. Jiid. Litt. I, 276. The souls of the martyrs, too, are said to have been carried to heaven and shown their future joys, to give the martyrs, strength to endure the tor tures. Cf. Hyvernat, Les Actes des Martyrs de Vtlgypte, pp. 33, 47 ff., 105. 2 In referring to this homily I have adopted the very convenient title used by Dr. James. 74 THE TOUR OF THE UNIVERSE 75 study this belief, because it is detailed and explicit. Macarius asks the angel with whom he is walking, why prayers are offered for the dead on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after death.3 The angel answers: 3 The particular days mentioned in this sermon offer interesting occasions for study, though they are not found in the other versions stating the belief in the soul's tour of the universe. The six days and the thirty days are, of course, the divisions of the week and month. The Catholic Church still recommends that prayers be offered for the dead on the third, seventh, and thirtieth days after burial; the periods not being added together as in the Macarius homily. The Talmud connects these days with the periods for mourn ing. " Weinet nicht uber einen Toten, nooh beklaget ihn; weinet nicht zu sehr uber einen Toten, noch beklagt ihn ubermassig. — Wieviel? — Drei Tage fur das Weinen, sieben Tage fur das Klagen und dreissig Tage beziiglich geglatteter Gewander und des Haar- schneidens" (Tr. Goldschmidt,, in, 772). In another place it is said the soul of man grieves for him seven days (Ibid. I, 704). Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Strom, rv, 25 (P. G. 8, 1367). — Again Mr. Frazer (Golden Bough, I, 351) tells us that "on the third, sixth, ninth, land fortieth days after the funeral the old Prussians and Lithuanians used to prepare a meal, to which, standing at the door, they invited the soul of the deceased." Thus we reach back to the time when prayers for the dead took the shape of offerings, as among the Ancient Egyptians. Indeed the Decree of Canopus (B. C. 238) (Records of the Past, Series I, vm, 86, 16-17) mentions days of festival almost the same: "Inasmuch as was celebrated the festival of the Benevolent Gods in all temples in each month on the fifth, ninth, and twenty-fifth days in consequence of a decree established before." Monthly and mid-monthly feasts were quite common among the Egyptians (Cf. Breasted, Ancient Records Series, Egypt, I, 630, 655 n. b., iv, 144, etc.) and may have occasioned the prayers or feasts on the thirtieth day, but I find no satisfactory evidence of the week as a common period for festivals. The number of four days, however, occurs in several passages which may advantageously be compared with the three days of the Christian writings. In the Inscription of King Nastosenen, of the 32nd Dynasty (Records of the Past, Series i, x, 61, 4-5), when recounting the honor done to Amen, he says : " I went down unto the pyramid, and lay wrapped there four nights, and made all kinds of offerings four days"; and in the Great Mendes Stele, of the 32nd Dynasty (Ibid., 76 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Nil inopportune neque inutiliter in ecclesia sua fieri concessit Deus, coelestia vero et terrena ipsius mysteria in ecclesia sua fieri concessit Deus et celebrari jussit. Tertio enim die faeta in ecclesia oblatione levamen doloris, quem a corpore separata subiit, ab angelo ipsam apprehendente accipit anima defuncta, quoniam gratiarum actio et oblatio pro ipsa in ecclesia Dei apparata est; et exinde bonam spem concipit anima. Per duos enim dies permittitur animae, ab angelis sui satellitibus stipatae, in terra, ubicunque velit, obambu- lare. Quae corporis igitur amori mancipata est anima, aliquando domum, a, qua separata est, circumvagatur, npnnunquam sepulchrum, in quo reconditum est corpus; et ad hunc modum biduum exigit, portus ad instar cadaver suum quaerens. Pia vero anima ad locos, in quibus justitiam operari consuevit, abit. Tertio autem die omnes Christianorum animas ad coelos adduci jubet, qui die tertio e mortuis resurrexit, Christus omnium Deus, ut resurrectionem ipsius imitatae Deum omnium creaturarum adorent. Bene igitur morem istum retinet ecclesia, ut oblationem et orationem die tertio pro anima faciat. Post adoratum igitur Deum ab illo mandatur, ut diversa amoenaque sanctorum habitacula et paradisi pulchritudo animae ostendantur. Ista omnia perdiscit anima sex integris diebus Deum omnium conditorem admiraiis et collaudans. Ilia omnia videns anima derepente mutatur et doloris sui, quem in corpore posita patiebatur, obliviscitur. Sin vero peccatis obnoxia sit, cum sanctorum voluptates videt, contristari seipsamque condemnare incipit Postquam totum justorum gaudium sex diebus anima inspectaverit, rursus ab angelis ad adorandum Deum adducitur. Bene igitur ecclesia die nona liturgias pro defuncto offert et obla tionem celebrat. Post secundam autem adorationem rursus ab omnium rerum Domino mandatur, ut in infernum deducatur anima, et poenarum loca ibi posita, diversaque inferorum claustra, et diversae illi ostendantur impiorum poenae, quibus assidentes peeca torum animae assiduo lugent ac dentes stridunt. Per hasce poena rum diversitates circumfertur anima dies triginta, contremiscens, ne vm, 98, 11-12) : "In the year 15, month Pachons the tenth day was appointed for the Queen's holy consecration and her introduction into the temple after the divine Lady had received the holy anoint ing, during an interval of four days, she reappeared as a consecrated soul." The four days in connection with the deification of a god dess occur again in the Decree of Canopus (Ibid, vm, 89, 28-9): " So shall be ordered a feast and procession for the Queen Berenike, the daughter of the Benevolent Gods, . . . from the 17th day, when happened the procession for her, and purification on account of her mourning for four days." THE TOUR OF THE UNIVERSE 77 et ipsa forsitan in illo loco incarcerari condemnetur. Die quadra- gesimo sursum iterum ad adorandum Deum reducitur; et tune secundum opera illius locum illi, ubi in aeternum asservetur, indicet judex. Bene igitur in ecclesia eelebratur in defunctorum et bap- tizatorum memoriam. De animabus vero, quae sacrum baptisma nunquam receperunt, res sese pari modo non habet, sed in eo casu angeli inclementes animas non baptizatas e corpore accipiunt, verberantes illas et dicentes: Adesdum, impia anima; quis Dominus tuus omniumque Deus, quem scire noluisti, in mundo secura degens? Nunc vero eum agnosce aeternis addicta poenis. Dein ad primum usque coelum illam adducentes, eam sistunt, illique longinquo osten- dunt angelorum omniumque coelestium potestatum gloriam dicentes: Istorum omnium Dominus est Jesus Christus Dei vivi filius, quem agnoscere et adorare noluisti. Apage abhinc vero ad tui similes impios eorumque principem diabolum abducta in aeternum ignem apparatum diabolo atque angelis ejus, quos in vivis adhuc posita tanquam Deos adorasti.4 This is the only version in which the divisions of the soul's tour are identified with days on which prayers are offered for the dead, and the only one in which souls are divided into classes of baptized and unbaptized. Both are churchly influences and evidences of late date. 2. The "Pistis Sophia" There is a very interesting parallel between the Spurious Homily of Macarius and the Pistis Sophia with regard *P. G. 34, 390-1. According to the early part of this homily Macarius is seen walking with two angels; they come to a corpse which smells very badly and Macarius stops his nose, the angels do likewise. Upon Macarius' asking they say that they are not sensible to the stench of the world, but only to the stench of sinful souls. This part of the homily— though told of an old man, not of Macarius— is to be found in the Vitae Patrum (P. L., 73, 1014) and, as M. Batiouchkof (Romania, 20, 39) has pointed out, in a manuscript at Naples. I call attention to the Vitae Patrum account here because M. Batiouchkof has argued, on the basis of the Italian manuscript, that the entire homily must have been known in the Middle Ages. 78 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL to the tour. In each we have a triple division of souls under two general headings. In the Macarius homily, as we have seen, souls are divided into the unbaptized, and the good and bad souls of the baptized. In the Pistis Sophia they are divided into the initiated and the good and bad souls of the uninitiated. In each the members of the double class (the good and evil baptized in the Macarius homily, and the good and evil uninitiated in the Pistis Sophia) are oddly enough the only souls which are shown the universe. Of the other souls, the pagan soul is too mean to be allowed to see the glories of heaven; the initiated soul is too holy to be detained away from the kingdom of light. So, the souls of those who have received the mystery of the light become jets of light and mount straightway into the kingdom of light, without let or hindrance.5 Other angels take the soul which is just — though uninitiated — 'from the "Pacific Eeceivers," — . . . und verbringen dreiTage, indem sie mit ihr in alien Kreaturen der Welt kreisen.8 Niach drei Tagen fiihren sie sie hinab zum Chaos, um sie in alle Strafen der Gerichte zu fiihren und zu alien Gerichten zu senden. Und die Feuer des Chaos belastigen sie nicht sehr, sondern belastigen sie teilweise auf kurze Zeit. Und mit Eifer eilends erbarraen sie sich Hirer, fiihren sie aus dem Chaos herauf und fiihren sie auf den Weg der Mitte durch alle jene Archonten, und nicht strafen sie (sc. die Archonten) sie in ihren harten Gerichten, sondern das Feuer ihrer Oerter belastigt sie teilweise. Und wenn sie zu dem Orte des Jachthanabos, des Unbarmherzigen, gebracht wird, 6 Pp. 226-8, Tr. Amelineau, p. 116. 8 " Die Lehre der Aegypter, dass die Seele nach dem Tode zur Liiuterung durch Tierleiber wandern rniisse, ist nicht ganz aufge- geben, denn aller Wahrscheinlichkeit nach wird der Verfasser bei den Worten : ' die 7r the body, which I postpone to the end. In this study I shall quote Batiouchkof's homily as the best representative of the lost original, referring to the other versions only when they seem to preserve a more primitive reading. 1. The Demons Around the Death-bed In all the homilies the story is related as the vision of a man about to die. The soul comes to the mouth of the body and dares not go out because it sees a crowd of demons awaiting its exit. They threaten the soul, saying: "Quid est hoc, quare nos moramur? Forsitan venit angelus Michael cum angelorum [plebe] ut nos op- primat et illam animam quam per annos multos in nos- tris vinculis constrinximus nobis eripiat." The mouth, as we have seen, was one of the usual exits THE LATIN HOMILY 93 by which the soul left its body. Moreover the picture of the soul waiting in terror at the mouth is found in the Coptic Death of Joseph: " I put My hand in under his breast, and I found that his soul reached to his throat, for it was about to be brought up. And the messengers of death were waiting for him, that he should go forth from the body."6 In the demons who are waiting for the soul but who fear lest Michael and the angels may take it from them, we have an example of the confusion between the angels who take souls and the struggle between the spirits and angels over the soul. Moreover these demons still retain traces of their angelic origin for, a little later, they prick the various members of the body as punishment for the sins of those members.7 Eeal demons would not take pains to justify their actions in this way. In answer to the fear expressed by the demons that Michael will rescue the soul, one of them vouches for the soul's sinful character, saying that he has been with it day and night. This demon recalls the Visio Pauli and the Death of Joseph. In the former angels who have been with the souls day and night praise or blame them as they come forth from the body.8 In the latter Joseph prays that the angel appointed unto him from the day of his birth may not "burn in his face with anger " as he comes toward the Lord.9 A closer parallel, however, is found in the vision of the Abbot Macarius. The angel accuser given to the soul at the time of baptism identifies it as good, thereby saving it from the hands of the demons, just as in this homily the demon who stayed with the "See above, p. 22. 'See below, p. 94. 'Apoc. Anec. I, 16, 18. Syriac version, pp. 192, 194. • See above, p. 67. 94 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL soul identifies it as evil, thus saving it from the angels.10 Nothing is said here of the attendant angel, or angel accuser : was this angel, then, conceived as a demon in the case of the hopelessly evil soul ? n 2. The Separation of the Evil Soul from its Body Postponing for the present the speech of the soul, we proceed to consider its separation from the body. Tune dixerunt qui custodes12 erant: "Apprehendite eam et pungite oculos illius, quia quicquid vidit sive justum size injustum omnia concupivit. Pungite oriclps ls illius, quia quicquid desiderabat sive ad manducandum sive ad bibendum sive ad loquendum nunquam pareebat. Pungite cor illius, ubi pietas nee misericordia nee caritas nee bonitas unquam ascendit. Pungite manus et pedes illius, quia ad malum faciendum currebant." Tunc extraxerunt animam miser- am a corpore cum gemitu et dolore.14 This passage is probably the most interesting of the en- 10 See above, p. 54. n Sermo 69 seems to imply that there were two attendant angels : " diabolus angelus satanae, qui non in bono, sed in malo custos et instinctor ejus perstitit." This phrase is clearly a mistake. Cf. n. 12. The homily printed by Napier identifies the attendant demon as the one who inspires to evil: " and heo a fui georne hlyste mtnre lare and georne fyligde." This trait, however, is peculiar to Napier's homily. 13 Sermo 69 represents a confusion of tradition in its identifica tion of the speaker here with the attendant demon. For the attend ant angel or demon had nothing to do with the actual removal of the soul from its body. M. Batiouchkof (p. 577, n. 2) suggests that the order to punish the members of the body should come from the guardian angel, or from God. The identification of these demons with the cruel angels of God divinely appointed to remove the souls of men, removes all difficulty on that point. MSee below, p. 96, n. 17. "Sermo 69 is slightly more definite: "Tunc illam miseram animam de corpore ejectam sic membratim punientes . " THE LATIN HOMILY 95 tire sermon, because it shows most plainly the author's perfect familiarity with similar ideas which we have found expressed in Coptic texts. Compare the woes which Joseph uttered when about to die: Woe to me today. Woe to the day that my mother brought me forth into the world. Woe to the womb wherein I received seed of life. Woe to the breasts which I sucked. Woe to the knees on which I sat. Woe to the hands which carried me, until I grew up and became sinful. Woe to my tongue and my lips, for they have been engaged often in violence and in backbiting and in false slan der and in idle words of jest, full of deceit. Woe to my eyes, for they have looked upon stumbling-blocks. Woe to my ears, for they have loved to hear vain words. Woe to my hands, for they have taken things which are not theirs. Woe to my stomach and bowels, for they have desired foods which are not theirs: and if it found anything, it would consume it more than a burning fiery furnace, and make it everywhere unprofitable. Woe to my feet, which served my body ill, taking it into no good ways. Woe to my body, for it hath made my soul waste and strange to God Who made it. . . . Truly this is the great trouble, which I saw upon Jacob my father, when he came forth from the body: it also hath overtaken me the wretched one today.15 Notice also that the members of the body enumerated in the Latin sermon are those by which the soul might make its exit, and remember that in several versions which we studied, the soul was removed from its body, as here, by means of sharp pointed spears or tridents. Lastly, recalling those versions in which the good soul was removed from its body by being rubbed with oil — a practice which seems connected with the sacrament of Extreme Unction — compare that sacrament with our 15 Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. 136. Similar " woes " are uttered by Mose3 (De Morte Mosis, Gfoerer, p. 330). Cf. the series of "blesseds" in the Falling Asleep of Mary ( Copt. Apoc. Gosp., pp. 60-61 ) ; and the enumeration of the members of the body in the Apocalypse of Sedrach (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. ix, 179, ff xi.). 96 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Latin sermon. The priest anoints the eyes saying: "Per istam sanctam unctionem et suam piissimam misericor diam, indulgeat tibi Dominus quidquid per visum deli- quisti. Amen." Eepeating the same formula with only the necessary changes, he then anoints the ears, nostrils, mouth, hands, feet, and sometimes the loins.16 In the Latin homily it is the eyes, mouth,17 heart, hands and feet which are mentioned. 10 The rite of the Eastern Church is quite different, and not a propos at all, since it is not said that the body is anointed on the various members of the body for the sins of those members. The Coptic form, which is practically the same as that used in all the Eastern Orthodox Church, is as follows : " Deinde sacerdotes ungunt infirmum et singuli ex iis dicunt. Deus Pater, bone medice corporum et spirituum, qui misisti unigenitum tuum Filium Jesum Christum ad sanandas omnes infirmitates et ad liberandum a morte, sana servum tuum N. ab infirmitatibus corporis, et da ei vitam rectam, ut glori- ficet magnitudinem tuam et gratias agat gratiae tuae, ut perficiat voluntatem tuam. Propter gratiam Christi tui et intercessionem Dei Genitricis sanctissimae et orationes sanctorum, quia tu es fons salutis, et mittimus tibi sursum gloriam et honorem cum unigenito tuo Filio et Spiritu Sancto " (Denzinger, n, 497). These differences, however, support our theory, for in the Eastern Church the sacrament is only an anointing of the sick; the object being the restoration to health. It was never restricted to the dying as in the Western Church. See the article on Extreme Unction in the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia; or, for early references to its cele bration, that in the Catholic Encyclopedia. " Batiouchkof 's homily contains the words oriclos, a form, I have been unable to find, the nearest word being auricula (or oricula). It is undoubtedly, I think, a form of the root found in aures. The rest of the sentence refers plainly to the mouth. In the other ver sions the word is os, muft. We may suppose, therefore, that originally both the ears and mouth were mentioned, and that Batiouchkof's ver sion represents a telescoping of the two, probably due to the scribe's carelessness. Later scribes seeing the mistake changed the oriclos to os: thus all mention of the ears was dropped out. If the ears were found in the original homily, then, with the exception of the nostrils— counting the heart as equivalent to the loins, both repre- THE LATIN HOMILY 97 Summing up, we have in the sacrament and in the ser mon two well-defined ways of removing souls from their bodies, the anointing of the good, and the pricking of the evil: in each this means is applied to those members by which the soul was supposed to make its exit. The enumeration of the sins of the various members, more over, was not unknown in death-bed scenes. By the sac rament the good soul was freed from the sins of the indi vidual members, by the pricking the evil soul was punished for them. Unfortunately the origin of Extreme Unction is ob scure, and its relation to the Latin sermon is on that ac count one of conjecture. The hypothesis that the form of the sacrament was influenced by a separation scene such as that in the homily, is a priori untenable. On the other hand, it is possible that the author of the homily was influenced by the wording of the sacrament, though he did not think of the anointing of the good soul as a counterpart to the pricking in the case of the evil soul. I cannot, however, persuade myself that such is the case. A more natural hypothesis is that the homily and the sacrament represent parallel, though independ ent modifications of the early Coptic belief in the pleas ant or painful exit of the good or evil soul. The ex istence of a separate enumeration such as the " woes " of Joseph makes this hypothesis tenable. Or we may sup pose — an(i this seems to me the most probable hypothe sis — that the scene describing the evil soul's exit took on details from the sacrament because it was recognized senting the main part of the body in contradistinction to the limbs and head— the parts of the body anointed in the sacrament of Ex treme Unction, and those mentioned in the Latin homily are the same. The order, too, differs but little; in Batiouchkof 's homily the heart is mentioned before the hands and feet, while in the sacrament the anointing of the loins comes last. 98 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL that the anointing and the pricking were but parallel ways of removing souls. Either of these suppositions is contradicted by the orthodox Catholic view which sees the origin of Extreme Unction in the command of St. James.18 They are upheld, however, by the more gen erally accepted opinion that the sacrament of Extreme Unction was borrowed from the Gnostics.19 For, though I have been unable to find any Gnostic writing which states exactly this belief, we have traced it to Egypt, and we have seen, moreover, that the ideas about the soul at the time of its separation from the body were, in general, shared by Gnostics and orthodox Christians alike. 3. The Departure of the Good Soul The departure of the good soul, which is described only in Batiouchkof's homily, is very similar to the death-bed scenes in the lives of the Egyptian saints.20 The blessed "James, v, 14-15. 19 Kenan, L'tlgUse Chrttienne, p. 154; cf. St. Irenaeus, Contra Haereses, Liber I, c. xxi. P. G. 7, 663-7. With regard to the origin of Extreme Unction I can only raise questions without answering them. I may say, however, that its connection with the belief in oiling the good soul to effect its removal, is not at variance with the view that the anointing of the sick for their healing also entered into the sacrament, or for that matter, was the real origin of it. May not rather the addition of the other motive account for the limitation of the sacrament to the hour of death? The motive of the oiling for the removal of the soul did not enter into the sacrament in the Eastern Church, probably because its adher ents being familiar with both practices were able to keep them separate. In the Roman Church, however, where the idea of oiling the soul to remove it from its body was an importation, it was easily confused with the anointing for healing. See below, p. 110, n. 42. 20 See above, pp. 44 ff. THE LATIN HOMILY 99 pauper,21 lying on his bed, hears the voices of angels who come and stand round him. Then, as in ttie case of the unrighteous man, the soul comes to the mouth and ad dresses its body.22 When this speech is finished, — " Tunc exiens anima et occurrens angelus Michael tangebat eam, quia nemini fecerat lesionem. Tunc levaverunt eam super alas suas splendidissimas et decantabant canticum spiritalem duo miti ore 23 simul." The coming of the angels and Michael is so much of a common-place in the accounts of the deaths of the good that it calls for no special comment. The two angels who sang probably preceded those car rying the soul. Thus in the Life of Pachomius, where three angels come for the soul, two of them carry it while the third goes before singing in a heavenly voice. Likewise in the Falling Asleep of Mary while Peter and John carry the Virgin's body to the tomb, the rest of the apostles lead the way singing.24 This distinction between the angels who sing and those who carry the soul, or body, is not specified in any other versions that I know. The singing of the angels, however, was a regular accompani ment of the good soul's journey to heaven. The carrying of the soul on the wings of the angels is also paralleled in the Coptic texts. In the Falling Asleep of Mary Jesus took the soul of Mary and "gave it to 21 M. Batiouchkof (pp. 52-3) thinks that in the contrast between the evil rich man and the good pauper there may be seen an in fluence of the Lazarus story. It may well be so. 22 " Illic anima domini venit ad ostium corporis sui." Batiouchkof (p. 6) translates: "Elle sort par la bouche, puis se tourne vers le corps." The mistake is rather grave, because it identifies the homily with another, separate tradition. See below, p. 112. 23 MS.: ... re. Batiouchkof guesses, I think rightly, ore. 24 See above, p. 80. Cf. also Copt. Apoc. Gosp., pp. 61, 79, 112-3, and Appendix C, pp. 164 ff. 100 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Michael the holy archangel, who bare it on his wings of light." 25 M. Amelineau has pointed out to me in this feature a possible point of contact with the beliefs of Ancient Egypt. The abode of the blessed lay across a great lake which the soul crossed on the wings of the ibis Thot.26 In the Latin. homily the evil soul is also repre sented as being carried on the wings of the demons, probably from analogy with the good soul. In the story of the departure of the good soul, how ever, the Egyptian influences are dying out. Thus, the soul is no longer represented as loath to quit the body. Instead, it is said to have waited anxiously for death, to have longed for the time when it should be free from the flesh — the spirit which is so prominent in the tales of the martyrs. The account is somewhat confused, too, for though it is Michael who takes (tangebat) the soul, the angels bear it away on their wings.27 i. The Tour of the Universe While the good, or evil, soul is being borne to heaven or to hell on the wings of light or of darkness, it sees a brightness coming from afar. Each asks what this bright ness is, and is told that it is the light of that fair coun try whence it set out when a child. The evil soul can- °*Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. 60. 28 The references to the soul's being carried on the wings of Thot occur most frequently in the Pyramid Texts. Cf. Maspero's trans lations in the Recueil de Travauw Relatifs a la Philologie et A V ArcMologie tlgyptiennes et Assyriennes: Ounas, vol. rv, p. 58, §vm; Teti, vol. v, p. 22, §i; I Pepi, vol. v, p. 195, §xvm, vol. vn, p. 160, §i, and p. 171, §xvi; I Mirinri, vol. xi, p. 29, ~§v. 27 M. Batiouchkof 's translation (p. 6) is again misleading; " l'archange Saint Michel est venu prendre l'ame et l'emporte sur ses ailes etincelantes, et lui chante des cantiques." THE LATIN HOMILY 101 not now remain there on account of its sins; the good soul has won again that fair home through its goodness and long-suffering.28 Here we have clearly a remnant of the belief in the soul's tour of the universe. The reason for the tour, too, is the same as in the more definite expressions of the belief. The evil soul is to be made to realize its wickedness, and the good soul its righteousness.29 On the other hand, this passage shows clear signs of moving away from the earlier beliefs. The souls do not pass through earth or hell on their way to heaven, nor is there any judgment when the tour is ended. More im portant is the inference that this tour was no longer felt as a natural or usual event in the journey toward heaven, since the author takes pains to introduce it by the device of the soul's seeing the light, and asking what it is. ""Dumque esset in itinere anima ilia, vidit magnam claritatem et dicit: "Ubi est ista claritas?" Besponderunt demones: "Nonne cognoscis patriam tuam unde existi quando fuisti in peregrinatione ? . . . Modo transis per priuitam patriam tuam et non ibi requiescis nee ullam istorum bonorum presentium leticiam consequeris. Modo audis choros angelorum, modo audis claritatem sanctorum et non ibi habitas, sicut et nos non facimus qui de paradiso eiecti sumus in perdictione[m], et tu eris nobiscum in sempiternum." . . Que cum sic ab angelis deportaretur vidit a longe magnam clari tatem et dixit : " Que est ista claritas ?" Tunc responderunt angeli : " Cognosce dulcissimam patriam tuam, unde sine macula existi et verum sine macula ad illam reverteris. Modo audis canticum ange lorum, modo vides gloriam sanctorum, modo sentis meritum tuorum suavitatem." 28 In two points the Spurious Homily of Macarius is more closely related to Batiouchkof's homily than are the other statements of the soul's tour of the world. The pagan soul sees the light coming from afar, but does not, as in our homily, pass through heaven. And the evil Christian soul laments at the sight of the joys of Paradise. M. Batiouchkof (p. 17) who counted the Sp. Homily of Macarius one of the sources of the Latin homily, noted these re semblances. I do not, however, think them sufficiently important to indicate dependence. 8 102 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL 5. The Mouth of Hell After the sight of Paradise the good soul is led into a place of rest: but hell-mouth yawns wide for the evil soul. Erat ibi diabolus preparatus in similitudine draconis. Aperien3 autem fauces suas strictissimas et degluciens, eam evomuit in calidis- simum ignem ubi cum sibi consimilibus venturum exspectaret judicium. The picture of the mouth of the dragon which forms the entrance to hell is, of course, very common in the Middle Ages. But it may be pointed out that a very similar conception is found in Christian Egypt In the Pistis Sophia Jesus tells Mary the outer dark ness is a huge dragon whose tail is in its mouth. It lies outside the world and surrounds it completely. It is composed of twelve compartments, each having a door at the top. Only the souls of the very sinful enter by these doors, however; others enter by a hole in the tail, and when they are all in, the dragon puts its tail back in its mouth and shuts them in.30 This is undoubtedly a survival of an Ancient Egyptian belief,31 and it seems very probable that it has something to do with the mediaeval pictures of the mouth of hell. The greatest dif- 30 Pp. 319-323. Tr. Amelineau, pp. 166-7. One may find here an analogue for the unsavory description in the Prologue to the Summoner's Tale in the Canterbury Tales. 81 Cf. Schmidt, Gnos. Schriften, pp. 414-5. The figure of the dragon who chews his tail is identified with Mercury in the Theatrum Chemicum, in, 29, 36, etc. Cf. Skeat's note, Oxford Chaucer v 433 1. 1438. THE LATIN HOMILY 103 ference lies in the fact that in the mediteval representa tions the souls enter through the mouth of the animal. Yet Egypt furnishes a parallel for this also in the wide- throated monster which stands by the scales when the soul is being judged, ready to devour it if the pans are not even.32 A further question might be raised whether in the Latin homily the jaws of the dragon represent the actual entrance to hell, or whether the dragon, standing at the entrance to hell, receives the souls and then spews them into hell itself. This conception, however, is not so widespread as the other and seems to be only a variation of it, having more to do with the Egyptian "eater of souls" than with the hell in the shape of a dragon.33 In conclusion, it should be noted that the Latin ver min the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (Kautzsch, Die Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten Testaments, n, 446 ff.) there is a dragon which is hell, or which surrounds hell: the text is obscure. In Brandes' Third and Fburth Redactions of the Viso Pauli there are dragons which consume certain classes of evil-doers ( pp. 45, 65 ) . The figure of " earth opening her mouth " as the entrance to the other world is found in Numbers, XVI, 30, and Deut., xi, 6. Isaiah, v, 14 says " hell hath opened her mouth." These verses may indicate some original primitive conception of hell as » dragon or some other animal, among the Hebrews. Becker (Med. Visions, p. 16) counts the wide throated monster and the scales of justice as two of the features of the Egyptian underworld which can be traced in the mediaeval visions. He is of the opinion, however, that they came through the Greek. ',s The nearest parallel to this conception which I have found occurs in the 12th century Vision of Alberic: Wright, St. Patrick's Purgatory, pp. 119-120. Compare the homily on Soul's Ward, in Old English Homilies. First Ser. (EETS., 34), p. 251. In the Inferno (Canto xxxiv, 28-25) the devil is seen crunching sinners with his teeth. Compare also the Fis Adamndin ch. 20, Boswell, An Irish Precursor of Dante, pp. 38, 195-6 and note. 104 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL sions in identifying the dragon with the devil34 betray a tendency to homiletical amplification which is not found in the Old English Sermons. 6. The Speech of the Soul to its Body The speech of the soul to its body has been postponed to the end because, though an outgrowth of the Egyptian traditions, it does not mirror them directly. Again, the speech, as a type, can be best understood when the Egyp tian character of its setting is clear. In considering the speech I first quote the texts which illustrate the primitive types, in the order of their apparent development, and afterwards draw such deductions as seem possible. I. Two speeches in the Necrosima, or Euneral Songs, of Ephraem Syrus. Both were pointed out by Batiouch kof.35 The first is very brief and contains a reply of the body: Vale, fidissime comes, dicet, nos separat mors, tu hie manebis, ego discedam: cui corpus: omnia tibi, mihi carissime, preeor bona, ineolumitatem, salutem, reditum; qui autem nos ambos condidit, cavebit nobis utique, ne in tartarum devolvamur.'6 The second is part of a longer speech of the soul : Vale igitur corpus, tectum ad paucos dies mihi concessum, spero me tibi in communi mortuorum restitutione deterso moerore red- dendam. . . . Quam amarus est iste calix, Anima dicet, quem mihi miscuit inimica Mors, quamque horribile est momentum, et funesta hora, quae me modo ad judicium aceersit. Vale corpus carum mihi domicilium, quod habere lieuit, quandiu id Domino libuit." 34 Rev. xii, 9, is obviously responsible for this identification. 35 Romania, 20, p. 11, n. 2. MEd. Assemani, Syri-Lat. m, 325, Canon ux. Cf. Appendix B. 87 Syri-Lat. ra, 355, Canon :lxxxi. THE LATIN HOMILY 105 These two speeches are supposed to represent the feel ings of the dying soul, whether good or evil. II. Histoire de Marc le Salutaire (Coptic J.38 Mark, when about to die, predicts that it is the day on which he will repose in the "domicile of the pure." Then a bright light fills the grotto which exhales an agreeable incense. Mark recognizes that the arrival of Michael and Gabriel is betokened thereby. He leaves the grotto, but returns saying: Reste en paix, 6 temple qui m'as couvert dans cette solitude; car ce corps, qui s'est cache en toi pendant sa vie, va quitter les peines du monde. Et toi, mon corps, maison de maladie et habitation de douleur, reste dans la paix du Messie pour lequel tu as endurS la faim, la soif et la nudite; il te revStira de glorie au jour de son arrivee. Reste en paix, 6 solitaire qui n'as pas eu de compagnon: repose en paix, 6 domicile de mon ame. Reposez en paix, 6 mes deux yeux, auxquels, j'ai fait gouter les veilles de la nuit; reposez en paix, 6 mes deux mains, qui vous gtes fatiguees a cultiver la vigne du Messie. Repose en paix, 6 mon corps, car tu t'es attire1 benediction en restant debout pour la priere. A voice from heaven is then heard demanding the "per fect Christian," but Mark turns again for a last bene diction : Reste en paix desormais, mon frere Serapion! reste en paix, 8 mon corps, et que tous les habitants de la terre demeurent en paix. Que la paix, la charitg, la tranquillity regnent dans la sainte isglise de Dieu! Mark continues instructions to Serapion about the care of his body. Shortly after Serapion sees the angels carry Mark's soul re-clothed in a white garment, and hears the angels drive away the "Satans" who are all ready for battle.39 The "Satans" acknowledge themselves con- 58 Contes et Romans, II, 70 f . " See above, p. 64. 106 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL founded. Serapion then sees toward the right something like fire, and afterwards, nothing more. III. The speech of the good soul in Batiouchkof's homily : Ecce iam nos separabimur, ecce iam derelinquemus mundum! ecce iam toilet nos dominus et pater noster de magna paupertate habita! Patientes expectasti horam istain in qua luctus et fames et sitis et frigidus finirentur. Quando tu eras esuriens et siciens, ego repleta cibo et leticia; quando tu eras gracilis et pallidus, ego illaris et leta. Modo gracias ago domino meo quia per te evado tormenta sevissima. Modo tu requiesce modicum tempus in pulvere et ego in requie, donee simul in gloria resurgemus. IV. The speech of the evil soul in Batiouchkof's homily : Heu me, heu me, quare unquam in corpore illud tenebrosum et pessimum ingredi merui! — Ve tibi, misera anima, quare pecunias et alienas facultates et substantias pauperum tulisti et congregasti in domo tua! Tunc bibebas vinum et nimis decorasti carnes tuas illustrissimis vestibus et pulcherrimis. — Tu eras fecunda, o caro, et ego maculenta; tu eras virens et ego pallida; tu eras hillaris et ego tristis; tu ridebas et ego semper plorabam. Modo eris esca verm- ium et putredo pulveris, et requiesces modicum tempus, et me dedux- isti cum fletu ad inferos. The process of development which can be traced through these speeches is clear. Eirst, there is a mere farewell 40 which the soul speaks to its body.41 Under the 10 M. Batiouchkof recognized the embryonic character of Ephraem's speeches, but did not know how to connect them with the legend of the speech of the soul to its body (p. 11, n. 2). "In the Visio Pauli (see above, p. 27, n. 18) the farewell of the soul is hinted at in the speeches of the angels to the souls, telling them to look well at their bodies, for they must return to them at the last day. M. Batiouchkof (pp. 36-7) quotes from some Russian popu lar poems, in which scenes very similar to those in the Visio Pauli introduce actual farewells on the part of the soul: as for example in the following poem. "Sur la^mer Weue, la mer de Khvolyne, couraient, naviguaient des navires; dans ces navires residaient des THE LATIN HOMILY 107 influence of ascetic ideas this simple farewell becomes an expression of gratitude to the body for having helped anges. Quand ils abordent, a leur rencontre vient Jesus-Christ qui leur demande : ' D'ou venez-vous, mes anges ? qu'avez-vous vu ?' Les anges repondent: 'Nous avons vu, nous avons entendu maintes choses. Nous avons assists a la separation d'une ame et d'un corps. Quand l'ame se fut separee elle s'eliogna, puis revint aupres de son corps blanc pous en prendre congg: Adieu, lui dit-elle, 6 mon corps blanc! adieu, toi, qui fus mon pechg! Tu vas gtre enfoui en terre, et les vers, 6 corps, vont te ronger. Les os seront ensevelis, et moi je devrai ' comparaitre devant le Christ et faire penitence.' " — Other Russian songs containing the soul's farewell to its body, begin with poetic comparisons, " the soul which abandons its body is like to the setting sun," then follows its speech to the body. "Another song commences with a comparison of man with a flower in its blowing; its duration is short, for death intervenes, and the soul is separated from its body as a little bird from its nest. It flies away into unknown countries and abandons all that was dear to it. It is right that it take leave of its first dwelling place, and it is then that it speaks to it." " The life of man," says yet another song, " is like a blade of grass, and its glory resembles a flower. Yesterday he was full of force and vigour; today he lies in a coffin. They wash his body with water, and the soul makes its adieux." These citations are significant: they confirm our point that the primitive type of the soul's speech was a farewell: they show also how the Egyptian ideas in the Visio Pauli might develop into a speech. In addition, they seem to indicate that the farewell speech became something of a commonplace, thereby increasing the possibilities that Ephraem's speeches are mere borrowings, and suggesting that we should not look for definite literary relations between the early speeches. — Mohammedan tradition also contains a suggestion of the soul's farewell. When a man is about to die, the eyes say " good-bye " to each other, and so do the ears, hands and feet. At last the soul says " good-bye " to its body and goes away. Wolff, Muham. Eschat. pp. 32-3.— One might note, also, a tradition of the Bretons, registered by M. Le Braz, as an equivalent of the farewell of the body which has survived almost to the present day. The soul holds converse with its instruments of labour, and its animals, asking each one " is it good? is it evil that I have done with you?" (La Legende de la Mort en Basse-Bretagne, p. 135, note). This scene should be compared with the farewell of Mark, as strengthening my point about the series of farewells. 108 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL it to eternal life, as in the Histoire de Marc. The speech of the good soul in Batiouchkof's homily marks a slight advance: it retains the character of a farewell speech of gratitude, but there is the added thought that the aid which the body gave the soul was at the expense of the body's own desires. If the idea of this speech be extended to include the evil soul, the result is the speech of the evil soul in Batiouchkof's homily. It could not be repre sented as saying a friendly farewell to its body, so grati tude is converted into recrimination, and blessing into malediction. It is clear, too, that the speech of the soul to the body is but an outgrowth of the Egyptian traditions we have been studying. They furnish the fundamental concep tions for Ephraem's Songs, though they are stated con fusedly. In the Histoire de Marc I summarized the scenes immediately preceding and following the speech, in order to show how fundamentally it is a part of the Egyptian scenes of the separation of soul and body. And, though the speeches in Batiouchkof's homily represent ad vanced stages in the development of the speech as a type, they, too, appear only as further expansions of the Egyp tian motives and conceptions. If, however, the concept of the speech is to be con sidered an outgrowth of the Egyptian separation scenes, how does it happen that we find the most primitive type of the speech in the Songs of Ephraem Syrus? Did the speech originate in Syria, and travel thence to Egypt? The process involved in this conjecture is entirely unnat ural: if the speech is a development of the Egyptian conceptions, it is much more probable to suppose that this development took place on Egyptian soil. Ephraem may very easily have borrowed the idea of speech, just as he seems to have borrowed the conceptions on which THE LATIN HOMILY 109 the speech rests. But it is hardly possible that an ob scure Coptic biographer borrowed a motive from Syria, in expressing native traditions or, as it seems in this case, actual beliefs. Moreover, the inclusion of the fare well to the body in a series of farewells, as in the His toire de Marc, is best explained as a survival of a primi tive feature. But whatever may have been the original home of the speech, the farewell of Mark is so close to the speech of the good soul in Batiouchkof's homily as to leave no doubt that the speech in the latter came from Egypt. It shows, as I have said, but slight advance beyond Mark's speech. In each, moreover, the speech is made after the angels have come to take away the soul. In this detail Mark's speech helps to explain the speeches in Batiouchkof's homily. There, the speech has come to be so much of a literary device as to seem unnatural. One wonders why the angels, and more especially the demons, were willing to wait while the soul praised or blamed its body. In the Histoire de Marc, however, the series of farewells is but a natural expression of the sorrow of parting, while the angels who wait for the soul which delays are to be connected with the old idea of persuading the good soul to leave its body. In concluding this detailed examination of Batiouch kof's homily, it must be acknowledged that, although the homily is now seen to depend in almost every detail upon Egyptian tradition, yet there is no evidence which will enable us to decide absolutely whether it was composed in Egypt or in Eome. Egyptian ideas, as has already been stated, were known also in Kome, and this homily might have been composed on either side of the Mediter ranean. On the other hand, the presence in Egypt of a 110 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL type of speech so nearly resembling the speech of the homily, and the exclusion of all ideas, or conceptions not Egyptian, tend to indicate that the Latin homily itself was written in Egypt.42 7. The Four Versions If, now, we compare the four sermons, regarding them as variant versions of the lost Latin homily, we may draw some general conclusions from their differences. The speech of the good soul disappeared very early in the Western versions of the legend, for it is found only in the most primitive of the four homilies. If we take Batiouchkof's homily as the norm, Sermo 69 will be found to differ from it very slightly. It shows a tendency to homiletical expansion, however, in the insertion of details or modifying phrases and adjec tives, as for example, in the introductory sentence of the soul's speech. In Batiouchkof's homily it reads: "Heu me, heu me, quare unquam in corpore illud tene- brosum et pessimum ingredi merui ! " In Sermo 69 we have three sentences : "Heu mihi ! quare unquam nata fui aut creata ? Vae mihi ! quare unquam in hoc corpus intravi ? Vae mihi, quod unquam in isto pessimo car- cere carnis exstiti ! " The nature of this amplification which the homily received, will become more evident if we compare the two Latin homilies with the Old English ser- 42 The only evidence that would seem to indicate that the homily was written in Rome is the similarity between its separation scene and the Latin form of the sacrament of Extreme Unction. The question of that relationship, however, and the whole question of the origin of Extreme Unction are so confused as to leave the matter unsettled. THE LATIN HOMILY 111 mons when they seem to be following the original text. Thus, in the passage stating the tour of the world, the Old English homilies repeat the Egyptian tradition with out amplification, agreeing moreover with the correspon ding passage about the good soul in Batiouchkof's homily. When the soul asks what is the brightness it sees, the devils answer: " Ne ongytst f>u ^aet hit is heofona rices gefea, f>anon pu waere ut-gangende pa pu on f>inne lichoman in-eodest ? " 43 The two Latin homilies here interpolate several sentences describing the soul's life on earth, and its lost opportunities for renouncing the demons : Non agnoscis patriam unde exivisti, quando in hanc peregrina- tionem venisti? Tu quondam renuntiasti pompis nostris, et per Bap- tismum ac signum crucis nos expulisti. Audisti Prophetas et Apostolos, audisti etiam sacerdotes et curatos tuos, qui non cessa- bant tibi viam vitae praedicare, et nomen Salvatoris tui laudare: cor autem tuum a doctrina eorum longe erat.44 In some cases, too, Sermo 69 is guilty of actual misin terpretation of the original, as in the sentence following the paragraph just quoted. Sermo 69 reads : " Modo transis juxta patriam illam," whereas the other versions repeat the Egyptian conception exactly, using the prepo sitions, per and purh. On the whole, however, the tendency of Sermo 69, — and of Batiouchkof's homily, in so far as it can be safely differentiated from the Latin original, — is to confuse through expansion rather than actually to misinterpret the Egyptian concep tions it is stating. The Old English homilies, on the other hand, though not at all expanding the original, exhibit obvious instances of mistranslation through unfamiliarity with the concep- 43 Thorpe, p. 398. "Sermo 69; P. L., 40, 1356. 112 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL tions expressed. The pricking of the soul, thus, appears only as punishment, not as a manner of separating soul from body. And again, where the Latin versions state that the demons carry off the soul on their wings, Napier's homily omits the detail entirely, while Thorpe's homily reads senselessly : " And hi asettan of er hyre f>a sweartes- tan fySra." 45 Such details are, it is granted, unimportant in them selves, but they show a moving away from the Egyptian conceptions. A detailed comparison of the four sermons item by item would only lead to the same conclusion. The Egyptian traditions tend to become confused in the Western writings, both through actual misinterpretation, and through the misplacement of emphasis, and conse quent expansion of the moralistic theme. Two minor differences of the Old English sermons should now be noted. In both the soul is said to be look ing at the devil when it begins it's first speech, and in Thorpe's homily after the soul has uttered the first few preliminary plaints, it is said that " it then looked on its body," after which follows the speech addressed to the body. This division of the speech into the general self- commiseration, and the actual censure of the body, is pre served in all four versions. One is tempted to conjec ture, therefore, that the lines dividing the two parts is an original trait preserved only in Thorpe's homily. It may have another meaning, however: in many later ver sions the soul is said to be out of the body when it be gins to speak, as would be necessary of it were to " look on the body." The statement that the soul looks on the devils and then on the body may be an early instance of this later conception. Again, both interpretations may 45 P. 398. THE LATIN HOMILY 113 be right : Thorpe's homily may be retaining a relic of the original homily, while the turning from the devils to the body may be responsible for the fact that in the later versions the soul was pictured as out of the body and turning from the demons to the body. This implication of the original homily would, however, be inconsistent with the preceding statement, that the soul was afraid to go out of its body, and the following statement that it was removed from the body by tridents. Finally, we should notice another instance — though un important — in which the Old English homilies seem to preserve the reading of the lost original. In each the soul becomes vari-coloured when its speech is done; this trait is paralleled exactly in the description of the good soul in Batiouchkof's homily, which, when it has finished speaking, flushes, though before it was the colour of ashes. VII THE " VISIO FULBERTI " AND THE " SAMEDI " In the Latin Visio Fulberti and the Old French Samedi we are dealing with the two most important versions of the Body and Soul legend. The Egyptian beliefs em bodied in these versions can be studied more exactly and definitely inasmuch as both of them not only belong to the same " debate " type, but seem to spring from a common source, and are, moreover, of ap proximately the same date. They represent, it is fairly well established, a development of the speech of the soul to its body in the Latin homily.1 The good soul has entirely disappeared and the speech of the evil soul has been expanded into a debate between the soul and the body on the subject of their relative culpability. With these speeches we have no concern in the present chapter, because we are primarily interested in the Egyptian sources of the legend, and the speeches of the soul and body are not pertinent. In the settings of the debates, however, we shall try to trace any remnants of the Egyptian beliefs, and to show the modifications they have undergone. For the sake of tracing the further development of the Egyptian beliefs, I shall interrupt my discussion of the Visio Fulberti and the Samedi to the extent of appending to my examination of the Visio Fulberti a short account of the subsequent departures from the Egyptian motives 1 Romania, 20, 513 ff. See my article already referred to. 114 THE DEBATES 115 in the Middle English Desputisoun bitwen pe Bodi and pe Soule2 in which the Egyptian influences are too slight to warrant separate treatment. The Desputisoun, being directly dependent on the Visio Fulberti, offers excep tionally good opportunities for noting the successive stages of development. 1. The " Visio Fulberti " At the very outset we notice an important change in the legend — a step away from the primitive conceptions of the separation of the soul and body. The vision is not of a man about to die, but of a corpse on a bier; the soul has already departed from the body and is seen standing near when it begins to utter its complaints and reproaches. This change is necessitated by the fact of the debate. The soul may very well curse the body when standing at the mouth about to take its leave, but in such a case we can hardly conceive of the body as answering. In the homily, the demons were waiting at the death bed while the soul delayed and cursed its body; in the debates, they enter only when the soul and body have finished speaking. In the Latin debate the scene is described as follows: Ecce duo Daemones, pice nigriores, 67 Ferreos in manibus stimulos gerentes, ignemque sulphureum per os emittentes, similes ligonibus apparebant dentes, visi sunt ex naribus exire serpentes. 68 Erant eis oculi ut pelves ardentes; 2 Edited by Linow, Erlanger Beitrage zur englischen Philologie, l, 1890. 116 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL aures erant patulae sanie fluentes, et erant in frontibus cornua ferentes, per extrema eornuum venenum fundentes, 69 Isti cum furcinulis animam carpserunt, quam secum ad inferos gementem traxerunt;3 These two demons who come for the soul clearly corre spond to the old cruel servants of God. The description of them is much like that of the angels without pity in the Visio Pauli,4 or in the Apocalypse of Elias.5 We should notice, too, that in the Vision of Pachomius and in the Visio Pauli there are two angels without pity who come for the evil soul.6 In the Vitae Patrum story a single tartaricus takes the evil soul but the two angels, Michael and Gabriel, come for the good soul.7 These demons carry in their hands the forks with which the souls were separated from their bodies — as in the homily — and with these forks they take the soul. Since, however, the soul is already out of the body, the angels can only take up the soul (from the bed ?), and carry it away on their forks, the original use of the instruments being for gotten.8 3 Ed. du Meril, pp. 227-8. In referring to the Visio I have used Du Meril's edition, because it is more accessible than Brandes'. 4 See above, p. 41. Compare especially the shining of the eyes, the size of the teeth, and the fire coming from the mouth. B See above, p. 40. e See above, pp. 25, 83. ' See above, pp. 20, 26. 8 It is a great temptation to see in this sentence a reference to the physical separation of the soul and body, and therefore a con fusion of tradition with the early part of the vision. It is not improbable since the original motive appears so plainly in the homily. The word carpere points the same way. Its root meaning is to " pick," or " pluck," as a flower or fruit; it is used of picking wool, and also has the meaning to " tear away " : one wishes to read into this sentence here the idea that there remained a natural connection between the soul and body which had to be broken by the demons. This sense of the word can not be pressed, however, for the figurative meaning, to "seize upon," is well established. THE DEBATES 117 In the lines just following those quoted the Latin debate again differs from the homily. Instead of the soul's visit to heaven, which in the Latin homily occupies the journey from earth to hell, there is the tradition of the perilous passage to the other world.9 Mox maligni spiritus passim aceurrerunt, qui vice tripudii dentibus striderunt, 70 Et ei cum talibus vocibus plauserunt. Quidam cum corrigiis ipsam perstrinxerunt ; quidam uncis ferreis ipsam diruperunt; quidam plumbum fervidum in ipsam fuderunt; 71 Quidam foetidum stercus in os projecerunt,10 et quidam in faciem ejus comminxerunt ; quidam suis dentibus ipsam corroserunt et tandem a corpore pellem extraxeruntu Here we have a very interesting variation of the Egyptian theme. The original character of the messengers who take the souls of the wicked, the cruel servants of God, has been lost ; they are demons who take the soul and carry it to hell. Hence there is no occasion for the challenge of the soul's good deeds, or for a dispute between the dempns who come to meet the soul and those who are con ducting it. The scene therefore is reduced to one of tor ture on the way to hell. Nevertheless the distinction between those who carry the soul, and those who come to meet it, is retained just as in the similar scene in the Eloge de Pisentios.12 The references to the face, mouth, 9 1 did not know of this tradition at the time I wrote my article on Sermo 69, and therefore made the mistake of assigning this torture to the demons in hell. 10 It may not be entirely fanciful to call to mind, in connection with this line, the fear of the Egyptians that if the ka were not supplied with food it would have to feed on offal. For the connec tion between the ka and the soul see below, pp. 126-7. 11 Ed. du Meril, p. 228. "See above, pp. 65-6. 9 118 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL eyes, etc., may be reminiscences of the pricking of the various members in the Latin homily, or they may con ceivably be connected with the various stages of the way to the other world where the soul was confronted by spirits demanding whether it had sinned by the mouth, the ears, etc. The hook (uncus) with which the soul is tortured reminds us of the hooks on which the soul was caught in more primitive versions.13 The rest of the scene in the Latin poem, finds no note worthy parallel in the Egyptian beliefs. 2. The Middle English Debate The Middle English debate loses the interesting dis tinction of the Visio Fulberti between the two demons who come for the soul and the many who torture it on the way to hell. The soul in its last speech says that it hears the hell-hounds coming to fetch it to hell : 60 Hadde he no raper pio word yseyd, It wist neuer whider to go, It was yhent in a, brayd Wip a >ousand fendes and iete mo. And when >ai hadde on him ylayd Her scharpe hokes al po, It was in sori playd, Ytoiled bojje to and fro 14 Then follows a description of the tortures to which they 13 See above, pp. 25 f. The uncus, I have read somewhere, was one of the weapons used to torture the early Christians. One of its forms was that of a spear, or rod, with three curved hooks. This was the instrument regularly put in the hands of the devil in mediaeval manuscript illustrations. 'Usually he is seen pulling people into Hell-mouth with this uncus or is standing over a death-bed reaching out toward the dying man with it. u Auchinleck ms. THE DEBATES H9 subject it, following the outlines of the Latin poem. Two points which differ from the Latin, however, deserve attention. 64 Worpliehe wede for to were pai seyd pat he loued best; An heui brini" for to bere Al glowend on him bai kest, Wib hot claspes for to spere, pat fast sat to bae and brest, And hiled al his oper gere; A stede him com al so prest. 66 In pe sadel he was yslong, As he schuld te pe turnament; A pousand fendes on him dong, And al to peces him torent; 67 And when he hadde riden pat foule rode In pe sadel per he was sett, pai slong him doun als a tode, and helle houndes to him lett, and breyd of him pe peces brode, Wei dolefulliche he was ygret; pere pe foule fendes glode, of blod men mijt folwe pe tred. They bid him hunt and blow ; " he schuld sone blowe the priis." Then a hundred fiends in a row drive him to hell. These two traits, the coat which the devils put on the soul, and the horse on which he rides a part of the way to hell, may be original with the author of this poem: that is to say, they may have suggested themselves to him as ways in which to make sport of the soul by parodying its lot on earth. Or we may suppose that the suggestion for them came from some other ideas about the soul, with a Laud ms., A develes cope. 120 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL which he was familiar. In any case, his treatment of the motives is original so far as I know. For the motives themselves, however, he may have received suggestions. The question of the soul's coat I shall discuss later in connection with the Irish homily. With regard to the second motive, we should notice that in the vision of Pachomius, and in the Pisentios story, the evil soul is taken to hell by a black horse; in the former it is tied behind the horse,16 and in the latter under it.17 In the Arabic Vie de Pakhome spiritual horses or barks are said to come for the good soul.18 And in the Pistis Sophia the worst sinners are said to be carried over the earth for three days by demons which have the faces of horses.19 It is impossible to account for this resemblance — if it be a real borrowing, and not a mere coincidence — except by supposing that some idea of the soul's being taken to the other-world on a horse was well known among the Copts, and entered into Roman conceptions along with the other beliefs as to the soul and body. I do not know, however, of any earlier Eoman versions in which this motive occurs.20 It may, again, be suggested in the black horse the demons sometimes ride when they come to take soul,21 or in the black horse Death rides.22 16 P. 127. "See above, p. 65. ^8 P. 464. » See above, p. 37. 20 In Etruscan tombs picturing the journey to the other world, the soul is frequently represented as a man or boy on horseback. In no case, however, is it the distinctly evil soul that is thus shown, instead the horse is supposed to denote rank: Dennis, Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, 3rd ed. i, 36, 324, 344, 413; u, 181, 455. A description of a black horse and its rider— similar to that in the Middle English debate, but without specific connection with the way to the other world, is found in the Vision of Thurchill, Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, Rolls Series, n, 502. 21 See above, p. 27. 22 Compare the illumination in a prayer-book, MS. Egerton 2019, fol. 142, (second half xv a), reproduced in facsimile in The Prymer" THE DEBATES 121 3. The "Samedi" In the Old French debate, as in the Visio Fulberti, the chief interest, from the standpoint of the Egyptian origin, is concentrated in the devil scene. Here, however, the scene is confused. Cele ame s'escrioit, 1030 Forment se desmentoit. "Aha, ce estes uous, Deables mieruillous Et mout fiers et hisdeus, Eauissables com leus!" 1035 L'ame mout s'escrioit; Diables li disoit: "Ame, uien a nous cha! Mal garans te sera Icil tiens cors pullens, 1040 A cui tiens parlemens. Or se repentiroient, Se faire le pooient. Tart est lor repentance, Trop poisent en balance. 1045 Pour ce sont il dampne Et en inner liure. Issies, diable, fors Et si prennes le cors!" L'ame estoit entre II. 1050 Come aigniaus entre leus, Noire et descoulouree ** Et forment triboulee. Li felon l'em portoient, De rien ne l'espargnoient, 1055 Depiechent li le dos Et le uentre a lor cros. Ele crioit forment Et angousseusement.24 or Lay Folks' Prayer Book, ed. H. Littlehales, SETS., 105, facing P'»rn the Pachomius vision the evil soul is said to be "dark and quite black." See above, p. 25. " B-text. 122 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Are we to understand a distinction between the hideous devils who take the soul, and the two who torture it as they carry it to hell ? The scene then would correspond to the scene in the Latin homily, and we should have to suppose a rather clear distinction between the two tradi tions in the source of the Latin and Old French debates. In the P-text of the Samedi, a single devil comes for the soul. After seizing it he makes a speech for the most part merely rehearsing the soul's sins, and omitting the com mand to take the soul. At the end of the speech, it is stated, just as in the text quoted, that the soul was. be tween two demons like a lamb among wolves. Does this difference between the single demon and the two demons confirm the possibility of the distinction between those who take the soul and those who torture it on the way to hell ? Or should we think of the two demons as identical with those mentioned before, and as parallel to the two demons in the Latin debate? It seems to me probable that in the source of the two debates the scene with the demons was described essentially as in the Latin version : two demons come for the soul and carry it off to hell, on the way other demons come to meet them, and accompany them to hell, reviling and torturing the soul. Probably, since the source of the Latin debate would be more primi tive, the distinction between the two classes of demons was more clearly drawn. Then, we must grant that the author of the Old French debate was unfamiliar with the dis tinction, and for that reason failed to make it clear. Otherwise, an originally clear reading has become eon- fused in the manuscripts. In one other point we may define the source of the two debates. In the Old French version the demons prick the back' and stomach of the soul while on the way to hell; we may suppose therefore that already in the source of' the THE DEBATES 123 Latin and Old French debates the pricking of the body to remove the soul, had become a part of the soul's punish ment on the way to hell. To this change in the legend, then, is due the mention of the members in the Latin enumeration of tortures. 4. The Eelation of the Debates to the Homily Thus, our discussion of the Visio Fulberti and the Samedi enables us to define more clearly the debate source of the two poems, and through it we approach more nearly the primitive Egyptian conceptions of the separation of soul and body. Do we at the same time get nearer to the Latin homily which has been proposed as the source of the first debate ? As to the relations of the speeches in the debates to Sermo 69 — the homiletical version closest to the debates — I have nothing to add to my former state ments.25 In the settings, however, we now find the debates differing from the homily in several important particulars. The debates follow the belief in the dan gerous route to the other-world, while the homilies state the belief in the tour of the universe. Again, the debates clearly echo the Egyptian tradition of the two angels who take the soul, though the homilies merely say that there were a number of demons. The fact that these angels are described in the Latin debate when no description of them occurs in the homilies, is of less importance. For, though this description is very like the Egyptian descrip tions of the cruel angels, it was after all a conventional way of picturing demons. The change in postponing the entrance of the demons after the debate is also unimpor tant; it seems to be a result of the debate form. The xJoum. Eng. and Ger. Phil., 8, 225 ff. 124 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL demons could hardly be expected to wait at the bedside while soul and body dispute at such length. The only points which offer serious difficulty, there fore, are the references to the two demons, and to the belief in the dangerous path to the other-world. As usual a number of possibilities suggest themselves. (1) We may suppose that both details were sufficiently well known in the Middle Ages for the author of the prototype of the Samedi and the Visio Fulberti to insert them though they were not in his homiletical source. (2) The reference to the dangerous way to heaven may have been introduced without source suggestion, but the number of two demons may have been retained in the original homily and in the exact form of the homily which served as the source. The first part of this hypothesis gains probability from the fact that verses 74-5 of the Visio may be interpreted as reminiscences of the tour of the world as it appears in the homilies. The second part, also, seems probable because of the reference to the two angels who sang in the description of the good soul in Batiouchkof's homily. (3). The Latin homily may not have been the source of the debate at all. In this case we should have to sup pose a source for the debate form which did contain a direct reference to the two demons, and the belief in the dangerous path to the other world. These three hypotheses are by no means exhaustive, though they seem to me to include those which are the most probable. Of them the second has the greatest appear ance of likelihood. For it is improbable that two such important primitive traits were restored by the author of the debate form, yet we cannot disregard a source which in so many other ways agrees with the debates. Moreover, the dangerous path to the other-world was a common mediaeval motive, as the references in my appendices will THE DEBATES 125 show. In conclusion, however, whether the Latin homily was or was not the actual source of the debate form, it shows an intermediate stage in the process of development from the Egyptian separation scenes to the debate between soul and body; and as such, it is of the greatest value. 5. The Description of the Soul The Old French debate is unique in that the figure and appearance of the soul are described : tote nue 10 S'en estoit 1'arme issue En guise d'un enfant Et faisoit duel molt grant. De petite figure Est cele creature 15 Et estoit la chaitiue Si verde comme chiue.26 This trait, as Batiouchkof has already remarked,27 must be set down as one of the popular elements in the Old French debate. But by this we must understand merely the description of it, for the conception itself is at the root of all the versions of the Body and Soul legend. The soul had the form, if not of an infant, at least of a human being ; we have already spoken of the soul's being tortured MP-text. The soul is probably represented as green because it had Ibeen avaricious. Cf. the description of Avarice in the Roman de la Rose. "Cele ymage, et megre et chetive, 200 Et aussi vert cum une cive." Skeat's Chaucer, I, 102. "P. 517-8. 126 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL in eyes, mouth and back on the way to hell ; and how else could it wear a robe, or ride a horse, as in the Middle English debate ? This conception was very popular dur ing the Middle Ages ; the soul is pictured very frequently in manuscript illuminations, and almost without excep tion, I think, it is represented under human form. Often it is, as here, of the stature of an infant, often it is a half- grown child, and again it is the size of the body. In the only drawing I have seen in which the soul is represented as addressing its body, it is pictured as the exact counter part of the body. This idea of the human figure of the soul was familiar to most of the ancient peoples, and since we have found the beliefs significant for our legend among the Egyptians, we ask at once whether this conception likewise held among them. We learn then that it was a well-known conception of the ancient Egyptians from the earliest times. They called it the ka. " Every mortal received this ka at birth, .... and as long as he possessed it, as long as he is lord of a ka, and goes with his ka, so long is he one of the living. The ka is seen by no one, but it was assumed that in appearance it was exactly the counterpart of the man. . . . When the man died, his ka left him." 28 In the pictures showing the other-world, too, the dead man is always represented in human form, the size of the living body. The ka is, strictly speaking, the double of the man, and quite separate from the bai or soul. The differences in their functions, however, cannot be very accurately determined, and both correspond to different senses of the English word " soul." M. Maspero, indeed, identifies both with the soul.29 If the beliefs as to the lot of the soul entered the world of 28 Erman, Egyptian Religion, p. 86. ^ Dawn of Civilization* p. 108. THE DEBATES 127 the Roman church from the Egyptians, who in turn got suggestions for them from the religion of Ancient Egypt, may not the same be true of this conception of the soul ? Note. The comparison of the body to a boat which the soul cannot govern is found in the Samedi ( 803 ff. ) and in none of the other versions of the legend. It is worth noting that the same comparison occurs in a Coptic text, an encomium of St. Michael the Archangel by Theodosius, Archbishop of Alexandria. The encomium is of the early seventh century. (Cf. Budge, St. Michael the Archangel, pp, 2-3.) VIII THE IRISH HOMILY The Irish homily On the Soul's Exit from the Body 1 has for many years been recognized as a member of the Body and Soul family. It is contained in the Leabhar Breac, a fourteenth century compilation of various relig ious works, many of them being very old. This homily, has not, I think, been dated. It is, however, only an expansion of an earlier Latin homily, phrases and sen tences of which are scattered through the Irish text. These fragments, fortunately, are sufficient both in number and length, to give a fairly accurate idea of the Latin prototype,2 and these I shall refer to as the Latin original of the Irish homily. The homily consists of two parts, the first, which is very long, describes the exit of the evil soul, the second tells briefly of the good soul's departure. In discussing the first part, I divide it for convenience into a number of short scenes, as I did in the case of the Latin homily. The second part, describing the good soul's exit, is paral- 1 The Passions and Homilies from Leabhar' Breac, Text, translation and glossary by R. Atkinson, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 1887. Homily 36, pp. 507 ff. In connection with this homily I have used a Russian article of Batiouchkof's, The Traditions of the Dispute of Soul and Body in the Journal of the Bureau of Public Instruction, November, 1890. Unless, however, the Russian article is mentioned, references are to the article in Romania 20. 'Mr. Atkinson omitted the Latin citations from his edition and translation, but they were collected and printed by M. Gaidoz, Revue Celtique, x (1889), 463-470. 128 THE IRISH HOMILY 129 leled only in the first scene relating to the evil soul. It will be simpler, therefore, to include it in the discussion of that scene. 1. The Angels and the Demons at the Death-beds 3 After quotations from the Psalms and Matthew the homily begins: For it is a difficult climb for the soul to climb the seven heavens. This is what St. Augustine says:— There come two hosts to meet every soul on its parting from the body,4 viz. a host, vast, in tolerable, bright, with the brilliancy of the sun, with radiant light, with sweetness of music, quiring of angels, unspeakable welcome from angels of heaven, to meet the soul if it be happy and righte ous;— -but if it he sinful and ill-fated, there cometh a host, great, black, dark, many-stenched . . of demons to meet the soul of every sinner.5 These hosts come with weapons in their hands to smite and torture the soul. They taunt it while it is yet in the body, using the favourite ubi sunt motive : " Why art thou exhibiting no pride now? for never till today didst thou abstain from showing it. . . . What means thy present silence? . . . Why art thou now without de sire for the food, to which once thou didst show so much love ? " etc.6 Then the demons begin a diabolical song 3 With this part of the Irish homily compare the Latin sermon printed in Appendix C. 4 The Latin skeleton reads merely : " unicuique anime duo exercitus occurrunt antequam migrat a corpore alter angelorum alter demo- num." Compare above, pp. 60 ff. 6 P. 507. 8 P. 508. The Latin prototype of this speech may be regarded as almost if not quite complete. In the Irish text this speech is broken into three parts by the insertion of explanatory phrases, and it is apparently that to which Batiouchkof refers in the Russian article 130 the legend of the body and soul which brings no pleasure to the sinner, for they command the demons to arise, take up their weapons and torture the soul, and afterwards to lead it to hell. "After this the demons seize those varied weapons to torture the un happy soul." 7 A different motive is introduced at this point and we turn to the description of the angels who visit the good soul since this passage parallels the account about the evil soul. The bright hosts of angels meet the soul of the righteous, address it with many epithets of honor and praise, and command that a sweet strain be sung. Then they assure the soul that the demons dare not come nigh it, and the homily ends with an exhortation to the soul, "Come now forward a little into the hands of angels and archangels," that they may go together into the " everlasting kingdom that is with the Lord." 8 In these two scenes we have only the conventional exits of the good and evil souls, the good soul being taken gently and enticingly by the angels, the evil soul, cruelly by the demons. The singing of the angels at the death of the good soul is, of course, usual; and the singing of the demons seems but an expansion of the idea. The taunting of the evil soul by the demons we have not met with before, and, since this motive was so popular in the Middle Ages, we may count it but one of the mediaeval expansions of the theme. The mediaeval homilist has also been busy with the list of weapons which the demons carry to torture the soul. But, if the "heavy iron sledge hammers," "mighty red-hot battle-stones," "strong fiery as parallel to the soul's being turned back three times in the Visio Pauli. The identification of the later speech of the devils with this very speech of the Visio removes any doubt as to the influence of the Visio here. See below, n. 23 and pp. 135 ff. 'P. 509. »P. 514. THE IKISH HOMILY 131 swords," and "heavy sharp-edged axes" do not sound fa miliar, one does not fail to recognize the weapons used for removing the soul in the "red fiery spits," "red very rough spears," and " old-rough flails." 9 2. The Soul's Exit After the order of the demons to take the soul and lead it to Hades, when the demons have seized their weapons to torture the unhappy soul we expect one of the scenes of the painful separation of the soul from the body by the demons. Instead, the homily turns aside into a de scription of the soul's attempted exit by the various mem bers. It "goes to the mouth to see if it can get away through it; but death says to the soul, 'come not this way, for I am here.' " In the same way its passage is barred at the nose, eyes, and ears, and at last it forces its way through the crown of the head.10 This account is obviously a variation of the motive of the " refusal to die," in which the soul refuses to come forth by the various members of the body, because of the good deeds they have done.11 The Irish text, however, has become confused. The angel of death who should take the soul, is confused with physical death which by shutting the eyes and stop- 9 P. 507. 10 P. 509. M. Batiouchkof (Russian article, p. 112, n. 3) compares this exit with some Russian legends in which the soul makes a painful exit through the sides. In the Apocalypse of Esdras the angel offers to take the soul through the crown of the head, but it is not said to be painful. See below, p. 153. The fundamental confusion of this scene is very clear: the living-principle of the body is represented as having to make a violent exit lest it should be shut in the body after its death! 11 Cf. Appendix A. 132 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL ping the ears, closes the natural means of exit for the soul. This likewise leads to awkwardness in the treat ment of the soul; for, since there is no one now to try to take the soul by the different members, the soul itself is represented as trying to get out. 3. The Robe of Sin When the soul has made its exit, it alights on the head of its body and expresses its amazement at the garment it finds around itself: this is not the bright robe it had formerly. The demons answer that they have given it that garment, the garment of sin which Adam, Judas Iscariot, and Caiaphas, the High Priest, had worn: in fact almost all the men of the world had worn that gar ment.12 Batiouchkof refers this motive to a Talmudic parable, explaining the verse, "and the spirit returns to God Who made it." 13 They return in their purity, like to royal garments which a king distributed among his servants. When he commanded them again, some of the servants had kept their robes in chests and SO' returned them new and shining, others had worn their garments "The Latin prototype is as follows: "Quid est istud pallium quod tenui circa me? non meum est hoc uestimentum neque de uestimentis meis in canditate prius ap- parui. Quis comotavit uestem meam. Demones dicunt contra animam et accusant eam ualde. O ainima infeilix, respice nos. A nobis tibi est uestimentum. Quia Adam circa se prius tenuit et Cain circa se tenuit et Iudas Scairiot circa se tenuit et Coephas princeps sacerdotum circa se tenuit uestimentum illud. Quid plura dicamus? Non tu sola hoc uestimentum accepisti sed peine acceperunt homines totius mundi." (P. 468.) 18 Romania, 20, 49. The legend may be found in Jiid. Litt. I, 244-5. the ieish homily 133 at their work, and they were dirty and worn. A rather closer parallel occurs in the third chapter of the Apo calypse: "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me in white : for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." 14 A third possible parallel is found in the Syriac Hymn of the Soul, a Gnostic poem found in a tenth century manuscript, though the poem seems much older.15 The soul leaves its shining robe or body in heaven to come to earth; when its work on earth is done it returns to the glorious robe of heaven. None of these analogues is satisfactory. The verse in the Apocalypse is most nearly so because it offers the closest parallel and because the Bible was certainly known to the mediaeval homilists, while their knowl edge of the Talmudic and Syriac accounts is mat ter of conjecture. But the essential point of the Irish text remains unexplained, that is, the identification of the robe with the robe of sin which was worn by Judas and the others. I can suggest but one other source for the motive. The notion of the soul's being received in a cloth is found in many Coptic stories of the deaths of the good. Jesus wrapped the soul of Mary in " garments of fine linen." 16 "Vv. 4-5. References to the white garments of the saints are not uncommon in Biblical literature. Cf. Apocalypse, rv, 4; vi, 11; vn, 9; rv Ezra li, 39, 45. The Ascension of Isaiah says: "But the saints will come with the Lord with their garments which are now stored up on high in the seventh heaven." Ed. Charles, ch. rv, v. 16. 15 Tr. by A. A. Bevan, Texts and Studies, v, 3, and by F. C. Burkitt, Early Eastern Christianity, pp. 218 ff., and by Wright, Apoc. Acts of the Apostles, pp. 238 ff. M Copt. Apoc. Gosp. p. 60. These cloths and garments recall at 10 134 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL The angels put the soul, of Joseph in "silken napkins of fine texture." 1T According to another version, " Michael took hold of the two corners of a napkin, silken and precious; and Gabriel took hold of the other two cor ners. They saluted the soul of My beloved father Joseph, and put it down into the napkin." 18 Michael and a host of angels wrapped the soul of Abraham in a heaven-spun cloth.19 The just soul, in the vision of Pachomius was received in a cloth, and carried to heaven by two angels as in one of the accounts of the Death of Joseph.20 This conception was very popular in the Middle Ages. I have not noticed any literary example of it, but in al most all the illustrations of the soul as it is taken to heaven by the angels, the soul is shown in a cloth. Some times a single angel holds the cloth, sometimes, as in the Death of Joseph, it is held by two angels, each one hold ing two corners. Sometimes the soul is shown wrapped in bands, or clothed in garments. Here facts end, and we enter upon supposition. I know of no instance in which the evil soul is represented as being received, or carried, in a cloth. Since, however, the travesty of holy things is always a chief source of inspiration for devil scenes, we can easily imagine that the devils re ceived the sinners' soul in black, dirty, and possibly fiery cloths, even as the soul of the just was received by the angels in a white, shining cloth. Finally, through explan- once the mummy cloths of the ancient Egyptians. In another ver sion of the Falling Asleep cf Mary the wrapping of her body is described mueh as the wrapping of the soul, and yet jt is plainly reminiscent of the mummification. "He took hold of the two borders of the garments, as she lay upon them, and wrapped them upon her with His own hands; and he fastened them to her body, so that they were fastened with unguent" (p. 79). 17 Ibid., p. 141. aIUd., jp. 159. "Test. Abr. §20. »p. 123. THE IBISH HOMILY 135 atory additions for which doubtless the authors of the versions in question were responsible, this cloth was identified in the Middle English debate with the coat which the devils threw around the soul,21 and in the Irish homily with the garment of sin worn by Adam and Cain. So far as the Middle-English poem is concerned, this theory leaves nothing to be explained, but in the case of the Irish homily it does not succeed so completely, for it will not account for the reference to the bright robe which the soul once had. However, if in addition to the popular influence here suggested, we concede the possibility of influence from some one of the literary versions before mentioned, all the essential elements will be accounted for. 4. Dependence on the " Visio Pauli " The description of the robe of sin being ended, the demons turn again to the soul: Then they say to it: — "O wretched soul! cast a glance on thy body now, and see the black, dark, gloomy habitation in which thou didst dwell in times past, the place whence thou hast come hither to meet us." Thereupon the soul doeth eager, woeful, sad repent ance, with loud outcry and penitent utterance that availeth it not: the name of that repentance in Holy Scripture is sera penitentia, which serveth no man. And the soul saith: — "Almighty God, now I do earnestly repent unto Thee of my many sins. I am sorry for them now, though they were dear to me when I committed them." At this expression of repentance the demons let the soul go heaven wards, for the purpose of mocking it. So it goeth thitherwards on being allowed to escape; but then the demons rush against it, vengefully and dreadfully, roughly and mercilessly with violence of language, and an eager desire to torture the soul, so as to stop it and hinder it from getting to heaven; and they say to it:— . "We see plainly that thou wouldst fain now go to heaven; but we never noticed that wish in thee hitherto; neither from thy actions, ¦See above, p. 119. 136 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL nor thy good will, nor thy humanity, nor thy humility, nor thy lowliness, nor any kind of good deed, did we perceive that thou hadst any desire of going to heaven, whilst thou wast eager for the wealth of the world. Whither goest thou, wretched? How darest thou go? What good thing hast thou [to show] in seeking heaven, as is now thy wish? Turn back now, thou miserable soul! "s In the two leading sentences of this passage the Latin original of the Irish homily is dependent on the Visio Pauli.23 22 P. 510-11. 23 M. Batiouchkof has already noted resemblances between this homily and the Visio Pauli, though from a different standpoint. To quote from his Russian article (p. 113) : " Let us recall the primitive redaction of the Visio Pauli, and especially the episode of the death of the sinner, which was modified, re-cast, and shortened in the new European and Latin arrangements : its fundamental traits have been preserved in the Irish arrangement, but we may believe that the author did not know their real signification, or else explained them very individually, for they are arbitrarily interpreted. Thus in the Visio the angel, three times, orders the soul to learn to know its body well, in order to be able to return to it the day of the resur rection; in the Irish version the demons, three times, lead the soul toward the body, but not for the purpose of remembering it well: the soul ought to be convinced of the feebleness and the destruction of the body after death. Further on in the Visio Pauli, the soul must, itself, confess its sins, and read the card on which its actions are described: here it repents anew but the demons find its repent ance too late. Finally in the Visio Pauli a voice is heard from on high, which orders the demons to let the soul pass that it may be presented before the universal Judge: here, the demons let the soul pass, but with the sole intention of injuring it, and barring its passage seize it anew. This variation seems to us the invention of the author, or of the original Latin. In any case it is only a feeble echo of the primitive reaction of the Visio." In the Romania article (pp. 49-50), however, M. Batiouchkof says nothing about the Visio Pauli, and as it was written after the Russian article, it should be taken as the expression of his final opinion. " Aimsi nous avons dans l'homelie irlandaise la meme scene double de la mort d'un pecheur et d'un juste, racontee de la meme facon que dans la vision sur saint Macaire modifiee. Quelques alterations des donmees primi tives semblent l'oeuvre de l'auteur irliandais: ainsi la scene ou les diables laissent passer l'ame seulement pour se moquer d'elle." In THE IRISH HOMILY 137 The Irish Homily. Dicunt demones: 0 ainima infelix, respice corpus tuum et domum unde existi. Deinde ainima ad celum uadit. Et demones in obuium ei ueniunt et dicunt: O miseirri- ma ainima, o infelix, quo uadis et quomodo ausa es pergere ad celum ? Visio Pauli. (If. 15) Maligni . . . angeli . . . dicentes: O misera anima, prospice carnem tuam unde existi : (If. 15) Cum iam ingredi celum abiret . error et obli- uio et susuraccio obuiaverunt eam, et spiritus fornicacionis et relique potestates, et dice- bant ei: Vbi perges, misera anima, et audes praecurrere in celo ?** That these passages are real borrowings from the Visio Pauli, I do not doubt. In the two texts, the demons and the evil spirits play exactly the same role : they have sur rounded the death-bed for the purpose of taking the un happy soul, and after it is out of the body, they direct it to look on its body. The Visio Pauli makes a distinction between the spirits of the air and the evil angels which the Irish homily does not follow. Therefore the connec tives between the two passages offer few resemblances. In the Visio Pauli the angels conclude the first sentence by saying : " Necesse est enim te reuertere in carne tua in diem resurreccionis, ut recipias peccatis tuis condignum, et impietarum tuarum." The soul's angel then speaks disclaiming all responsibility: It would not have stayed with the soul a single day, had not the just judge com manded that it remain until the soul repent. The speech the last point he was more nearly of accord with our conclusion in the first article. His final conclusion about the homily is almost the same as ours : " Bien que l'homelie en question nous soit parve- nue dans une version du xrve siecle, nous croyons qu'elle se rattache directement au groupe des traditions sur la separation de l'ame et du corps anterieures a la legende du debat, la replique du corps y fitant peu significative." 24 See above, pp. 27 and 56. 138 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL being ended, the soul starts toward heaven accompanied by the angels. Its passage, however, is barred by the spirits of the air, until a voice from heaven is heard demand ing that the miserable soul be brought before God. In the Irish homily the connection between the two passages is made rather more easily than in the Visio Pauli, where, however, we have noted confusion of tradition.25 The confession of penitence called forth from the soul by the sight of its body leads very naturally to the attempted ascent to heaven, and the struggle with the demons. As a variation of the motive of the dangerous road to the other world the passage which follows is very interest ing. Moreover, it is unique in that it is introduced only as a means of mocking the soul, as well as in the fact that the soul afterwards returns to the body. Just how these changes from the version in the Visio Pauli came about, it is impossible to say. One cannot even be positive as to the place of the Irish homily's Latin prototype, so fragmentary are the passages which re main.26 The soul's confession of penitence and its re turn to the body are both found there. On the other hand, the Latin fragments do not state that the demons allowed the soul to ascend toward heaven for the purpose of mock ing it. Again, though the same word, demones, is used in each case, the Latin prototype may have kept the dis tinction between the demons who came for the soul, and those who hindered its ascent. The clause demones in obuium ei ueniunt would seem to indicate that these were not the demons who had been with the soul up to that 15 See above, pp. 60 f. 26 The phrases coming in between the two sentences quoted are as follows : " Deinde ainima penetet et dicit et dicit: ago deo penetentiam de meis pecatis plurimis." THE IRISH HOMILY 139 time. If this be the case we can easily see how the scene in the Visio Pauli could have served as the source for this part of the Irish homily. For if the last part of the an gels' speech bidding the soul to look on its body is omitted, the soul's confession of penitence is the logical outcome of the scene; then, given the distinction between the two bands of demons, we have reconstructed all the essen tials of the scene in the Visio Pauli.27 5. The Speeches of Soul and Body The soul, mocked in its attempt to go to heaven, "re turns to the body, against which its anger is aroused, so that it proceeds to heap reproaches on the body." The body, in reply, heaps reproaches upon the soul, until at last the soul is carried off by the demons while the body continues to curse it, drawing pictures of the torment which the soul shall endure. These speeches are, for the greater part, made up of general reproaches. Compara- 27 It may be urged that the Visio Pauli formed the ground-work for the entire Irish homily, the motives of the " refusal to die " and the " robe of sin " being interpolations. In support of this opinion, however, I can find no real evidence. In each, the hosts of good and of evil angels come from every soul, evil angels taking the evil soul, good aingels, the good soul, it is true. But on the other hand this was a common motive, and none of the amplifications which are found in the Visio Pauli are repeated in the Irish homily, while in the demons' weapons we recognize a primitive trait in the Irish homily which is not present in the Visio Pauli. Again, the struggle with the spirits, which is the only part of the Irish homily we can positively connect with the Visio Pauli, figures in the Visio Pauli as prominently in the description of the good soul's exit, as in that of the evil soul's. But in the Irish homily's description of the good soul's exit, the struggle with the spirits has no place whatever unless, indeed, one were to stress the assurance, regularly made to the soul, that the demons should not hurt it. 140 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL tively few of the epithets and invectives employed belong essentially to a speech of the soul, or of the body; they might equally well be spoken by the homilist to a reprobate audience. In order to show the structure of these speeches I quote the text, printing in italics all phrases which seem to belong essentially to a speech addressed by a soul to its body. For this purpose, however, I use the Latin proto type, which, if not complete, contains at least all the essential elements of the Irish text, and has the advantage of greater brevity. Postea reuertitur ainima ad corpus, accusans eum, dicens dicens: o caro dura, o tamplum diabolicum nunc ego ad te redior ut increparem tuam increduiletatem. O caro dura, cinis putrida, o superba in qua diabolus habitauit, o tenebrosa fouea, o uenenosa uiperia serpentiumi, o eostodia irae et superbie. Ue mihi, habitacio tua mersit me im infernum. Et de tuis mailis crucior et de tuis peccatis toireior atque demergeor in infernum. Maledicam tibi im secula seculorum et frequentabo multis maledic- tionibus. Et corpus respoindit anime dicens: 0 ainima dura et arida atque sicca sicut terra sine aqua, o misera- bilis, o deterior cunctis mortalibus es. Mansisem sicut uiniuersa terra fragilisima nisi te percepisem. Deinde ainima uadit, et relinquit maledictionem [et maledictionem] portat et dicit corpus intra in manibus diaboli et satilitium The reproaches are obviously mere padding to the speeches. The actual speech to the body is the censure for being the cause of the soul's perdition, a type which developed, as I have said, as a counterpart to the expres sions of gratitude by the good soul. Here, however, the speech retains few of the characteristics of a "farewell." On the other hand, the simplicity of this speech bespeaks THE IBISH HOMILY 141 a very early form, as does also the simple reply of the body. It is paralleled only in the first speech quoted from Ephraem Syrus, the most primitive type of the speech. 6. Conclusion In reviewing the homily as a whole, its relation to the Egyptian beliefs may be exhibited by a tabular summary as follows : I. Hosts of beautiful angels and of hideous demons attend the exits of the good and evil souls respectively. The demons, moreover, carry arms with which they are told to take the soul and to smite it. These scenes agree essentially with Egyptian traditions. II. The soul's exit, a perversion of the " refusal to die." III. The " robe of sin." Talmudic? Biblical? Sy riac ? Egyptian ? IV. Borrowing from the Visio Pauli, a variation of the struggle with spirits on the way to heaven. V. Primitive speech of soul and reply of body. All the scenes of the homily can thus be traced directly to the Egyptian : the " robe of sin " alone, forms a possible exception, since its origins are unsettled. How are we to account for the presence of these Egyptian elements in the Irish sermon ? In answering this question the first point to be decided is the length and the contents of the original homily. For the very loose construction of the homily in both the Latin and the Irish seems to indicate that it had undergone repeated expansion and interpolation: the motives, which are not always consistent, follow one another in a per functory manner. The parallel between the good and 142 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL evil souls may very easily have formed the ground-work into which the various motives about the evil soul were introduced. In fact, the passage containing the actual exit of the soul, bears all the external marks of an in terpolation, for it is contradictory to the preceding para graph in which the demons give the order to take the soul with weapons. External influence may conceivably be seen in this motive, since the statement of the " refusal to die " which comes nearest the Irish text, is found in Jewish and Mohammedan tradition. A Talmudic legend has also been suggested as the source for the following paragraph, describing the " robe of sin." Further evidence of the patched character of the homily is found in the passage dependent on the Visio Pauli, for in the entire homily we find no other clear traces of that vision's in fluence. Moreover, the following scene — the return of the soul to reproach the body, after its attempted ascent to heaven — is inconsistent with the account in the Visio Pauli, where the soul is carried to the judgment. But, granting the lack of unity in the Irish homily, we have not yet disposed of the problems it presents. The dependence on the Visio Pauli puts no restrictions on the homily, for it was popular in all countries and in all ages. If, however, we are to grant the Irish homily Hebrew and Mohammedan influence, we practically exclude the possi bility that it was a native product of the Irish Church, for the Irish Church was in its glory in the sixth and seventh centuries, whereas the Mohammedan legends did not rise until the seventh. Moreover, the influence of the Moham medan legends was, at best, slight ; and external influences on the Irish Church after the seventh, century were also slight. Besides, if the homily was thus influenced by differ- THE IRISH HOMILY 143 ent sources, how can we account for the fact that these interpolations may all be traced to Egypt? The motive of the " robe of sin " may be dismissed from the present discussion ; for the analogues we have found do not enable us to decide whether it is Syriac, Mohammedan, Hebrew, or Egyptian, though I incline to regard it as either of Hebrew or Egyptian origin. In the case of the "re fusal to die," though the Hebrew and Mohammedan legends are nearest the Irish texts, the motive itself is Egyptian. And though the Visio Pauli was well-known in the Middle Ages, it, too, is but an expression of Egyptian tradition. Wot only, then, is the foundation of the homily Egyptian, but the interpolations also appear to consist almost wholly of Egyptian material. Mani festly if these were late additions they would not have been confined to Egyptian themes. Nevertheless the homily as it stands seems to afford clear evidence of its interpolated character. The interpolations, therefore, must have been made from the same store of ideas as the root-homily, that is, from Egypt. Such an explanation seems to me the only probable one. The Irish Church, through the Eastern churches of Gaul, kept up constant intercourse with Egypt and Syria. Irish Christianity was strongly monastic and anchorite in character, and both manners of life sprang up in Egypt.28 But though the Irish Church gained its great est Egyptian influence through the medium of the churches in Gaul, direct intercourse was not lacking. Down to the close of the eighth century Irish travellers 28 G. T. Stokes, Ireland and the Celtic Church, Lecture ix, Ireland and the East; Boswell, An Irish Precursor of Dante, pp. 113-4. On the foundation of the church in Gaul, cf. Renan: L'tglise Chritienne, ch. xxrv, pp. 467 ff. 144 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL journeyed to Egypt, and probably it was through them that the literature of Egypt and Syria passed over to Ireland.29 The Book of Adam and Eve, which was writ ten in Egypt about the sixth or seventh century, is to be found in an eleventh or twelfth century collection of mediaeval Irish poems, the Saltair Na Bann.30 The Leabhar Breac, in which the Irish homily is found, is, as I have said, only a compilation, made up, for the greater part, of much older texts. This homily may very probably be one of the very old homilies of the Irish Church brought in some form directly from the East. The primitive character of the homily itself suggests that it is a direct borrowing. The wealth of homiletical phrases and epithets is obviously due to later re-working; the prominence given to the separation scenes, however, points only to the primitive versions of the legend, that is, to Egypt. 28 Stokes, Ibid., pp. 229, 214-16. "Stokes, Ibid., p. 216, n. 1; p. 187, n. 2. The Irish text has been edited by Mr. Whitley Stokes, Anecdota Oxoniensia, Medueval Series, vol. 1, p. 3 (Clarendon Press, 1883). New indications of Eastern learning in Ireland are continually coming to light. Dr. M. R. James has recently pointed out an Irish reference to the Transitus Mariae, Journal of Theological Studies, January, 1910, pp. 290-1. Dr. C. F. Brown in a recent number of Englische Studien (xl, 1 ff.) has shown that the Irish-Latin original of a homily in the Leabhar Breac was directly influenced by Greek. For the knowledge of Greek in Ireland cf. Stokes, Ibid., Lecture xi. GENEKAL CONCLUSION In concluding we turn from the particular inquiries as to the nature of the various versions of the Body and Soul legend, to the more general results reached by this dissertation. First, we must define the relation existing between these individual versions, in order to determine the manner in which Egyptian tradition influenced the Western legend. Afterwards we shall summarize the origin and development of the legend as a whole. The relation of the Latin homily to the earlier Egyptian beliefs, and to the later debates we have already discussed. It shows direct dependence on the Egyptian traditions, but we cannot assert positively that it was written in Egypt. Neither can we be certain that it was a direct source of the debates, since at times they reflect Egyptian traditions which do not appear in the homily. Nevertheless this homily may still be taken as representing an intermediate stage between the Egyptian beliefs and the debates, one which illustrates the process of development in the Western forms. How, now, does the Irish homily fit into this scheme of development ? At the very outset the question is compli cated by two obvious resemblances between this homily and the debates. Each contains the motive of the combat with the spirits which does not appear in the Latin homily. In the Irish homily, again, the body replies to the speech of the soul, saying that it would have remained as earth, had it not been animated by the soul l— a motive which 1 See above, p. 140. 145 146 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL appears also in the debates.2 These resemblances, how ever, do not establish any vital connection between these versions. The attempt to rise to heaven in the Irish homily is, as we have seen, a direct expansion of the scene in the Visio Pauli, while that apocalypse does not seem to have exerted any influence on the corresponding scene in the debates. In the Irish homily, again, the reply of the body is not at all in the manner of the debate, but rather goes back to the simplest form of the speech as exemplified in Ephraem's Songs. Moreover the motive in question can be traced directly to IV Ezra.3 But, although any direct connection between the Irish homily and the debates may thus be explained away, the resem blances remain. This baffling sense of intangible likenesses grows when vve compare the Latin and Irish homilies. Let us see first in what their direct likenesses consist. For this pur pose we may grant that the " refusal to die " and the at tempted ascent to heaven, are interpolations. The " robe of sin " need not enter into the present discussion since it is not certainly Egyptian, and since, moreover, it does not appear in the other Body and Soul versions. Thus shorn, the Irish homily presents an apparently funda mental likeness to the Latin homily. Each presents the antithesis between evil hosts who come with weapons to remove the evil soul, and the bright angels who carry off the good soul with thanksgiving: and each contains a vituperative speech of the evil soul to its body. 2 Visio Fulberti, ed. Du Meril, p. 226, st. 58, Samedi, P-text, 701 ff. 8 Ch. vii, 63 f., ed. Bensly, p. 31. The same motive occurs in the Old English Address, Grein-Wulker, Bibliothek der angelsachs- ischen Poesie, n, p. 98, 1. 76 ff. CONCLUSION 147 But how much is to be inferred from these resemblances ? The antithesis between the good and evil hosts who attend dying men was, as we have seen, a commonplace. Besides, the speech of the soul in the Irish homily does not form an integral part of the whole, as in the Latin sermon. The antithesis between the two hosts in the Irish homily extends only through the earlier devil scenes, so that the very speech of the soul must be regarded as an interpolation. Moreover, the speeches themselves present great differ ences. The Irish homily does not contain the speech of the good soul, which is the more primitive form, nor does it show in its speech of the evil soul many traces of the "farewell" type from which the Latin speech of the evil soul, has manifestly evolved. But it contains a reply of the body for which we find an analogue only in the most primitive form of the speech. On the other hand, if the apparent likenesses are puzzling in their differences, the apparent differences are no less puzzling in their likenesses. The actual manner of the soul's exit in the Irish homily is, as we have seen, a variation of the " refusal to die." This motive is out wardly quite different from the removal by spears which appears in the Latin homily and in the debates. Yet, as we have seen, both can be traced to the same Egyptian separation theme. Moreover, the idea of the souYs possible exit by the different members of the body is present in the Latin homily in the pricking of those mem bers, just as in the actual attempts at exit in the Irish homily. In such a confusion of resemblances I confess myself incapable of tracing any satisfactory, or logically definite lines of inter-relation or dependence between these versions 148 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL of the Body and Soul legend.4 One fact alone stands out clear and indisputable: both express the Egyptian traditions. In the final analysis, the Latin homily rests. as we have seen, on the Egyptian tradition as popular belief. This, we are forced to admit, is also the character of the Irish homily. This conclusion does not affect the development of the legend in Egypt, as we have outlined it. It has already been shown that a speech very similar to the speeches in Batiouchkof's homily existed in Egypt, sp, when we refer the Irish speech also to Egypt, our former conclusions are not changed, but verified. In referring the Irish homily to Egypt, however, our conception of the Western development of the legend is very much altered. For we thus acknowledge two separate and distinct streams of influence from Egypt. The one came through Eome and is identified with the Eoman Church, the other is a more or less direct borrowing of the Celtic Church from Egypt.5 Dissimilar, therefore, as the Latin and the Irish homilies are in their present form, they are both variants of the Egyptian themes of the separation of soul and body. Notwithstanding this divergent tendency in the West ern forms of the legend, the origin and development of the legend as a whole stand out clearly. The Christian Egyptians, still more or less under the influence of their ancestral religion, held certain beliefs about the lot of the soul at the time of death. From these beliefs grew the notion of a farewell address by the soul to its body. Under the influence of ascetic ideals this farewell devel oped a two-fold form. The good soul praised, and the evil soul blamed its body. This stage of development was reached in Egypt. 4 The confusion is increased if one attempts to compare other homilies stating the same themes, such as the one printed in Ap pendix C. D See above, pp. 143-4. CONCLUSION 149 After the legend left Egypt, the good soul was almost never introduced. In the speeches of the evil soul, the Egyptian traditions tended to become less prominent as they became less well-known; and foreign material was consequently introduced. In the Irish homily the Egyptian speech and separation scenes are padded with the conventional epithets and phrases of the mediaeval homilist. In- the debates, the separation scenes are crowded into a few paragraphs at the close, while the speech of the evil soul has been expanded into a long debate on the relative responsibility of soul and body. In the mediaeval speeches of the soul to its body — if I may be allowed to anticipate a continuation of this study which I intend to complete shortly — the Egyptian separa tion scenes have entirely disappeared, and the speech of the soul has been seized upon as a convenient device for the promulgation of all kinds of homiletical commonplaces. To sum up the results of this investigation: confirma tion is given to M. Batiouchkof's conclusion that the foundation of the legend is not the vision, nor the speech of the soul, nor even the contrast between the soul and the body,6 but the theme of the separation of soul and body. "Linow (Erlanger Beitrage, I, 2.) and Steinsehneider ("Rangs- treit Literatur," Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akademie, 155, Ab- handlung iv, pp. 58-60 ) accept this contrast as the basis of the legend and call attention to the Talmudic parable which likens soul and body in their denial of individual culpability to a lame and blind man who were set to watch a garden. Neither being able to procure the fruit alone, the lame man was hoisted on the blind man's back, and in this way the fruit was secured for the two. When accused by the owner of the garden each pleaded innocence on account of his inability when alone. The master, therefore, punished them together. As an early example of the theme which is most prominent in the late debates, this parable is interesting and instructive — it shows the universality of the theme. It is of no importance, how ever, in explaining the origin, or the course of development of the 11 150 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL To M. Batiouchkof's conclusions we add the theory of the origin and development of the speech, and the funda mental identification of the legend with the popular beliefs of Christian Egypt. popular legend as is, I think, obvious to any one acquainted with its early versions. Neither Dr. Linow nor Dr. Steinschneider seems to have had that acquaintance. — A fifteenth century manuscript in the British Museum (Add. 37049, f. 82-84) contains a prose dial ogue between the body and soul which is merely an expansion of the story in the Talmud. It has no connection with the Visio Fulberti or with the other debates. APPENDIX A THE "EEFUSAL TO DIE" The motive of the soul's refusal to die, which occurs in two of the Egyptian texts quoted in the second chapter, figures very prominently in several non-Egyptian writings. Moreover it appears in forms so similar to the Egyptian texts as to preclude the possibility of separate origin. It becomes necessary, therefore, to inquire whether this motive was borrowed from Egypt, or whether the Egyptian texts borrowed it from foreign sources. So far, I know of it in the Hebrew Moses legend,1 in the two late Greek Apocalypses of Esdras 2 and Sedrach3 and in several Mohammedan traditions.4 1 De Morte Mosis, translated from the Hebrew into Latin by Gilbert Gaulmyn of Moulins, reprinted by Gfoerer, Prophetae veteres Pseudepigraphi (Stuttgart, 1840), pp. 317 ff., 336 ff. The same legend occurs about the year 900 in the Midrasch Debarim rabba, Jiid. Litt. I, 521 ff. Compare also the Vita e Morte di Mose, Leggende Ebraiehe tradotte, illustrate et comparate da Salvatore De-Benedetti, Pisa, 1879. 2 Ante-Nicene Christian Library, xvi, 468 ff. The Greek text has been edited by Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphae, pp. 24 ff. 3 Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. ix, pp. 177 ff., Greek text edited by James, Apoc. Anec. I, 130-137. 4 Dr. M. R. James collects a number of instances of the " refusal to die" in his Introduction to the Testament of Abraham (pp. 64-6). He notes the Moses legend, the two Greek Apocalypses, and the first of the passages from Mohammedan mythology. I am indebted to him for these references. Dr. James cites also a modern Greek ballad in the form of an acrostic, a dialogue between a man and Death, which contains the motive of the refusal to die (printed by Sakellarios: ~Kvirpia.Kd, 2 ed. vol. II, p. 29). In this connection Dr. James 151 152 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Of these the Moses legend is the most significant. When God tells Moses that the hour of his death has come, Moses pleads for longer life at great length, but in vain. God then asks in turn Michael, Gabriel, and Zinghiel to take Moses' soul, but each offers some excuse. Thereupon the commission is given to Samael who goes gladly, but returns unsuccessful after two attempts. Moses now reminds God again of all his merits and prays that, at least, he may not be given over to Samael. God, hearing the prayer, decides to come Himself. Tres Angeli, Michael, Gabriel et Zinghiel cum Deo descenderant. Gabriel feretrum curavit, Michael purpuram expandit, Zinghiel vestem, ad cervices et ad pedes Michael ab una, Gabriel ab altera parte stabat. Turn Deus Mosem ambas pectori manus imponere, ac oculos claudere jussit, quod ibi exequutus est, ejus animam sic vocavit! . . . Turn vero Deus oris osculo animam abstulit.5 In the longer version of the story, Samael offers to take the soul of Moses as he has taken the souls of Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God answers : Omnes isti similes Mosi non fuerunt, sed quomodo ejus animam auferes, an per faciem? ilia mihi in os loquuta est: Et loquutus est Deus ad Mosem a facie ad faciem, an per manus? illae leges acceper- unt, an per pedes? hi caliginem, qua obductus sum, calcarunt, et ad me usque pervenerunt: Accessit Moses ad caliginem, in qua erat Deus. Nihil in omnia ejus membra potes ! • The Revelation of Esdras contains a passage very similar to the Moses legend : refers to the Middle English Debate of the Body and Soul, saying it probably is connected with our motive. As we have seen, the Middle English Debate belongs to the same tradition, but it does not con nect itself directly with the " refusal to die." "Gfoerer, op. cit., p. 333. 'Ibid., p. 359. Cf. Jiid. Litt. I, 521 ff. APPENDIX A 153 Then there came a voice to me: Come hither and die, Esdras, my beloved; give that which hath been entrusted to thee. And the prophet said: And whence can you 'bring forth my soul? And the angels said: We can put it forth through the mouth. And the prophet said: Mouth to mouth have I spoken with God, and it comes not forth thence. And the angels said: Let us bring it out through thy nostrils. And the prophet said: My nostrils have smelled the sweet savour of the glory of God. And the angels said: We can bring it out through thine eyes. And the prophet said: Mine eyes have seen the back parts of God. And the angels said: We can bring it out through the crown of thy head. And the prophet said: I walked about with Moses also on the mountain, and it comes not forth thence. And the angels said: We can put it forth through the points of thy nails. And the prophet said: My feet also have walked about on the altar. And the angels went away without having done anything, saying: Lord, we cannot get his soul. Jesus is then sent with a "great host of angels," but Esdras pleads with Him at great length. At last, however, he is persuaded to give up his soul, though the actual manner of its departure is not described.7 The Apocalypse of Sedrach offers an interesting varia tion of the theme : IX. And God said to his only begotten Son: Go, take the soul of Sedrach my beloved, and place it in Paradise. The only begotten Son saith to Sedrach: Give me the trust which our Father deposited in the womb of thy mother in the holy tabernacle of thy body from a child. Sedrach saith: I will not give thee my soul. God saith to him: And wherefore was I sent to come hither, and thou pleadest against me? For I was commanded by my Father not to take thy soul with violence; but if not, (then) give me thy most greatly desired soul. X. And Sedrach saith to God: And whence dost thou intend to take my soul, and from which limb? And God saith to him: Dost thou not know that it is placed in the midst of thy lungs and thy heart and is dispersed into all thy limbs? It is brought up through the throat and gullet and the mouth and at whatever hour it is 7 Ante-Nicene Christian Library, xvi, 474-5. 154 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL predestined to come forth, it is scattered, and brought together from the points of the nails and from all the limbs, and there is a great necessity that it should be separated from the body and parted from the heart.8 The same motives occur in Mohammedan mythology: In der Ueberlieferung heisst es : Wenn Gott die Seele des Menschen abberufen will, so kommt der Todesengel von der Seite des Mundes, umi seine Seele dahinzunehmen. Da tritt aus seinem Munde das Lob (Gottes) hervor und spricht: von mir aus ist dir kein Weg gestattet, denn von dieser Seite wurde Gott gepriesen und nur meines Herrn Lob kam fiber ihn (den Mund). Und der Todesengel kehrt dann zu Gott zuriick und spricht: o Herr, so und so, dies und dies (hat das "Lob" gesprochen). Da sagt Gott zu ihm: nimm (die Seele) von einer andern Seite. Er kommt nun von der Seite der Hand. Es tritt aber die Wohlthatigkeit hervor und spricht: von meiner Seite ist dir kein Weg gestattet, denn mit mir hat er viele milde Gabe gespendet, das Haupt der Waise liebevoll gestreichelt, Gegen- stande der Wissenschaft geschrieben und das Schwert uber den Nacken der Unglaubigen geschwungen. Dann kommt er zum Fusse und dieser spricht: es steht dir kein Weg off en von meiner Seite, denn mit mir ist er in die Gotteshauser, zum Besuche der Kranken und zu den Sitzen der Wissenschaft gegangen. Er wendet sich nun zum Ohre und dieses spricht: von meiner Seite steht dir der Weg nicht frei, denn mit mir hat er die Laute des Korans und der Lobpreisung Gottes gehort. Endlich geht er zum Auge, aber auch dieses spricht: es ist dir von meiner Seite kein Weg gestattet, denn mit mir hat er in die (heiligen) Schriften und das Gesicht der Got- tesgelehrten geblickt. Hierauf wendet sich der Todesengel zu Gott und spricht: o Herr, dein Knecht spricht so und so. Da sagt Gott zu ihm: o Engel des Todes, schreibe eilends meinen Namen auf deine Hand und zeige ihn den Seelen der Glaubigen, so dass ihn (auch) die Seele unseres Knechtes sehe. Es schreibt nun der Todesengel den Namen Gottes auf sein Hand und zeigt ihn den Seelen der Glaubigen; sie werden mit Liebe zu ihm erfiillt, und so verlasst die Seele des glaubigen wegen des Segens seines (des gottlichen) Namens den Korper und es schwindet von ihr die Bitter- keit der Trennung.9 8 Ante-Nicene Fathers, ix, 178. "Wolff, Muhammedanische Eschatologie, pp. 30-31. APPENDIX A 155 ^ According to another tradition when the Death-angel visits a man the spirit refuses to go except at the command of God. The Death-angel reports to God, who tells him to show the spirit a leaf on which is His sign. The soul on seeing it, goes out with joy.10 The Moses legend, also, is found in Mohammedan tra dition, though with slightly different detail. The angel of death tries to take Moses's soul by the different mem bers of his body, but is prohibited each time by the good works they have done. At last, he gives Moses an apple to smell, and in the act of smelling it his soul flies out at his nostrils.11 This recension undoubtedly comes from the Hebrew legend; and it is more than probable that the other Mohammedan versions of the " refusal to die " also derive from Hebrew sources.12 The Greek Apocalypses give no exact evidences of origin, besides being of late date. The question of the origin of the " refusal to die " is therefore simplified : it must be either Coptic or Hebrew. My own opinion may be inferred from the fact that I include the two Egyptian texts showing this motive among the texts which illustrate native Egyptian beliefs. I proceed now to give my reasons for that opinion. In the first place, though the dates of none of these writings are definitely known, the Moses legend, which represents the oldest of the non-Egyptian forms, has not been traced to so early a date as the Egyptian texts. Moreover, it offers other very close parallels to the Coptic texts, indicating Egyptian influence. The three angels iaIbid., pp. 29-30. "¦ Benedetti, Vita e Morte di Mose, p. 151. The soul of Mahommed escaped through the mouth. Cf. Zotenberg, Chronique de Tabari traduite sur le version Persane (Paris, 1867), in, 217. ^ Cf. Test. Abr., p. 68. 156 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL around the death-bed agree exactly with the description of the good soul's exit in the Pachomius vision. Again, in one of Samael's attempts to remove the soul of Moses, he assumes a brightness not his own, thinking thereby to take the soul more easily. This trait corresponds with the Testament of Abraham in detail, and is but an ex pression of the Egyptian belief that the souls of the good were taken by beautiful angels. In several very minor details, too, the Moses legend agrees with the Coptic works, as in the series of "woes" which Moses utters, which figures prominently in the Death of Joseph.13 The chief reason, however, for believing this motive to be native to Egypt is found in the difference between the Egyptians and the Hebrews in their conception of the soul. The refusal to die comes as a very natural out growth of the Egyptian beliefs we have just studied ; but I find nothing in Hebrew legends which would explain it- Death was universally dreaded, and its pains were often described, there is, however, no emphasis on a definite separation of soul from body, which forms so important a feature in the " refusal " motive. The Hebrew angel of death was a man who killed men; he could be tricked, and there are many stories of his tricking others to get possession of their souls,14 but he does not^ figure as a 13 Gfoerer, p. 330. Copt. Apoc. Gosp., p. 136, see above, p. 95. 14 There is a story in the Talmud that the death-angel when sent to take the soul of David found him reading the Law. Since he could not interrupt the prophet, he went into the garden and began shak ing one of the trees. Then as David went out to look after it, the steps broke under him, and his soul returned to God. (I, 385.) — Tabari tells a somewhat similar tale of the death of Abraham. The death-angel whom God had sent to take the prophet's soul with his consent appeared to him in the form of a very decrepit old man. Abraham, greatly astonished at the old man's feebleness, was told that he himself was but two years younger than the old man, and that all men upon reaching that age were equally infirm. Abraham APPENDIX A 157 person who removes souls from their bodies.15 So, in the descriptions of death it is the pain which attends the act of dying, if I may term it so, that is stressed. Death is compared to one thing or another: it is like pulling a thorn out of wool, or — apparently a favorite compari son — like pulling a hair out of milk.16 It is not, however, made the result of the actual departure of the living soul. then cried that he did not wish to live longer, and the angel took his soul, (i, 196-7.)— The story of R. Joshua ben Levi (cf. n. 15) is typical of the stories in which men deceive, or try to play some trick on the death-angel. Several others follow it in the Talmud. These are, I suppose, the ancestors of the mediaeval tales of tricking the death-angel, or the demon, who comes to take the soul One man asks to be allowed to live until his candle is burned out, then the permission being granted, blows out the candle and succeeds in preserving it many years. A number of such stories are recorded in Miss Trevelyan's Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales, pp. 287 ff. 15 Compare the famous story of the Death-angel's standing at the bed-side with a sword from the point of which hang three poisonous drops. One falls into the mouth of the moribund, who immediately gives up his soul, then the angel rushes out and plunges his sword into the nearest vessel of water. So all the water in a house must be poured out after a death, lest other members of the household be come poisoned thereby. — In the Talmudic story of R. Joshua ben Levi who asked the Death-angel to show him his place in Paradise, and who then refused to return to earth to die, Death is said to carry a sword, or a knife. In the English translation of Mr. Gaster (Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1893, p. 592), after the Death-angel has sworn to R. Joshua never more to show his sword to men, the explanation is added: "For up to that time the angel of death used to kill men openly, as one slaughters animals, and he showed it even to the suckling in the bosom of their mother." The German translation in Jiid. Litt., I, 276, does not read in this way. This story, however, belongs with those of Death with the scythe. The angel of death kills but he does not separate soul from body. This is also the conception of Death in the Apocalypse, vi, 8. Com pare the account of the creation of the death-angel in Muham. Eschat., pp. 16 ff. Cf. also the Roumanian version of the Testament of Abraham, see above, p. 35, n. 9. " R. Sedrim, der bruder Rabas, sass vor Raba als er in der Agonie 158 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL i These illustrations, though, are exactly in accordance with the primitive Semitic conception of the soul which I suggested before. The soul was the blood, the living essence of the entire body; it was that which permeated it and made it alive in every member. The removal of the soul, therefore, would be like the removal of the blood from all the veins.17 It is quite foreign to the idea of lag. Da sprach er: Moge der Meister dem Todesengel sagen, dass er mich nicht quale. Jener erwiderte: Ist denn der Meister nicht sein Beisitzer ! ? Dieser entgegnete : Da mein Gliick fort ist, so beachtet er mich nicht mehr. Alsdann bat jener, dass er ihm [nach dem Tod] erseheine. Als er darauf bei ihm ersehien, fragte er ihn: Hatte der Meister Schmerzen? Dieser erwiderte: Wie beim Stich der Schropflanzette. Raba sass vor R. Nahman als er in der Agonie lag. Da sprach er: Moge ihm der Meister sagen, dass er mich nicht quale. Jener erwiderte: Ist denn der Meister kein bedeutender Mann ! ? Dieser entgegnete : Wer ist bedeutend und wer ist geaehtet und wer ist vollstandig! Alsdann bat jener, das er ihm nach dem Tod erseheine. Als er darauf bei ihm ersehien, fragte er ihn: Hatte der Meister Schmerzen ? Dieser erwiderte : Wie man ein Haar aus der Milch zieht, und wenn der' Heilige, gebenedeiet sei er, mir anheim stellen wurde, zuruck in diese Welt umzukehren, so wiirde ich dies dennoch nicht thun, aus Angst vor dem Todesengel. Talmud (Goldschmidt), in, 774-5. — The same ideas occur in Midaschim; Jiid. Litt., i, 589-90; and in Mohammedan belief: Wolff, Muham. Eschat., pp. 61 ff. 11 The Midrasch Tehillim says : " Zur Zeit, wenn sich sein Ende naht, um von der Welt abzuscheiden, kommt der Todesengel und nimmt die Seele des Menschen. Die Seele gleicht einer Art Bohr, dass voll Blut ist, und sie hat kleine Rohrehen, welche sich im ganzen KSrper zerstreuen. Der Todesengel fasst an der Spitze des Rohres und zieht sie heraus; aus dem KSrper eines Gerechten zieht er sie' mit Lindigkeit, gleichsam wie man einen Faden aus der Milch zieht, aus dem KSrper eines Frevlers aber ist es so, als wenn er Stricke durch den Mund des Schlundes zoge." Jiid. Litt., i, 589-90. — And we read of Aegidius von Assisi (d. 1262), " Im sechsten Jahre nach seiner Bekehrung, als er im Kloster zu Fabriano wohnte, kam eines Nachts die Hand des Herrn fiber ihn. Wahrend er mit In- brunst betete, wurde er von so grosser gSttlicher Trostung erfullt, das es ihm schien, Gott wolle seine Seele aus dem Leibe fiihren, damit APPENDIX A 159 the soul as one thing which could be removed by the feet or the hands, or the side.18 This innate contradiction er seine Geheimnisse in Klarheit schaue. Und er begann zu spfiren, wie sein Korper erstarb, zuerst in den Ffissen und dann weiter, bis die Seele ausging. Und ausser dem Leibe stehend, wie ihm schien, nach dem Willen dessen, der sie dem Leibe verbunden hatte, ergotzte sie sich ob der ubergrossen SehSnheit, mit der sie der heilige Geist geschmiickt hatte, daran, sich selbst zu betrachten. Denn sie war sehr zart und sehr hell fiber alles Mass, wie er selbst vor dem Tode erzahlte. Dann wurde diese sehr heilige Seele zum Schauen der himmlischen Geheimnisse hinweggeffihrt, die er niemals offehbaren wollte." Buber, Ekstatische Konfession (Jena, 1909), p. 59. — The same conception underlies a Mohammedan tradition of the creation of Adam. God ordered the soul to enter the body ; it entered by the throat and penetrated to the breast and stomach, everywhere it came, the earth and other things of which the body was made were turned into nerves, flesh, blood, skin, etc. When the soul reached the head, Adam said " Praise be to God," and saw the beauties of Paradise. When it reached the stomach, Adam wanted to eat: and when it was spread out through all, the body Adam was a perfect man. Wolff, Muhamm. Eschat., pp. 11 ff.; Tabari, I, 75. 18 1 do not know of any instance in Coptic in which the angels attempt to take a single soul by the various members of its body as in the Hebrew and Mohammedan beliefs: but we have there instances of different souls being taken by the various members of the body. On this point, however, comparison with the demons is enlightening: souls and demons, as spiritual beings, had much the same characteristics. In them we find the Coptic containing the idea of the possible exits and entrances by the various mem bers. The Life of Pachomius (p. 212) tells a story of a monk pos sessed of a demon which hid itself Pachomius examined him carefully to determine by what member the demon entered, and found it was by the fingers. He continued the search and discovered the demon lurking in the man's neck, whence he routed it, of course, immediately. (In this connection we may call attention to the belief of certain tribes that the soul resides in the nape of the neck. Cf. Golden Bough, I, 253.) Moreover the refusal of the various members of the body to allow the soul to pass, is strongly suggestive of various scenes from the Egyptian other-world. If the soul wished to pass through a certain ball, or to cross a river in a boat, every part of the hall, or boat (door-posts, lintel, rudder, flooring, etc.) called out to him'in turn, that he could not pass unless he told their names. Cf.. 160 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL between the two conceptions of the soul is very clearly brought out in the Apocalypse of Sedrach. Sedrach asks the Lord through which limb He intends to take his soul, and He answers: "Dost thou not know that it . . . is dispersed through all thy limbs ?" My conclusion, therefore, is that the motive of the soul's refusal to die is Egyptian, not Hebrew, because it rests on a conception of the soul which is native to Egypt, and which, moreover, is contradictory to the Hebrew concep tions. The presence of the Egyptian motive in Hebrew texts is very easily explained by the residence of large numbers of Jews in Egypt, before and after the beginning of the Christian era. A slight Jewish influence may be noted in the tendency to make the soul less tangible and material, and in the lessening stress on the final removal of the soul. In none but the Apocalypse of Sedrach, how ever, does the Hebrew influence reach the point of showing the fundamental contradiction between the Hebrew and the Egyptian conceptions of the soulv Book of the Dead, Tr. Renouf, ch. 99, pp. 174 f. and ch. 125, pp. 229 f. — It is possible that some such conception underlies the New Testa ment stories of the demons and spirits which possessed people. (Mark, I, 23-7; v, 2-13; Acts, xix, 13-16.) They were certainly cen- ceived physically since they could talk, enter into swine, etc. There is nothing, however, to indicate that they were definite physical bodies which entered by the mouth, or ears, and which resided in some one part of the body. This, nevertheless, was the later conception of these scenes. See below, p. 171, n. 24. APPENDIX B EGYPTIAN ELEMENTS IN THE SEEMONS OF EPHEAEM SYEI7S In the writings of Ephraem Syrus there are many pas sages which state, though confusedly, the Egyptian beliefs we have been studying. It is very probable, I think, that Ephraem borrowed these beliefs directly from the Egyptian, for he lived at a time of transition when all sorts of influences were rife. Even if he did not know the beliefs in Egypt he may very easily have become ac quainted with them through the medium of the Greek: the Church of Egypt was then of course still a part of the Greek Church, and those Egyptian texts which were not written in Greek, were almost always translated.1 These sermons cannot be pressed too far, however, for Assemani's edition leaves always the possibility that any particular text may not be Ephraem's. Notwithstanding these critical uncertainties, these passages are interesting because they show how the beliefs in question were quickly appropriated to the uses of the homilist. Greek-Latin., ni, 262-6. Multis sane tune opus tibi erit ductoribus, o homo, multis adjutoribus, multis orationibus, multisque sociis in hora separationis animae a corpore. Magnus tunc erit timor, magnus tremor, magnum mysterium: magna tunc corporis in illo mundo futura est calamitas. Nam si, quum ex una regione in aliam transimus super terram, aliquibus viae ducibus ac directoribus 1 Cf. F. C. Burkitt, Early Eastern Christianity, pp. 95 ff. ; Early Christianity outside the Roman Empire, pp. 15 ff.; see also the article on Syriac Literature, by Prof. Wright, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 161 162 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL indigemus: quanto magis, quando in infinita transeundum hinc erit secula, unde nullus rediit . . . repente constringitur ei linqua, immutantur oculi, coneutitur mens, filet os, impediturque vox; quando dominicae copiae atque satellites advenerint: quando formida- biles exercitus invaserint, atque apprehenderint: quando divini nuncii, atque emissarii animam ex corpore migrare jusserint : quando inexoribiles apparitores, in judicium nos trahentes detulerint. Orate, ut cum pace anima exeat: rogate, ut locum quietis aecipiat. Supplicate, ut angelos benignos habeat: preeamini, ut mitem atque benevolum Judioem inveniat. . . In ilia die peribunt omnes ser- moeinationes, ac cogitationes ejus : in ilia die quando divini exactores in medium prodierint excepturi animam, ex aere supervenientes ; in quo principatus consistunt ac potestates, mundique rectores adver- sarium copiarum. Acerbi illi nostri aocusatores, saevi tributorum exactores, calculatores, atque censores; oecurrentes, et rationem exigentes; examinantes, et hominis peocata, ac peecatorum chiro- grapha praeferentes, quae in juventute, quae in senectute, quae sponte, quaeque imprudenter, quae operibus, quae verbis, et quae cogitationibus acciderunt. 3Iagnus ibi tunc timor. Magnus in- felicis animae tremor. Inexplicabilis necessitas, quam tunc subit ac sustinet ab immensa infinitorum hostium multitudine ipsam calumniis proseindente, ne ad coelum ascendet, ne in lumine viven- tium inhabitet; ne in regionem vivorum ingrediatur. Ceterum sancti Angeli exeipientes animam secum abducunt. Syriac-Latin, in, 325, Canon, lix: Per obitum corpore solutus animus eonstitit anxius ae admodum tristis in bibio, unde statim binae erupers acies contrariae et discordes, dum a y-write alle pe zennen of men, and his brengef' (?et be ham hi moje ouercome men, of huychen pe zennes £>erinne byef> ywrite. f>et byef> to hare rijte. Hokes hi brenge£> f>et £>o f>et bye£> to hare rijte ouercomef> : hire zaulen be stren{?e : of pe bodye drajef? out, and hise byndef? mid pe chaines and in to helle hise drajef>.4 St. Alpais (d. 1211) saw the soul of an old woman taken from her stomach. In domum cujusdam grandaevae feminae, quae vicina erat matri suae, duxit angelus suus animam puelloe, visumque est ei quod angelus anieulae illius animam illius de corpore suo, seisso ventre extraxit.0 In the Middle English Northern Passion 6 it is said that the soul of Judas could not go out through the mouth because it had kissed God, so it went out through the 8 E. Duemmler. M onumenta Germaniae Hist. Poetae Latini Aevi Carolini, I, 169-206. I have the reference from E. Peters, Rom. Forsch., 8, 361. 4E. E. T. 8. 23, p. 264. 5 L'Abbe P. Blanchon, Vie de la Bienhewreuse Alpais, Marly-le-Roy, 1893, lib. n, cap. ix, p. 157. The manuscript is of the 13th cent. In another chapter St. Alpais gives a description of the soul which is little in accord with this vision: "Nullo loco continetur anima, quia localis non est; nullo spatio finitur, quia quantitate caret; nullis membris circumscribitur, quia incorporea est." The complete de scription is found in Liber rv, cap. xvn, pp. 205 ff. 'Brit. Mus. Harl. ms. 4196,, fol. 73, col. 2. The Northern Pas sion is being edited by Miss Frances Foster of Bryn Mawr College. APPENDIX D 169 stomach. Acts i, 18, was probably the starting-point for the tradition that the soul of Judas made its exit from his stomach. In the Frankfort Passion-play its passage was represented on the stage. " Judas recedit suspendens eius ymaginem dyubulus ex ventre eius capit animam."7 Souls were not infrequently represented on the stage, Jesus carried the soul of Mary to heaven,8 Satan comes carrying many souls,9 an angel takes the soul of the good thief, a demon, that of the evil one : " In dissem sol jeglich'er schacher ein bildly im mull han, als ob es ein sei were, den nimpt der engel des guten Schachers sei und gat in himel, und der tuffel des andern sei und leufft mit grossen geschrey in die hell." 10 Souls were also' represented on the stages as birds: the soul of Jesus appeared as a white dove. "Turn Ihesus inclinat caput. Angelus secundus stat in cruce a dex- tris et mittit columbam albam volare." n " Mit den wor- ten naigt Saluator das haupt am creitz und ist tod; fleiigt ain weisse tawb von im." 12 The soul of Judas was a black bird : " Iudas sol ein swartzen vogel und etwas tarmen vor im biisen han, den sol im Belczebug uff ris- ten, daz es uszher vail." 13 A similar device is used in Lindesav's Satyre of the thrie Estaits for the soul of Falsehood. "Heir sal he be heisit vp, and not his figure ; and an Craw or ane Ke salbe castin vp, as it war his saull." 14 ' Heinzel, Beschreibung des Geistlichen Schauspiels im deutschen Mittelalter, p. 33. Hamburg und Leipzig, 1898. "Innsbrucker Mariae-Himmelfahrtsspiel, 1555, Heinzel, p. 33. ' Innsbrucker Osterspiel mit Hollenfahrt, 362; Heinzel, p. 33. 10 Donaueschinger Passionsspiel, 3455; Heinzel, p. 33. "Alsfelder Passionsspiel, 6274; Heinzel, p. 33. M Augsburger Passionspiel, 1789; Heinzel, p. 33. "Donaueschinger Passionsspiel, 2479; Heinzel, p. 34. 14 E. E. T. S. 37, p. 533. 170 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Welsh tradition, on the other hand, has it that the soul of a wizard or a witch passes from the body as a "great big moth." 15 Among the Bretons the soul may be seen in the form of a fly, a white mouse, or a white flower.16 The illustrations to manuscripts very frequently show the popular conception — or it may be only the stereotyped representation — of the departure of the soul when the text itself is silent.17 I have examined only a few manu scripts at the British Museum. In one a demon is pull ing the soul from the dying man's mouth by means of a rope around its neck.18 In another the demon is taking the soul from the mouth but without any external aid,19 again it is an angel with a halo and wings who is help ing the soul out of the mouth.20 The entire upper half of the fresco on the walls of the Campo Santo of Pisa is filled with angels and demons snatching away the souls of the dead and carrying them to their destinations.21 15 Marie Trevelyan, Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales, London, 1909, p. 207. 10 A. Le Braz, La L4gende de la Mort en Basse-Bretagne, pp. 122, 132, 135. "On this subject consult the plates in Louisa Twining's Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, London, 1852. "MS. Royal 19 C. I (14th cent.), f. 203 b. Cf. f. 120 b. Unless otherwise stated the soul is represented as a small child. Hints of the manner of -removal may be found, also, in the pictures of the demons carrying souls to hell. In one picture a demon is drag ging a soul headforemost into hell by means of a halter around its neck. Another is leading a soul with a halter, while a third demon spears it from the rear. A fourth is flying through the air holding a trident in one hand, and a soul, hanging by its hair, in the other. (Add. MS. 29433, f. 89, 15th cent.). 19 ms. Royal 10 E rv, f. 204, 14th century. 20 Add. ms. 37049, f . 29. ^Didron, Christian Iconography, n, 163. APPENDIX D 171 Often the soul is pictured in its departure through the mouth, though there is no angel or demon present to as sist it.22 In the Old English Life of St. Guthlac a minia ture showing the death of the saint, represents one angel receiving the soul as it leaves Guthlac's mouth; a second angel is hovering near with an outstretched cloth. Another miniature in the same manuscript shows a devil leaving the mouth of a demon.23 This draw ing is in every way parallel to the picture of the soul's exit, and serves as a very good introduction to a con sideration of other instances in which the beliefs about devils or spirits parallel those about souls.24 Samuel Harsnet (A Declaration of Popish Impostures, 1604, pp. 67-8) tells of a man possessed of a devil which, becoming frightened by the presence of the priest, wished to go out at the man's mouth, but finding the priest's mouth too near, it departed at his right ear in the form of a mouse.25 The same ideas, though with symbolic meaning, occur in Old English. 22 Pictures of the soul near the body just after it has separated from it are too common to be noted: especially those of the saints in oval halos. In a painting of the Crucifixion in the entrance hall to the National Gallery, London, the souls of the two thieves are shown, that of the good thief, a little angel, is rising toward heaven, that of the other thief, a little demon, is falling toward hell. If I remember correctly, there are no angels or demons ac companying either soul. This is a fairly common motive of cruci fixion scenes; but I have seen no such painting in which the soul of Christ was represented. 23 These miniatures are reproduced in Gonser's edition of the Life of St. Guthlac, Anglistische Forschungen, 1909. "ms. Royal 19 C. I, f. 164 b and 165 b, shows the evil spirits, as small dark brown devils, leaving the mouths of men, and enter- into the mouths of swine. Cf. Appendix A, p. 160, n. 8. 25 Related by Brewer, Diet, of Miracles, p. 100. 172 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL Eft-sone, neddre smuhgS dijeliche. Swo dots pe werse, penne he auint mannes heorte emti of rihte bi-leue, and of sotSere luue, he sechetS forte pat he ofen fint and dijeliche smughtS per inne, at te e,en jif it open ben to bi-holden idel, o5er unnut, atte earen jif it open ben to listen unnut otSer idel, at te nose jif it beats open to snuuende unluuede bretS, at te muS jif hit open beotS to spekende mis, oSer on ete, oSer on drinke to mis don, at te shape jif hie redie ben to golliehe deden. He sunt autem. V parte mortis, per quas ingreditur autor mortis, ut occidat, et efferat mortuos, attese fif gaten faret5 in deaSSes wrihte, and per inne doS.26 The Angels who Take Souls Eeferences to the demons and angels who take souls, and to the terror and joy which they occasion, are not difficult to find. An example, rather more vivid than many, occurs in the Elucidarium of Honorius Augus- todunensis (12th cent.). Cum mali in extremis sunt, daemones maximo strepitu conglo- bati veniunt aspectu horribiles, gestibus terribiles, qui animam cum pervalido tormento de corpore excutirunt, et crudeliter ad inferni elaustra pertrahunt.27 Cum Justus in extremis agit, angelus sui custos cum multitudine angelorum venit, et animam ejus sponsam Christi de carcere corporis tollit, et cum maximo dulcissimae melodiae cantu, et immenso lumine, ac suavissimo odore, ad coeleste perducit palatium, in spiritualem paradisum.21 In the lives of the Western Saints we find the same uniformity as in the accounts of their Egyptian broth ers and sisters. Angels carried off the soul of nearly every one, St. Barbara, St. Fructuosus and two others, St. Peter the exorcist, St. Titus, St. Vincent Ferrier — 28 Morris, 0. E. Homilies, n, 191. E.E.T.S., 53. 27 P. L., 172, 1159. Cf. P. G., 58, 532. "Ibid., col. 1157. APPENDIX D 173 the list might easily be lengthened.29 We find the motive used even in accounts of the deaths of William Wallace and Edward I.30 More noteworthy are the scenes in which we have the two or three angels who take the soul, or in which we find the division of the angels into two bands, one preceding and singing, the other accompanying the soul.31 Thus, in the Vision of Furseus two angels carry the saint, while a third goes before with a white shield and a, shining sword; all sing sweetly.32 In a British Museum manuscript of the first half of the fifteenth century is a picture of a soul being led to heaven by four angels. Two are accompanying the soul, the other two go before, carry ing musical instruments. The legend reads: "Here is a sawle led with myrthe and melody of angels to heuen.33 According to the account in the Acta Sanctorum, when St. Medard died (545), two angels in the form of doves descended from heaven, and the Saint's soul, also in the form of a dove, came from his mouth. The two angels then accompanied the soul to heaven.34 In many death bed scenes also the number of angels or demons who are present to assume 'the soul is limited to two, or three.35 28 Cf. Brewer, Dictionary of Miracles, pp. 7-8, 230, 458. mIbid., p. 460. 81 The account of the death of Mary in the Cursor Mundi should be compared with the various Coptic accounts, EETS., 66, 1184-5. aa Wright, St. Patrick's Purgatory, p. 9. 88 Add. ms. 37049, f . 74 b. "Brewer, op. cit., p. 109. 85 This point cannot be pressed because the limitations of the draw ing would demand that the number of angels or demons be small. On the other hand I do not recall a single manuscript drawing in which there were more than three demons, or angels, around a death-bed, unless vast hosts were represented. 174 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL The Stbuggle with the Demons The mediaeval versions of the struggle with the de mons are found most frequently in visions. In the cor respondence of Boniface and Lullus such a vision is re corded : Praeterea referebat: illo in temporis spatio, quo extra corpus fuit, tarn magnam animarum migrantium de corpore multitudinem illuc, ubi ipse fuit, convenisse, quam totius humani generis in terris non fuisse antea existimaret. Innumerabilem quoque malignorum spirit uum turbam nee non et clarissimum chorum supernorum angelorum adfuisse narravit. Et maximam inter se miserrimos spiritus et sanctos angelos de animabus egredientibus de corpore disputationem habuisse, daemones accussando et peecatorum pondus gravando, angelos vero relevando et excussando. ¦ Et se ipsum audisse, omnia flagitiorum suorum propria peccamina — quae fecit a iuventute sua et ad confitendum aut neglexit aut oblivioni tradidit vel ad peccatum pertinere omnino nesciebat — ipsius propria voce contra ilium clamitasse et eum dirissime ac- cussasse et specialiter unumquodque vitium quasi ex sua persona in medium se obtulisse dicendo quoddam : " Ego sum cupiditas tua, qua inlicita frequentissime et contraria praeceptis Dei concupisti;" quoddam vero : " Ego sum vana gloria, qua te apud homines iactanter exaltasti;" [so mendacium, contumacia, inobedientia, torpor et desidia in sanctorum studiorum neglectu, etc.] Omnia, quae in diebus vitae suae in carne conversatus peregit et confiteri neglexit, multa quoque, quae ad peccatum pertinere omnino ignorabat, contra eum cuncta terribiliter vociferabant. Similiter et maligni spiritus in omnibus consonantes vitiis accussando et duriter testificando et loca et tem- pora nefandorum actuum memorantes eadem, quae peccata dixerunt, conclamantes probabant. Vidit quoque ibi hominem quendam, cui iam in seeulari habitu degens vulnus inflixit — quem adhuc in hac vita superesse referebat — ad testimonium malorum suorum adduc- tum; cuius cruentatum et patens vulnus et sanguis ipse, propria voce damans inproperabat et inputabat ei crudele effusi sanguis ipse, propria voce damans inproperabat et inputabat ei crudele effusi sanguinis crimen. Et sic cumulatis et conputatis sceleribus, antiqui hostes adfirmabant; cum, reum peccatorem, iuris eorum et condicionis indubitanter fuisse. APPENDIX D 175 E contra autem — dixit — excussantes me, clamita'bant parve virtutes animae, quas ego miser indigne et inperfecte peregi. Quaedam dixit: "Ego sum oboedientia quam senioribus spiritalibus exhibuit;" [and so on with other virtures] . Et si unaquaeque virtus contra emulum suum peccatum excussando me clamitabat. Et has illi in- mensae claritatis angelici spiritus magnificando defendentes me ad- firmabant. Et istae virtutes universae valde mactae et multo maiores et excellentiores esse mihi videbantur, quam umquam viri- bus meis digne perpetrate fuissent." "" In the visions of the other world this motive is fre quently found, the progress of the visionary is, oddly enough, hindered by the accusing demons. The vision of the struggle alone, is of course a warning of what will happen after death. But when the saint is being car ried to heaven and hell by angels that he may relate what he has seen when he shall return to earth, it seems rather stupid of the demons to challenge his progress just as though it were a soul gone out from the body. The order in the Visio Pauli is of course the logical one: the visionary sees the demons challenging a soul which has gone out from the body. Nevertheless, when the soul of Furseus is snatched from his body, he has to pass through clouds of opposing demons, Satan advances all of his sins, even to idle words and thoughts. The angels answer his arguments and he allows Furseus to pass. The dangers, here, as in the Coptic accounts, are varied. For Furseus has then to pass through four fires, identified with "Neglect of the Baptismal Vow to renounce the Devil and his works," Covetousness, Dissension, and Injustice. These being so Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae Meroiinngici et Karo- lini aevi I. S. Bonifatii et Lulli epistolae, ed. E. Diimmler, Xo. 10 (c. 717) Wynfrethus Eadburgae dbbatissae Thanetensi visionem in monasterio Wenlocensi factam perscribit, p. 252. Compare also no. 115, p. 403. 176 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL passed he is seven times more assailed by demons.37 St. Furseus lived in the seventh century: another Irish vision, attributed to St. Laisren, who lived at about the same time, records the motive yet more clearly. Two angels, taking Laisren's soul between them, bore it aloft into the air, where a host of angels received it. Further progress was opposed by three hordes of fiery demons, armed with fiery spears and darts, one of whom preferred against Laisren a long charge, enumerating all the sins which he had committed since birth, and of which he had failed to make confession; "and the demon said nothing that was not true." However, "an angel of the great host" succeeded in answering all charges, and dismissed the demons; he then bade Laisren's con ductors take his soul to see Hell.38 In the Vision of Tundale, the soul of Tundale is hov ering near the body anxious to' re-enter it, when it is assaulted by great hosts of demons, with horns and tails, and with flames issuing from their mouths. At length, however, it is rescued by its guardian angel, and is taken to visit heaven and hell.39 Thurchill in his vision of purgatory 40 does not meet with the opposing spirits. We have, however, a refer ence to the belief in them, in the description of the basi lica which was the place for all souls which had recently 37 Boswell, Irish Precursor of Dante, pp. 167-8. Cf. Becker, Med. Visions, p. 51. 88 Boswell, op. cit., p. 170. Professor Kuno Meyer dates the original of this vision in the late ninth or early' tenth century. Cf. Boswell, p. 169, n. 2. 89 This vision is also Irish, it belongs to the 12th century. Cf. Boswell, op. cit., pp. 212 f.; Becker, Med. Visions, p. 82; Wright, St. Patrick's Purgatory, p. 33. 40 Related by Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, A. D. 1206. Rolls Series, n, 497 ff. Cf. Wright, St. Patrick's Purgatory, pp. 41 ff. APPENDIX D 177 gone out from their bodies. It had been appointed by the Savior upon the intercession of the Virgin in order that souls might come to it, absque ulla daemonum in vasions and there be judged according to their works.41 The Vision of Eusebius records the struggle as a real ity. Two hours before his death Eusebius began to act terribly, and frightened the monks by crying out: "I did not do it, you lie!" and "Help me, brothers, or I perish!" When the monks questioned him he replied: "Did you not see the crowd of demons which desired to overcome me ?" "And what did they wish to do to you, when you cried out, T did not do it ?' " "I was protest ing that I had not blasphemed the divine name." "Where fore did you turn your face down to the earth?" "Lest I might see their face which is ugly and terrible, noth ing on earth can be compared to it." At the last hour, however, Jerome appeared and comforted Eusebius, thereupon the demons vanished. Jerome reassured Euse bius that he would not desert him, and shortly after Eusebius died.42 One should compare the Catholic Recommendation of a Departing Soul: — Egredienti itaque animae tuae de corpore, splendidus Angelorum coetus ocourrat: judex Apostolorum tibi senatus advenlat; candida- torum tibi Martyrum triumphator exercitus obviet; liliata rutilan- tium te Confessorum turma circumdet; jubilantium te Virginum chorus excipiat; et beatae quietis in sinu Patriarcharum te complexus astringat; mitis atque festivus Christi Jesu tibi aspectus appareat, qui te inter assistentes sibi jugiter interesse decernat. Ignores omne quod horret in tenebris, quod stridet in flammis, quod cruciat in tormentis. Cedat tibi teterrimus Satanas cum satellitibus suis: a Rolls Series, n, 498. "P. L., 33, 1128-9, cf. col. 1130. Cf. Piers Plowman, B-text, Passus vn, lines 33-4. 178 THE LEGEND OF THE BODY AND SOUL in adventu tuo te comitantibus Angelis contremiscat, atque in aeternae noctis chaos immane diffugiat. Exurgat Deus, et dis- sipentur inimici ejus; et fugiant qui oderunt eum, a facie ejus . . . Confundantur igitur et erubescant omnes tartareae legiones, et ministri Satanae iter tuum impedire non audeant.48 In the Greek poem by Phillip the Solitary, The Tears of Phillip, the author has combined the struggle with the spirits with the belief in the tour of heaven and hell. To quote from the editor's Introduction: "L'auteur s'addresse a l'ame; il lui reproche de negliger de faire penitence. Un jour viendra ou elle sera separee du corps. A ce moment, elle suppliera les anges envoyes pour l'emmener de lui accorder quelques instants afin qu'elle se repente de ses fautes, mais ce sera en vain. Une balance est 14 jour peser les actes de sa vie. Les demons placent ses peches dans l'un des bassins, tandis que l'autre rejoit les bonnes actions apportees par les anges. Si le poids des vertus 1'emporte sur celui des fautes, l'ame est conduite au ciel; mais sur la route elle rencontre les demons princes de l'air qui lui font rendre compte de ses actions; enfin apres avoir echappe' a leurs mains elle est conduite devant le trOne de Dieu, qui ordonne a ses ministres de lui faire parcourir l'heureux sejour des saints. Si, au contraire, le poids des fautes est plus considerable que celui des vertus, ce sont les demons qui saisissent l'ame et lui font voir les divers tourments de l'enfer. Elle attend le jugement dernier dans celui des deux sejours qui lui est destine." ** The editor goes on to state that some of the details above 13 From the Official Prayer Book of the Catholic Church, New York, 1896. — Without entering into any of the controversy about the poem, one may suggest a comparison of the tradition of the struggle with the demons, with the first part of the Muspilli. " Denn sobald sich die Seele auf den Weg erhebt und den Leib liegen lasst, kommt ein Heer von des himmels Gestirnen, ein anderes aus der Holle, Sie streiten sich um sie. Wohl mag die Seele in Sorge stehen, bis die Entscheidung ergangen ist, zu welchem Heere sie gehalt sverde." Schmeller, Muspilli (Munich, 1832), p. 13. 44 L'AbbS Emmanuel Auvray, Les Pleurs de Philippe, Poeme en vers politiques de Philippe, le Solitaire; Bibliotheque de I'Hicole des Hautes Etudes, ' xxn, Paris, 1875, p. 3. APPENDIX D 179 are not precise. "Ainsi ou peut se demander si l'ame qui visite les enfers n'est pas la meme qui vient de parcourir le ciel: ce qui serait peu conforme a la theologie et sans doute a. la croyance religieuse de l'ecrivain." 45 On the contrary, the belief that the soul visited both heaven and hell agrees exactly with the well established belief in the soul's tour of the universe.46 48 Pp. 3-4. "This belief, however, seems to have been very little known in the Middle Ages. I have found no other certain reference to it. VITA 1, Louise Dudley, daughter of Mary Henton and Eichard Moberley Dudley, was born in Georgetown, Ken tucky, November 15, 1884. I attended the Preparatory School connected with Georgetown College; in 1900 I entered Georgetown College, and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from that institution in June, 1905. In 1906-7 I held an appointment as Fellow in English at Bryn Mawr College. During the year 1907-8 I held the position of Tutor and Teacher of Latin and Mathe matics at Kemper Hall, Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 1909- 1910, I held a Traveling Scholarship from Bryn Mawr College for the first semester, and a Eesident Scholarship in English for the second. I began graduate work at Bryn Mawr College, October, 1905, choosing for my major subject of study English Philology, and for my minors English Literature and English History. My studies were pursued at Bryn Mawr College for two years, 1905-7. After a year spent in private research at the Bibliotheque Rationale, and at the British Museum, I entered the University of Oxford for the Michaelmas term of lectures 1909, returning to Bryn Mawr College for the second semester of the year 1909-1910. At Oxford, I attended the lectures of Profes sors, Napier, Ealeigh, and Firth. At Bryn Mawr my work has been under the direction of Dr. Carleton F. Brown, Dr. Clarence C. Clark, Miss Lucy M. Donnelly, and Dr. Orie L. Hatcher, in English: and of Dr. Charles M. Andrews and Dr. William H. Allison, in English History. Earlier results of my investigation of the Body and Soul 181 182 VITA legend were published in the Journal of English and Germanic Philology, April, 1909. The accompanying dissertation was presented to the Faculty of Bryn Mawr College in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,, April, 1910. Further information relating to it, and special acknowledgments of aid received in its preparation will be found in the Preface. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08866 3225 P&iWm