Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 45

Alarmed at the prophecy, he handed the child to his kinsman Harpagos to be slain; but this man having entrusted it to a shepherd to be exposed, the latter contrived to save it by exhibiting to the emissaries of Harpagos the body of a still-born child of which his own wife had just been delivered. Grown to man's estate Cyrus of course justified the prediction of the Magi by his successful revolt against Astyages and a.s.sumption of the monarchy.

Herodotus, the Grecian Historian (B. C. 484), relates that Astyages, in a vision, appeared to see a vine grow up from Mandane's womb, which covered all Asia. Having seen this and communicated it to the interpreters of dreams, he put her under guard, resolving to destroy whatever should be born of her; for the Magian interpreters had signified to him from his vision that the child born of Mandane would reign in his stead. Astyages therefore, guarding against this, as soon as Cyrus was born sought to have him destroyed. The story of his exposure on the mountain, and his subsequent good fortune, is then related.[169:1]

_Abraham_ was also a "dangerous child." At the time of his birth, Nimrod, king of Babylon, was informed by his soothsayers that "a child should be born in Babylonia, who would shortly become a great prince, and that he had reason to fear him." The result of this was that Nimrod then issued orders that "all women with child should be guarded with great care, _and all children born of them should be put to death_."[169:2]

The mother of Abraham was at that time with child, but, of course, _he_ escaped from being put to death, although many children were slaughtered.

_Zoroaster_, the chief of the religion of the Magi, was a "dangerous child." Prodigies had announced his birth; he was exposed to dangers from the time of his infancy, and was obliged to fly into Persia, like Jesus into Egypt. Like him, he was pursued by a king, his enemy, who wanted to get rid of him.[169:3]

His mother had alarming dreams of evil spirits seeking to destroy the child to whom she was about to give birth. But a good spirit came to comfort her and said: "Fear nothing! Ormuzd will protect this infant. He has sent him as a prophet to the people. The world is waiting for him."[169:4]

_Perseus_, son of the Virgin Danae, was also a "dangerous child."

Acrisius, king of Argos, being told by the oracle that a son born of his virgin daughter would destroy him, immured his daughter Danae in a tower, _where no man could approach her_, and by this means hoped to keep his daughter from becoming _enceinte_. The G.o.d Jupiter, however, visited her there, as it is related of the Angel Gabriel visiting the Virgin Mary,[170:1] the result of which was that she bore a son--_Perseus_. Acrisius, on hearing of his daughter's disgrace, caused both her and the infant to be shut up in a chest and cast into the sea.

They were discovered by one Dictys, and liberated from what must have been anything but a pleasant position.[170:2]

_aesculapius_, when an infant, was exposed on the Mount of Myrtles, and left there to die, but escaped the death which was intended for him, having been found and cared for by _shepherds_.[170:3]

_Hercules_, son of the virgin Leto, was left to die on a plain, but was found and rescued by a maiden.[170:4]

_dipous_ was a "dangerous child." Laios, King of Thebes, having been told by the Delphic Oracle that dipous would be his destroyer, no sooner is dipous born than the decree goes forth that the child must be slain: but the servant to whom he is intrusted contents himself with exposing the babe on the slopes of Mount Kithairon, where a _shepherd_ finds him, and carries him, like Cyrus or Romulus, to his wife, who cherishes the child with a mother's care.[170:5]

The Theban myth of dipous is repeated substantially in the Arcadian tradition of _Telephos_. He is exposed, when a babe, on Mount Parthenon, and is suckled by a doe, which represents the wolf in the myth of Romulus, and the dog of the Persian story of Cyrus. Like Moses, he is brought up in the palace of a king.[170:6]

As we read the story of Telephos, we can scarcely fail to think of the story of the Trojan _Paris_, for, like Telephos, Paris is exposed as a babe on the mountain-side.[170:7] Before he is born, there are portents of the ruin which he is to bring upon his house and people. Priam, the ruling monarch, therefore decrees that the child shall be left to die on the hill-side. But the babe lies on the slopes of _Ida_ and is nourished by a she-bear. He is fostered, like Crishna and others, by _shepherds_, among whom he grows up.[170:8]

_Iamos_ was left to die among the bushes and violets. Aipytos, the chieftain of Phaisana, had learned at Delphi that a child had been born who should become the greatest of all the seers and prophets of the earth, and he asked all his people where the babe was: but none had heard or seen him, for he lay away amid the thick bushes, with his soft body bathed in the golden and pure rays of the violets. So when he was found, they called him Iamos, the "violet child;" and as he grew in years and strength, he went down into the Alpheian stream, and prayed to his father that he would glorify his son. Then the voice of Zeus was heard, bidding him come to the heights of Olympus, where he should receive the gift of prophecy.[171:1]

_Chandragupta_ was also a "dangerous child." He is exposed to great dangers in his infancy at the hands of a tributary chief who has defeated and slain his suzerain. His mother, "relinquis.h.i.+ng him to the protection of the Devas, places him in a vase, and deposits him at the door of a _cattle pen_." A _herdsman_ takes the child and rears it as his own.[171:2]

_Jason_ is another hero of the same kind. Pelias, the chief of Iolkos, had been told that one of the children of Aiolos would be his destroyer, and decreed, therefore, that all should be slain. Jason only is preserved, and brought up by Cheiron.[171:3]

_Bacchus_, son of the virgin Semele, was destined to bring ruin upon Cadmus, King of Thebes, who therefore orders the infant to be put into a chest and thrown into a river. He is found, and taken from the water by loving hands, and lives to fulfill his mission.[171:4]

Herodotus relates a similar story, which is as follows:

"The const.i.tution of the _Corinthians_ was formerly of this kind; it was an _oligarchy_, (a government in the hands of a selected few), and those who were called _Bacchiadae_ governed the city. About this time one Eetion, who had been married to a maiden called Labda, and having no children by her, went to Delphi to inquire of the oracle about having offspring. Upon entering the temple he was immediately saluted as follows; 'Eetion, no one honors thee, though worthy of much honor.

Labda is pregnant and will bring forth a round stone; it will fall on monarchs, and vindicate Corinth.' This oracle, p.r.o.nounced to Eetion, was by chance reported to the _Bacchiadae_, who well knew that it prophesied the birth of a son to Eetion who would overthrow them, and reign in their stead; and though they comprehended, they kept it secret, purposing to destroy the offspring that should be born to Eetion. As soon as the woman brought forth, they sent ten persons to the district where Eetion lived, to put the child to death; but, the child, _by a divine providence_, was saved.

His mother hid him in a chest, and as they could not find the child they resolved to depart, and tell those who sent them that they had done all that they had commanded. After this, Eetion's son grew up, and having escaped this danger, the name of Cypselus was given him, from the chest. When Cypselus reached man's estate, and consulted the oracle, an ambiguous answer was given him at Delphi; relying on which he attacked and got possession of Corinth."[171:5]

_Romulus_ and _Remus_, the founders of Rome, were exposed on the banks of the Tiber, when infants, and left there to die, but escaped the death intended for them.

The story of the "dangerous child" was well known in ancient Rome, and several of their emperors, so it is said, were threatened with death at their birth, or when mere infants. Julius Marathus, in his life of the Emperor Augustus Caesar, says that before his birth there was a prophecy in Rome that a king over the Roman people would soon be born. To obviate this danger to the republic, the Senate ordered that all the male children born in that year should be abandoned or exposed.[172:1]

The flight of the virgin-mother with her babe is also ill.u.s.trated in the story of Astrea when beset by Orion, and of Latona, the mother of Apollo, when pursued by the monster.[172:2] It is simply the same old story, over and over again. Someone has predicted that a child born at a certain time shall be great, he is therefore a "dangerous child," and the reigning monarch, or some other interested party, attempts to have the child destroyed, but he invariably escapes and grows to manhood, and generally accomplishes the purpose for which he was intended. This almost universal mythos was added to the fict.i.tious history of Jesus by its fict.i.tious authors, who have made him escape in his infancy from the reigning tyrant with the usual good fortune.

When a marvellous occurrence is said to have happened _everywhere_, we may feel sure that it never happened anywhere. Popular fancies propagate themselves indefinitely, but historical events, especially the striking and dramatic ones, are rarely repeated. That this is a fict.i.tious story is seen from the narratives of the birth of Jesus, which are recorded by the first and third Gospel writers, without any other evidence. In the one--that related by the _Matthew_ narrator--we have a birth at Bethlehem--implying the ordinary residence of the parents there--and a _hurried flight_--almost immediately after the birth--from that place into Egypt,[172:3] the slaughter of the infants, and a journey, after many months, from Egypt to Nazareth in Galilee. In the other story--that told by the _Luke_ narrator--the parents, who have lived in Nazareth, came to Bethlehem only for business of the State, and the casual birth in the cave or stable is followed by a quiet sojourn, during which the child is circ.u.mcised, and by a leisurely journey to Jerusalem; whence, everything having gone off peaceably and happily, they return naturally to their own former place of abode, full, _it is said over and over again_, of wonder at the things that had happened, and deeply impressed with the conviction that their child had a special work to do, and was specially gifted for it. _There is no fear of Herod, who seems never to trouble himself about the child, or even to have any knowledge of him.

There is no trouble or misery at Bethlehem, and certainly no mourning for children slain._ Far from flying hurriedly away by night, his parents _celebrate openly_, and at the usual time, the circ.u.mcision of the child; and when he is presented in the temple, there is not only no sign that enemies seek his life, _but the devout saints give public thanks for the manifestation of the Saviour_.

Dr. Hooykaas, speaking of the slaughter of the innocents, says:

"Antiquity in general delighted in representing great men, such as Romulus, Cyrus, and many more, as having been threatened in their childhood by fearful dangers. This served to bring into clear relief both the lofty significance of their future lives, and the special protection of the deity who watched over them.

"The brow of many a theologian has been bent over this (Matthew) narrative! For, as long as people believed in the miraculous inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, of course they accepted every page as literally true, and thought that there _could_ not be any contradiction between the different accounts or representations of Scripture. The worst of all such pre-conceived ideas is, that they compel those who hold them to do violence to their own sense of truth. For when these so-called religious prejudices come into play, people are afraid to call things by their right names, and, without knowing it themselves, become guilty of all kinds of evasive and arbitrary practices; for what would be thought quite unjustifiable in any other case is here considered a duty, inasmuch as it is supposed to tend toward the maintenance of faith and the glory of G.o.d!"[173:1]

As we stated above, this story is to be found in the fict.i.tious gospel according to Matthew only; contemporary history has nowhere recorded this audacious crime. It is mentioned neither by Jewish nor Roman historians. Tacitus, who has stamped forever the crimes of despots with the brand of reprobation, it would seem then, did not think such infamies worthy of his condemnation. Josephus also, who gives us a minute account of the atrocities perpetrated by Herod up to even the very last moment of his life, does not say a single word about this unheard-of crime, which must have been so notorious. Surely he must have known of it, and must have mentioned it, had it ever been committed. "We can readily imagine the Pagans," says Mr. Reber, "who composed the learned and intelligent men of their day, at work in exposing the story of Herod's cruelty, by showing that, considering the extent of territory embraced in the order, and the population within it, the a.s.sumed destruction of life stamped the story false and ridiculous. A governor of a Roman province who dared make such an order would be so speedily overtaken by the vengeance of the Roman people, that his head would fall from his body before the blood of his victims had time to dry. Archelaus, his son, was deposed for offenses not to be spoken of when compared with this ma.s.sacre of the infants."

No wonder that there is no trace at all in the Roman catacombs, nor in Christian art, of this fict.i.tious story, until about the beginning of the fifth century.[174:1] Never would Herod dared to have taken upon himself the odium and responsibility of such a sacrifice. _Such a crime could never have happened at the epoch of its professed perpetration._ To such lengths were the early Fathers led, by the servile adaptation of the ancient traditions of the East, they required a _second edition_ of the tyrant Kansa, and their holy wrath fell upon Herod. The Apostles of Jesus counted too much upon human credulity, they trusted too much that the future might not unravel their maneuvers, the sanct.i.ty of their object made them too reckless. They destroyed all the evidence against themselves which they could lay their hands upon, but they did not destroy it all.

FOOTNOTES:

[166:1] _A heavenly voice_ whispered to the foster-father of Jesus, and told him to fly with the child into Egypt, which was immediately done.

(See Matthew, ii. 13.)

[166:2] Life and Relig. of the Hindoos, p. 134.

[166:3] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 129. See also, c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 134, and Maurice: Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 331.

[166:4] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 273 and 259.

[167:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 61.

[167:2] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. 130, 13-, and Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 112, 113, and vol. iii. pp. 45, 95.

[167:3] Indian Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 112, 113.

[167:4] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 259.

[167:5] Farrar's Life of Christ, p. 58.

[167:6] See Introduction to Gospel of Infancy, Apoc.

[167:7] See vol. x. Asiatic Researches.

[168:1] Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 103, 104.

[168:2] Amberly's a.n.a.lysis, p. 229.

[168:3] The s.h.i.+h-king. Decade ii, ode 1.

[168:4] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, pp. 158 and 186.

[169:1] Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 110.

[169:2] Calmet's Fragments, art. "Abraham."

[169:3] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 240.

[169:4] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. "Religions of Persia."