| Monumental Christianity; or, The art and symbolism of the primitive church. CHAPTER VII - 4 |
Page 5 of 5 The sun-god of the Persians and Greeks was the type of Christ, the true Sun of Righteousness, and the Deliverer of man from all evil. After Apollo was killed by Python, or the great serpent, his body was laid in a tomb at Delphi, where he was bewailed by women ; and at Miletus, it is affirmed by Higgins, there was a crucified Apollo, who overcame the serpent, i. ^., the evil principle.* The crow was sacred to him as it was to Mithra, according to Callimachus ;' just as the Dove is sacred to Christ, and a symbol of the Holy Ghost. " Apollo's eyes endure None but the good, the perfect, and the pure. And honours well Apollo can command. For high in power he sits at Jove's right hand. On his soft cheeks no tender down hath sprung, A Ckxl, forever fair, forever young. What time thy golden arrows plenteous flew, And the feU Python, dreadful serpent, slew ; Swift from thy bow they pierced the monster's heart. While still the people ciy'd, ' Elance the dart ;' Each shaft with acclamations they attend, * lo, send forth, another arrow send ; ' Thee thy blest mother bore, and pleas'd assign'd * The willing Saviour of distrtst manldnd* " • If early Christian art made her Great Antitype Christ the Deliverer and Saviour, thus young and beardless, thus seated at God's right hand, and thus victorious over ' Anacalypsis, II., pp. 102-3. and 180. • Hvmn lo Apollo, p. 49. t>odd's Trans,, • Id, The Good Shepherd. 187 evil, like Apollo, it was because Apollo was His tjT)e in the Pagan world, just as Isaac was among the Hebrews. Surely the God and Father of all has not with- held a knowledge of the way of life and salvation from His Pagan children, and revealed it only to Israel, before the Incarnation and Advent of His Son. In this respect, too, He is not a God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Orpheus. I now pass to the consideration, of Orpheus as that more special Pagan type of Christ, more than once used in the Christian Catacombs at Rome. On comparing the Pagan composition, (Fig. 83,) herewith presented, with the frontispiece of this work, it will be seen how closely the Christian artist has copied and improved a Pagan original. 1 call this an Egyptian Orpheus, on the authority of Count Caylus, from whose col- lection of Antiquities I copy it.* He tells us that a cast of it was sent him from Egypt, where he believes the original was engraved, though it bears the traces of Greek art. Some of the animals in this composition, as the elephant, the lion, and the monkey, are not found in Greece, but in Africa and Asia. And in another example given by Caylus of the same subject, we see the ibis, the cynocephalus, and the kangaroo, or what looks very much like it, and monkeys, the lion and hippopotamus, all of which are Asiatic and African, mingled with the horse, ibex, goat, &c.* The art is still Grecian, but of Egyptian origin as to sub- ject. Orpheus is seated as usual, playing upon his lyre, the animals and birds are grouped round him in a circle, some lying down at his feet, as the lion ; and some standing still as if entranced. But he is there without his cap. The face is young and beardless as usual, and the hair is somewhat long and curls over the ears nearly to the neck. And in speaking of these two compositions of Orpheus charming the wild beasts, Caylus refers to an Egyptian intaglio of black agate, the subject of Fig. 83.— Ef^yptian Orpheoi. ' RecuHit &c., torn, iii., pi. xiii., No. I, p. 51. • Recueil, torn, iv., pi. 48, No. r. pp. 137-8. 1 88 Monumental Christianity. which is Harpocrates with a globe on his head, and a whip over his shoulder, like the priests of Osiris, and his right hand index finger pointed, — in a half-sitting atti- tude upon what seems to be a torch or fulmen, with various creatures round him such as birds, (the hawk,) crabs, goats, or the bull Apis, hippopotami, and croco- diles.' From the similarity of grouping and the animals, Caylus infers that the two examples of Orpheus, though of Greek art, are strongly influenced by the Egyptian mythology and had their origin there. In the treatment of the subject by Christian art, we have another example in the cemetery of St. Callixtus, besides the frontispiece, where we see two dromeda- ries, a cow, two lions, a peacock, and doves or pigeons on two trees, between which sits Orpheus holding his lyre with his left hand, while his right is pointing the in- dex finger like Harpocrates, as if speaking impressively and with authority. He wears his pointed cap, and is young and beardless. His position, between the two trees filled with birds, is in the manner of the Good Shepherd with his flock." Only in the ex- ample of the Egyptian Orpheus, above given, is there any tree ; the other examples given by Caylus are without any trees. But in a Pagan example given both by Millin and Guigniaut, Orpheus is seated upon a lion at the foot of a tree with three branches, holding the lyre in his left hand and gesticulating with his right, the various ani- mals being grouped in compartments round the circle in which Orpheus sits. Again he is without his cap, but crowned with laurel." Neither in Pagan nor Christian art is Orpheus ever without his lyre ; it is his one powerful instrument to produce peace and harmony amid the tumultuous passions of the soul itself, as well as among men of turbulent and savage natures, clashing interests, rival ambitions, and differences of opinion religious and political. It is not the music of the lyre simply that does this, but that which the lyre symbolizes, the love of God and of our neighbour — the purity and goodness of heart which still its pride and lust, — the kindness and benevolence which do no wrong, practice no injustice, and make music and glad- ness along the world's great highway of nations. This is the meaning of the Frontispiece. The Octagon, and not the circle, is used in this instance, with a special motive, as I conceive, which is to convey the idea of the Son of God— the Divine Wisdom and the Gift to man of the Divine Love, having come to earth to produce spiritual harmony and fellowship — to make peace and reconciliation between God and man — to unite heaven and earth, the Divine and the human in bonds of amity and concord ; and to make one great brotherhood of all the various tribes, families and nations of mankind in His eter- » Xeceuii, torn. iii.. pi. lo, No. 2, pp. 44-5- " Bosio's Rtm. Soft., p. 255. ' *JieUgi(ms de LAnHquiti, pi. 172, No. 645. GaUrie Mythologique, pi. 107, No. 423. The Good Shepherd. 189 nal and glorious Kingdom, simply and only by the one powerful principle that binds all things together in one, the love of God and of our neighbour. It is this that has made civilization all the world over, and not a materialistic science looking only to physical comfort and abundance. Out of this love of God all poetry, art, and phil- osophy have arisen. Religion always and everywhere, in its purity and integrity, has been the best source of all real good to mankind. And Orpheus was the name by which ancient Paganism understood the celestial origin of her poetry, her theol- ogy, her philosophy, her arts, and her religious rites and mysteries ; for the Divine Orpheus was reputed to have originated them all. This octagon figure in which the CalHxtine Orpheus sits, as the symbol of the union of heaven and earth, the Divine and the human in peace and harmony, is simply formed by drawing a line from point to point of the combination of the two kinds of crosses, the heavenly and the earthly, as already noticed in the first chap- ter, or the Platonic .cross formed by the great circles of the heavens, like the Greek X, and the square cross formed by the earthly meridians and parallels, thus 4- ; the combination making this figure * , sometimes called the Star of Venus ; and often seen in the monuments of all ancient Pagan nations. This combination means about the same thing as that of the two triangles, viz., the active and passive powers of life in conjunction. The Incarnation of the Son of God was the union of heaven and earth, the Divine and the human ; it was the mystic Ladder of Jacob's vision : '• Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascend- ing and descending upon the Son of Man." (St. Jno. i. 51.) Orpheus is seated in kingly majesty, his cap, as the symbol of Divine origin and royalty, on his head, playing his lyre with both hands, in a shady bower of trees. The lion, the bear, the horse, sheep, the serpent, as in the composition of Krishna and Mithra, the peacock, and other birds, are all charmed into peace and concord; while in the eight compartments are scenes of nature and of grace which equally demand our notice. Four of these scenes represent the civilizing process of subdu- ing nature to human uses ; for they are pastoral scenes where cattle and sheep sug- gest abundance and contentment. The other four are scenes of grace and redemp- tion. No. I is Daniel in the lion's den, as a type of Christ delivering his and our humanity from death and the grave — ^there are never but two lions in this oft- repeated subject ; No. 2 is the resurrection of Lazarus as the proof of Christ Him- self being the resurrection and the life to all other dead men ; No. 3 is David with his sling going forth to meet and slay Goliath, as a t3rpe of Christ in His contest with evil, and victory over it ; and No. 4 is Moses striking the rock in the wilder- ness for water, which Rock is Christ in the grace of Baptism. And all is of God through His Son, as indicated by the great circle which encloses both the kingdom 190 Monumental Christianity. of nature and of grace. The doves in the corners outside the circle, with olive branches in their claws, may signify the holy and all-pervading spirit of God, giving life and peace to men in every part of the world ; and as sent forth of the Father by the Son for. this purpose. The vases with palm-branches indicate victory over all the ills of life and over death itself. There is an example of the Good Shepherd in an octagon like this of Orpheus^ dad in his tunic 3XiA penula; or sacrificial cloak, with the Syrinx in his right hand; and holding the Iamb over his shoulders with his left ; but the examples are rare, too rare to serve the mere purpose of variety.' The octagon, therefore, must have some reference to the Incarnation of the Son of God as a joining of* heaven and earth, grace and nature, God and man together. Both Bryant and Dr. Von Ddllinger express the opinion that Orpheus was only a name/ applied to a school of priests who brought the new cult of Dionysos into Greece. Vossius doubts, with good reason, whether any such person as Or- pheus ever existed, citing Aristotle and Suidas to this effect. One ancient Greek writer admits that such a man existed, but denies the story, calling it a fable. Under the name of Orpheus, then, is to be understood Cadmus and theCadmeans, one of whose cities was called Orpheus in Thrace ; and hence the name. Ur of Cbaldea was called Urphi and Orphi, and it was the seat of the ancient Mag^ ; and Pausanius tells us that '' Orpheus was great in all the mysteries of the Magi." This explains the origin of the Magian cap on the head of Orpheus. Like Osiris, Orpheus descended into Hades for the recovery of his lost Eurydice stung to death by a serpent,'and arose to life and earth again. His mysterious death was cele- brated with the same frantic acts of grief by the women of Thrace, the Maenades, as the Oriental women practised for Thammuz and Baal. Orpheus was a title under which the Deity was worshipped ; and he was the same as Horus of Egypt, and Apollo of Greece.' ' As connected with both Apollo and Dionysos, one the sun of heaven, ?ind the other of^earth, Orpheus is indeed a mediator like Mithra; and Epimenides, his oldest priest, may well be called a minister of atonement, who was sent for to Crete to come to Athens, and deliver the city and state from a plague, in consequence of the bloodshed of Cylon, B. C. 6i2.' In fact, there seems to be a very close resem- blance between OrpheuSj Zoroaster, and Hermes, all of whom were revealers of Divinfe knowledge to men, the palm-branch being their mysterious tree of life on which the events of time were recorded ; the emanations of Divinity ; the bright ' Bono's '^MPk Sftt. p. 35X. See Fig. 8a. • ^Ancient Mythology. II. pp. 134-196 •Von.D6llijnger's55wfl«/.C^«A'Zf,n)l. I. pp. 138-163. . , . The Good Shepherd. 19 1 luminaries of the way of life ; who came from heaven with the WorS of Life — (Ihe Zend-Avesta, the harp, &c.) who descended into hell; and rose again to the beat- ific mount and vision of God.' In later Greece Orpheus seems to have been disconnected from the sun, accord- ing to Cox. Pinder makes him simply a harper, and the father of song. In iEschy- lus he leads everything after him by the gladness with which his strain inspires them. In Euripides he is the harper who compels the rocks to follow him, while in speaking of him as the originator of sacred mysteries, the poet transfers to him the idea which represents Hermes as obtaining mysterious wisdom. The ship Argfo, that could not be moved by the heroes of the Golden Fleece, glides from its moor- ings at the sound of his lyre ; through rocks and dangers it passes on to its destin- ation by the same sweet influence ; the very sirens are overcome by the witchery of his music, and cast themselves into the sea, where they are changed into rocks; and the whole Argonautic expedition is successful only because of the presence of Orpheus and his lyre ; ' which expedition undoubtedly has some deeper meaning than the mere commercial search after earthly wealth. But let us now turn to see why Orpheus was adopted as a type of Christ, ac^ cording to the testimony of the fathers of the Primitive Church. Eusebius says, ** Our common Saviour proved Himself the benefactor and preserver of all, dis- playing His wisdom through the instrumentality of His human nature, even as a musician uses the lyre to evince his skill. The Grecian fable tells us that Orpheus had power to charm ferocious beasts, and tame their savage spirit, by striking .the chords of his instrument with a master hand : and this celebrated story is generally believed by the Greeks, that an unconscious instrument could subdue the uiitamed brute, and draw the trees of the forest from their places, in obedience to its melo- dious power. But He who is the Author of perfect harmony, the all-wise Word of God, desiring to apply every remedy to* the manifold diseases bf the soliis of men, employed that human nature which is the workmanship of His own wisdom, as an instrument, by the melodious strains of which. He soothed, not only the brute creation, but savages endued with reason ; healing each furious temper, each fierce and ^ngry passion of the soul, both in civilized and barbarous nations, by the remedial power of His Divine doctrine. He. showed to men, God in human fornt. Whatever he touches with Divine power must of necessity become endued- with the intelligence of light and life." " This confirms the view already advanced as to Orpheus being a type of Christ 'Creuzer, I. p. 3x7. Lajard, p. 16. ' Cox's Mythology of the Aryan NaHans^ vol. II. pp. 239-49^ ¦ Oratio in laud. Const, c 14, pp. 359" ^l- 192 Monumental Christianity. in His Divine Incarnation, and explains the Octagon figure in which he sits. This Incarnation is the real harmony of all things in heaven and earth. Apollo, the glory of heaven, and Dionysos, the joy and gladness of earth, represented by the Vine and its rich clusters, are joined in one in Orpheus, who thus becomes the type of the Incarnate Son of God. The earlier testimony of Clement of Alexandria is this : " It is the new har- mony which bears God's name — the new, the Levitical Song — of God's mercy and goodness — soother of pain, calmer of wrath, producing forgetfulness of all ills ; the sweet and true charm of persuasion in the Gospel of the Son of God ; it alone has tamed men, the most intractable of animals, — the frivolous among them answering to the fowls of the air — deceivers being reptiles, — the irascible, lions, — the volup- tuous, swine, — the rapacious, wolves ; the silly are stocks and stones, and still more senseless than stones is the man who is steeped in ignorance. This deathless strain — ^the support of the whole and the harmony of all, — reaching from the centre to the circumference — has harmonized this universal frame of things, not according to the Thracian music, which is like that invented by Jubal, but according to the Paternal counsel of God which fired the zeal of David. And He who is of David and yet before him, the Word of God, having tuned by the Holy Spirit the universe, and especially man, who, composed of body and soul, is a universe in miniature, — makes melody to God on this instrument of many tones; and to this instrument, I mean man. He sings accordant. ' For thou art my harp, and pipe, and temple, — ^a harp for harmony, and a pipe by reason of the Spirit — a temple because of the Word ; so that the first may sound, the second breathe, the third contain the Lord And He Himself also, surely, who is the supernatural Wisdom, the Celestial Word, is the all-harmonious, melodious, holy Instrument of God ! What, then, does this Instrument, the Word of God, the Lord, the New Song, desire? To open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf, and lead the erring or the lame to righteousness, to exhibit God to the foolish, to put a stop to corruption, to conquer death, to reconcile disobedient children to their Father. The Instrument of God loves mankind. The Lord pities, instructs, exhorts, admonishes, saves, shields, and His bounty promises us the Kingdom of Heaven as a reward for learning; and the only advantage is, that we are saved.*"* Here we have the same idea expressed of the Incarnation of the Son of God, together with our own purified nature, as instruments of the Divine Power and Goodness. But Clement again says, that both Orpheus and Plato derived their knowledge ' Cofuni, c. I., pp. 19-21. The Good Shepherd. 193 of the one Living and True God from the Mosaic writings, and cites these lines from one of the Orphic hymns: "One is perfect in Himself, and all things are born of One ; Him no one of mortals has seen, but He sees all.*' * And still more, speaking of the Thracian Orpheus as poet and theologian, to whom with others, certain scintillations of the Divine Word were given, and by whom some utterances of truth were mctde, Clement cites these remarkable verses from an Orphic hymn, viz. : '* Looking to the Divine Word, apply yourself to it, Keeping right the seat of intellect and feeling ; and Walk well in the straight path, and to the Immortal King of the universe alone Direct your gaze. He is One, self-proceeding ; And from Him alone all things proceed ; An4 in them He Himself exerts His activity : no Mortal beholds Him, but He beholds all." * In Taylor's collection of Orphic hymns, occurs this expression as to the Word of God as Phanes, or the Epiphany of God in Christ, being addressed to Protogonus, or the First-Begotten : " O Mighty First-Begotten, hear my prayer, Twofold, egg-born, and wand'ring ihro' the air ; Creator, glorying in thy golden wings. From whom the race of gods and mortals springs. 'Tis thine from darksome mists to purge the sight, All -spreading Splendour, pure and holy Light ; Hence, Phams, call'd the glory of the sky. On waving pinions thro* the world you fly. Preserver, {Priapus^ Mystic Wisdom, Thee I sing. All-gracious, just, and ever-blessed king." • I cite this most extraordinary hymn because Lactantius refers to it thus: " Orpheus, who is the most ancient of the poets, and coeval with the Gods them- selves, speaks of the true and grefit God as the First-Begotten {nporoyovo?), because nothing was produced before Him, but all things sprung from Him. He also calls fiim Phanes, the Appearer, (Epiphany,) because when as yet there was nothing He first appeared and came forth from the Infinite. He also affirms that this Being is the Parent of all, and has provided for His children a common abode and habitation in framing the heavens; 'He built for immortals an imperishable home.* Thus * Mis,, V. c. 12. , • Afiscel., V. c. 14, vol. ii. * Mystical Hymns of Orpheus, H. VI. 2nd Ed. Chiswick, 1824. I have Uken the liberty of changing a word or two. 25 194 Monumental Christianity, under the guidance of nature and reason, Orpheus understood that there was a power of surpassing greatness which made heaven and earth — the First-Begotten, to Whom He assigns and gives the first place.** ' So also Lactantius cites this response of the oracle of Apollo at Colophon, to a question as to who or what God was : " Self-produced, untaught, without a mother, unshaken, A name not even to be comprised in a word, dwelling in fire, This is God ; and we His messengers are a slight portion of God." ' Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, second century, who first introduced the term Triad into Christian Theology, says that Orpheus wrote a poem of the three hundred and sixty-five gods, (one for every day in the year,) which he repudiated in the latter part of his life, maintaining that there is one only God.* Justin Martyr, who ought to know, being a Platonic philosopher converted to Christianity, during the first half* the second century, says, " Even Orpheus, who introduces three hundred and sixty gods, will bear witness in my favour, (as to one only God,) from a tract called Diat/ieca, in which he appears to repent of his error by the following, addressed to his son Musaeus: ** The words I tell thee now are true indeed. And if thou former thoughts of mine hast seen. Let them not rob thee of the blessed life ; Bat rather turn the depths of thine own heart Unto that place where light and knowledge dweU. Take thou the Word Divine to guide thy steps ; And walking well in the straight certain path, Look to the One and Universal King, One, Self-Begotten, and the only One, Of whom all things, and we ourselves are sprung. All things are open to His piercing gaze. While He Himself is still invisible ; Present in all His works, though still unseen, He gives to mortals evil out of good, . Sending both chilling wars and tearful griefs ; And other than the Great King there is none." Twice does St. Justin cite this passage, which must be genuine, or he would not dare to do it, in confirmation of the Christian doctrine as to one God only, con- sidering Orpheus to be as good an authority on this point as Moses.* * Divin, Inst, L, cc. v and vi 'Id. I. c. 7. ^Auiol. lib. in. c. 2. * Cohort, ad Greek, c. XV. Men, Dei, c. IL The Good Shepherd. 195 While St. Augustine, in later times, attaches minor importance to the writings of Orpheus as compared with the Old Testament prophets, he still admits that Or- pheus prophesied of Christ ; for he says to the Manichaean Faustus, " If any truth about God or the Son of God is taught or predicted in the Sibyls, or in Orpheus, or in Hermes, if there ever was such a person, or in any other heathen poets, theologians, or philosophers, it may be useful for the refutation of Pagan error, but cannot lead us to believe in those writers. For while they spoke, because they could not help it, of the God whom we worship, they either taught their fellow-countrymen to worship idols and demons, or allowed them to do so without daring to protest against it.*' ' If it is thus the concurrent testimony of the Christian fathers from the second to the fifth centuries, that Orpheus prophesied of the Only- Begotten Son of God as the Brightness of the Father's glory; and if Christian art did not thus early hesitate to adopt the Pagan mythos of Orpheus as typical of Christ, just as it adopted the Hebrew Isaac, and Elijah, and Daniel, and Jonah, then the conclusion is inevitable, that Christ was deemed the Antitype and Desire of all nations, come to earth ; and that He was the Divine and Only-Begotten Son of God ; that His divinity was no new doctrine; and that He is the only Being that has ever actually appeared in the world that at all answers the Jewish and Pagan prophecies and types ; He alone of all pur race having comprehensive charity enough to include all mankind in the one fold of which He is the Good Shepherd. The painting of Orpheus, of which the frontispiece is a copy, is perhaps one of the oldest in the cemetery of St. Callixtus ; and Boldetti claims for it the time of Nero, since the precise style of dress worn by Orpheus is exactly that which is described by Horace, Lucullus, and Ovid, as the habit of the musicians of the day; while the artistic merit of the painting itself is of a high order, and belongs to the earlier periods of Christianity, when art was still highly prized at Rome and her artists were well rewarded for their work. At any rate it is quite safe to fix the date of this painting before the time of Justin Martyr, since he would hardly have ventured to cite Orpheus at all, had he not been already in favour as a type or prophet of Christ among his fellow Christians. I doubt not that Justin saw this very painting of Orpheus during his sojourn at Rome, and therefore is disposed to use it as testimony in favour of the one God and of His Only-Begotten Son, the Divine Word or Phanes of God. The whole idea of the grace and beauty of the youthful and Divine Good Shepherd, while artistically treated after Apollo, Orpheus, &c., is still the portrait- * Faust^ lib. xiii. 15. 196 Monumental Christianity. ure of St. John, who, more than the other Evangelists, shows Him to be the true xakoij the One altogether lovely. It was precisely during the time that the "Shep- herd of Hermas ** was the most popular of books in the Christian community, i. f,y from the second to the fifth centuries, that the Good Shepherd of Christian art held such a conspicuous place in the Catacombs and early Basilicas and churches. The law of love is the Divine harmony of the world, in heaven, earth, and hell. As Orpheus went with his lyre into Hades, so Christ went and preached to the spirits in prison. His Gospel has sounded everywhere throughout the whole wide universe; and it shall yet accomplish its blessed work of restoration, of bringing all things together in Christ, both in heaven and earth, and things under the earth. Meanwhile, it will soothe human sorrow; subdue human passion; restrain human lust and ambition : pacify and refine human grossness and turbulence ; civilize the savage; charm the churlish ; draw the sinful to virtue and holiness ; set all this sad world dancing for joy ; and be the one melodious strain of blessed peace and rest forevermore. |