Noah, Japheth and the Greeks

Salverda
Mar 11, 2012 10:35 PM

There is much to be gleaned from this article, especially the inference that the Greek god Ouranos is to be identified with the Hebrew patriarch Noah, and that Ouranos’ castration episode originates with the Hebrew story of Noah’s drunkenness. But the last sentence of this article reveals a chronological bias of the author that it will be difficult for him to overcome; “Japheth, who is absent from all other Near Eastern accounts, may well derive from Hesiod’s Iapetos.” Here the author assumes that the writings of Hesiod are older than the account in Genesis. This is a blatant error and a very unlikely assumption.

Even the premise, that Japheth is absent from all other Near Eastern accounts, is an unrealistic assumption. There is a strong possibility that the Persians had a tradition about Japheth. According to Herodotus (VII, 72, 450 BC.), there was a group of People who were known to the Greeks as the, "Leucosyri," or the "White Syrians," they lived in the land, that the Persians called "Cappadocia." Therefore it seems that White People are associated with, this time the Persian form of the name, Japheth. (The Hebrews say, "Japheth," the Latins say, "Gepetto," and it seems as though the Persians used a version of the name that was very much like the Latins, "Cappado,") Japheth is the famous progenitor of the White People, and as it turns out Iapetus has a connection with White People, as well. Iapetus is the father of the earliest known, and arguably the most famous, “Caucasian” who ever lived! Prometheus (As the mythical creator of mankind, we assume these men, must have been Caucasian men, for why are White folks named after the well known mountain of Prometheus, Mount Caucasia?).

Another false assumption, inferred although unstated, is the idea that the Greek Myths did not get the names of their mythological characters from the Hebrews. However, there are dozens of examples that would argue otherwise; “Melamp-us and Phylac-us” as “Balaam and Balak,” “Salmone-us” as “Solomon,” “Sisyph-us” as “Joseph,” “Inach-us” as “Anak,” or “Phorone-us” as “Ephron” Any one of which is at least as compelling as “Iapet-us” as “Japheth.”

A logical question to ask ones self after reading the foregoing is this; Did the writer or writers of the Biblical book of Genesis derive Japheth from the Greek Iapetus, or was it the other way around? I trust that the discerning reader will reach a better conclusion than the author of this article seems to have done.

Reply

AMAICMar 12, 2012 03:21 PM

I am glad that you picked this up, John. I was going to send it to you.



I fully agree with your comments about who influenced whom.



Best regards

Damien Mackey.

Perseus The Graeae and the Mountain

[The AMAIC considers the Middle East – West comparisons of John R. Salverda as interesting, with some of them we think being very likely. But we do not necessarily agree with all of the following]

Perseus

The Graeae and the Mountain

by John R. Salverda

As I have intimated previously, the Graeae have probably derived their name from a well known, in ancient times, Arabian People known as the Agraioi, who were Scripturally called the Hagarites. Although this great nation gets downplayed in the Scriptures, it must have at one time encompassed not only the Arabian Ishmaelites, but also the Keturite Midianites and even the Ethiopians and other Sabeans, all under the title of "Hagarite." It becomes apparent that the Midianites of Mount Sinai were anciently considered as Hagarites, thus Paul, who wrote of an analogy between Mount Sinai and Hagar (at Gal. 4:24-26), had a precedent to do so. "The Hagarites," known to Pliny (NH. 6,159-161), Strabo (XVI. 4,2), and Ptolemy (5.19.2), who called them, "the Agraioi," occupied the wilderness of Mount Sinai and were largely of Ethiopian/Egyptian extraction. (From "John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible;" Gal.4:25 - For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia,.... The Syriac version makes Hagar to be a mountain, ' "for Mount Hagar is Sinai, which is in Arabia": and some have been of opinion that Sinai was called Hagar by the Arabians. ' Hagar was the name of the chief city of Bahrain, a province of Arabia ' the wilderness of Paran, Gen.21:21 ' However, it is clear, that Sinai was in Arabia, out of the land of promise, where the law was given, and seems to be mentioned by the apostle with this view, ' . It is placed by Jerome in the land of Midian; ' Exo.3:1. And according to Philo the Jew, the Midianites, as formerly called, were a very populous nation of the Arabians: and Madian, or Midian, is by Mahomet spoken of as in Arabia; and it may be observed, that they that are called Midianites in Gen 37:36 are said to be Ishmaelites, Gen 39:1.) The Egyptians themselves referred to this people as the "Mitanni" (apparently the same word as the Biblical "Midianite"). They, as descendants of Abraham, believed in only one god, but it would be considered a dangerous heresy to even say such a thing in polytheistic Greece (thus the symbolism instead).

The Graeae are said to have had only one eye, and/or only one tooth between them, they used it alternately and were helpless during the exchange (The ancient mythographers, it appears, had some problem understanding how "two" separate nations could claim the same "one" god). The single eye refers to the single God of monotheism, and likewise the solitary tooth means the one word of god (the Law), thus, just as Perseus took these from the Graeae, at Mount Atlas, so Moses adopted these tenants under the crook of Jethro, priest of Midian, at Mount Sinai, as a prerequisite to freeing his people. The single eye of the Graeaes is not the only place where the Greeks have used this motif. Let us not forget those sun worshipping masons and metallurgists of antiquity, the Cyclopes. Because there is only one Sun, we are perhaps justified in seeing Sun worship as a step toward monotheism, especially as it was used among the Mithraic Persians, who claim themselves to be descendants of Perseus. Ahura Masda being the "one" god of the Zoroastrians, Mithra (sometimes identified with Perseus) himself could not have been originally thought of as a god but only as a type of Persian Moses, a mediator of the contract between God and men, a lord of the covenant (the Midian Baal-Berith). The eye is often a symbol of god, especially among the Egyptians, but also within the Chaldean sphere of influence such as the Assyrians, Hittites and Syrians where the winged eye was a widely used symbol of the deity.

Perseus visits the winged Graeae, the guardians of the Gorgon, at Mount Atlas, this was his first visit to the Mountain, where he learns how to get the magic purse. He returned to Mount Atlas, for his second visit, after he had obtained the head of Medusa. Moses, at the law giving, also makes two visits to his mountain. On his first visit he had a vision at Mount Sinai where he saw, before it's actual construction, the "pattern" of the Ark of the covenant's cover with the two golden cherubs bowing over, as if to protect, it. This was done so that Moses could oversee the accurate building of the Ark. Similarly, there was a town in Samos called Deicterion, where there was a "statue" of the three Gorgons. Athena took Perseus on a pre-adventure journey there so that he could learn what the Gorgons looked like, in order for him to be able to distinguish Medusa from her two winged sisters who protected her.

God would oftentimes appear to Moses seated upon the wings of the statue of the two cherubs (this was called the "mercy seat,") that were sculpted on the cover of the Ark. "The Gorgons ... had ... wings of gold on which they flew. All who looked at them were turned to stone." (Apollodorus 2.38-46) If an artistic rendering, or a symbolic description, of these appearances were ever to feature God in the symbol of an eye, then it would serve as the obvious origin to the motif of the winged Graeae having the one eye between them. Although he does receive a set of law tablets on this first visit, he breaks that set, and does not keep them. He obtains the commandments, that he will keep in the Ark, on his second visit.

For more articles by John R. Salverda on the Hebraic Connections of Greek Mythology, see:

"Helleno-Yishurin. The Hebrew Origin of Greek Legends"



Jerusalem’s History as Athenian Myth



Taken from:
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=display&webtag=ab-ancienthist&tid=5260


From: Salverda



Date: 2/22/11



Jerusalem’s History as Athenian Myth

What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? After even a cursory examination of the two, it is hard to deny that the founding "myths" of Athens share many curious and intricate coincidences with Jewish history and the symbolisms of Jerusalem. For as the founding myth of Athens goes; Cecrops (herein presented as the Athenian version of Moses), lead the Athenians up out of the land of Egypt. He took a colony out of the Egyptian city of Sais, (see the Scholiast on Aristophanes Plutus 773). Diodorus tells us, “the Athenians, they say, are colonists from Sais in Egypt, and they undertake to offer proofs of such a relationship; for the Athenians are the only Greeks who call their city "Asty," a name brought over from the city Asty in Egypt. Furthermore, their body politic had the same classification and division of the people as found in Egypt.” (Diodorus Siculus book 1 Chapter I.28.4). Similarly from Plato, as his ancestor Solon was told by the Priests of Egypt, "At the head of the Egyptian Delta, where the river Nile divides, there is a certain district which is called the district of Sais, and the great city of the district is also called Sais, and is the city from which Amasis the king was sprung. And the citizens have a deity who is their foundress: she is called in the Egyptian tongue Neith, which is asserted by them to be the same whom the Hellenes called Athena. Now, the citizens of this city are great lovers of the Athenians, and say that they are in some way related to them.” (Plato Critias). Just as in the story of Moses leading the twelve tribes to the promised land, so the Greek myth of Cecrops has him leading his people to the area of Athens and dividing the land into twelve districts. Strabo tells us that, “Cecrops first settled the multitude in twelve cities,” (Geography 9. 1. 18 - 20). Notice here not only the division into twelve but also Strabo’s reference to “the multitude” that Cecrops was accredited with settling at the colony of Athens (Sais = Zoan = Tanis = Tanit = Athena = Zion). It’s not my contention that there were two groups, both sharing the stories of Moses and coming out of Egypt, one going to Jerusalem and the other going to Athens, for it is more probable that colonists from Palestine (not necessarily Judeans) brought the stories of Moses to Athens long after the exodus, and even after Jerusalem had been established for a while. For it is not just the story about coming up out of the land of Egypt that they share.

Another example of how Cecrops was like Moses, can be seen in the writings of Pausanias, who says, "For Cecrops was the first to name Zeus the Supreme god, and refused to sacrifice anything that had life in it, but burnt instead on the altar the national cakes which the Athenians still call pelanoi.” (Description of Greece 8. 2. 2-3).# Thus even a kind of monotheism such as that which was advocated by Moses, who was the first to name Yahweh (Ex. 3:14), had it’s parallel in the Greek myth of Cecrops (however corrupt, he advocated Zeus as the “supreme god”). Notice also the bit about the “national cakes” in regards to Moses setting up the festival of the unfermented cakes. Just as Moses was the “legislator of the Jews” so the Greek myths tell us, that it was Cecrops who first gave the people of Athens their laws. Moses also wrote the universal founding story in the book of Genesis, and it is evident that the Athenians were well aware of it, because it is used liberally, as I will demonstrate, in the foundation myths of Athens. Some even say that Cecrops invented writing, another allusion to Moses who is sometimes said to have invented the alphabet.

Cecrops was an anguipede (serpent footed,) this is noteworthy because wayward Jews blasphemously pictured Yahweh, the God of Moses, as an anguipede (This is such an outrageous claim that I implore the reader to look it up on his own. Simply search the term on the internet, there are dozens of sites anxious to malign the Jews for this particular idolatrous blasphemy.). Furthermore, don‘t let the fact that the history of Athens is full of serpents throw you off, for (besides the serpent stick carrying Moses), each of the twelve tribes of Israel had its own leader at the Exodus, and the tribal chief of Judah, was a man named "Nahshon," which is the usual Hebrew word for "serpent." So, while it was Moses who led the tribes up out of Egypt, it was this Nahshon (serpent), who led the specific tribe of Judah, the founders of Jerusalem, at the Exodus. The reason for the serpent symbolism will become a bit more apparent when we cover the dual nature of the Messiah later on in this article.

The Greek myths tell us that it was Cecrops who invented marriage (instituting monogamy), while among the Hebrews it was Moses who outlined the institution of marriage when he compiled the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. The previous creation story, which apparently had Lilith, was presumably not so insistent upon the marriage arrangement that was detailed at Genesis 2:23,24 (And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be as one flesh.). The Greek myths tell us that Cecrops was the first to recognize patriarchal paternity (Egypt was a matrilineal society). While Moses wrote Genesis 3:16 (Unto the woman he said, …thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.) in order to redefine the roles of men and women for the Israelites as opposed to the custom of their previous Egyptian overlords (Athena had “accidentally” killed Pallas in the Greek myth, much the same as Eve had superseded Lilith in the writings of Moses.). In the previous two points, concerning monogamy and patriarchal paternity, and having brought up the name Lilith, we are presented with an opportunity to explain the Greek character who was originally known as “Pallas” (of Pallas-Athene fame).

In Assyrian, Ilu (as in the Hebrew term “El”) means “god,” while Ilatu means “goddess.” In Canaanite, Baal means “lord,” while Baalath means “lady,” note the feminine suffix (comparable to the English -ette or -ess). In the Canaanite religion El and Baal are sometimes interchangeable, it is therefore a reasonable assumption that Lilith (Elath?) is related to the term Baalath. Accordingly the name “Baalath” is a tempting theoretical origin for the name of “Pallas” (a phonetic shibboleth and not another name altogether), thus as intimated earlier, Pallas is a plausible Greek version of the Hebrew character Lilith/Baalath. In the Greek myths Pallas is either an anguipede giant who is killed by Athena and flayed to make her serpentine shield, or alternately, her maiden sister whom she kills accidentally (the differing opinion depended upon your view of feminism, no doubt. Was Lilith an evil monster who was killed on purpose, or an innocent maiden who was killed by accident?). In any case the Athena of Athens adopted the name Pallas-Athene in memory of Pallas. Athene is therefore often referred to simply as “Pallas.” And, in contrast to Hera‘s dove, the totem bird of Pallas-Athene is the owl (the Hebrew “kos” however, the night owl was referred to as “Lilith”).

Establishing a connection between the two patriarchal monogamists Cecrops and Moses, can give us a bit more “source material” for understanding the story of Adam and Eve. For apparently there was a previous version of our universal foundation myth, that Moses was tasked to build upon and mitigate. The problem with the earlier story was that it was too feminist. Note the sin of Adam in the Moses version of the Genesis account, “harkening unto the voice of thy wife” (Gen. 3:17). The Greek myth about the founding of Athens contains more obvious details about the change from a matriarchal to a patriarchal society that are not so apparent in the Genesis account. A case in point is the contest between Poseidon and Athena as to which deity would be supreme in Athens. According to Varro, the choice between worshipping Athena or Poseidon was put to the vote of the people of Attica. They were asked to pick which would be more beneficial to mankind, Athena’s olive tree or Poseidon’s fountain. In those days, women had an equal vote with men. The men all voted for the god, and all the women voted for the goddess, but since there was one more woman than there were men, Athena won the referendum. Angered, Poseidon sent a great flood. So terrible was his judgment that it was decided to deprive women of the vote and to forbid children to bear their mother's names for the future. (Augustine, De civitate Dei xviii.9). … Furthermore the day on which the vote took place, the second day of the first Attic month of Boedromion, (on or near the modern August 20th) was henceforth omitted from the calendar. (Plut. De fraterno amore 11; Plut. Quaest. Conviv. ix.6.) Apparently it was a big deal transgression with lasting societal consequences to choose the goddess over the god, a type of Athenian “original sin” committed by the women of Athens (whether Pandora, Persephone, or Eve, it seems like a widespread consensus that the woman always gets the blame).

The Garden of Eden had two trees and a fountain, they are mentioned all together at the same place in the narrative, “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.” (Genesis 2:9,10). Many people think that the scriptural creation story was originally two stories rolled into one, but perhaps there were originally three or four (or even more) sources and it was Moses whose task it was to compile them into a single account. The story of Moses includes an outline of his “sin” for which he was precluded from entering his own “Eden,” a land flowing with “milk an honey” the “promised land” because he had struck a rock with his staff and produced a fountain. The Greek myth about the founding of Athens contains a very similar motif when it comes to the contest between Poseidon and Athena, “the Sea-God standing, striking the rough rock with his tall trident, and the wounded rock gushing sea-brine, his proof to clinch his claim. Herself (Athena) … from the earth struck by her spear, she shows an olive tree," (Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 70 ff). Perhaps this episode in the life of Moses hearkens back to one of the original versions of the creation story, one that was expunged from his “compilation” that has come down to us in the book of Genesis. In the contest between Poseidon with his miraculous fountain, and Athena, the well known goddess of “knowledge” (of “good and evil?”), with her miraculous tree, we have a kind of doublet with the myth of Pallas verses Athena, as to which version of the maiden would supersede. Was it going to be the fountain (of youth?), or the tree (of eternal life)? Apparently it would be the tree. The result of “picking” the tree was a massive flood. In the book of Genesis Moses tells us that there was a kind of contest between God and the Serpent as to whom mankind would obey. The people were allowed complete freedom of choice, in picking of the tree, mankind decided on the Serpent. God eventually brought the flood. According to Moses, a dove delivers to Noah, the olive branch in spite of the flood. The dove is symbolic of “the woman” delivering her seed, and in Greek mythology it is the totem bird of Hera (Her Latin name, “Juno” is the usual Hebrew word for “dove.”) the parthenogenic mother of Hephaestus, while the branch of the olive tree turns out to be symbolic of the Messiah. Logic propels us to conclude that in the parallel Athenian version of the tale, Athena represented the Serpent, while Poseidon represented God. In the Scriptural book of Genesis, of course, choosing the Serpent was a mistake and a promise was made to correct the error at a later date by means of the Messiah (a promise that was symbolized by the olive branch and as the seed of the Woman).

Now, it is not my intention to equate Athens with Eden, although the temptation is strong to do so ("Athens, a town said to be the first established in the world." So says Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 164), and I would not be averse to the suggestion that the names of the two places have a common ancestor. My point is that the two places share similar stories because the Athenian story tellers were from Israel and were well aware of the stories of Jerusalem and that Cecrops was actually the Athenian version of Moses, the stories that Cecrops told were very similar to the stories that Moses wrote. Specific motifs and themes that we usually associate with the writings of Moses in Genesis and Exodus were carried by Hebrews who migrated to Greece and set up Athens as a local rival to Jerusalem, (as they had done back home at Bethel and Dan) thus they turn up in the Greek myths as the foundation stories of Athens, this is the simplest explanation for the phenomenon. Some may even have been Judeans who had originally come to Thebes in Boeotia with Cadmus and then moved to Athens at a later date. In deed, if the Greeks knew of Moses as Cecrops, and used the Hebrew alphabet, then there is no reason why they shouldn’t know something about what Moses wrote, such as the Theogony of Genesis and the story of Eden. After all, they do seem to have known quite a bit about Moses and not only mere generalities, but even down to intricate details of theological doctrine.

The olive tree is the well known symbol of the Jewish nation (Rom. 11:17-26), more particularly the olive branch is the symbol of peace (shalom), and is incorporated into the name of the capital city of the Jews, Jeru-“salem,” featured herein as the original concept of the Greek city Athens, which is also symbolized by the olive tree in the Greek myths. The symbolism of the olive branch is included in the writings of Moses, delivered by the “dove” to Noah as the remedy for the flood, some take it as the symbol of the Messiah (Christos “anointed” with oil, olive oil). (not to mention the, very ancient, Zodiacal character of Virgo who carries the “branch”) Athena (called Athena-Parthenos, meaning “the virgin”) was a female personification of the city state of Athens, “the virgin citadel of Cecrops” (Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 5. 646 ff), in the same way that (the Virgin) Zion was a female personification of Jerusalem. “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, … the daughter of Jerusalem” (Isa. 37:22).

The early Athenians even had their own equivalent to the Messiah, this would have to have been Erecthonius who was born the seed of Hephaestus and Gaea, the baby king who was supposed to have been in the Ark that was kept in the temple (that‘s right, they kept an ark in their temple). Hephaestus, born to the dove embodied wife of god (Hera) by a virgin birth, is a reasonable mythic symbol to deliver the Scriptural “seed of the woman.” While on the other hand Gaea is the archetypical mother of all the mythic serpents and monsters, she is the mother of Typhon, Echidna, Python, Ladon the never sleeping serpent guard of the apples of the garden of Hesperidies, as well as the dragon who guarded the golden fleece. Together Hephaestus and Gaea engender, in one person, the “seed of the woman” and the “seed of the serpent,” resolving the enmity between them and producing the dual- natured “messianic,” archetypical, King of Athens.

The Ark and The Twy-Formed Messiah of Athens

“a boy was born, the lower part of whose body was snake-formed. They named him Erecthonius, … Minerva (Hyginus here uses the Latin name for Athena) was secretly caring for him, she gave him in a chest to Aglaurus, Pandrosus, and Herse, daughters of Cecrops, to guard.” (Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 166) “Erecthonius was born, who derives his name from the earth and their struggle. Minerva is said to have hidden him, like a cult-object, in a chest.” (Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 13) “Pallas laid him, the ancient seed of Hephaestos within the chest, until she set a rock in Akte (Attica) for the sons of Cecrops; a birth mysterious and secret” (Callimachus, Hecale Frag 1.2) “Erekhtheus, whom once Athene Zeus’ daughter tended after grain-giving Gaia had born him, and established him to be in Athens in her own rich temple.” (Homer, Iliad 5. 124 ff) We can see from the preceding ancient sources, that The daughters of Cecrops carried with them an ark and were given instructions not to look upon the contents, namely, a baby born to be the dynastic King to the Athenians. An ark, secret, hidden, and mysterious, was kept in Athena’s “rich temple.” Inside the ark something was kept as if it were a “cult object.” Where did they get this idea of keeping a sacred ark in their temple, and why did they represent it as having a baby king in it?

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” (John 1:14) This “Word” was God’s word, it was His promise, the Messianic promise. According to the New Testament Christians, it is believed that God kept His word by producing Jesus, the Christian Messiah. Before the Word was made flesh, it was written by Moses and kept in the Ark. This notion was evidently much older than Christianity, for all over ancient Greece, wherever the Israelites were scattered, they told this story about the special “baby” who was kept in the ark. (not only the twy-formed Erecthonius but also Perseus, Adonis, Telephus, Dionysus, Oedipus, the twins Romulus and Remus, and the twins Pelias and Neleus, were all said to have been ark babies).

While the Jewish Ark in the Temple at Jerusalem contained the Messianic promise composed by Moses, the ark in the temple at Athens was much the same. For as we are informed by Apollodorus; "Athena brought him (Erecthonius) up unknown to the other gods, wishing to make him immortal; and having put him in a chest, she committed it to Pandrosus, daughter of Cecrops, forbidding her to open the chest. But the sisters of Pandrosus opened it out of curiosity, and beheld a serpent coiled about the babe; and, as some say, they were destroyed by the serpent, but according to others they were driven mad by reason of the anger of Athena and threw themselves down from the acropolis." (The Library 3.14.6) See how Apollodorus makes the baby king in the ark out to be no mere person, but that the purpose of Athena was to “make him immortal.” She was hiding this baby king from “the other gods,” (This was to be a “one god” mission, in which “the gods” would have no part.). Erecthonius (also an anguipede, ‘like unto’ Cecrops) was to be the divine King of Kings to the Athenians, just like the Messianic promise was to the Jews in the writings of Moses; "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, ‘like unto’ me; unto Him ye shall hearken". (Deut. 18:15, compare Acts 3:22 “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, ‘like unto’ me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.”) alluding to the eventuality that a baby would be born who would fulfill the promise. And again notice how Apollodorus also says that there was a strict rule forbidding the looking upon of the contents in the ark, and deadly consequences for disobeying the rule, just like the Ark of the Covenant.

In modern iconography all the “sons of god” (angels) are of a dual nature, they are dove-people and are envisioned as people with big white wings. (Those Scriptural “giants” in the days of Noah are born to Earthly women of the angelic sons of God, these are often identified with the Earthborn giants of Greek myths, however the Greeks portrayed them as serpent footed rather than dove winged. How they are pictured is evidently a matter of theological interpretation.) The “seed of the woman,” (the “woman” is symbolized as the dove who delivers the “olive branch,” as the Messiah) is the archetypical dove-person. (Gen. 8:11 “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.”) See how the dove introduces the Messiah right after the waters, and compare this to the new testament references to Jesus in all four gospels. (First in Matthew 3:16, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him” Next in Mark 1:10 “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him” and again in Luke 3:22 “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” And finally at John 1:32 “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.”) In modern iconography the cherub is a baby with wings. The angel baby is clearly symbolic of the Scriptural assurance that a child would be born, the dove baby, Thus, the “Gentile” concept of the cherub is a plausible symbolic representation derived from the widely known Messianic promise. (This brings to mind the cherubic symbols on the Hebrew Ark.)

Some time before Hera (the Olympian dove-woman) and the other Olympians became established, there was Aphrodite, she was a much more ancient (Amorite?) version of the dove goddess. "[Aphrodite] carried by her doves across the sky," (Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.597) "She [Aphrodite] … called to the reign her Amyklaian doves." (Statius, Silvae 1.2.51) "White Turtle-doves are often to be seen. These, they say, are sacred to Aphrodite" (Aelian, On Animals 10.33) "Into the Euphrates River an egg of wonderful size is said to have fallen, which the fish rolled to the bank. Doves sat on it, and when it was heated, it hatched out Venus," (Hyginus, Fabulae 197). "[Aphrodite] carried by her doves across the sky." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.597). "[Aphrodite] loves ... snow-white doves." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.673). "Four white doves ... submitted to the jeweled yoke. They took their mistress [Aphrodite] aboard and delightedly mounted upwards." (Apuleius, The Golden Ass 6.6). In the earlier stories of Greek mythology there was an original sin against the god of heaven, it is known as the castration of Uranus. The serpent woman, Gaea encouraged this crime, and the dove woman, Aphrodite was born as a result of it. “But vast Gaia … was vexed in her dear heart … if you will obey me, we should punish the vile outrage of your father; … Kronos the wily took courage … and vast Gaia rejoiced greatly in spirit, and set and hid him in an ambush, and put in his hands a jagged sickle, and revealed to him the whole plot.” (Hesiod, Theogony 126 ff). "Then the son [Kronos] from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own father's members … and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were swept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. … Aphrodite (Hesiod, Theogony 176 ff). Accordingly the dove woman Aphrodite produced Eros, the cherubic, bow carrying (“gentile”) symbol of the Messianic promise.

The Scriptural cherub was installed in the garden as a consequence of the original sin, it was the symbol of the law, and was mounted as a “covering” on the Ark of the Covenant, and the bow is a symbol (the arch) of the covenant, “I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.” (Gen. 9:13). Now, while we moderns do seem to think of the cherub as a baby, it is clear that the Scriptural “cherub” is not portrayed as such. “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” (Eze. 28:13-16). Just as the cherub means the Law, and the cherub means the Messiah, we are propelled by the extension of this logic to conclude that the Messiah means the Law. The Messiah is the Word and the Word is the Law, thus a plausible explanation for the following enigmatic Biblical verse: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” (Col 2:14) for it was the body of the Christian Messiah (believed by Christians to be the Word and the Law) that was nailed to the cross.

Because we have explained the Christian Messiah as the “seed of the woman” symbolically delivered by the dove, logic impels us to further equate the New Testament “Spirit of God” or “Holy Ghost” with the Old Testament “Woman” of the Messianic promise. A bit more difficult is explaining the relationship between the Christian Messiah and the “seed of the serpent.” The cherub, as the dove baby can be associated with the Messiah, but the cherub also has an association with the serpent. (Often coupled with the cherub is the “seraph,” this is a Hebrew noun that does indeed mean “a flying fiery serpent.” It is plausible that these two terms were originally equivalent, but the same theological difficulties that separated the “twi-formed” Messiah into two, worked similarly on the cherub/seraph symbol of the Messiah. The noun saraph designates the brazen serpent in Numbers 21:8 and Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6 both designate a flying serpent as "flying saraph" and it is generally surmised that the seraphim of Isaiah chapter 6 were winged serpents. Such mythological creatures are amply attested in the artistic legacy of the ancient Near East and in Greek and Roman art.) The cherub’s Scriptural job of guarding the way to the tree of life has a well known and wide spread mythological equivalent. For guarding the way to the “golden” apples of the Hesperidies is a serpent, and also the way to the “golden” fleece is guarded by a dragon. So as you can see, the cherub is not only a dove but also a serpent and sometimes a winged one (a dragon). Gold, a most valued commodity indeed, is often a mythological substitution for the most valued possession of all, “life.” We can thereby identify the cherub as it appears in many other myths such as the winged gryphon (of the “Scythians”) whose job it is to guard “gold” in general. However life is not always symbolized by gold, there are many myths that use no symbol for it and use the term “life” literally or prosaically. Cerberus keeps us from gaining immortality, or rather, life after death. Heracles was seeking immortality as an Olympian when he destroyed the hydra and stepped upon the “crab,” wounding his foot, (Heracles sought life for everyone in capturing Cerberus, he also destroyed the serpent that guarded the aforementioned “golden” fruit of the famous tree in the ancient garden of Hesperidies.) and the “scarab” is a well known Egyptian symbol of eternal life. (The “gryph” in gryphon is an evident shibboleth of “cherub” as is the “serp” in serpent, the “rep” in reptile, the “herp” in herpetology, the “Cerb” in Cerberus, the “scorp” in scorpion, as well as the words “creep,” “crab,” “scarab,” and “harpy.”).

Do you doubt that there is a double nature to the Messiah? Then why do so many spend so much time trying to explain it? The dual nature of the Messiah is dealt with in many ways by many disciplines. Biblical scholars suppose that there must be two Messiahs, one of the tribe of David (the Jews) the Messiah Ben David, as well as one who is called “the Ephraimic Messiah” or “the Messiah Ben Joseph” who is provided for the house of Israel (the gentiles). The Davidic Messiah is everlasting while the other has to undergo death (and resurrection). I consider this Hypothesis to be the rabbinical equivalent to the Zodiacal sign of Gemini, where (whether Castor and Pollex or Romulus and Remus), one of the pair is immortal while the other is mortal. "Kastor was mortal, and the fate of death was destined for him; but Polydeukes, scion of Ares was immortal." (Homerica, The Cypria Frag 7 from Clement of Alexandria, Protrept 2.30.5) “But because Polydeukes would not accept immortality while Kastor was a corpse, Zeus granted them alternating days among the gods and among mortals." (Apollodorus, The Library 3.136-137). The Athenian counterpart to the Messiah has the two natures rolled into one, the Davidic part is represented by the baby half while the sacrificed part is designated by the serpent half. This is quite consistent with the ancient Scriptural symbolism, and I believe is a better answer to the “double Messiah” question. (Therefore I don’t look for two Messiahs but one double Messiah, I expect the Christian Messiah to return as the Jewish Messiah one day, but we shall see.) “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.” (Gen.3:15). And in the new testament as well, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?” (John 12:32-34) “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” (John 3:14). As we can see, the Christian Messiah was sacrificed as the serpent, and just as in the Jewish anguipede (serpent footed), so the heel to be crushed is a serpent’s head as well. The sacrifice of the Messiah was foretold in the original promise as “bruising his heel,” and in this one act the serpent’s head was crushed simultaneously. Thus the ancient “enmity” between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed had been finally remedied.

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;” (Eph 2:11-19). Notice here how Paul describes the Christian Messiah as making himself “of twain one” and having “made both one” in order to “reconcile both unto God in one body” and abolishing the enmity between the uncircumcised, “far off,” “strangers and foreigners,” and those who Paul refers to as the circumcised, and the “nigh” making both “fellow citizens.” Now, compare this with the words of Diodorus who had a very comparable interpretation for the dual nature of the Athenian messiah, to wit; “Moreover, certain of the rulers of Athens were originally Egyptians, …(a lacuna here is thought to refer to Cecrops) … He was of double form, … because of his double citizenship, Greek and barbarian, that he was held to be of double form, that is, part animal and part man. In the same way, they continue, Erechtheus (Erecthonius) also, who was by birth an Egyptian, became king of Athens” (Diodorus Siculus Book 28,29). See how Diodorus makes the Athenian messiah to be “of double form” in order to reconcile the “double citizenship” of “Greek and barbarian,” Athenian and Egyptian. Although extremely diverse quotes from highly separate sources, these two are very similar explanations for a very similar motif indeed. Both explain the double nature of the great King as referring to his dual citizenship, a reconciliation between civility and barbarity.

The apostle Paul, known as St. Paul by some and Rav Shaul by others, was quite fluent with the customs and philosophies of the Greeks. He was able to quote from the Cilician poet Aratus, and from the Hymn to Zeus by Cleanthes (Acts 17 :22-31). He may well have been familiar with Diodorus and he certainly was aware of the stories associated with the early kings of Athens for he had made a tour of the Athenian temples. Paul saw an altar to the “unknown god” while he was in Athens and recognized it as an altar to Yahweh. “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,’ because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.’ For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.’” (Acts 17:16-28)

Quote from Herodotus

We don’t have to rely exclusively on the tale that Cecrops lead a multitude out of Egypt to bring the Hebrew stories to Athens. There is another account that indicates a more direct connection between the “Phoenicians” of Cadmus and the Athenians that could have given the Greeks some of the more intricate details of the Hebrew theology that I have outlined here. In my view Herodotus reports the arrival of “Hebrews” first to Thebes and then tells of their movement to Athens. Consider the account of the “Gephyraei” from "Histories" book 5, Pages 57-61 by Herodotus, (the speculation in the brackets about Eretria are mine,); "57. Now the Gephyraei, … according to their own account were originally descended from Eretria [could Herodotus here have gotten Eretria, a Greek city, confused with Eritria, a land on the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea?]; but as I find by carrying inquiries back, they were Phoenicians of those who came with Cadmus to the land which is now called Boeotia, and they dwelt in the district of Tanagra, which they had had allotted to them in that land. Then after the Cadmeans had first been driven out by the Argives, these Gephyraei next were driven out by the Boeotians and turned then towards Athens: and the Athenians received them on certain fixed conditions to be citizens of their State, laying down rules that they should be excluded from a number of things not worth mentioning here. 58. Now these Phoenicians who came with Cadmus, of whom were the Gephyraei, brought in among the Hellenes many arts when they settled in this land of Boeotia, and especially letters, which did not exist, as it appears to me, among the Hellenes before this time; and at first they brought in those which are used by the Phoenician race generally, but afterwards, as time went on, they changed with their speech the form of the letters also. During this time the Ionians were the race of Hellenes who dwelt near them in most of the places where they were; and these, having received letters by instruction of the Phoenicians, changed their form slightly and so made use of them, and in doing so they declared them to be called "Phoenician," as was just, seeing that the Phoenicians had introduced them into Hellas. … 59. I myself too once saw Cadmean characters in the temple of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes of the Boeotians, engraved on certain tripods, and in most respects resembling the Ionic letters: one of these tripods has the inscription, "Me Amphitryon offered from land Teleboian returning:" this inscription would be of an age contemporary with Laius the son of Labdacus, the son of Polydorus, the son of Cadmus. 60. Another tripod says thus in hexameter rhythm: "Me did Scaios offer to thee, far-darting Apollo, Victor in contest of boxing, a gift most fair in thine honor:" now Scaios would be the son of Hippocoon (at least if it were really he who offered it, and not another with the same name as the son of Hippocoon), being of an age contemporary with Oedipus the son of Laius: 61. and the third tripod, also in hexameter rhythm, says: "Me Laodamas offered to thee, fair-aiming Apollo, He, of his wealth, being king, as a gift most fair in thine honor:" now it was in the reign of this very Laodamas the son of Eteocles that the Cadmeans were driven out by the Argives and turned to go to the Enchelians; and the Gephyraei being then left behind were afterwards forced by the Boeotians to retire to Athens. Moreover they have temples established in Athens, in which the other Athenians have no part, and besides others which are different from the rest, there is especially a temple of Demeter Achaia and a celebration of her mysteries.”

Could the word "Gephyraei" be a mere transliteration of the word "Hebrew" in this case (the Hebrew letter “H” being a bit guttural)? The two words are similar enough phonetically, but they also have a similar meaning. We are told by the Hebrew scholars themselves that the root of the term Hebrew, "eber" refers to the idea that they had "passed over," presumably the river Euphrates. While the word "gephyra" is the usual Greek term for a bridge, i.e. "that which crosses over a river." Furthermore, the Latin term for a bridge is "pons" which takes on the combining form of "pont" in words like pontifex (bridge maker) and, pontoon (floating bridge). The Latins referred to things Phoenician as "Punic" and there is speculation that it was the land of Phoenicia that the ancient Egyptians called, the land of "Punt." Therefore one may fairly wonder if the term Phoenician itself isn't somehow related to the terms Hebrew and Gephyraei in the sharing of their meaning, i.e. to cross over (hyper).

The Israelites came up out of Egypt, the Athenians claimed the same, and the city of Cadmus was named after the Egyptian city of Thebes. The Theban serpent that Cadmus destroyed was guarding a fountain not a tree like all the others. However, as Herodotus says, the offspring of the Gephyraei/Hebrews who founded Thebes with Cadmus had moved to Athens, but the Athenians chose the tree over the fountain (the contest between Poseidon and Athena) as it was in the story of the Garden of Eden. The serpentine second nature of the Messiah that was fluent among the Athenians came conceivably from the fact that many of the “Hebrews” of Athens were descendants of those who had immigrated with Cadmus to Thebes as explained by Herodotus. These “Gephyraei” had expected their messiah, whom they had idealized as the Cadmean/Theban culture hero Cadmus, to nail the serpent to the tree. And, in fact, to become that serpent at his own death. “Hidden in the cave there dwelt a Snake, . . . and between its triple rows of teeth its three-forked tongue flickered. ... Agenorides (Cadmus) pressed on and drove the firm-lodged lance deep in the creature’s gullet, till an oak blocked its retreat and Snake and oak were nailed together." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3. 27 ff.) “Why, Cadmus, why stare at the Snake you’ve slain? You too shall be a Snake and stared at." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.28) “Cadmus said ‘Was that a sacred Snake my spear transfixed … ? If it is he the jealous gods avenge with wrath so surely aimed, I pray that I may be a Snake …’ Even as he spoke he was a snake …" (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4. 565) “Cadmus, hear what suffering Fate appoints for you. You shall transmute your nature, and become a serpent. … and grant you immortal life among the blessed gods." (Euripides, Bacchae 1357) See how the testimony of the ancient mythographers have portrayed the Theban culture hero (the Cadmean Messiah) Cadmus, as a serpent at his death to be stared upon, just as the serpent that he had transfixed and lifted up? Compare this with the Biblical, Christian Messiah according to John, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” (John 3:14) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” (John 12:32,33), as he is displayed to be the Scriptural Messiah foreshadowed in Numbers and Psalms; “And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he ‘looketh upon’ it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he ‘beheld’ the serpent of brass, he lived.” (Numbers 21:8,9) “they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and ‘stare’ upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” (Psalm 22:16-18)

The name of the Theban serpent was Ismenios, the story of Cadmus connects him with Ares (plausibly from the “Horus” of Thebes in Egypt). Later, possibly due to Assyrian influence (Back in the homeland of Jerusalem, the Hebrews were vacillating their allegiance between Egypt an Assyria as well at this same time.) Apollo superseded Ares/Horus at Thebes. The Apollo of Thebes then became known by the combination name “Apollo Ismenios” (Apollo, an Assyrian influenced Greek transliteration of the name Baal had, like Baal, many combination names, and was often identified with Horus.). I mention this because there was a Baal associated with Jerusalem who, it is said, helped Solomon to build the famous Temple there with a very similar sounding name, Asmodeus. It seems conceivable that a group of heretical Jerusalemites left Jerusalem and took the legend of Asmodeus with them where he became known at Thebes as Ismenios.

Herodotus outlines eight generations (about 200 years) from the time that Cadmus first arrived with the Gephyraei (just after the days of Europa/Jeroboam) until they were driven from Thebes to find refuge in, and become citizens of, Athens (about the time of the Epigony, just before the Trojan War). The people of Athens were amenable to the refugees from Thebes but they did differ from each other on certain theological grounds. The Thebans saw Europa (the Virgin of the lost Israel named for her first King Jeroboam) as lost among the nations for adoring god in the form of a bull, a Judean point of view. However, the Athenians didn’t think of Europa as lost. To them she had settled and peopled the Island of Crete, the Minoans (named for Manasseh?) a group whom they had close ties to. The Athenians had come to see the Cretans as their overlords and sent Athenian youths to be sacrificed to the bull headed symbol of the Cretan god. Their ancient messiah Erecthonius, who had not achieved immortality but had left a dynasty of kings who were known at the time as the “sons of Pandion,” could not deliver them from this Cretan oppression. A faction of the Athenian populace, who trusted in that ancient male god, the jealous one who had demanded exclusive devotion back in the days before the flood, Poseidon, looked for him to sent his redeemer. This would be Theseus, the deliverer and slayer of the Minotaur, but that is another story, the subject of a future article.

Conclusion

The people of Athens were a special breed, they had superior conditioning during their early developmental stage, by virtue of their ancient religion. The culture and institutions that were advanced by them were instrumental to the evolution of civilization in general and of free societies everywhere. What religion shaped this remarkable populace? They thought the people of their city to be the most ancient of all civilizations (Everyone else were considered to be “barbarians” even the Egyptians). They believed that they had been tested at the foundation of their civilization by a great and jealous god as to whom they should worship, instead of the god they chose a serpent woman and her tree, making her their goddess of knowledge. This was done by the free choice of a woman. For their insubordination they endured a great flood sent by the angered god. They spent some time in Egypt, and considered themselves to be part of a great multitude that was lead up out of the place by a famous ancestral law giver. He taught them to worship the highest god, instituted patriarchal monogamy, invented writing and began an annual festival of cakes. He divided them into twelve groups and settled them in their new land. They had with them had an ark that contained the promise of an immortal king as cult object. They were warned not to look upon the secret contents, under penalty of death, but they had disobeyed. They set the capitol of their land at a city, represented by the olive tree (the symbol of peace), with a mountain, upon which they built their holy temple (the Parthenon, named for the “virgin,” upon the Acropolis). They placed in their temple their extraordinary ark. This city became the seat of wisdom for their nation. Do these themes sound familiar? How many intricate, particular, distinctive motifs does one need to see matched up in a series, before it is admitted that they add up to be no mere coincidence? Does it surprise anyone that Athens, the cradle of western civilization, the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, Aeschylus, Sophocles, (etc.), and of Democracy itself, should be based upon stories that are traceable to the writings of Moses? (Democrat = Adam-isra-ite) As heirs to the legacy of Athens it is no wonder that so many western nations are predisposed toward Christianity, this predisposition is a feature of their ancient cultural development. As they were familiar with their own ancient religion, a production of Judaism, they were well prepared to accept Christianity, which is in many respects, the evident culmination of that same religion, Judaism.

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-John R. Salverda

Europa Lost



Taken from: http://jrs.bravehost.com/Europa.html

Europe is named after a descendant of Io’s who was called, "Europa." The myth of Europa can be found in any book of Greek Mythology, and has been well known for almost 3000 years. Can anything new be learned from it? No, but oddly enough, we can still learn something old, from it. Let us begin by examining the name itself. The name Europa, is a feminized form of the same Hebrew name that comes to us through Biblical sources, in it’s masculine Latin form, "Jeroboam." I learned this, when I compared two maps of the same city in Syria, one map had the city labeled, "Jerablus," while the other had it as, "Europos" (look up "Carchemish" in the Jewish Encyclopedia). It occurred to me that this was a perfectly reasonable transliteration, and that both names were one and the same.

King Jeroboam, the first king of the northern ten tribes of Israel, is mentioned often in the Bible, unfortunately his name usually follows after the phrase, "the sins of..." This is because Jeroboam was infamous for reintroducing the worship of god in the form of a bull, and calves were set up as images of god’s savior, these constituted the "sins of Jeroboam" (1KI 12:26 -28). This tendency toward tauropomorphism, began at the Exodus, when Israel’s agent of deliverance, (legends say it was Michael the Archangel) was overwhelmingly agreed, by the very witnesses of the event, to have been a calf, of whom they built a golden image. This was an idol, not of God, but of the son of god, and they sang these words as they danced around it, "This is your god oh Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." Regardless of the efforts of Moses, Jeroboam’s Israel adored God in the form of a bull.

Israel was regularly personified as a maiden (An example scripture referring to the Virgin Israel as lost amongst the nations can be found at Jer. 31:21 "Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities."). The Virgin Israel was beloved by God and betroth to Him. But the Israel of Jeroboam, went whoring after foreign gods, in the specific case of Jeroboam it was God as a bull. It becomes obvious that, to some, the archetypical personification of Israel was known by a feminized version of King Jeroboam’s name, "Europa." The evidence for this identification is overwhelming. Europa got carried away adoring god in the form of a bull as well, and both the Virgin Israel and the maiden Europa, were from Phoenicia (Otherwise known as the land of Canaan, Phoenicia occupied the same place as Israel. Gen. 17:8). The resulting, "loss among the nations," occurred in both cases, from the same place, and for the same reason. Does it surprise us to think that this story, (which included a promise by God to his People who were dispersed amongst the nations,) may have, in ancient times, received a wider distribution, than to be stored away on some Temple scroll and only be known, eventually, through the Bible? In fact the story was far famed, as we might have known.

The Greek myths tell us that Europa had a son who ruled over the Island of Crete, his name was Minos. If Europa be from Jeroboam, and the Cretans spoke Western Semitic, (the same language as the land of Canaan) which they did, then I’ll bet "Minos," is the same name as "Manasseh." In fact one wonders indeed, if there wasn’t a bit of confusion between the stories of the Cretan, King Minos, and the later Judean, King Manasseh. How many other kings, from this same area, with the same name, were famous for sacrificing youths to a bull headed god? (Minotaur, Manasseh’s Torah? is Manasseh an alternate version of the name Moses? as in Judges, chapter 18, Verse 30, if so, then perhaps the Minotaur was blasphemously named for the Law of Moses.) Thus it seems likely that the "Minoan" civilization was named for the son of Joseph, Manasseh. Of course Crete is not the only place that was peopled with the family of Europa, and evidence of Hebrew influence can be found throughout Greek Mythology.

This series of coincidences about Europa is impressive enough without mentioning this other weird point, which was the fact that Israel was prophesied to be regathered by an heir to the throne, and returned to her homeland in the last days. (Isa. 11;10-12) But, this famous promise, must be cited here as additional evidence that Europa is Israel, because this hopeful prophecy is also coincidental to the "myth." The Greek myth asserts that the true heir to the throne was sent to find the lost Europa, and he was told not to return until he could bring her back. He didn’t return, and he hasn’t found her yet, down to this very day. (unless he’s reading this, in which case he is finding her just now.)

Cadmus the Heir and Brother of Europa

Consider the Myth of the heifer Io (whom I have identified as the "Jew"). Although the story of Io must have been in existence in one form or another, since the Exodus, (parts of her story belong to the days of Abraham, but most of it, is the story of Hermes Argiophontes, her serpent stick carrying deliverer, the messenger of god, the Greek version of Moses who delivers the Jews, god’s earthly wife from her bondage on eagles wings at the Exodus) there is no doubt that the version of her story which has come down to us, did not receive it’s final form, until after her descendant Cadmus came to Greece. We know this, because the story incorporates the use of the Alphabet within it’s body, for Io was able to spell her name in the sand with her cow hoof. (This part of the story relies upon the fact that the Greek "I" was just a "Jot," and the letter "o," resembles a hoof print.) She was thereby identified when she returned home after her extensive "wanderings." This detail limits the Greek antiquity of Io’s story, until about 850 BC. when the Greeks first began to use the Alphabet. But, this was a Phoenician story that was brought to Greece at a later date, generations after these events actually occurred, and the Phoenicians knew about the founding of Argos already for years back home, because, they were Israelites and the city of Argos was a colony of Hebron, also it was they who had an alphabet which Io could spell, the Hebrew alphabet.

No one doubts that the Hebrew alphabet was used in Greece, but it seems to me, calling it "Phoenician," is a bit misleading. If Moses, famous for his writings, wrote anything, then it is logical to assume him to be the oldest known user of this alphabet. The Greeks, in keeping with the identification of Moses with Hermes, credit Hermes as the inventor of the alphabet. Cadmus is accredited with bringing the alphabet of Hermes, from Phoenicia to Greece, but, not until about 850 BC. It’s easy to dismiss all myths in a group as fairy tales, but Cadmus was not a god, he was a man who is famous for doing something which really happened, others who lived within a few hundred years of him speak of Cadmus as an actual historic personage. He came to Greece with a colony and was considered to be the founder of Thebes, a quite well known city in Boeotian Greece, which was even called "Cadmea," after him.

While there seems to have been a real Cadmus, it is, as if a very familiar religious doctrine, has gotten attached to him. This symbolism is not dissimilar to that used scripturally of David, who had an actual historical existence, and also is to have an expected messianic one (Eze.37:21-24; "… I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: … And David my servant shall be king over them; …" Note David’s "expected" role in the return of Israel.). The role of Cadmus in the story about the return of Europa, foreshadows a type of Christian Messiah, accordingly he is made to perform a series of tasks, which are obviously designed to fulfill many key Messianic prophecies ("Acts 13:22,23; ". . . I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's seed hath God ‘according to his promise’ raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus: "). Just as it is in the case of the future "David" so it is in the case of Cadmus that these tasks were, perhaps, more "expected," of him than were actually "performed" by him.

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?" (John 12:32-34). Cadmus destroys the serpent by transfixing it to a tree, thus, "lifting it up." "And as Moses ‘lifted up’ the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:" (John 3:14) "Why, Cadmus, why stare at the Snake you’ve slain? You too shall be a Snake and stared at." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.28). ("And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he ‘looketh upon’ it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he ‘beheld’ the serpent of brass, he lived." Numbers 21:8,9 "they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and ‘stare’ upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." Psalm 22:16-18), and "nailing it to the tree" ("Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;" Col. 2:14) Hidden in the cave there dwelt a Snake, . . . and between its triple rows of teeth its three-forked tongue flickered. ... Agenorides [Cadmus] pressed on and drove the firm-lodged lance deep in the creature’s gullet, till an oak blocked its retreat and Snake and oak were nailed together." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3. 27 ff.) The transfixed serpent, with it’s triple tongue, and it’s triple row of teeth, would appear, to a Christian, as the law (with it’s triple format, commandments, judgments, and ordinances) fulfilled ("Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Mt. 5:17).

In this act, the myths have Cadmus winning a nation, a kingdom, and a bride. In reading about his wedding banquet to his new bride Harmonia, which all the gods attended, one cannot help but be reminded, of the long awaited, "marriage feast of the Lamb." The nation he won was of "sown men," the "Sparti," which grew from the destroyed serpent’s teeth, which were scattered upon the earth. ("Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." Eze. 11:17) Leaving the Sparti in Greece, Cadmus goes to the Northwest, into Europe proper, where they make him King, in the land of the Enchelians, (Angels? Angles, or English?) where, in the end, he and Harmonia, never really die but are instead Miraculously translated. "Cadmus . . . overcome by sorrow and his train of troubles and so many warning signs, he left the city, Thebae, . . . with his pilgrim wife, after long wanderings reached Illyria. And now, . . . Cadmus said ‘Was that a sacred Snake my spear transfixed . . . ? If it is he the jealous gods avenge with wrath so surely aimed, I pray that I may be a Snake . . .’ Even as he spoke he was a snake . . ." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4. 565) See what Euripides has to say about the fate of Cadmus "Cadmus, hear what suffering Fate appoints for you. You shall transmute your nature, and become a serpent. . . . Zeus foretells that you, at the head of a barbaric horde, shall with your wife drive forth a pair of heifers yoked, and with your countless army destroy many cities; . . . However, Ares shall at last deliver both you and Harmonia, and grant you immortal life among the blessed gods." (Euripides, Bacchae 1357) Take note that the Christian Messiah at his death fulfills prophecy by becoming like the snake in the wilderness and that this prophecy was apparently known to the ancient Greeks who told the "myth" of Cadmus.

Consider the account of the Gephyraei from "Histories" book 5, Pages 57-61 by Herodotus, (the words in the brackets are mine,); "57. Now the Gephyraei, … according to their own account were originally descended from Eretria; [could Herodotus here have gotten Eretria, a Greek city, confused with Eritria, a land on the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea?] but as I find by carrying inquiries back, they were Phoenicians of those who came with Cadmus to the land which is now called Boeotia, and they dwelt in the district of Tanagra, which they had had allotted to them in that land. Then after the Cadmeans had first been driven out by the Argives, these Gephyraei next were driven out by the Boeotians and turned then towards Athens: and the Athenians received them on certain fixed conditions to be citizens of their State, laying down rules that they should be excluded from a number of things not worth mentioning here. 58. Now these Phoenicians who came with Cadmus, of whom were the Gephyraei, brought in among the Hellenes many arts when they settled in this land of Boeotia, and especially letters, which did not exist, as it appears to me, among the Hellenes before this time; and at first they brought in those which are used by the Phoenician race generally, but afterwards, as time went on, they changed with their speech the form of the letters also. During this time the Ionians were the race of Hellenes who dwelt near them in most of the places where they were; and these, having received letters by instruction of the Phoenicians, changed their form slightly and so made use of them, and in doing so they declared them to be called "Phoenician," as was just, seeing that the Phoenicians had introduced them into Hellas. … 59. I myself too once saw Cadmean characters in the temple of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes of the Boeotians, engraved on certain tripods, and in most respects resembling the Ionic letters: one of these tripods has the inscription, "Me Amphitryon offered from land Teleboian returning:" this inscription would be of an age contemporary with Laius the son of Labdacus, the son of Polydorus, the son of Cadmus. 60. Another tripod says thus in hexameter rhythm: ‘Me did Scaios offer to thee, far-darting Apollo, Victor in contest of boxing, a gift most fair in thine honor:’ now Scaios would be the son of Hippocoon (at least if it were really he who offered it, and not another with the same name as the son of Hippocoon), being of an age contemporary with Oedipus the son of Laius: 61. and the third tripod, also in hexameter rhythm, says: ‘Me Laodamas offered to thee, fair-aiming Apollo, He, of his wealth, being king, as a gift most fair in thine honor:’ now it was in the reign of this very Laodamas the son of Eteocles that the Cadmeans were driven out by the Argives and turned to go to the Enchelians; and the Gephyraei being then left behind were afterwards forced by the Boeotians to retire to Athens. Moreover they have temples established in Athens, in which the other Athenians have no part, and besides others which are different from the rest, there is especially a temple of Demeter Achaia and a celebration of her mysteries."

Could the word "Gephyraei" be a mere transliteration of the word "Hebrew" in this case? The two words are similar enough phonetically, but they also have a similar meaning. We are told by the Hebrew scholars themselves that the root of the term Hebrew, "eber" refers to the idea that they had "passed over," presumably the river Euphrates. While the word "gephyra" is the usual Greek term for a bridge, i.e. "that which crosses over a river." Furthermore, the Latin term for a bridge is "pons" which takes on the combining form of "pont" in words like pontifex (bridge maker) and, pontoon (floating bridge). The Latins referred to things Phoenician as "Punic" and there is speculation that it was the land of Phoenicia that the ancient Egyptians called, the land of "Punt." Therefore one may fairly wonder if the term Phoenician itself isn't somehow related to the terms Hebrew and Gephyraei in the sharing of their meaning, i.e. to cross over. (hyper) These "Gephyraei" had expected their messiah, whom they had idealized as the Cadmean/Theban culture hero Cadmus, to nail the serpent to the tree. And, in fact, to become that serpent at his own death. Now, don’t get me wrong I don’t mean to say that Christ copied Cadmus, my intent is to show that the Messianic prophecies were extant among the ancient Greeks because the Greeks were actually transplanted Hebrews, and that these prophecies were known hundreds of years before the life of Jesus.

While Cadmus peopled Europe the Sparti remained in Greece, where they left many descendants, and worshipped Cadmus as a hero, with shrines. One famous, such hero shrine of Cadmus, was located in the Greek nation of Sparta, on the Laconian coast, and was maintained by the Spartans (sown ones), even down to the days of the Jewish high priests Onias, and Jonathan. As reported by Josephus, and recorded in Rabbinical writings, Onias and the Spartans, wrote to each other, and both recognized the Spartans as lost Israelites.

-John R. Salverda

‘Western Logic’ and the ‘Logos’

Of relevance is Ch. 3 of Tracey Rowland’s book, Ratzinger’s Faith, this chapter being entitled “Revelation, Scripture and Tradition”.

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“I will arouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece ...”.

Zechariah 9:13

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Introduction

Josef Ratzinger is an original thinker and, though very much in the mould of a western thinker - which is the theme we want to develop further here, west (Logos) against east (Dabar) - and the German west at that, from which has come a lot of problematical biblical exegesis relating to JEDP, he can frequently surprise the reader with his wholly new insights. His books are replete with references to German scholars, understandably, given that he himself is German. Rudolf Bultmann gets a lot of ‘airplay’. And one wonders at times if more orthodox exegetes could have been sourced instead. However, Ratzinger is a good enough writer not to get dragged in by his sources. He can consider another writer’s point of view at some length and then dismiss it in favour of a view that he prefers (as Father Harrison had noted back on p. 8).

As the following section shows (taken from pp. 62-64 of Rowland’s Chapter 3), Ratzinger is very much in the western mould of thinking.

…. ­Ratzinger frequently reminds academic audiences that the Church fathers found the 'seeds of the Word, not in the religions of the ­world, but rather in philosophy, that is, in the process of critical reason ­directed against the [pagan] religions'. …. He notes that the habit of ­thinking about Christianity as a 'religion' among many religions, all of roughly the same intellectual merit, is a modern development. A­t its very origins Christianity sides with reason and considers this ally to be ^­its principal forerunner. …. Moreover:

Ultimately it [a decision to believe in God] is a decision in favor of reason and a decision about whether good and evil, truth and untruth, are merely subjective categories or reality. In this sense, in the beginning there is faith, ­but a faith that first acknowledges the dignity and scope of reason. The decision for God is simultaneously an intellectual and an existential decision - each determines the other reciprocally. ….

Ratzinger therefore does not follow the trend of thinking of Athens ­and Jerusalem as short-hand terms for two fundamentally different ^­ways of approaching religious matters: one fideistic and one philo­sophical. The great University of Chicago philosophy professor Leo Strauss (1889 ^-1973) popularized this dichotomy to such a degree that now two generations later there are almost as many subcategories of Straussians as there are Thomists, according to which side of this ­apparently unbridgeable divide they find themselves most at home.

However, Ratzinger's approach is to argue that there are quite amazing parallels in chronology and content between the philosopher’s criticism of the myths in Greece and the prophets' criticism of the gods in Israel. While he concedes that the two movements start from com­pletely different assumptions and have completely different aims, he none the less concludes: the movement of the logos against the myth, as it evolved in the Greek mind in the philosophical enlightenment, so that in the end it necessarily led to the fall of the gods, has an inner parallelism with the enlightenment that the prophetic Wisdom literature cultivated in its demythologization of the divine powers in favour of the one and only God. ….

Comment: Our view is that much Greek mythology is an appropriation and distortion of Hebrew and Near Eastern writings, hence the “amazing parallels”. The pope favours the modern tendency according to which the Book of Wisdom, customarily attributed to King Solomon, was a late compilation influenced by Greek thought. (We might say, according to what we discussed on p. 18, Solon over Solomon, a view that we reject). In Jesus of Nazareth¸ Part Two, p. 210, he writes:

… the author of the Book of Wisdom could have been familiar with Plato’s speculations from his work on statecraft, in which he asks what would become of a perfectly just person in this world, and he comes to the conclusion that such a person would be crucified (The Republic II, 361e-362a). The Book of Wisdom may have taken up this idea from the philosopher and introduced it into the Old Testament, so that it now points directly to Jesus.

Quite on the contrary we would propose that, as according to tradition, King Solomon substantially wrote the Book of Wisdom. This later influenced Plato, who we think himself was, too, in his original form, a prophet of Israel. This thought (already diminished through pagan ‘Ionia’), came to Greece only later, where it received further transformations and transmutations. The stunningly Jesus like references (“be crucified”) could not, we submit, have preceded the Gospels – just as the biographies of Mohammed, originally an Old Testament prophet of Israel, later acquired Christian era references.

There is plenty of Solomonic-like literature already in the ancient Near East, long before Greece, with Hammurabi for instance, our Solomon ruling Babylon.

In our context, we would be largely sympathetic with what Del Nevo has further written in his review of Professor Kreeft’s book (op. cit., our emphasis):

… Traditionally Christian thought, that is, Christian interpretation, has depended on Greek philosophy, more precisely on combinations of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. Jesus' philosophy — whatever it was — was Jewish, rabbinic, in the sense we read about in the Talmud, which reflects the oral tradition of Jesus' Jewish world. Jesus' philosophy was not Platonic or Aristotelian.

The problem for Kreeft, which his book bears out, is that philosophy for him is by definition non-Jewish.

There is a long quotation from C. S. Lewis in the Preface to show that Jesus' style followed broadly along Aristotelian lines as found in the Poetics and the Analytics. But Jesus' style was halakhic and aggadic. ….

[End of quote]

By no means could we accept the view of Josef Ratzinger about Islam, in his Regensburg address, that, in Rowland’s words (op. cit., p. 121), “… as a tradition, Islam needs to engage with the intellectual heritage of Greece”. Rather, we think, Islam needs to rediscover its roots in Old Testament Israel. More reasonable, we believe, is Ratzinger’s other view given here that: “… the attempt to graft on to Islamic societies what are termed western standards cut loose from their Christian foundations misunderstands the internal logic of Islam as well as the historical logic to which these western standards belong”.

In light of all of this we find it encouraging that the Church is involving Jews in biblical discussions, for example, Chief Rabbi Cohen addressing the Synod. Blessed Edith Stein, a Jew and a skilled philosopher, becomes an important factor in considerations of Jesus as a Jewish philosopher. Beatified in Cologne on 1 May 1987, the Church has honoured her as "a daughter of Israel" (Pope John Paul II), who, as a Catholic during Nazi persecution, remained faithful to the crucified Lord Jesus Christ and, as a Jew, to her people in loving faithfulness."

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_19981011_edith_stein_en.html