Mephistopheles

For other uses, see Mephistopheles (disambiguation).

Mephistopheles flying over Wittenberg, in a lithograph by Eugène Delacroix.

MEPHISTO_PHILES on page 13 of the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana, attributed to Faust.

"Mephistopheles" by Mark Antokolski, 1884.

Mephistopheles (/ˌmɛfɪˈstɒfɪˌliːz/, German pronunciation: [mefɪˈstɔfɛlɛs]; also Mephistophilus, Mephistophilis, Mephostopheles, Mephisto, Mephastophilis and variants) is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character version of the Devil.

In the Faust legend

Further information: Faust

The name is associated with the Faust legend of a scholar—based on the historical Johann Georg Faust—who wagers his soul with the Devil.

The name Mephistophiles first appears on page 13 of the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana, printed in Passau, where it is used as a cognomen of the Devil, construed as the Latin mephīticus ("mephitic"), plus the Greek superlative suffix -isto-, plus the Greek philēs ("loving"): "he who loves the most mephitic things". Mephisto, then, means "the most mephitic one":

Mephisto describes hell as filthy, sulfurous, fiery, stinking, and misty—in short, mephitic—and he goes on at Faustus' request to lead the scholar on a tour of hell.

—Russell, Jeffrey Burton ♦ Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World Cornell University Press, 1990, p. 62

The first attested appearance of the variant "Mephostophiles" is the 1587 Historia von D. Johann Fausten, where it is used in the title of chapter four and in the text of chapter five. In the 1616 edition of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, Mephostophiles became Mephistophilis. In the 1725 version which was read by Goethe, Mephostophiles is a devil in the form of a greyfriar summoned by Faust in a wood outside Wittenberg.

The word could derive from the Hebrew mephitz, meaning "destroyer", and tophel, meaning "liar"; "tophel" is short for tophel shequer, the literal translation of which is "falsehood plasterer". The name can also be a combination of three Greek words: me as a negation, phos meaning light, and philis meaning "loving", making it mean "not-light-loving", possibly parodying the Latin Lucifer or "light-bearer".

Mephistopheles in later treatments of the Faust material frequently figures as a title character: in Meyer Lutz' Mephistopheles, or Faust and Marguerite (1855), Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868), Klaus Mann's Mephisto, and Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes.

Outside the Faust legend

Main article: Mephistopheles in popular culture

Shakespeare mentions "Mephistophilus" in the Merry Wives of Windsor (Act1, Sc1, line 128), and by the 17th century the name became independent of the Faust legend. According to Burton Russell, "That the name is a purely modern invention of uncertain origins makes it an elegant symbol of the modern Devil with his many novel and diverse forms." Mephisto is also featured as the lead antagonist in Goethe's Faust and in the unpublished scenarios for the Walpurgis night, he and Satan appear as two separate characters.

Interpretations of Mephistopheles

Although Mephistopheles appears to Faustus as a devil — a worker for Satan — critics claim that he does not search for men to corrupt but comes to serve and ultimately collect the souls of those who are already damned. Farnham explains, "Nor does Mephistophiles first appear to Faustus as a devil who walks up and down in earth to tempt and corrupt any man encountered. He appears because he senses in Faustus’ magical summons that Faustus is already corrupt, that indeed he is already 'in danger to be damned'."

Mephistopheles is already trapped in his own hell by serving the Devil. He warns Faustus of the choice he is making by "selling his soul" to the Devil: "Mephistophilis, an agent of Lucifer, appears and at first advises Faust not to forgo the promise of heaven to pursue his goals”. Farnham adds to his theory, “…[Faustus] enters an ever-present private hell like that of Mephistophiles”.

Mephistopheles' relationship with Faustus

In Doctor Faustus, Mephistopheles acts as a guide to Faustus. Mephistopheles is not only a speaker for the Devil, but he is also seen as a possible lover to the character. In the play, Faustus asks Mephistopheles for a wife and, when he returns, the woman is just a devil in disguise as a woman. According to Hammill, “the wife that [Mephistopheles] brings demonstrates that marriage is not a signifier that can stabilize the gender. The play... instead replaces this wife with a series of courtesans in an economy of homosocial exchange.” Hammill also explains that Mephistopheles brings Faustus a wife who is not actually a woman because he wants to bring up sexual tension between Faustus and himself. This article describes the conversation between the two characters during this scene as “barely legible as male friendship”. The article goes on to explain that the conversation is no longer considered to be friendly because the women whom they are discussing appear to have very masculine features. According to another article, Marlowe was homosexual. Orgel argues that “Marlowe's […] imagination was essentially homosexual”. In “Myth, Psychology, and Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus”, Kenneth Golden explains Mephistopheles' role representing Faustus' alter ego constructed from his suppressed feelings.

References

Bibliography

• Burton Russell, Jeffrey, Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World, Ithaca, NY: Cornell (1986); 1990 reprint: ISBN 978-0-8014-9718-6
• Hamlin, Cyrus, et al., "Faust", New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company (2001): ISBN 978-0-393-97282-5
• Ruickbie, Leo: Faustus: The Life and Times of a Renaissance Magician. The History Press (2009): ISBN 978-0-7509-5090-9

External links

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