Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

First edition 1880.
Author	Lew Wallace
Language	English
Genre	Historical novel
Publisher	Harper & Brothers
Publication date	November 12, 1880
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	NA

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace published on November 12, 1880 by Harper & Brothers.

The novel was a phenomenal best-seller, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the best-selling American novel and retained this distinction until the 1936 publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. Book sales then surpassed Gone with the Wind, following the release of the highly successful 1959 MGM film adaptation; the film winning eleven Academy Awards. The book was the first work of fiction to be blessed by a Pope, receiving benediction from Pope Leo XIII .

The story tells of the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the first century. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala arrives back home as an ambitious commanding officer of the Roman legions. They come to realize how much they have changed and now hold very different views and aspirations. During a military parade a brick falls from the roof of Judah's house and barely misses the Roman governor. Although Messala knows that they are not guilty, he condemns the Ben-Hur family. Without trial, Judah is sent to work until death as a Roman galley slave, his mother and sister are thrown into prison and all the family property is confiscated. Through fate and good fortune, Judah survives and manages to return to Jerusalem, to seek revenge against his one-time friend and redeem his family. Running in parallel with Ben-Hur's narrative is the unfolding story of the foretold Messiah, Jesus, who comes from the same region and is a similar age, mirroring themes of betrayal, conviction and redemption. Ben-Hur witnesses and is inspired by the rise of the Christ figure and his following who challenge Roman tyranny and talk of keys to a greater kingdom.

The name "Ben Hur" derives from the Hebrew for "Son of white linen".

Novel's background

Wallace often told the story of meeting the well-known agnostic Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll on a train in 1875. For many hours, Ingersoll questioned Wallace about God, heaven and the story of Christ. Wallace said he came away realizing how little he knew about his own religion: “I was ashamed of myself, and make haste now to declare that the mortification of pride I then endured . . . ended in a resolution to study the whole matter.” In writing the story, he was able to sort out his own beliefs about God and Christ.

Author Lew Wallace - circa 1855 - 1865

Wallace was dedicated to accuracy of detail. He studied the Bible, and then every reference book about the ancient Middle East he could find, trying to be precise about every plant, bird, piece of clothing, food, building, chariot, name. He says “I examined catalogues of books and maps, and sent for everything likely to be useful. I wrote with a chart always before my eyes—a German publication showing the towns and villages, all sacred places, the heights, the depressions, the passes, trails, and distances.” He visited libraries across the US, getting exact measurements for the workings of Roman triremes. Years later he visited the Holy Land and, on checking his details further, announced that could "find no reason for making a single change in the text of the book." He famously dedicates four pages to description of the arena where the chariot race takes place. Sometimes Wallace speaks directly to the reader: “Let the reader try to fancy it; let him first look down on the arena, and see it glistening in its frame of dull-gray granite walls; let him then, in this perfect field, see the chariots, light of wheel, very graceful, and ornate. . . . let the reader see the accompanying shadows fly; and, with such distinctness as the picture comes, he may share the satisfaction and deeper pleasure of those to whom it was a thrilling fact, not a feeble fancy.”

Ben-Hur was inspired in part by Wallace's love of the story The Count of Monte Cristo (1846) by Alexandre Dumas, père. Dumas's story was based on the memoirs of a French shoemaker in the early 19th century who was unjustly imprisoned and spent the rest of his life seeking revenge. In his autobiography, Wallace said that while he was writing Ben-Hur "at my rough pine-table, the Count of Monte Cristo in his dungeon of stone was not more lost to the world."

Wallace wrote parts of the book in Indianapolis and the remainder in the New Mexico Territory while he was territorial governor. His room in the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe is still described as the birthplace of Ben-Hur. Wallace stated in his memoirs that he wrote the climactic scenes of the crucifixion in the room by lantern light, after returning from a dramatic encounter of his own with Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid.

He hand-delivered the finished manuscript, written in purple ink, to Harper and Brothers in New York. Joseph Harper praised it as “the most beautiful manuscript that has ever come into this house. A bold experiment to make Christ a hero that has been often tried and always failed.”

Wallace's beliefs

There were many rumors about Wallace’s faith. It was said he was an atheist and had gone to the Holy Land to disprove the existence of Christ. To dispel these, Wallace stated in his autobiography: “In the very beginning, before distractions overtake me, I wish to say that I believe absolutely in the Christian conception of God. As far as it goes, this confession is broad and unqualified, and it ought and would be sufficient were it not that books of mine—Ben-Hur and The Prince of India—have led many persons to speculate concerning my creed .... I am not a member of any church or denomination, nor have I ever been. Not that churches are objectionable to me, but simply because my freedom is enjoyable, and I do not think myself good enough to be a communicant.”

He stated: “The Christian world would not tolerate a novel with Jesus Christ its hero, and I knew it. [...] He should not be present as an actor in any scene of my creation. The giving a cup of water to Ben-Hur at the well near Nazareth is the only violation of this rule. . . . I would be religiously careful that every word He uttered should be a literal quotation from one of His sainted biographers.” This is why Jesus appears in a cameo role. Wallace says in his autobiography, “When I had finished [the writing], I said to myself with Balthasar, ‘God only is so great.’ I had become a believer. ”

Success and the critics

Since its first publication, Ben-Hur has never been out of print. By 1900 it had been printed in 36 English-language editions and translated into 20 others, including Indonesian and Braille. In 1912, Sears Roebuck published one million copies to sell for 39 cents apiece: the largest single-year print edition in American history. It outsold every book except the Bible until Gone With the Wind came out in 1936, and returned to the top of the list again in the 1960s. It often appears on lists of great American literature, which has been a source of frustration for many literary critics over the years. Critics point to problems such as flat characters and dialogue, unlikely coincidences driving the plot and tedious and lengthy descriptions of settings. But others note its well-structured plot and exciting story, and an unusual mix of romanticism, spiritual piety, action and adventure.

The book prompted many 19th-century clergy to soften their long-held opposition to novels and actually encourage their congregations to read Ben-Hur. This religious support helped it to become one of the best-selling novels of its time. It not only reduced lingering American resistance to the novel as a literary form but was instrumental in introducing many Christian audiences to theater and film.

Adaptations

Stage

After the novel's publication in 1880, Wallace was deluged with requests to dramatize it, but refused them all, objecting in principle to the portrayal of Christ on stage. Dramatist William Young suggested a solution--that Jesus should be represented by a beam of light. Wallace was impressed and agreed to the stage adaptation. The result was the show Ben Hur - a smash hit. From 1899 it ran for 21 years, and was seen by over 20 million people. The key spectacle of the show was the live chariot race using real horses and real chariots--coming at a time "when theatre was yearning to be cinema".

When it was brought to Britain, The Era's drama critic detailed how the chariot race was achieved by "four great cradles, 20ft in length and 14ft wide, which are movable back and front on railways". The horses galloped full-pelt towards the audience, secured by invisible steel cable traces and running on treadmills. Electric rubber rollers spun the chariot wheels. A vast cyclorama backdrop revolved in the opposite direction to create an illusion of massive speed, and fans created clouds of dust. They had imported 30 tons of stage equipment from the United States, employed a cast of over 100, and featured fountains, palm trees, and the sinking of a Roman galley. The critic for The Illustrated London News described it as "a marvel of stage-illusion" that was "memorable beyond all else". The Sketch's critic called it "thrilling and realistic ... enough to make the fortune of any play" and noted that "the stage, which has to bear 30 tons' weight of chariots and horses, besides huge crowds, has had to be expressly strengthened and shored up".

Stage adaptations since 1920, include Ben Hur Live - a 2009 London production staged at the Greenwich O2 arena. It featured the live chariot race, as well as gladiatorial combat and a sea battle. The adaptation drew more from the text of the novel than from the well known 1959 film version. The production involved 46 choreographed horses, 500 tons of special sand, and 400 cast and crew. To lend authenticity to the narrative, all the show's dialogue is in Latin and Aramaic

The Battersea Arts Centre in London, also staged a low key version of Ben-Hur in 2002, featuring a cast of 10, but still recreating the chariot race.

Film and television

The development of the cinema following the novel's publication, saw film adaptations in 1907, 1925, 1959, 2003, and a US TV mini-series in 2010. The 1959 film adaptation of Ben Hur, starring Charlton Heston, won a record eleven Academy awards and was the top grossing film of 1960.

Books

At least eight translations of the book into Hebrew were made from 1959 to 1990. Some of these have involved wholesale restructuring of the narrative, including changes to character, Christian themes, and plot. The Jewish academic Nitsa Ben-Ari discusses the complex socio-political context of these translations in her paper The double conversion of Ben-Hur: A case of manipulative translation.

Selected film and stage and Adaptations

• Ben Hur (1907 film), a one-reel silent version
• Ben-Hur (1925 film), an MGM silent film starring Ramon Novarro
• Ben-Hur (1959 film), an MGM sound film starring Charlton Heston
• Ben Hur (2003 film), an animated direct-to-video film featuring the voice of Charlton Heston
• Ben Hur (TV miniseries), a 2010 adaptation
• Ben-Hur (play), a Broadway play
• Ben Hur Live, a 2009 stage adaptation

Plot summary

Part One

Poster for the 1925 MGM film adaptation of Ben-Hur

Biblical references: Matt. 2:1-12, Luke 2:1-20

Three Magi have come from the East. One, Balthasar, sets up a tent in the desert. Melchior, a Hindu, and Gaspar from Athens join him and as the three men each tell their stories and they realize they have been brought together by their common goal. As they prepare for the journey to come, they see a bright star shining over the region, and they take it as a sign that they are to leave. They follow the star through the desert towards the province of Judaea.

At the Joppa Gate in Jerusalem Mary and Joseph are traveling through on their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They stop at the inn at the entrance to the city but there is no room. Mary is pregnant and, as labor begins, they head to a cave on a hillside behind the inn and here Jesus is born.

In the pasturelands outside the city, a group of seven shepherds are keeping watch over their flocks. Angels from heaven announce the Christ's birth. The shepherds hurry towards the city. They are rebuked by one of the men supervising the khan but nevertheless, inspired by the angels' message, they enter the caves on the hillside and worship Christ. They spread the news of the Christ's birth and many come to see him.

The Magi arrive in Jerusalem and inquire for news of the Christ. Herod the Great is angry to hear of another king challenging his rule and asks the Sanhedrin to find information for him. The Sanhedrin brings out a prophecy, written by Micah, telling of a ruler to come from Bethlehem Ephrathah, interpreting it to signify the Christ's birthplace.

Part Two

Biblical references: Luke 2:51-52

Judah Ben-Hur is a prince descended from a royal family of Judaea. Messala, his closest childhood friend, the son of a Roman tax-collector, leaves home for five years of education in Rome. He returns as a proud and avaricious Roman. He mocks Judah and his religion and the two become enemies. Judah decides to go to Rome, as Messala had, for military training but use his skills to fight the Roman Empire.

Valerius Gratus, the fourth Roman prefect of Judaea, passes by Judah's house. As Judah watches the procession, a roof tile is loosed, falls into the street and hits the governor. Messala betrays Judah, who is arrested. There is no trial; Judah's family is secretly imprisoned in the Antonia Fortress and all the family property is seized. Judah vows vengeance against the Romans. He is sent to become a slave aboard a Roman warship. On the way to the ship he meets Jesus, who offers him water, which deeply moves Judah.

Part Three

In Italy, Greek pirate-ships have been looting Roman vessels in the Aegean Sea. The prefect Sejanus orders the Roman Quintus Arrius to take warships to combat the pirates. Judah is a galley slave rowing chained on one of the Roman warships. He had survived three hard years, fueled by his passion for vengeance. Arrius is impressed by Judah and finds out more about his life and his story. The ship is attacked by pirates and the ship is sunk. Judah uses a plank as a raft. Arrius surfaces besides him and the two of them hold on until a Roman ship appears and rescues them. They return to Misenum and Judah is adopted by the influential Arrius, becoming Roman citizen.

Part Four

Judah Ben-Hur trains for five years in the Palaestra in Rome and becomes the heir of the deceased Arrius. Judah goes to Antioch on state business. On the voyage, he learns that his real father's chief servant, Simonides, lives in a house in this city, and that his father's possessions had been entrusted to him. He pays a visit to the house and tells his full story to Simonides, who demands more proof. Ben-Hur replies he has no proof, but asks whether they know the fate of Judah's mother and sister. He says he knows nothing and Judah Ben-Hur leaves the house with an apology. Simonides hires his servant Malluch to spy on Judah to see if his story is true and find more information. Malluch meets and befriends Judah in the Grove of Daphne and they go to the games stadium together. There, Ben-Hur finds his old rival Messala racing one of the chariots, preparing for a tournament.

A prosperous Arab of Antioch, Sheik Ilderim, announces that he is looking for a chariot driver to race his team in the coming tournament. Judah, wanting revenge on Messala, decides to drive the sheik's chariot and defeat Messala. Meanwhile, Balthasar and his daughter Iras are sitting at a fountain in the stadium. Messala's chariot nearly hit them but Judah intervenes. Balthasar thanks Ben-Hur and presents him with a gift. Judah heads to Sheik Ilderim's tent. The servant Malluch follows him there, and along the way they talk about the Christ and Malluch relates Balthasar's story of the Magi. They realize that the man rescued at the fountain was the same Balthasar that saw the Christ's birth.

Back at Simonides' house, Esther, Simonides and Malluch talk together, and conclude that Ben-Hur is who he claims to be, and that he is on their side in the fight against Rome.

Messala realizes that Judah Ben-Hur has been adopted into a Roman home and his honor has been restored. He threatens to take revenge.

Meanwhile, Balthasar and his daughter Iras arrive at the Sheik's tent. With Judah they discuss how the Christ, approaching the age of thirty, is ready to enter public ministry. Judah takes increasing interest in the beautiful Iras.

Part Five

File:Ben-Hur chariot race.jpg

The chariot race in 1959 film adaptation of Ben-Hur

Messala sends a letter to Valerius Gratus about his discovery that Judah is alive and well, however Sheik Ilderim, intercepts the letter and shares its contents with Judah. He discovers that his mother and sister were imprisoned in a cell at the Antonia Fortress and Messala has been spying on him.

Ilderim is deeply impressed with Judah's skills with his racing horses and is pleased to chose him as charioteer.

Simonides the merchant comes to Judah and offers him the accumulated fortune of the Hur family business, of which Simonides has been steward. Judah Ben-Hur accepts only the money, leaving property and the rest to the loyal merchant. They each agree to do their part to fight for the Christ, whom they believe to be a political savior from Roman authority.

A day before the race Ilderim prepared his horses and Judah appoints Malluch to organize his support campaign for him. Meanwhile, Messala organizes his own huge campaign, revealing Judah Ben-Hur's real identity to the world as an outcast and convict. Malluch challenges the Messala and his cronies to a vast wager, which, if the Roman loses, would bankrupt him.

The day of the race comes. During the race Messala and Judah become the clear leader. Judah deliberately scrapes his chariot wheel against Messala's and Messala's chariot breaks apart. Judah is crowned winner and showered with prizes, claiming his first strike against Rome.

After the race, Judah Ben-Hur receives a letter from Iras asking him to go to the Roman palace of Idernee. When he arrives there, he sees that he has been tricked. Thord, a Saxon, hired by Messala, comes to kill Judah. They duel, but before it is over Ben-Hur offers Thord four thousand sestercii to let him live. Thord returns to Messala claiming he has killed Judah - so collecting money from both Messala and Judah, returning to Rome to open a wine shop. Being supposedly dead, Judah Ben-Hur goes to the desert with Ilderim to plan a secret campaign.

Part Six

Simonides bribes Sejanus to remove the prefect Valerius Gratus from his post, as a service to Ben-Hur. Soon after the accession of the new prefect, Pontius Pilate, Ben-Hur sets out for Jerusalem to find his mother and sister. Pilate orders a review of the prison records which reveals great injustice and that Gratus was deliberately trying to conceal the existence of one walled up cell. Pilate's troops reopen the cell and find that there are two leprous women inside - Judah's mother and sister. They are released and stop for a while at the old vacant Hur house. Here, they find Judah sleeping on the steps, and they offer thanks to God. They don't wake him but weep that, as lepers, they are to be banished, never seeing him again. They leave.

Amrah, the Egyptian maid that once served the Hur house, discovers Ben-Hur, wakes him, and they are reunited. Amrah reveals that she has stayed in the Hur house for all these years. She had also kept in touch with the loyal Simonides and discouraged many potential buyers of the house because they thought she was a ghost.They pledge to find out more about the lost family. Judah discovers an official Roman report about the release of two leprous women. Amrah hears rumors of the mother and sister's fate.

Meanwhile, a plan is approved to use funds from the corban treasury, of the Temple in Jerusalem, to build a new aqueduct. This is seen as sacrilegious by the Jewish people, who petition Pilate to veto the plan. Pilate sends his soldiers in disguise to mingle with the crowd. At the appointed time, they massacre the protesters. Judah kills a Roman guard in a duel, and becomes a hero in the eyes of a group of Galilean protesters.

Part Seven

File:Benh.jpg

Poster for The 1959 film adaptation of Ben Hur starring Charlton Heston in the title role

Biblical references: John 1:29-34

At a meeting in Bethany, Ben-Hur and his Galileans organise a resistance force, an army which will revolt against Rome. Judah asks Simonides and Ilderim for help, and they establish a training base in Ilderim's territory, deep in the desert. After training for some time, Malluch sends him a letter announcing the appearance of a prophet who he believes to be the Christ. Judah journeys to the Jordan to see the Christ, and on the way meets Balthasar and Iras again, traveling for the same purpose. Judah does not accept Balthasar's reasoning of the Christ as a savior rather than an earthly king, and continues with his plan to fight. They reach Bethabara, where a group has gathered to watch John the Baptist. A man walks up to John, and asks to be baptized. Judah recognizes him as the same man that gave him water at the well in Nazareth many years earlier, and Balthasar worships and almost faints at once again seeing the Christ.

Part Eight

Biblical references: Matthew 27:48-51, Mark 11:9-11, 14:51-52, Luke 23:26-46, John 12:12-18, 18:2-19:30

During the next three years, Jesus preaches his gospel around Galilee, and Ben-Hur becomes one of his followers. He starts to believe that Balthasar may be right, when he sees that Jesus chooses fishermen, farmers and similar people, considered "lowly", as apostles. Judah believes Jesus to be wasting valuable time by not proclaiming himself king immediately. Yet, he has seen Jesus perform miracles, and is convinced that the Christ really had come.

During this time Malluch, armed with the Hur fortune, has bought the old Hur house and renovated it, restoring it to splendor. He then invites Simonides and Balthasar, with their daughters, to live in the house with him, and they become regular occupants of the house. Judah Ben-Hur seldom visits the house. The day before Jesus plans to enter Jerusalem and, finally proclaim himself, Judah returns and gives them a full account of what has happened through the years he has followed Jesus. When he tells of the healing of ten lepers, Amrah realizes that Judah's mother and sister could be healed, and the next morning, alone, hurries to the lepers' cave to tell them the good news. The three wait along a road, and amidst all the rejoicing and din during the Triumphal Entry, they ask Jesus to heal them, and their request is granted. When they are cured, Judah sees them and Amrah and the family are finally re-united.

Several days later, Iras talks with Judah, saying he has trusted in a false hope, for Jesus had not started the expected revolution. She says that it is all over between them, saying she loves Messala. Ben-Hur remembers the "invitation of Iras" that led to the incident with Thord, and accuses Iras of betraying him and spying on him for Messala's gain. That night, he realizes how different Balthasar and his daughter are, and resolves to go to Esther.

While he is lost in thought, he sees a parade marching down the street, and falls in with it, confused. He notices that Judas Iscariot is leading the parade, and many of the temple priests and Roman soldiers are all marching together. They go to the olive grove of Gethsemane, which confuses Ben-Hur even more, and he sees, ahead of him, Jesus walking out to meet them. Ben-Hur understands the betrayal, is spotted by a priest who tries to take him into custody; he breaks away and flees. When morning comes, Ben-Hur learns that the Jewish priests have tried Jesus before Pilate, and although he was originally ruled "not guilty", has nevertheless been sentenced to crucifixion at the crowd's demand. Ben-Hur is shocked at how his legions have all deserted him in his time of need. They head to Calvary, and Ben-Hur resigns himself to watch the crucifixion of Jesus. The sky darkens. Ben-Hur offers Jesus wine vinegar to return Jesus' favor to him. Jesus utters his last cry.

Ben-Hur and his friends commit their lives to Jesus, who they now realize is not the earthly king they had previously hoped for, but a heavenly king and a savior of mankind.

Epilogue

Five years after the crucifixion, Ben-Hur and Esther have married and had children. The family is now living at a villa in Misenum. Iras visits Esther, marvels at the children she might have had, and informs Esther that she has killed Messala, saying she has finally discovered that Romans were brutes. Esther tells Ben-Hur of the visit and he launches a fruitless search for the woman.

In the tenth year of Emperor Nero's reign, Ben-Hur is staying at Simonides' house. Simonides' business has been successful, and he, with Ben-Hur, has given most of the fortunes to the church of Antioch. Now, as an old man, he has sold all his ships but one, and that one has returned for probably its final voyage. The Christians in Rome are suffering persecution under the hands of Emperor Nero, and Ben-Hur and his friends decide to help. Ben-Hur, Esther, and Malluch set out from Antioch, on the last of Simonides' ships to Rome. They decide to build an underground church - surviving through the ages and becoming known as the Catacomb of San Calixto in Rome.

External links

• "Ben-Hur: The Book That Shook the World" by Amy Lifson, Humanities, 30:6 (November/December 2009). Accessed 2010-04-20
• Trailer from 1959 Film version of Ben Hur Accessed 2010-04-20

Bibliography

• Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ at Project Gutenberg
• Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, 1887 printing, scanned book via Internet Archive
• Hezser, Kathering (2008) Essay: Ben Hur and Ancient Jewish slavery from A Wandering Galilean: Essays in Honour of Sean Freyne Brill Academic Publishers