Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles[a] (/ˌmɛfɪˈstɒfɪˌliːz/, German pronunciation: [mefɪˈstoːfɛlɛs]), also known as Mephisto,[1] is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend and has since become a stock character appearing in other works of arts and popular culture.
Etymology and name meaning
The name Mephistopheles is a corrupted Greek compound.[2] The Greek particle of negation (μη, mē) and the Greek word for "love" or "loving" (φίλος, philos) are the first and last terms of the compound, but the middle term is more doubtful. Three possible meanings have been proposed, and three different etymologies have been offered:
- "not loving light" (φως το, phōs to; the old form of the name being Mephostopheles)
- "not loving Faust"
- mephitic, pertaining to poisonous vapors arising from pools, caverns, and springs.[2]
It is likely that the name was invented for the historical alchemist Johann Georg Faust by the anonymous author of the first Faustbuch.[1]
In the Faust legend
Mephistopheles is associated with the Faust legend of an ambitious scholar, based on the historical Johann Georg Faust. In the legend, Faust makes a deal with the devil at the price of his soul, Mephistopheles acting as the devil's agent.
The name appears in the late-sixteenth-century Faust chapbooks – stories concerning the life of Johann Georg Faust, written by an anonymous German author.
In the 1725 version, which Goethe read, Mephostophiles is a devil in the form of a greyfriar summoned by Faust in a wood outside Wittenberg.
From the chapbooks, the name entered Faustian literature. Many authors have used it, from Goethe to Christopher Marlowe. In the 1616 edition of Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Mephostophiles became Mephistophilis.
Mephistopheles in later treatments of the Faust material frequently figures as a title character: in Meyer Lutz's Mephistopheles, or Faust and Marguerite (1855), Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868), Klaus Mann's Mephisto, and Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes. There are also many parallels with the character of Mephistopheles and the character Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.[3]
Interpretations
Although Mephistopheles appears to Faustus as a demon – a worker for Lucifer – 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 on 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'."[4]
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 forego the promise of heaven to pursue his goals".[5] Farnham adds to his theory, "...[Faustus] enters an ever-present private hell like that of Mephistophiles".[6]
Outside the Faust legend
William Shakespeare mentions "Mephistophilus" in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act I, Scene I, line 128), and by the 17th century the name became independent of the Faust legend.[7]
See also
- Beelzebub
- Devil in Christianity
- Prince of Darkness
- Satan
- Mephiskapheles, Ska band whose name is a play on Mephistopheles
- Mr. Mistoffelees, a character from the musical Cats
- Servant
- Angel Heart (film) character portrayed by actor Robert De Niro whom is present by the name Louis Cyphre, an analog for "Lucifer".
- Mephisto (Marvel Comics) a character from Marvel Comics based off the Demon.
Notes
- ^ Variants of the name include: Mephistophilus, Mephostopheles, Mephistophilis, Mephastophilis, Mephastophiles and others
References
- ^ a b "Mephistopheles". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 July 1998.
- ^ a b Snider, Denton Jaques (1886). Goethe's Faust: A commentary. Sigma. pp. 132–133.
- ^ "The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)".
- ^ Farnham, Willard (1969). Twentieth Century Interpretations of Doctor Faustus. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0132163095.
- ^ Krstovic, Jelena; Lazzardi, Marie, eds. (1999). "Plot and Major Themes". Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. 47. Detroit, Michigan: The Gale Group: 202.
- ^ Krstovic & Lazzardi 1999, p. 8
- ^ Burton Russell 1992, p. 61
Bibliography
- Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1986). Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World (1990 reprint ed.). Ithaca, New York: Cornell. ISBN 978-0-8014-9718-6.
- Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von (2001). Hamlin, Cyrus (ed.). Faust: A Tragedy; Interpretive Notes, Contexts, Modern Criticism (Norton Critical ed.). New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-97282-5.
- Ruickbie, Leo (2009). Faustus: The Life and Times of a Renaissance Magician. Stroud, UK: History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5090-9.
External links
- Quotations related to Mephistopheles at Wikiquote
- The dictionary definition of Mephistophelean at Wiktionary
- v
- t
- e
- Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587 chapbook)
- Doctor Faustus (1592 play)
- Cenodoxus (1602, play)
- Goethe's Faust (1808 play)
- "Bearskin"
- "Daniel and the Devil"
- Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
- "The Devil and Tom Walker" (1824)
- St. John's Eve (1830)
- Auriol (1844)
- Chasse-galerie (1892)
- The Sorrows of Satan (1896)
- Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (1898)
- The Master and Margarita (1929–1940)
- Mephisto (1936)
- "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937)
- None but Lucifer (1939)
- Doktor Faustus (1947)
- The Devil in Velvet (1951)
- The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant (1954)
- Gimmicks Three (1956)
- The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (1956)
- That Hell-Bound Train (1958)
- For a Breath I Tarry (1966)
- The Damnation Game (1986)
- Eric (1990)
- The Devil's Own Work (1991)
- Jack Faust (1997)
- Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (2009)
- The Last Faust (2019)
- Gretchen (1879)
- Damn Yankees (1955)
- Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1955)
- The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon (1965)
- Temptation (1986)
- Faust (1816, Spohr)
- La damnation de Faust (1846, Berlioz)
- Faust (1859, Gounod)
- Mefistofele (1868, Boito)
- Le petit Faust (1869, Hervé)
- Faust and Marguerite (1855, Lutz)
- Faust up to Date (1888, Lutz)
- Doktor Faust (1916–1925, Busoni)
- Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (1938)
- The Rake's Progress (1951, Stravinsky)
- Reuben, Reuben (1955)
- Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1994)
- Faustus, the Last Night (2006)
- Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814, Schubert)
- Faust Overture (1840, Wagner)
- Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges' 2nd movement "Quasi-Faust" (1847, Alkan)
- Scenes from Goethe's Faust (1853, Schumann)
- Part II of Symphony No. 8 (1906–07, Mahler)
- Faust Symphony (1854–1857, Liszt)
- Mephisto Waltzes (Liszt)
- Gothic Symphony (Brian)
- Bagatelle sans tonalité (Liszt)
Albums |
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Songs |
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- The Laboratory of Mephistopheles (1897)
- Faust and Marguerite (1900)
- The Damnation of Faust (1903)
- Faust and Marguerite (1904)
- The Student of Prague (1913)
- Rapsodia satanica (1915)
- The Student of Prague (1926)
- Faust (1926)
- The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
- Alias Nick Beal (1949)
- The Legend of Faust (1949)
- Beauty and the Devil (1950)
- Marguerite de la nuit (1955)
- Damn Yankees (1958)
- Faust (1960)
- Bedazzled (1967)
- Doctor Faustus (1967)
- El extraño caso del doctor Fausto (1969)
- Mephisto (1981)
- Doctor Faustus (1982)
- Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
- Crossroads (1986)
- Faust (1994)
- Bedazzled (2000)
- Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)
- Fausto 5.0 (2001)
- I Was a Teenage Faust (2002)
- Shortcut to Happiness (2007)
- Goat Story (2008)
- Faust (2011)
- The Last Faust (2019)
Episodes |
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Other |
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- Damn Yankees (1955)
- Randy Newman's Faust (1995)
- Success! (1993)
- Faust (2003)
- Disco Inferno (2004)
- Gods' Man (1929)
- Faust (manga) (1950)
- Doctor Faustus (comics) (1968)
- Faust (comics) (1987)
- Frau Faust (2014)
- Mephistopheles and Margaretta
- Paintings
- Category