Wednesday, April 12, 2006

cartaphilus

Medieval legend has it that as Jesus walked to Golgotha he was disrespected by a shoemaker amongst others. As a result of this disrespect, this man, (variously known as Cartaphilus, Malchus and Ahasverus) was cursed by Jesus to wander the earth forever.

The legend itself has many incarnations but seems to be European in origin. One of the incarnations relates that Cartaphilus wanders the earth until the age of 100 when he is miraculously changed back to a 30 year old and his wanderings begin again. Various 'sightings' have occurred throughout continental Europe, mostly in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

The wandering Jew by Gustave Dore

The legend has obvious anti-Semitic overtones resulting from the crucifixion story and the prevailing attitudes towards Jews in medieval Europe. However, I feel there is something more to the legend. Perhaps it is the idea that contentment is unattainable for those who deny god and this discontent is demonstrated through meaningless meanderings. Again, parallels with the Jewish diaspora can be drawn but for me I see in this legend a more personal perspective. I don't believe in god so you can understand how I might be perturbed if contentment is out of my reach. I also have done my fair share of wandering and sometimes it does seem to be without meaning.

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio

Am I Cartaphilus, reanimated for purposeless perennial perambulation? Perhaps? Or is this wandering how us unbelievers discover the world for ourselves rather than accept what is presented to us in a book or by a priest?

Like Doubting Thomas perhaps Cartaphilus is guilty of wanting to find out about the world for himself. For Thomas it was instigated by doubt, for Cartaphilus it was instigated by a curse but are both men not wiser?

Can their be contentment in ignorance? I think not. The journey will be long and winding but I have two feet and a brain, I say 'let's begin walking'. Will you walk with me?


For more information ...
wandering jew
doubting thomas

13 comments:

jmnsw said...

1. Are we not all wanderers to a lesser or greater degree ever thoes who believe strongly

2.I am unsure of the obvious anti semetic tone in the tale please explain

3.The use of the Carravagio pic is interesting ..was it purely coincidental or more sinister ..his work is second to none well actually second to Artemisia Gentileschi .. google her for my friends site (Larry Brash)

4. good blog!!!

am said...

1. I guess we are all wanderers but it was the connection between wandering and discontent that interested me.

2. Some suggest that the wanderings of Cartaphilus mirror the wanderings of the Jewish diaspora and just as Cartaphilus was punished for his offence, the Jewish people are been punished too.

3. Nothing sinister about the use of the Carravaggio picture, he is one of my favourites and kind of like Cartaphilus was an outsider himself.

4. Thanks, I thought it was timely.

fivespice said...

whoa, spooky. i think i could be wandering too, very interesting.

Gentileschi is a fascinating woman, enjoyed Susan Vreeland's book about her, The Passion of Artemisia.

am said...

Whilst there are many gods to choose from, my personal choice is to not accept the concept (but I am open to change).

I am more interested in communicating my state of knowledge rather than my state of belief.

Theism and atheism express something about your state of belief, gnosticism and agnosticism say something about your state of knowledge. Although I'm emotionally atheistic, I would say that intellectually I am an agnostic. For me agnosticism is not about equivocating and sitting on the fence, it is just about saying something about what can be knowable about god.

One of the points about the story of Cartiphilus is that he is cursed to wander and I sometimes do feel that I am cursed to question and evaluate my life or more precisely evaluate life (not so much my specific life).

The point is that for people like me, I cannot simply turn off that switch like so many theists can and I cannot just shout it down like so many atheists. As an agonstic I need to enquire and evaluate, knowing full well the limitations of such an approach.

See the tough thing is that maybe the point of my life is to examine it?

Having said that I do hear what jer1ch0 is saying and I do try to live my life. As some smart arse said, "the unexamined life is not worth living, the unlived life is not worth examining".

I think Jesus may have been hard on Cartaphilus but this is where the legend breaks down in so far as it seems to go against the general picture of Jesus built up not only in the bible but in other apocryphal works. In the end the legend like most legends reflects not human history but human nature.

Thanks for the replies. Shalom.

Anonymous said...

The way I heard it was, Cartiphilus, the roman gatekeeper was cursed by God to roam the earth, until the end of days, because he struck Jesus. Is there any validity to this?

am said...

Sometimes he is depicted as Pontius Pilate's doorman/gatekeeper.

See here for more ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartaphilus

Thanks for dropping by.

Cliffdweller said...

Interesting thread. I don't know that I have ever "wandered" on line and found such a full collection of thoutful posts. Conspicuously absent are the usual inanities and profanities that anonymity often produces in people who visit cyberspace often. I am a writer who is fascinated with the idea of immortal characters - the way they offer unbroken eyewitness opportunities all through time. There is another such character in a series of books written by the late Barry Sadler who wrote that famous song "The Ballad of the Green Berets." His main character was inspired by the enduring legend of Casca Rufio Longinus - the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Christ. Casca wanders as a soldier through 27 books (out of print since the late eighties but worth finding on Amazon. The author, while certainly not a traditional Christian, occasionally asks some of the big questions amongst his adventurous. I have a website that - judging by your posts - would probably be of interest to all of you. The section I would steer you to is found at www.marcsbasecamp.com/faith It's not a commercial website...just a writer writing. Hope y'all enjoy and will send me feedback. Have a blessed day.

am said...

Thanks for the post, I will drop by your site and check it out.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes he is depicted as Pontius Pilate's doorman/gatekeeper.

Maybe. ;) But then, I might know. You never know. One lifetime is worth many. And when you are fated to Mankind's own fate, things you set in motion so long ago, that should not have been. But, were done to teach humanity something, to see if it could reach, could attain peace, a world without pain, without suffering. That was the first test. But, the time is coming soon when Mankind will be given a second chance. Your test is also as mine was. And will be again. Don't blow it. Okay? ;) Or I wander for another thousand years. And Mankind suffers again. :)

am said...

Fair comment William.

Wondered with love and not alone said...

I see several contradictions in your answer, how can you feel cursed if you don't believe, is it by a witch? But if your that smart you don't believe in the fable of witches. And I accidentally stumbled upon this with my wondering mind, I'm not sure how it got me her, and I don't understand half of the words you are saying, but God is good, and if you know him you will never be cursed to wonder alone.

Wondered with love and not alone said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
am said...

Thanks for your comment.

As a person who thinks about faith, doubt and non belief I am often mired in contradictions but such is the lot of someone who wants to think for themselves rather than accept the views of others.

I wish you well and you wander and wonder.