Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 20

[73:8] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 108 and 167.

[74:1] Vol. v. p. 270.

[74:2] Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 155.

[74:3] Steinthal: The Legend of Samson, p. 386.

[74:4] Buckley: Cities of the World, 41, 42.

[74:5] Smith: a.s.syrian Discoveries, p. 167, and Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 174.

[74:6] a.s.syrian Discoveries, p. 205, and Chaldean Account of Genesis, p.

174.

[74:7] Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 310.

[74:8] Ibid. pp. 193, 194, 174.

[75:1] See Tacitus: Annals, book ii. ch. lix.

[75:2] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 92.

[75:3] See Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 153.

[76:1] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 94, 417, and 514.

[76:2] See c.o.x: Aryan Mythology.

[76:3] See vol. i. of Aryan Mythology, by Rev. G. W. c.o.x.

"Besides the fabulous Hercules, the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, there was, in ancient times, no warlike nation who did not boast of its own particular Hercules." (Arthur Murphy, Translator of Tacitus.)

CHAPTER IX.

JONAH SWALLOWED BY A BIG FISH.

In the book of Jonah, containing four chapters, we are told the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, saying: "Arise, go to Ninevah, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up against me."

Instead of obeying this command Jonah sought to flee "from the presence of the Lord," by going to Tars.h.i.+sh. For this purpose he went to _Joppa_, and there took s.h.i.+p for Tars.h.i.+sh. But the Lord sent a great wind, and there was a mighty tempest, so that the s.h.i.+p was likely to be broken.

The mariners being afraid, they cried every one unto _his_ G.o.d; and casting lots--that they might know which of them was the cause of the storm--the lot fell upon Jonah, showing him to be the guilty man.

The mariners then said unto him; "What shall we do unto thee?" Jonah in reply said, "Take me up and cast me forth into the sea, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." So they took up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased raging.

And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, _and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights_. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord out of the fish's belly. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

The Lord again spake unto Jonah and said:

"Go unto Ninevah and preach unto it." So Jonah arose and went unto Ninevah, according to the command of the Lord, and preached unto it.

There is a _Hindoo_ fable, very much resembling this, to be found in the _Somadeva Bhatta_, of a person by the name of _Saktideva_ who was swallowed by a huge fish, and finally came out unhurt. The story is as follows:

"There was once a king's daughter who would marry no one but the man who had seen the Golden City--of legendary fame--and Saktideva was in love with her; so he went travelling about the world seeking some one who could tell him where this Golden City was. In the course of his journeys _he embarked on board a s.h.i.+p_ bound for the Island of Utsthala, where lived the King of the Fishermen, who, Saktideva hoped, would set him on his way. On the voyage _there arose a great storm_ and the s.h.i.+p went to pieces, _and a great fish swallowed Saktideva whole_. Then, driven by the force of fate, the fish went to the Island of Utsthala, and there the servants of the King of the Fishermen caught it, and the king, wondering at its size, had it cut open, _and Saktideva came out unhurt_."[78:1]

In Grecian fable, Hercules is said to have been swallowed by a whale, at a place called Joppa, _and to have lain three days in his entrails_.

Bernard de Montfaucon, speaking of Jonah being swallowed by a whale, and describing a piece of Grecian sculpture representing Hercules standing by a huge sea monster, says:

"Some ancients relate to the effect that Hercules was also swallowed by the whale that was watching Hesione, _that he remained three days in his belly_, and that he came out bald-pated after his sojourn there."[78:2]

Bouchet, in his "Hist. d'Animal," tells us that:

"The great fish which swallowed up _Jonah_, although it be called a whale (Matt. xii. 40), yet it was not a whale, properly so called, but a _Dog-fish_, called _Carcharias_.

Therefore in the Grecian fable _Hercules_ is said to have been swallowed up of a _Dag_, and to have lain three days in his entrails."[78:3]

G.o.dfrey Higgins says, on this subject:

"The story of _Jonas_ swallowed up by a whale, is nothing but part of the fiction of _Hercules_, described in the Heracleid or Labors of Hercules, of whom the same story was told, and who was swallowed up at the very same place, _Joppa_, and for the same period of time, _three days_. Lycophron says that Hercules was three nights in the belly of a fish."[78:4]

We have still another similar story in that of "_Arion the Musician_,"

who, being thrown overboard, was caught on the back of a _Dolphin_ and landed safe on sh.o.r.e. The story is related in "Tales of Ancient Greece,"

as follows:

Arion was a Corinthian harper who had travelled in Sicily and

Italy, and had acc.u.mulated great wealth. Being desirous of again seeing his native city, he set sail from Taras for Corinth. The sailors in the s.h.i.+p, having seen the large boxes full of money which Arion had brought with him into the s.h.i.+p, made up their minds to kill him and take his gold and silver. So one day when he was sitting on the bow of the s.h.i.+p, and looking down on the dark blue sea, three or four of the sailors came to him and said they were going to kill him. Now Arion knew they said this because they wanted his money; so he promised to give them all he had if they would spare his life. But they would not. Then he asked them to let him jump into the sea. When they had given him leave to do this, Arion took one last look at the bright and sunny sky, and then leaped into the sea, and the sailors saw him no more. But Arion was not drowned in the sea, for a great fish called a dolphin was swimming by the s.h.i.+p when Arion leaped over; and it caught him on its back and swam away with him towards Corinth. So presently the fish came close to the sh.o.r.e and left Arion on the beach, and swam away again into the deep sea.[79:1]

There is also a Persian legend to the effect that Jems.h.i.+d was devoured by a great monster waiting for him at the bottom of the sea, but afterwards rises again out of the sea, like Jonah in the Hebrew, and Hercules in the Phenician myth.[79:2] This legend was also found in the myths of the _New World_.[79:3]

It was urged, many years ago, by Rosenmuller--an eminent German divine and professor of theology--and other critics, that the miracle recorded in the book of Jonah is not to be regarded as an historical fact, "_but only as an allegory, founded on the Phenician myth of Hercules rescuing Hesione from the sea monster by leaping himself into its jaws, and for three days and three nights continuing to tear its entrails_."[79:4]

That the story is an allegory, and that it, as well as that of Saktideva, Hercules and the rest, are simply different versions of the same myth, the significance of which is the alternate swallowing up and casting forth of _Day_, or the _Sun_, by _Night_, is now all but universally admitted by scholars. The _Day_, or the _Sun_, is swallowed up by _Night_, to be set free again at dawn, and from time to time suffers a like but shorter durance in the maw of the eclipse and the storm-cloud.[79:5]

Professor Goldzhier says:

"The most prominent mythical characteristic of the story of Jonah is his celebrated abode in the sea in the belly of a whale. This trait is eminently _Solar_. . . . As on occasion of the storm the storm-dragon or the storm-serpent _swallows the Sun_, so when he sets, he (Jonah, as a personification of the Sun) is swallowed by a mighty fish, waiting for him at the bottom of the sea. Then, when he appears again on the horizon, he is _spit out on the sh.o.r.e_ by the sea-monster."[80:1]

The _Sun_ was called Jona, as appears from Gruter's inscriptions, and other sources.[80:2]

In the _Vedas_--the four sacred books of the Hindoos--when _Day_ and _Night_, _Sun_ and _Darkness_, are opposed to each other, the one is designated _Red_, the other _Black_.[80:3]

The _Red Sun_ being swallowed up by the _Dark Earth_ at _Night_--as it apparently is when it sets in the west--to be cast forth again at _Day_, is also ill.u.s.trated in like manner. Jonah, Hercules and others personify the _Sun_, and a huge _Fish_ represents the _Earth_.[80:4] _The Earth represented as a huge Fish is one of the most prominent ideas of the Polynesian mythology._[80:5]

At other times, instead of a _Fish_, we have a great raving _Wolf_, who comes to devour its victim and extinguish the _Sun_-light.[80:6] The Wolf is particularly distinguished in ancient _Scandinavian_ mythology, being employed as an emblem of the _Destroying Power_, which attempts to destroy the _Sun_.[80:7] This is ill.u.s.trated in the story of Little _Red_ Riding-Hood (the Sun)[80:8] who is devoured by the great _Black Wolf_ (Night) and afterwards _comes out unhurt_.[80:9]