Devil bet
The devil bet is, as the wager of Mephistopheles in Goethe's tragedy Faust , a bet is a human soul , redensartlich a bet everything. God's bet with the devil and human bets on the devil are topos in literature since the Christian Middle Ages (many monastery building bets with the tempter), often a central moment in the plot of legends , sagas , dramas or operas .
Background and examples
With the Teutons and in ancient Greece and Rome there was still no separation between a divine and a demonic side. The dualism passed from the idea of a dualism in Judaism to Christianity. Only through this idea did the motif of selling souls to a diabolical power find its way into folk tales. There are many examples of alliances or pacts with the devil in medieval literature. In the time when Goethe lived, this motif reappeared more intensely.
- The cause of the plagues of the biblical Job already follows this pattern; a sophisticated theological debate about the justification of God who does such a thing appears in the Old Testament .
- Typical of many devil bets is the legend of the creation of the Devil's Bridge over the Reuss .
- Carl Maria von Weber's opera Der Freischütz , which premiered in 1821, is based on the fact that Kaspar bet Samiel's soul; here the devil wins what is otherwise rarely dared.
- In 1947 Thomas Mann publishes his novel Doctor Faustus , the political motif of which is Hitler Germany's bet on the devil.
Betting between God and the Devil
The Bible tells of a wealthy and godly peasant named Job in the Book of Job. At a time when Satan was still tolerated in heaven, God entered into a wager with him about the steadfastness of this peasant's faith. Satan claimed that Job trusted in God only because he lacked nothing himself. God wanted to show him that this was not the case, so he allowed Satan to take all of his belongings from Job. And although Satan took everything from him, family, livestock, and wealth, Job did not apologize. When Satan made him seriously ill and Job began to doubt, he asked God to give an account.
The legend of the Cologne cathedral building
A legend reports that the old cathedral in Cologne was to be replaced by a new building. Gerhard von Ryle was chosen as the builder . This should draw up a construction plan within a year. But every time he believed his plan was now in an acceptable form, he found a flaw again and rejected it. So it happened that one day he sat down on the Teufelsstein and fell asleep. When he woke up, a stranger who looked like a French builder was standing in front of him. He skilfully drew a plan in the sand and the master saw that it was excellent. He asked the stranger what he should pay him if he left the plan to him. But this was none other than the devil himself and he challenged the soul of the builder, as well as that of his wife and children. If he, the devil, does not manage to build the cathedral in three years, they are free. Since it seemed impossible for the builder that such a building could be completed in this time, he decided. His wife managed to escape the pact through a ruse, but the almost completed cathedral collapsed and the construction work dragged on for centuries.
The cold heart
The story The Cold Heart by Wilhelm Hauff is also about a barter with the devil, here he takes his heart from the coal munk Peter (often seen as the seat of the soul) and swaps it for a cold stone and gold. Peter sells his soul to the devil, who appears here in the form of the Holländer-Michl. Here, too, there is a contest between good and evil, because Peter has an ally, the little glass man, with whose help he can get his heart back and hold a glass cross towards the devil, so that he turns into a worm.
Modern interpretation of the material
In the song Spanish Train, the Irish singer Chris de Burgh told the story of how the devil sat with God at cards and played poker for the souls of people. It's about a railroad worker who is dying. The devil stands ready at the head of his bed, he believes he has the soul of the dying person already safe. God appears in person and wants to chase the devil away. But he replies that he discovered this soul first and therefore it belongs to him. But then he gives in and proposes a game of poker to God for the souls of the dead. They both have a good hand and each take a new card. But the devil pulls an ace out of his sleeve and wins the game.
literature
- Adolf Muschg: The devil bet. in: Appearances are not deceptive. About Goethe. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-458-17201-7 .
Web links
- Myth and Reality - The Devil's Wager for Cologne Cathedral on news.de.msn.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ The balance of power between Mephistopheles and the Lord. on grin.com, accessed May 25, 2014.
- ↑ Ulrike Scheufele: The Devil's Pact in Wilhelm Hauff's “The Cold Heart” on mythos-magazin.de, accessed on May 25, 2014. (PDF, p. 18.)
- ↑ Devil's Bridge on magellanworld.net, accessed May 25, 2014.
- ↑ Sacrificed to the devil - The Job story and its consequences in: Der Spiegel . dated December 23, 1996, accessed May 25, 2014.
- ↑ Job - God's great guys on ekd.de, accessed on May 25, 2014.
- ↑ Die Teufelswette on koelner-dom.de, accessed on May 25, 2014.
- ↑ Ulrike Scheufele: The Devil Pact in Wilhelm Hauff's “The Cold Heart” on mythos-magazin.de, accessed on May 25, 2014. (PDF, pp. 11-13.)
- ^ Spanish Train on allmusic.com, accessed May 25, 2014.