The times., 1898-09-12
THE DELUGE.
Something About the Legend OF the
Great Flood.

(From the Church Gazette.)
The legend of a deluge forming part OF
ancient cosmogony is naturally wide
spread, but il is not found among some
of the great nations of antiquity. The
Hebrews, Babylonians, Greeks, the tribes
of North, Central and South America,
and aborigines of Australia, have tradi-
tions, but the Arabs, the Egyptians, the
northern and central Asia. are entirely
ignorant of an event of the magnitude
and calamitous nature such as is described
in some of the records that have come
down TO us. On examining the flood sto-
ries themselves told by various nations,
we find certain features in common. The
most striking features with regard to
them, however, is not their affinity, but
the different versions which they give of
the cataclysm.
The Babylonian account, which reaches
us in twofod form deserves the first
place as the oldest of the records. Before
the discovery by Mr.. George Smith of the
eleventh tablet of the Izdubar series,
which was composed, at the very least,
1000 years b. c., the story as given by
Berosus was the only one known TO us.
In the Babylonian narrative the flood is
described as inspired by divine Justice
resulting in widespread ruin and devasta-
ton. II watched the sea making noise,
and the whole of mankinc was turned to
clay, like reeds the corpses fioated.
was grieved and sat down. l wept;
over the fortress of my nostrils went my
tears At last, the ship stopped on the
Mount of Mir. A dove and swallow sent
forth returned, but raven, let out on
the seventh day, did not come back. The
account concludes with a dispute among
the gods. Bel was filed with anger
against the other gods and the spirits of
heaven and ordered that no human being
should be saved. Let no one come out
alive; never may a man live in the
abyss" But Hia, god of knowledge and
of the waters, interceded.
The Rig-Veda contains no reference
TO the flood story, and 1t is therefore
probably not an original Aryan myth.
The legends embodying a deluge sto-y
are found in the "Satapatha Brahmana, :"
the "Mahabharata," and the "Bhagavata
Pulana."
An interesting point is the purifying eff
feet ascribed to the deluge-a notion put
forth in the first epistle of St. Peter,
where the deluge is represented as sym
polical of baptism. In the last mention ed
of the Indian versions. Brahma is asleep.
During his slumbers a demon steals the
Vedas The flood is brought about In or
der to restore the genuine Vedas, ana
to prevent their Justification. The guar
dianS of the sacred lore are saved, also
number of plants and animals.
The Greek stories are more or less IA
miliar: so it will be enough to eall atten-
ton TO some of their peculiar character
istics. There are two principal legends,
the one connected with Ogyges; the other
with Deucalion. In its latest form
neither Homer nor Hesiod mentions the
deluge story-the son of Prometheus and
Pandora, and Pyrrha, his wife, are repre-
sented as driven away from their home
| by a great flood. Taking refuge on a
little ship they land on Mount Parnassus,
whence they descend to found the frs;
! city and to call into being a new human
| ity With veiled heads they take theiI
stand and throw stones behind them
| from which springs another generation
taking the place of the old one destroyed
| by the water. In commemoration of this
recreation of the world the Athenians
| kept an annual festival.
The original legend mentions merely q
| local flood, but in the hands of Ovid ant
| Apollodorus it assumes considerably
larger dimensions Lucian G60 A. D.,
| gives the story a decided Oriental color.
| ing. Deucalion is credited with the foun-
| dation of temple, in whose vicinity was
| a large cleft which long ago formed a re
| ceptacle for the waters of the deluge
Deucalion was saved from the genera
| destruction in a large box, which con
| tanned in addition to himself his wife
pigs, horses, lions and serpents. The boz
is supposed to have reached Mount Leb.
anon, where Deucalion built a temple in
honor of Hera