Conybeare on "The Historical Christ." (1915)

a virgin."The meteoric portents "in the heavens" reduce to this: "the natives say that just as he was born a thunderbolt, seeming to be going to fall on the earth, was carried up in the ether and disappeared on high"just an ordinary fancy after the fact and symbolizing future distinction, as interpreted by Philostratus.He "appeared after death to an incredulous believer."Verily, but in a dream only!The youth "fell asleep," after praying for nine months that "Apollonius would clear up the doctrine about the soul," then "starting up from rudely broken slumber and streaming with perspiration" he cried, "I believe thee." His companionsasking what was the matter, he said, "See ye not Apollonius the sage, that he is present with us, hearkening to our discourse and reciting wondrous words about the soul" ?They though see nothing.The youth says, "He seems to come to converse with me alone concerning what I believed not," and then quotes to them what Apollonius said.All a mere dream, such as any one might have of a revered teacher, and told as a dream, of course with some rhetorical embellishment.He "ascended into heaven bodily."Philostratus gives three stories of his death : first, that he came to his end in Ephesus, tended by two handmaids ; second, that it was in Lindus, where he entered into the temple of Athena and disappeared within ; third, that it was still more wonderful, in Crete, where he came to the temple of Dictynna late at night ; the guardian dogs, though fierce, fawned upon him, but the guardian men seized and bound him as a wizard and robber ; at midnight he loosed his bonds, and calling witnesses ran to the temple doors, which opened wide and then closed after receiving him, while rang out a voice of maidens singing, "Ascend from earth, ascend to heaven, ascend."The story is told by Philostratus merely as a story, not as a fact ; its symbolic meaning is manifest.This same note of exaggeration sounds through Conybeare's translation of Philostratus, and almost converts it into a tendencewriting.Thus he says, "Apollonius heals a demoniac boy," but Apollonius had naught to do with it ; the actor is "one of the sages," the Indian sages ; Apollonius is not mentioned in the chap- ter (XXXVni, Bk.HI)."The sage" means the Indian sage, who moreover is not even said to heal the boy, but merely to address a threatening letter to the "ghost,"^-nothing is said of the result.Conybeare regularly speaks of Apollonius as "the sage," but not ^ei8o3\ov, idol; observe that "the demon," possessing the boy, is also called idol, the term regularly used to denote the gods of pagandom.Philostratus, who says regularly "the man" (of Tyana).Another "miracle of healing a lame man" turns out to be setting a dislocated hip ; "but their hands having massaged the hip, upright of gait the youth went."Conybeare says "immediately," but not Philostratus."And another man had had his eyes put out, and he went away having recovered the sight of both of them."Philostratus says, "And one having been flowing as to his eyes (ophthalmo erryekos) went away all having in them light."The reference seems to be to bleared, rheumy, eak or watery eyes cured by the manipulations of the Indian sages."Another had his hand paralyzed but left their presence in full possession of the limb."Philostratus says "another being weak in his hand, went away strong" (egkrates, empowered),-as well he might with no miracle."Abaris who traveled on a broom- stick through the air. . ..is rivaled in his enterprise by Apollonius" ; but Philostratus merely says that "to some occurred the report of Abaris of old, and that he [Apollonius] might launch into some- thing similar, but he [Apollonius] without even declaring his mind to Damis set sail with him for Achaia."Examples of this tendency could be multiplied almost ad libitum.Undoubtedly Philostratus means to cast a glamour of the extraordinary over his hero (though apparently avoiding any unequivocal affirmation of the miraculous) : he tells many traveler's tales and sets down all sorts of popular stories, mainly of super-