| "The
skill and precision with which Butler delineates the phases of the
Faust tradition is no less impressive than the elegant magnanimity
which she displays in judging the great as well as that host of minor
poets whose labors equally testify to the inexhaustible fascination
of 'the conflict between religion and rationalism as to the ultimate
fate of the Faustian spirit, the desire for infinite knowledge.'"
—Yale Review
This work is a powerful and astute examination of the connection
between magic in literature and magic in history. It traces the
evolution of the Faust tradition and its relationship to the practice
of magic in European history. Written by one of the most distinguished
scholars in the field of German literature, this book, first published
in 1952, is a classic text. Butler follows the magic tradition of
the Magus—the priest-king—and its reformulation in the Christian
world. In the process, the Magus was transformed into a wicked sorcerer
who comes to a bad end in this world and a worse one hereafter.
This conception, which gained ground in the Middle Ages, received
its most categorical statement in the Faust legend.
The celebrated pact between Faust and the devil was in fact an
invention of Christian mythologists who had interpreted occult rituals
in accordance with the Christian belief that magicians were the
servants of Satan. Occultists replied by denying the pact with the
devil and by associating Faust with ritual magic traditions. Butler
draws on her detailed knowledge of literature, religion, and history
to produce an authoritative synthesis that all those interested
in the development of mythology will find indispensable. |
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