Miraculous conceptions and births in Mediterranean antiquity

» Condex k 6 EWAN FALBET CA. Miraculous Conceptions and Births in Mediterranean Antiquity Charles H. Talbert Two canonical gospels, Matthew and Luke, contain infancy narratives. Matthews narrative compares Jesus with the traditions about Moses’ early life (e.g., Magi speak of the birth of a Jewish king; the current ruler, attempts to kill all the Jewish male babies; the key baby is saved so he can be the future savior of the people; Matthews Christology (Jesus is the new Moses of Deuteronomy 18:15-18), and it there is a flight from or to Egypt; after the rulers death there is a message to return from whence the child had fled). This typology (i.e., viewing the earlier material as the prototype or foreshadowing of the latter) functions as part of 18; 24-25). Lukes material about the birth and early life of Jesus functions adds authority to what Jesus will say in five teaching sections (chaps. 5-7, 10, 13; within the ancient genre of prophecies of future greatness. Prophecies, portents, and other material foreshadow the future greatness of the child. The two infancy narratives share a tradition that says Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Spirit. According to Matthew 1:20, the angel says to Joseph: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wile, for the child The question to be asked is: How would the authorial audience have heard this conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Luke 1:34 has Mary ask the angel who has told her she will bear the Son of the Most High: “How can this be, since 1 am a virgin?” The angel answers in 1:35: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” material in Matthew and Luke? What cultural assumptions did auditors bring? vine mother and a human father, for example, Achilles (son of the divine Thetis Ancient Mediterranean peoples did tell stories of miraculous conceptions and births. There were accounts, set in the mythic past, of individuals born to a dithe mortal Anchises—Iliad 2.819-22; 5.247-48; see also the late first-century BCE and the human Peleus—Iliad 20.206-7; 24.59), Aeneas (son of Aphrodite and

through early first-century cr Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.588), and Persephone . (daughter of of Demeter and lasion—Odyssey 5.116-28). In the Iliad 20.199-209, Aeneas and Achilles meet in battle. As custom dictated, they taunted one another before fighting: Aeneas said: “Son of Peleus, do not try to frighten me with words, as if 1 were a child, since 1 too know how to taunt. We know each others parents and lineage for we have heard the ancient stories. ... They say that you [Achilles] are the son of Peleus and that your mother was Thetis, a daughter of the sea. | am the son of Anchises and my mother is Aphrodite.” Those believed to be the offspring of a god and a human mother included Asclepius (son of Apollo and the mortal Coronis—so the first-century BCE Diodorus of Sicily 4.71.1); Hercules (son of Zeus and the human Alcmene—lliad 14.315-28; Diodorus of Sicily 4.9.1, 3); Dionysus (son of Zeus and Semele—Iliad 14.315-28), Perseus (son of Zeus and Danae—Iliad 14.315-28); Aristaeus (son of Apollo and Cyrene—Diodorus of Sicily 4.81.1-3); Romulus (son of Mars and the mortal Ilia, or Rhea, or Silvia—so the first-century BCE Cicero, Republic 1.41; 2.2; Plutarch, Parallel Lives, “Romulus,” 2.3-6). Diodorus of Sicily 4.2.1-4 relates what the Greeks say about Dionysus. Cad- 81 Mars to fetch pure water for use in the sacrifices and was “ravished by someone in the sacred area” (1.77.1): Most relate a myth of the divinity of that place... whose appearance was much more marvelous than the size and beauty of humans. They say the ravisher . . . told her not to grieve. For the marriage had been with the divinity of that place. Out of her being ravished, she would give birth to two sons whose deeds would excel all others [i.e., Romulus and Remus). (1.77.2) Sometimes ancient authors would give two traditions: one miraculous and the other nonmiraculous. Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, “Romulus,” from the end of the first to the beginning of the second century CE, offers an example. One story, according to Promathion in his history of Italy, runs: Tarchetius, king of the Albans, . . . encountered a strange phantom at home. A phallus rising up out of the hearth remained for many days. An oracle of Tethys was in Tuscany. From it an interpretation of the phenomenon was brought to Tarchetius. A virgin should mate with the phantom. From her a son would be born who would have great valor, good fortune, and great strength. Tarchetius, therefore, told the prophecy to one of his daughters and instructed her to mate with the phantom. She resisted and sent a in obedience to an oracle, he founded the city of Thebes and settled there. He handmaid instead... When the handmaid bore twins by the phantom, Tarchetius gave them to Teratius to destroy. He carried them to the riverside. There a she-wolf came to them and nursed them. Birds brought bits of food to them. A cowherd found the twins and took them home with him. In this way they were saved. (2.3-6) Now with Semele, because of her beauty, Zeus had intercourse, doing it without In 3.1-3, Plutarch says the story that has the greatest credence is the one given by mus was sent from Phoenicia to search for the maiden Europa. During his travels, married Harmonia and had a number of offspring, one of whom was Semele: © MIRACULOUS CONCEPTIONS AND BIRTHS speaking... . Whereupon she asked him to treat her as he did Hera. Zeus, therefore, encountered her as a god with thunder and lightning, making himself manifest as they came together. Semele, who was pregnant, was not able to bear the god's power. Silvia who was found to be pregnant, contrary to the law for vestals. She was saved So she gave birth prematurely and was herself killed by the fire. birth to two boys, large and beautiful. Plutarch (4.2) says it was the boys’ mother Zeus then had Hermes take the child to the Nymphs to raise. As a result of his upbringing, Dionysus discovered wine and taught humans how to cultivate the vines.° “ Diodorus of Sicily says: “Aristaeus was the son of Apollo and Cyrene, the daughter of Hypseus, son of Peneius” (4.81.1). According to myth, Apollo was attracted to a maiden named Cyrene. He carried her off to Libya, where he later founded a city named after her. In 4:81.2-3 Diodorus says: Apollo begat of Cyrene a son, Aristaeus, in that land. He gave the baby to the Nymphs to raise... . The boy learned from the Nymphs how to make cheese, how _ to make beehives, and how to cultivate olives. He was the first to teach these things to humans. ... those who received the benefits gave Aristaeus honors like those given to gods, as had been done for Dionysus. Diocles of Peparethus and Fabius Pictor. It focuses on a vestal virgin, Ilia, or Rhea, or from death by the intercession of the kings daughter, Antho. The vestal virgin gave who claimed that Mars was the father. It was said by others, however, that the girl was deceived into doing this by Amulius, who came to her dressed in armor. Stories of miraculous conceptions and births were also told about rulers and philosophers in historical time. Among the philosophers, Pythagoras was said to be the offspring of Apollo and the human Pythais, the most beautiful of the Samians (Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras 2); Plato was believed to have been the son of Apollo and Amphictione (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 3.1-2; 3.45); Apollonius of Tyana was thought to be the son of Proteus, a divinity of Egypt, or Zeus (Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 1.4.5-9; 1.6). Diogenes Laertius, in the third century CE but citing early sources, says of Plato (Lives of Eminent Philosophers 3:1-2): ' The first-century BCE historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Plato was the son of Ariston and Perictione. . . Speusippus in the work titled Plato's Funeral Feast, Clearchus in the Encomium on Plato, and Anaxilaides in the second book Concerning Philosophers, tell how at Athens there was a story . . that Apollo appeared tells of a vestal virgin, Ilia or Rhea (1.76.3-4), who went to a grove consecrated to to Ariston in a dream; whereupon he did not touch Perictione until the child's birth.

The early third-century church father Origen, Against Celsus 1.37, offers a supplement to Laertiuss account: s It is not absurd to employ Greek stories to talk with Greeks, to show we Christian are not the only people who use a miraculous story like this one [i.e., about Jesus’ conception]. For some (Greeks) think it proper . . . to relate even of recent events that Plato was the son of Amphictione, while Ariston was prevented from having sexual intercourse with his wife until she gave birth to the one sired by Apollo. Philostratus, in his third-century ce Life of Apollonius of Tyana, says of Apollonius (1.4.5-9): To his mother, before his birth, came a divinity of Egypt, Proteus. . . . She was not frightened but asked him: “What will I bear?” He said: “Me!” She asked: “Who are you?” He said: “Proteus, the god of Egypt.” The narrator then explains that Proteus excelled in wisdom, knowing past and future. He promises that as the story progresses, Apollonius will be seen to excel even Proteus! count: Among the rulers spoken of in terms of a miraculous conception and birth, Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar stand out. At the end of the first or the beginning of the second century CE, Plutarch's “Alexander” contains this ac- MIRACULOUS CONCEPTIONS AND BIRTHS 83 In the early second-century CE, Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, “Augustus,” 94.4, wrote: and she went to sleep. A snake crawled up to her, then went away. Upon awakening In the books of Asclepias of Mendes, Theologumena, I read: Atia came to the solemn service of Apollo in the middle of the night. Her litter was set down in the temple she purified herself as she would after sexual relations with her husband. There then appeared on her body a mark colored like a snake. She could not rid herself of it, so she stopped going to public baths. Augustus was born ten months after and therefore was thought to be the son of Apollo. In most of these stories the liaisons between gods and humans involved sexual of Sicily 4.2.14] or Proteus and the mother of Apollonius of Tyana [Philostratus, relations, either with the deity’s identity known (as with Zeus and Semele [Diodorus Life of Apollonius 1.4.5-9]) or with the deity taking another form (e.g., when Zeus could not overcome Alcmene’ chastity, he assumed the form of her husband [Plutarch, “Alexander,” 3.1-4; Suetonius, “Augustus,” 94.4]). [Diodorus of Sicily 4.9.3], or in a number of cases the deity took the form of a snake not involve physical sexual contact was sought. Aeschylus is an early example. In There was, however, another tradition that was averse to thinking of physical sexual contact between deity and humanity; conséquently, a begetting that did “Suppliants” 17-19, Io is said to be impregnated by Zeus in the form of “the onbreathing of his love.” “Prometheus” 848-52 states that at Canobus near the his unterrifying hand.” The offspring will be Epaphus (= touch-born, named mouth of the Nile, Io will be restored to her senses by Zeus through “the touch of Philip a word from the god [Apollo], telling him to sacrifice to Ammon and to reverence this god greatly. He also told Philip that he would lose his sight in the eye with who attribute Plato's parentage to Apollo and claim that Ariston, Plato's father, had a vision in his sleep, which forbade him to have intercourse with his wife for VIII, Question 1.2 (Moralia IX, 114-19). The first speaker, Florus, refers to those Philip, after the vision [in a dream, he saw himself putting a lion-shaped seal on his his wife. Also Olympias, as Eratostheues says, when Alexander was sent upon his ex- Plato with the line: “He seemed the child not of a mortal man but of a god.” wife's womb—2.4], sent Chavion of Megalopolis to Delphi. Chavion then brought “have worthily of his origins. Others, however, say she rejected the idea and said: “Alexander must stop slandering me to Hera.” (3:1-4) and maker of the cosmos, “it happened not through semen but by another power of God (dunamei tou theou) that God begot in matter the principle of generation, pedition, told him alone the secret about his begetting. She challenged him to be- Olympias, wife of Philip, sent a witty response to her son, Alexander, when he wrote nians, and Arcadians. He concludes that it is not impossible to think that the dess, Egeria. Such a tale, Plutarch states, is like stories from the Phrygians, Bithycity life to live in the country because, it was said, he had a marriage with a god In “Numa” 4.1-4, Plutarch begins by speaking of the story that Numa forsook (epaphe) of the moon.” that Apis (= the sacred bull, the incarnation of Osiris) is begotten by the touch, under whose influence it became receptive and was changed.” So, Tyndares says When, however, Plato himself speaks of the uncreated and eternal god as father ten months. The second speaker, Tyndares, replies that it is fitting to celebrate Plutarch gives fullest exposition of this point of view. The first is in “Table Talk” In the second century CE, Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 13.4.1-2, has this to say about Alexanders origins: he does not think it strange if “it is not by a physical approach, like a man’s, but by some other kind of contact or touch that a god alters mortal nature and makes from the touch lephapsis] of the hand of Zeus). : to her: “King Alexander, son of Jupiter Hammon, to his mother Olympias, sends which he had spied on the god, who in the form of a snake, had shared the bed of greeting.” it pregnant with a more divine offspring.” Tyndares continues: “The Egyptians say Olympias responded in this manner: “Please, my son, be quiet, neither slandering nor accusing me before Juno. She will be vengeful toward me if you say in your letters that 1 am her husband's lover.” Gellius comments that in this way Olympias urged Alexander to give up the foolish idea he had formed from his incredible success, namely, that he was the son of Jupiter (13.4.3).

Deity should be willing to consort with men of superlative goodness, wisdom, and holiness. In 4.3, however, he says: “It is difficult to believe that a god or phantom would take carnal pleasure in a human body and its beauty.” In 4.4 he continues: “Nevertheless the Egyptians make a plausible distinction in such a matter. A woman can be made pregnant by a spirit (pneuma) of a god, but for a MIRACULOUS CONCEPTIONS AND BIRTHS his physical existence from a better, diviner sperm, something that is fitting for persons who are greater than ordinary humans. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 3.45, quotes an epitaph: And how, if Phoebus [Apollo] did not cause Plato to be born in Greece, did he [Plato] heal human minds with letters? For even as the divinely begotten Asclepius is a healer of the body, so Plato is of the immortal soul. 85 planation of the superiority of the individual. human there is no physical intercourse with a god.” This trajectory shows that it was possible in Mediterranean antiquity to think of a miraculous conception without understanding it in terms of sexual intercourse between a deity and a human. It would be no surprise, then, for ancient auditors to hear that Jesus’ conception was via “spirit,” “power,” and involved “overshadowing” (touch). century BCE), gives a quote from Ennius regarding Romulus: “O father, O sire, O the Greco-Roman materials make clear. These auditors, however, were heir not Early Christian auditors of Matthew and Luke would have assumed that the stories of Jesus’ divine begetting were certainly needed to explain his marvelous life. A divine origin was appropriate for their chief benefactor and founder. This much them. This often included stories of their miraculous conception and birth. worthiness, Jupiter grants Venuss wish. So Aeneas, the legendary ancestor of the Romans, is honored by the Roman populace with temple and sacrifice. It was part of the Roman mentality to venerate benefactors by ascribing divinity to Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.581-608, tells of Venus approaching Jupiter with a request on behalf of Aeneas, her son and Jupiters grandson. Based on Aeneas’ man veneration of benefactors. Here the tradition of Romulus supernatural conception is part of the ancient Roand endowed with divine qualities). who was born of father Mars (we concede this to the popular tradition, preserved from ancient times, handed down by our ancestors who thought that those who merited good from the community should be regarded as descendants of the gods one whose blood comes from gods.” In 2.2 Cicero says concerning Romulus that was the veneration of a benefactor. For example, Cicero, The Republic 1.41 (first The second function of such stories of miraculous conceptions in antiquity son the ancients used stories of miraculous conceptions and births was as an ex- One could not do what Plato did had he not been the offspring of a god! One reaand divine descent. The first was an attempt to explain an individuals superiority to other mortals. Generally Mediterranean peoples looked at one’ birth or parenthe was one age to explain one’s character and behavior. In Plutarch's “Romulus,” 7.3- 4, Re- There were two main reasons the ancients spoke of miraculous conceptions mus has been brought before Numitor for punishment. When Numitor sees Remus, he is “amazed at the youths surpassing greatness of body and strength, and noting from his face the unsubdued boldness and vitality of his psyche despite the present circumstances, and hearing that his works and acts were like his appearance, ... he asked who he was and what were the circumstances of his birth.” Birth explains later deeds and character! If the possibility of miraculous conception or birth was believed to be true in general, then a truly superior person could only be explained by a divine origin. Several examples make the point. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 1.77.2, in his account of the vestal virgin Ilias being ravished in the grove consecrated to Mars, has the ravisher say to the maiden after the event that she should not grieve because “out of her being ravished, she would give birth to two sons whose deeds would excel all others.” A divine begetting results in superior deeds! The first-century BCE Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History 4.9.2, says: “When Zeus had sexual relations with Alcmene he made the night three times longer than usual and by the length of time given to making the child he foreshadowed the superior nature of the one begotten.” The second-century ce Arrian, Anabasis 7.30, says of Alexander the Great: “And so not even I can suppose that a man quite beyond all other men was born only to the Greco-Roman traditions but also to the Christian traditions before and contemporary with them. Two aspects of this Christian tradition call for attention. Jesus was not born of a virgin, but was the son ofJoseph and Mary according to the usual manner of begetting. Because he was more righteous, more prudent, and wiser (late first century) who believed and Luke, lacks a birth narrative. It begins with John the Baptist and with Jesus as First, the Gospel of Mark, which most scholars think was earlier than Matthew without some divine influence.” Aulus Gellius, in Attic Nights 13.4.3 (second cenof Apollonius of Tyana 1.4.5-9, has the narrator explain that Apollonius would extury CE), says that Olympias attempted to get Alexander to give up the idea he had formed from his incredible success, namely, that he was the son of Jupiter. Here great success implies a divine origin! The third-century Ce Philostratus, Life an adult. Second, some Christians believed that their relation with God depended on their taking the initiative and performing acceptably so that God would respond approvingly (e.g., Galatians 2:15-16; 3:1-5). The late secondcentury Church Father Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.26, speaks of one Cerinthus cel in wisdom because he had been begotten by the deity Proteus, who also ex‘ celled in wisdom. The early third-century ce Church Father Origen, Against Celsus 1.37, says that Greek stories like that of Apollos begetting Plato are really fables. They have been invented about a man they think has greater wisdom and power than others. Their claim, then, is that he received the beginning of

since Paul, at is of than other humans, after his baptism the Christ descended upon him in the form a dove. Then he preached the unknown Father and performed miracles. ble to The Gospel of Mark, without a miraculous birth narrative, was suscepti the model for Christians, then they too must be meritorious. Ever such an interpretation of a meritorious Jesus who is rewarded by God. If Jesus with God least, this was not what mainstream Christians believed. The relation in trust and was based on God's gracious initiative to which humans responded obedience (i.e., faith). ons and When Matthew and Luke added birth narratives with a miraculous conception be as part of their rewriting of Mark, they were saying that this type of life can is produced only by God's prior gracious, creative act. If it is so for Jesus, then it oman conlikewise true for his followers. The tradition of miraculous concepti births is thereby refined in its Christian-Jewish context. The Greco-R viction that a humans superiority can be explained only by a divine creative act is used to establish the prevenience of divine grace in the divine-human relation. This is what an ancient auditor would have heard. Bibliography Note: The translations are made from Greek and Latin texts found in the Loeb Classical Library and Migne’s Patrologia. Quotations from the Bible are from the NRSV. Box, G. H. “The Gospel Narratives of the Nativity and the Alleged Influence of Heathen Ideas.” Zeitschrift für neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 6 (1905): 80-101. Narratives in Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy land, OH: Collins, 1980. Matthew and Luke. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977. Cartlidge, David R., and David L. Dungan. Documents for the Study of the Gospels. Cleve- Pages Fitzmyer, Joseph A. “The Virginal Conception of Jesus in the New Testament.” 41-78 in To Advance the Gospel: New Testament Studies. New York: Crossroads, 1981. ” Heythrop Talbert, Charles H. “Jesus’ Birth in Luke and the Nature of Religious Language. Journal 35 (1994): 391-400. man Biographies ——. “Prophecies of Future Greatness: The Contribution of Greco-Ro shaw and Samuel Sandmel. New York: KTAV, 1980. to an Understanding of Luke 1:5-4:15.” Pages 129-42 of The Divine Helmsman: Studies on God's Control of Human Events, Presented to Lou I. Silberman. Edited by James L. Cren-