Plato’s “Myth of Er” and Ezekiel’s “Throne Vision”: A Common Paradigm?
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In Republic 614B–621D, Plato describes the post-mortem experiences of Er, a Pamphylian warrior. Er sees an afterworld vision of the workings of the cosmos. Revolving around a pillar of light that extends through heaven and earth is a huge cosmic structure, resembling a spindle and whorl. The biblical book of Ezekiel also features visions of cosmic proportions (chapters 1 and 10). Ezekiel sees four “living creatures.” These were of human form, but each had four faces and four wings. The creatures were arranged with their outstretched wings touching each other. Ezekiel saw four wheels beside the creatures and, over their heads, a throne with a numinous occupant. Although these visions appear distinct, on deeper examination they reveal close structural similarities. This article aims to compare and contrast the visions and to evaluate their relationship. The conclusion presents several modern scholarly constructs by which the similarities could be explained.
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Adam James The Republic of Plato 1963 2nd ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2 vols
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Billock Vincent A. & Tsao B. H. “Elementary Visual Hallucinations and Their Relationships to Neural Pattern-Forming Mechanisms” Psychology Bulletin 2012 138 4 744 774
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Block Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel 1997–1998 Grand Rapids, Mich Eerdmans The New International Commentary on the Old Testament 2 vols.
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Bremmer Jan N. “Canonical and Alternative Creation Myths in Ancient Greece” Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East 2008a Leiden Brill 1 18
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Bremmer Jan N. Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East 2008b Leiden Brill
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Burkert Walter The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age 1992 Cambridge, Mass Harvard University Press
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Burkert Walter Babylon, Memphis, Persepolis: Eastern Contexts of Greek Culture 2004 Cambridge, Mass Harvard University Press
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Carley Keith W. The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 1974 Cambridge Cambridge University Press Cambridge Bible Commentary
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Cornford Francis MacDonald The Republic of Plato 1941 Oxford Oxford University Press
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Dicks D. R. Early Greek Astronomy to Aristotle 1970 Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell University Press
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Eichrodt Walther Ezekiel: A Commentary 1970 Philadelphia Westminster Press Old Testament Library
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Eliade Mircea Patterns in Comparative Religion 1958 New York Sheed & Ward
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Eliade Mircea Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism 1969 New York Sheed & Ward
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Greenberg Moshe Ezekiel 1–20 1983 22 Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday Anchor Bible
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Guthrie W. K. C. History of Greek Philosophy, Volume 4: Plato: The Man and His Dialogues: Earlier Period 1975 Cambridge Cambridge University Press
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Halliwell Stephen Plato: Republic 10 1988 Warminster, Wiltshire Aris & Phillips
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Halliwell Stephen Ferrari G. R. F. “The Life-and-Death Journey of the Soul: Interpreting the Myth of Er” The Cambridge Companion to Plato’s Republic 2007 Cambridge Cambridge University Press 445 473
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Keel Othmar Jahwe-Visionen und Siegelkunst 1977 84–85 Stuttgart Katholishes Bibelwerk Stuttgarter Bibelstudien
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Klein Ralph W. Ezekiel: The Prophet and His Message 1988 Columbia, SC University of South Carolina Press
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Morris Sarah P. Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art 1992 Princeton Princeton University Press
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Morrison J. S. “Parmenides and Er” Journal of Hellenic Studies 1955 75 59 68
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Richardson Hilda “The Myth of Er [Plato, Republic 616b]” Classical Quarterly 1926 20 113 133
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Schils Griet “Plato’s Myth of Er: The Light and the Spindle” L’Antiquité classique 1993 62 1 101 114
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Shear Jonathan The Inner Dimension: Philosophy and the Experience of Consciousness 1990 New York Peter Lang
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Shorey Paul Plato The Republic, Volume II, Books VI–X. 1935 276 Cambridge, Mass Harvard University Press Loeb Classical Library
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Vlastos Gregory Plato’s Universe 1975 Seattle University of Washington Press
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West M. L. Early Greek Philosophy and the Orient 1971 Oxford Clarendon
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West M. L. The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth 1997 Oxford Clarendon Press
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Zimmerli Walther Cross Frank Moore & Baltzer Klaus Clements Ronald E. A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 1979–1983 Philadelphia Fortress Press (Hermeneia) 2 vols
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9
On the three Fates, see Morrison 1955: 60; Halliwell 1988: 182.
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10
On this point, see Dicks 1970: 109–114; Halliwell 1988: 180, 2007: 446; Vlastos 1975: 47; Cornford 1941: 348–354; Morrison 1955: 67; Adam 1963, 2: 442, 448–449. See also n. 4.
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11
Cf. Richardson 1926: 114, 129–133; Adam 1963, 2: 441–442, 446–448, 451; Halliwell 1988: 177; Schils 1993: 102, 105.
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12
See especially Schils 1993: 102, 108, 113.
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15
Greenberg 1983: 44–45. In this vein, Walther Eichrodt remarks that the creatures’ two extended wings were “evidently introduced . . . without any thought of their being used for flight” (1970: 57). Zimmerli echoes this observation, noting the “solemn and mysterious rigidity” of the wing-structure and stating that “the movement of the wings has become hardened into a particular ceremonial attitude” (1979–1983, 1: 121). According to Daniel I. Block (1997–1998, 1: 97), neither the creatures’ legs nor wings seem to be used for propulsion. See also n. 16.
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20
See especially Greenberg 1983: 54, 58; Block 1997–1998, 1: 98.
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31
See West 1971, 1997; Burkert 1992, especially pp. 8–40, 128–129, 2004.
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32
See especially West 1997: 33–60, 586–630, 1971; Burkert 1992, 2004.
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33
For the pre-Socratics, see Burkert 2004: 53; for Orphism, see Burkert 2004: 97. A general survey is provided by Guthrie 1975: 8–38.
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Plato’s “Myth of Er” and Ezekiel’s “Throne Vision”: A Common Paradigm?
In: NumenSearch for other papers by Theodore A. Bergren in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
In Republic 614B–621D, Plato describes the post-mortem experiences of Er, a Pamphylian warrior. Er sees an afterworld vision of the workings of the cosmos. Revolving around a pillar of light that extends through heaven and earth is a huge cosmic structure, resembling a spindle and whorl. The biblical book of Ezekiel also features visions of cosmic proportions (chapters 1 and 10). Ezekiel sees four “living creatures.” These were of human form, but each had four faces and four wings. The creatures were arranged with their outstretched wings touching each other. Ezekiel saw four wheels beside the creatures and, over their heads, a throne with a numinous occupant. Although these visions appear distinct, on deeper examination they reveal close structural similarities. This article aims to compare and contrast the visions and to evaluate their relationship. The conclusion presents several modern scholarly constructs by which the similarities could be explained.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1266 | 110 | 12 |
| Full Text Views | 396 | 12 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 172 | 20 | 4 |