Es hat sich vor meiner Seele wie ein Vorhang weggezogen, und der Schauplatz des unendlichen Lebens verwandelt sich vor mir in den Abgrund des ewig offenen Grabes. Kannst du sagen: Das ist! da alles vorübergeht? da alles mit der Wetterschnelle vorüberrollt, so selten die ganze Kraft seines Daseins ausdauert, ach, in den Strom fortgerissen, untergetaucht und an Felsen zerschmettert wird? Da ist kein Augenblick, der nicht dich verzehrte und die Deinigen um dich her, kein Augenblick, da du nicht ein Zerstörer bist, sein mußt; der harmloseste Spaziergang kostet tausend armen Würmchen das Leben, es zerrüttet ein Fußtritt die mühseligen Gebäude der Ameisen und stampft eine kleine Welt in ein schmähliches Grab. Ha! nicht die große, seltne Not der Welt, diese Fluten, die eure Dörfer wegspülen, diese Erdbeben, die eure Städte verschlingen, rühren mich; mir untergräbt das Herz die verzehrende Kraft, die in dem All der Natur verborgen liegt; die nichts gebildet hat, das nicht seinen Nachbar, nicht sich selbst zerstörte. Und so taumle ich beängstigt. Himmel und Erde und ihre webenden Kräfte um mich her: ich sehe nichts als ein ewig verschlingendes, ewig wiederkäuendes Ungeheuer. [Goethe: Die Leiden des jungen Werther. Deutsche Literatur von Lessing bis Kafka, S. 24783 (vgl. Goethe-HA Bd. 6, S. 53) http://www.digitale-bibliothek.de/band1.htm ] It is as if a curtain had been drawn from before my eyes, and, instead of prospects of eternal life, the abyss of an ever open grave yawned before me. Can we say of anything that it exists when all passes away, when time, with the speed of a storm, carries all things onward,—and our transitory existence, hurried along by the torrent, is either swallowed up by the waves or dashed against the rocks? There is not a moment but preys upon you,—and upon all around you, not a moment in which you do not yourself become a destroyer. The most innocent walk deprives of life thousands of poor insects: one step destroys the fabric of the industrious ant, and converts a little world into chaos. No: it is not the great and rare calamities of the world, the floods which sweep away whole villages, the earthquakes which swallow up our towns, that affect me. My heart is wasted by the thought of that destructive power which lies concealed in every part of universal nature. Nature has formed nothing that does not consume itself, and every object near it: so that, surrounded by earth and air, and all the active powers, I wander on my way with aching heart; and the universe is to me a fearful monster, for ever devouring its own offspring. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - the sorrows of young Werther

A Dark Wood The Dark Wood of Error Dante astray in the Dusky Wood View Annotations Image Gallery 1 When I had journeyed half of our life's way, 2 I found myself within a shadowed forest, 3 for I had lost the path that does not stray. 4 Ah, it is hard to speak of what it was, 5 that savage forest, dense and difficult, 6 which even in recall renews my fear: 7 so bitter death is hardly more severe! 8 But to retell the good discovered there, 9 I'll also tell the other things I saw. 10 I cannot clearly say how I had entered 11 the wood; I was so full of sleep just at 12 the point where I abandoned the true path. 13 But when I'd reached the bottom of a hill 14 it rose along the boundary of the valley 15 that had harassed my heart with so much fear 16 I looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed 17 already by the rays of that same planet 18 which serves to lead men straight along all roads. 19 At this my fear was somewhat quieted; 20 for through the night of sorrow I had spent, 21 the lake within my heart felt terror present. 22 And just as he who, with exhausted breath, 23 having escaped from sea to shore, turns back 24 to watch the dangerous waters he has quit, 25 so did my spirit, still a fugitive, 26 turn back to look intently at the pass 27 that never has let any man survive. 28 I let my tired body rest awhile. 29 Moving again, I tried the lonely slope 30 my firm foot always was the one below. 31 And almost where the hillside starts to rise 32 look there!-a leopard, very quick and lithe, 33 a leopard covered with a spotted hide. 34 He did not disappear from sight, but stayed; 35 indeed, he so impeded my ascent 36 that I had often to turn back again. 37 The time was the beginning of the morning; 38 the sun was rising now in fellowship 39 with the same stars that had escorted it 40 when Divine Love first moved those things of beauty; 41 so that the hour and the gentle season 42 gave me good cause for hopefulness on seeing 43 that beast before me with his speckled skin; 44 but hope was hardly able to prevent 45 the fear I felt when I beheld a lion. 46 His head held high and ravenous with hunger 47 even the air around him seemed to shudder 48 this lion seemed to make his way against me. 49 And then a she-wolf showed herself; she seemed 50 to carry every craving in her leanness; 51 she had already brought despair to many. 52 The very sight of her so weighted me 53 with fearfulness that I abandoned hope 54 of ever climbing up that mountain slope. 55 Even as he who glories while he gains 56 will, when the time has come to tally loss, 57 lament with every thought and turn despondent, 58 so was I when I faced that restless beast 59 which, even as she stalked me, step by step 60 had thrust me back to where the sun is speechless. 61 While I retreated down to lower ground, 62 before my eyes there suddenly appeared 63 one who seemed faint because of the long silence

Joseph (son of Jacob) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph (Hebrew: יוֹסֵף ‎, Standard Yosef Tiberian Yôsēp̄, Arabic: يوسف‎, Yūsuf ; "May Yahweh add"[1]) is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Book of Genesis tells how Joseph was the eleventh of Jacob's twelve sons and Rachel's firstborn.[2] Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, yet rose to become the most powerful man in Egypt next to Pharaoh. When famine struck the land he brought the sons of Israel down to Egypt, where they were settled in the Land of Goshen. Analysis of Yosef "The name Joseph comes from the verb (yasap 876) meaning to add, increase, do again. This verb is the common word to use when something is simply added, such as a son for Rachel (Genesis 30:24; hence the name Joseph), or a fifth to a certain value (Leviticus 27:13), or fifteen years to a life (Isaiah 38:5). But it's also quite commonly used to mean repeat, such as marrying again (Genesis 25:1), or doing something on top of something else, "also," such as hardening one's heart on top of sinning again (Exodus 9:34), or praise some and then praise some more (Psalm 71:14). According to the documentary hypothesis, the Bible is said to offer two explanations of name Yosef. In the Elohist source, it is compared to the word asaf[3] from the root /'sp/, "taken away":[4] "And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach". In the Jahwist source, Yosef is identified with the similar root /ysp/, meaning "add":[4]"And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son." [edit] Joseph in Genesis [edit] Family Joseph, son of Israel (Jacob) and Rachel, lived in the land of Canaan with eleven brothers and one sister. He was Rachel's firstborn and Israel's eleventh son. Of all the sons, Joseph was loved by his father the most. Israel even arrayed Joseph with a "long coat of many colors".[5] Israel's favoritism toward Joseph caused his half brothers to hate him, and when Joseph was seventeen years old he had two dreams that made his brothers plot his demise. In the first dream, Joseph and his brothers gathered bundles of grain. Then, all of the grain bundles that had been prepared by the brothers gathered around Joseph's bundle and bowed down to it. In the second dream, the sun (father), the moon (mother) and eleven stars (brothers) bowed down to Joseph himself. When he told these two dreams to his brothers, they despised him for the implications that the family would be bowing down to Joseph. They became jealous that their father would even ponder over Joseph's words concerning these dreams. (Genesis 37:1-11 ) [edit] Plot against Joseph See also: Jacob in Hebron Joseph's Coat Brought to Jacob by Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari, c. 1640. Joseph's half-brothers hated him so much, especially for his dreams, that they even called him this dreamer. While in Dothan, when they were feeding the flocks, the brothers saw Joseph from a distance and so they plotted to kill him. However, the eldest brother Reuben, did not want Joseph to die.[6][7] He suggested to have Joseph thrown into an empty water hole until they could figure out what to do with him. He was the only one, however, who intended to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. Unaware of their intent, when Joseph approached his brothers, they turned on him and stripped Joseph of the coat his father made for him. Then they threw him into the cistern that Reuben suggested to earlier.[8] As they pondered what to do with Joseph, the brothers saw a camel caravan of Ishmaelites coming out of Gilead, carrying spices and perfumes to Egypt, for trade. Judah, the strongest, thought twice about killing Joseph and proposed that he be sold. Joseph's sale of trade, before making it to Egypt, was twenty pieces of silver.[9] The brothers were responsible for their missing brother, and they had to answer to their father. So they put male goat's blood on Joseph's coat [10] and showed it to Jacob, who deeply mourned for his son, believing him dead. (Genesis 37:12-35 ) [edit] Potiphar's house Due to various translations and views regarding Genesis 37:28 , there is some debate as to who sold Joseph into slavery. It is muttled between the brothers, Midianite traders, Ishmaelite traders or these traders as one in the same. See Midianites and Ishmaelites. What is clear, is that Joseph was sold to serve Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard.[11] While serving in Potiphar's household, Yahweh was with Joseph so that he prospered in everything he did. Joseph found favor in the sight of Potiphar and so he became his personal servant. Then Joseph was promoted to oversee Potiphar's entire household as a superintendent. After some time, Potiphar's wife began to desire Joseph and sought to have an affair with him. Despite her persistence, he refused to have sex with her for fear of sinning against God. After some days of begging for him, she grabbed him by his cloak, but he escaped from her leaving his garment behind. In contempt for running away from her, she took his garment and made a false claim against him by charging that he tried to "make sport" or sexually engage her. This resulted in Joseph being thrown into prison.[12] (Genesis 39:1-20 ) Joseph interpreting the dreams of the baker and the butler, by Benjamin Cuyp, ca. 1630. [edit] Joseph in prison The warden put Joseph in charge of the other prisoners,[13] and soon afterward Pharaoh's chief cup bearer and chief baker, who had offended the king, were thrown into the prison.[14] One morning they both told Joseph their dreams of the previous night, which they were unable to interpret, and Joseph told them that the chief cup bearer would be reinstated within three days but that the chief baker would be hanged.[15] Joseph requested the cup bearer to mention him to Pharaoh and secure his release from prison,[16] but the cup bearer, reinstalled in office, forgot Joseph.[17] After Joseph was in prison for two more years, Pharaoh had two dreams which disturbed him. He dreamt of seven lean cows which rose out of the river and devoured seven fat cows; and, of seven withered ears of grain which devoured seven fat ears. Pharaoh's wise men were unable to interpret these dreams, but the chief cup bearer remembered Joseph and spoke of his skill to Pharaoh. Joseph was called for, and interpreted the dreams as foretelling that seven years of abundance would be followed by seven years of famine, and advised Pharaoh to store surplus grain during the years of abundance. [edit] Vizier of Egypt Joseph made ruler in Egypt, early 1900s Bible illustration Pharaoh acknowledged that Joseph's proposal to store grain during the abundant period was very wise. So before Joseph was even 30 years old, Pharaoh released him from prison and put him in charge over "all the land of Egypt" as Vizier. The Pharaoh took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph's hand, then clothed him in fine linen and put a gold necklace around his neck. He was then renamed Zaphnath-Paaneah [18] and was given Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah who was the priest of On,[19] to be his wife. During those seven years of abundance, Joseph ensured that the storehouses were full and that all produce was measured until there was so much that it became immeasurable. In the final year of abundance, Asenath bore two children to Joseph: Manasseh and Ephraim. When the famine came, it was so severe that people from surrounding nations "from all over the earth" came to Egypt to buy bread as this nation was the only Kingdom prepared for the seven year drought. The narrative also indicates that they went straight to Joseph or were directed to him, even by Pharaoh himself, so as to buy from him. (Genesis 41:37-57 ) The seven year famine became so severe that toward the later period, even Egypt was being strangled. Because the Egyptians had used up all of their money to buy grain in the previous years, there was no more money left. All they had was their livestock and even that dwindled down to nothing. As a last resort, all of the inhabitants of Egypt, less the Egyptian priestly class, sold all of their properties to Joseph for seed. These properties now became the property of the Pharaoh, or in another words, government property. Joseph also set a mandate that because they will be harvesting seed on government property, a fifth of the produce shall go to the Pharaoh. A fifth to the Pharaoh has continued down to at least the days of Moses. (Genesis 47:20-31 ) [edit] Brothers sent to Egypt See also: Seven year famine Joseph gave orders to his servants to fill their sacks with wheat: illuminated Bible by Raphaël de Mercatelli, Ghent, late 15th century In the second year of famine,[20] Joseph's half brothers were sent to Egypt, by their father Israel, to buy goods. When they came to Egypt, they stood before the Vizier but did not recognize him to be their brother Joseph. However, Joseph did recognize them and did not receive them kindly, rather he disguised himself and spoke to them in the Egyptian language using an interpreter. He did not speak at all to them in his native tongue, Hebrew.[21] After questioning them as to where they come from, he accused them of being spies. They pleaded with him that their only purpose was to buy grain for their family in the land of Canaan. After they mentioned that they had a younger brother whom they left behind at home, the Vizier (Joseph) demanded that he be brought to Egypt before him so as to see if their words held true. This brother was Joseph's blood brother, Benjamin. He placed his brothers in prison for three days. On the third day, he brought them out of prison to reiterate that he wanted their youngest brother to come to Egypt so as to verify their words. The brothers conferred amongst themselves speaking in Hebrew, reflecting on what they had done to Joseph recognizing their guilt. Joseph understood what they were saying and removed himself from their presence because he was caught in emotion. When he returned, the Vizier took Simeon and bound him as a hostage.[22] Then he had their donkeys prepared with grain and sent the other brothers away back to Canaan. Unbeknownst to them, Joseph had also returned their money to their money sacks. (Genesis 42:1-28 )

THE ODYSSEY - CHAPTER 12 - THE SIRENS Circe tells Odysseus before he leaves : "First you will come to ...the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's ears with wax that none of them may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for you may get the men to bind you as you stand upright on a cross-piece half way up the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and pray the men to unloose you, then they must bind you faster. " Odysseus tells the story of the Sirens: "I had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we reached the island of the two Sirens, for the wind had been very favourable. Then all of a sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a breath of wind nor a ripple upon the water, so the men furled the sails and stowed them; then taking to their oars they whitened the water with the foam they raised in rowing. Meanwhile I look a large wheel of wax and cut it up small with my sword. Then I kneaded the wax in my strong hands till it became soft, which it soon did between the kneading and the rays of the sun-god son of Hyperion. Then I stopped the ears of all my men, and they bound me hands and feet to the mast as I stood upright on the crosspiece; but they went on rowing themselves. When we had got within earshot of the land, and the ship was going at a good rate, the Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began with their singing. "'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name, and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without staying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song- and he who listens will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the ills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.' "They sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear them further I made by frowning to my men that they should set me free; but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes bound me with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of the Sirens' voices. Then my men took the wax from their ears and unbound me." In Homer`s Odyssey (800 BC) the Sirens appear as creatures with a body of birds and a head of women. They don`t have much in common with the fish-tailed nymphs of the fairy tales. When Odysseus reaches their island, he already has ten years of war in Troy behind himself, and he just had left the island of the sorceress Circe, who had turned his friends into pigs.He is in the 12th year of his adventures, still longing to get "home". This "home" might represent his destiny, his very own place in the world, reserved only for him to achieve it or not, "the law" of Kafka. Same as Kafka`s man waiting in front of the door Odysseus is in a passive role, thrown around by the waves of the sea arisen by Poseidon. Not even the idea of stopping wax into the ears of the sailors is his own- Circe tells it to him. Odysseus gets to know all that was and will be by the singing of the Sirens, who are similar to the three Norns in Germanic mythology . There the 3 Norns: "fate", "what was" and "what will be". In the Odyssey there are, different to other Greek texts, only 2 Sirens, which tell what was and what will be.Why are there only 2 Sirens? Maybe Homer wanted to break the human submission under an invincible fate. Odysseus is still depending on things he cannot control, but also he is "ingenious, inventive". Same as "Ecclesiastes" Odysseus has to see the horrible what was and what will be: "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." The final conclusion of Ecclesiastes is: Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." These sentences could come from Odysseus himself, I guess, and this is a sight of the world in a classical Greek way and in a way of Renaissance thinking also. In the Siren chapter Circe also tells him about another "adventure" to come after he passes the Sirens: "'Is there no way,' said I, 'of escaping Charybdis, and at the same time keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm my men?' "'You dare-devil,' replied the goddess, you are always wanting to fight somebody or something; you will not let yourself be beaten even by the immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is savage, extreme, rude, cruel and invincible. There is no help for it; your best chance will be to get by her as fast as ever you can, for if you dawdle about her rock while you are putting on your armour, she may catch you with a second cast of her six heads, and snap up another half dozen of your men; so drive your ship past her at full speed, and roar out lustily to Crataiis who is Scylla's dam, bad luck to her; she will then stop her from making a second raid upon you. " Odysseus is described as revolting against the rules of the immortals. But he has to go through the worst of all his adventures, as he states later, where all his friends are killed by Scylla and Charybdis. After this, Odysseus reaches the island of the goddess Calypso, where he stays for 7 years, maybe in a state of "purgatory", before he can reach his goal, his enlightenment, coming to his own place, fighting the enemies living within. In opposite of his anchestor in mind, Gilgamesh, who tried to achieve eternal life and after a long journey came back to his own city resigned, Odysseus even abandons to become immortal, when the goddess offers it to him for staying with him. After all he had seen, he only had to be happy with a beautiful goddess forever without suffering lack of anything - what a possibility! But for Odysseus it is more important to get "home", because he knows, all is useless and vain without reaching HIS VERY OWN goal. Odysseus even has to become beggar and to live among the pigs in a stall, before he can reach the final stage of repossessing his lost kingdom. This is similar to Kabbalistic thoughts, I guess. The journey of Odysseus is a spiritual journey, and the classical Greek mind managed it to pack the spiritual journey into something very concrete, the adventures of a tricky soldier in foreign lands.