MEPHISTOPHELES

'Mephistophiles' (also ''Mephistophilus, Mephistophilis, Mephostopheles, Mephisto'' and other variants) is a name given to a devil or demon in the Faust legend.

Contents

In the Faust legend

Outside the Faust legend

References

In the Faust legend

The name is associated with the Faust legend of a scholar who wagered his soul against the devil being able to make Faust wish to live, even for a moment, based on the historical Johann Georg Faust.
The name appears in the late 16th century Faust chapbooks. In the 1725 version which was read by Goethe, ''Mephostophiles'' is a devil in the form of a greyfriar summoned by Faust in a wood outside Wittenberg. The name ''Mephistophiles'' already appears in the 1527 ''Praxis Magia Faustiana'', printed in Passau, alongside pseudo-Hebrew text. It is best explained as a purposedly obscure pseudo-Greek or pseudo-Hebrew formation of Renaissance magic.
From the chapbook, the name enters Faustian literature and is also used by authors from Marlowe down to Goethe. In the 1616 edition of ''The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus'', ''Mephostophiles'' became ''Mephistophilus''.
Burton (1992, p. 61) speculates on Greek elements that may have played a part in the coining of the name, including Greek ''mē'' "not", ''phōs'' "light" and ''philos'' "lover", suggesting "not a lover of light" in parody of ''lucifer''. Variations in ''mephost-'' may be due to attraction by Latin ''mephitis'' "pungent", and Goethe's Mephis''tophel''es may due to Hebrew ''tophel'' "liar". Hamlin (2001, p. 9), however, suggests that the name is derived from the Hebrew 'Mephistoph'',' meaning "destroyer of the good."
In a passage from Marlowe's ''Faustus'', Mephostophiles says:

'Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.

Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God,

And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,

Am not tormented with ten thousand hells

In being deprived of everlasting bliss?'

Mephistopheles in later treatments of the Faust material frequently figures as a title character: in Meyer Lutz' ''Mephistopheles, or Faust and Marguerite'' (1855), Arrigo Boito's ''Mefistofele'' (1868), Klaus Mann's ''Mephisto'', and Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes.

Outside the Faust legend

In the 17th century, the name begins to lead an existence independent of the Faust legend.
Shakespeare mentions ''Mephistophilus'' in the "Merry Wives of Windsor (Act1, Sc1, line 64)."
Burton (1992, p. 61) finds "that the name is a purely modern invention of uncertain origins makes it an elegant symbol of the modern Devil with his many novel and diverse forms."
The name "Mephistopheles" (and variations thereof) has been used for characters in various forms of entertainment. In most cases, beyond being some sort of demon, the connection is in name only.

References

★ Burton, Jeffrey Russell, ''Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World'', Ithaca, NY: Cornell (1986); 1990 reprint: ISBN 978-0801497186

★ Hamlin, Cyrus, et al, "Faust", New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company (2001): ISBN 978-0-393-97282-8