Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions by T. W. Doane

JONAH SWALLOWED BY A BIG FISH. In the book of Jonah, containing four chapters, we are told the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, saying: "Arise, go to Ninevah, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up against me." Instead of obeying this command Jonah sought to flee "from the presence of the Lord," by going to Tarshish. For this purpose he went to _Joppa_, and there took ship for Tarshish. But the Lord sent a great wind, and there was a mighty tempest, so that the ship was likely to be broken. The mariners being afraid, they cried every one unto _his_ God; and casting lots--that they might know which of them was the cause of the storm--the lot fell upon Jonah, showing him to be the guilty man. The mariners then said unto him; "What shall we do unto thee?" Jonah in reply said, "Take me up and cast me forth into the sea, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." So they took up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased raging. And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, _and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights_. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord out of the fish's belly. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. The Lord again spake unto Jonah and said: "Go unto Ninevah and preach unto it." So Jonah arose and went unto Ninevah, according to the command of the Lord, and preached unto it. There is a _Hindoo_ fable, very much resembling this, to be found in the _Somadeva Bhatta_, of a person by the name of _Saktideva_ who was swallowed by a huge fish, and finally came out unhurt. The story is as follows: "There was once a king's daughter who would marry no one but the man who had seen the Golden City--of legendary fame--and Saktideva was in love with her; so he went travelling about the world seeking some one who could tell him where this Golden City was. In the course of his journeys _he embarked on board a ship_ bound for the Island of Utsthala, where lived the King of the Fishermen, who, Saktideva hoped, would set him on his way. On the voyage _there arose a great storm_ and the ship went to pieces, _and a great fish swallowed Saktideva whole_. Then, driven by the force of fate, the fish went to the Island of Utsthala, and there the servants of the King of the Fishermen caught it, and the king, wondering at its size, had it cut open, _and Saktideva came out unhurt_."[78:1] In Grecian fable, Hercules is said to have been swallowed by a whale, at a place called Joppa, _and to have lain three days in his entrails_. Bernard de Montfaucon, speaking of Jonah being swallowed by a whale, and describing a piece of Grecian sculpture representing Hercules standing by a huge sea monster, says: "Some ancients relate to the effect that Hercules was also swallowed by the whale that was watching Hesione, _that he remained three days in his belly_, and that he came out bald-pated after his sojourn there."[78:2] Bouchet, in his "Hist. d'Animal," tells us that: "The great fish which swallowed up _Jonah_, although it be called a whale (Matt. xii. 40), yet it was not a whale, properly so called, but a _Dog-fish_, called _Carcharias_. Therefore in the Grecian fable _Hercules_ is said to have been swallowed up of a _Dag_, and to have lain three days in his entrails."[78:3] Godfrey Higgins says, on this subject: "The story of _Jonas_ swallowed up by a whale, is nothing but part of the fiction of _Hercules_, described in the Heracleid or Labors of Hercules, of whom the same story was told, and who was swallowed up at the very same place, _Joppa_, and for the same period of time, _three days_. Lycophron says that Hercules was three nights in the belly of a fish."[78:4] We have still another similar story in that of "_Arion the Musician_," who, being thrown overboard, was caught on the back of a _Dolphin_ and landed safe on shore. The story is related in "Tales of Ancient Greece," as follows: Arion was a Corinthian harper who had travelled in Sicily and Italy, and had accumulated great wealth. Being desirous of again seeing his native city, he set sail from Taras for Corinth. The sailors in the ship, having seen the large boxes full of money which Arion had brought with him into the ship, made up their minds to kill him and take his gold and silver. So one day when he was sitting on the bow of the ship, and looking down on the dark blue sea, three or four of the sailors came to him and said they were going to kill him. Now Arion knew they said this because they wanted his money; so he promised to give them all he had if they would spare his life. But they would not. Then he asked them to let him jump into the sea. When they had given him leave to do this, Arion took one last look at the bright and sunny sky, and then leaped into the sea, and the sailors saw him no more. But Arion was not drowned in the sea, for a great fish called a dolphin was swimming by the ship when Arion leaped over; and it caught him on its back and swam away with him towards Corinth. So presently the fish came close to the shore and left Arion on the beach, and swam away again into the deep sea.[79:1] There is also a Persian legend to the effect that Jemshid was devoured by a great monster waiting for him at the bottom of the sea, but afterwards rises again out of the sea, like Jonah in the Hebrew, and Hercules in the Phenician myth.[79:2] This legend was also found in the myths of the _New World_.[79:3] It was urged, many years ago, by Rosenmüller--an eminent German divine and professor of theology--and other critics, that the miracle recorded in the book of Jonah is not to be regarded as an historical fact, "_but only as an allegory, founded on the Phenician myth of Hercules rescuing Hesione from the sea monster by leaping himself into its jaws, and for three days and three nights continuing to tear its entrails_."[79:4] That the story is an allegory, and that it, as well as that of Saktideva, Hercules and the rest, are simply different versions of the same myth, the significance of which is the alternate swallowing up and casting forth of _Day_, or the _Sun_, by _Night_, is now all but universally admitted by scholars. The _Day_, or the _Sun_, is swallowed up by _Night_, to be set free again at dawn, and from time to time suffers a like but shorter durance in the maw of the eclipse and the storm-cloud.[79:5] Professor Goldzhier says: "The most prominent mythical characteristic of the story of Jonah is his celebrated abode in the sea in the belly of a whale. This trait is eminently _Solar_. . . . As on occasion of the storm the storm-dragon or the storm-serpent _swallows the Sun_, so when he sets, he (Jonah, as a personification of the Sun) is swallowed by a mighty fish, waiting for him at the bottom of the sea. Then, when he appears again on the horizon, he is _spit out on the shore_ by the sea-monster."[80:1] The _Sun_ was called Jona, as appears from Gruter's inscriptions, and other sources.[80:2] In the _Vedas_--the four sacred books of the Hindoos--when _Day_ and _Night_, _Sun_ and _Darkness_, are opposed to each other, the one is designated _Red_, the other _Black_.[80:3] The _Red Sun_ being swallowed up by the _Dark Earth_ at _Night_--as it apparently is when it sets in the west--to be cast forth again at _Day_, is also illustrated in like manner. Jonah, Hercules and others personify the _Sun_, and a huge _Fish_ represents the _Earth_.[80:4] _The Earth represented as a huge Fish is one of the most prominent ideas of the Polynesian mythology._[80:5] At other times, instead of a _Fish_, we have a great raving _Wolf_, who comes to devour its victim and extinguish the _Sun_-light.[80:6] The Wolf is particularly distinguished in ancient _Scandinavian_ mythology, being employed as an emblem of the _Destroying Power_, which attempts to destroy the _Sun_.[80:7] This is illustrated in the story of Little _Red_ Riding-Hood (the Sun)[80:8] who is devoured by the great _Black Wolf_ (Night) and afterwards _comes out unhurt_.[80:9] The story of Little Red Riding-Hood _is mutilated in the English version_. The original story was that the little maid, in her _shining Red Cloak_, was swallowed by the great _Black Wolf_, and that _she came out safe and sound_ when the hunters cut open the sleeping beast.[80:10] In regard to these heroes remaining _three days and three nights_ in the bowels of the Fish, _they represent the Sun at the Winter Solstice_. From December 22d to the 25th--that is, _for three days and three nights_--the _Sun_ remains in the _Lowest Regions_, in the bowels of the Earth, in the belly of the Fish; it is then cast forth and renews its career. Thus, we see that the story of Jonah being swallowed by a big fish, meant originally the Sun swallowed up by Night, and that it is identical with the well-known nursery-tale. How such legends are transformed from intelligible into unintelligible myths, is very clearly illustrated by Prof. Max Müller, who, in speaking of "the comparison of the different forms of Aryan Religion and Mythology," in India, Persia, Greece, Italy and Germany, says: "In each of these nations there was a tendency to change the original conception of divine powers; to misunderstand the many names given to these powers, and to misinterpret the praises addressed to them. In this manner some of the divine names were changed into half-divine, half-human heroes, _and at last the myths which were true and intelligible as told originally of the Sun, or the Dawn, or the Storms, were turned into legends or fables too marvellous to be believed of common mortals_. This process can be watched in _India_, in _Greece_, and in _Germany_. The same story, or nearly the same, is told of gods, of heroes, and of men. The _divine myth_ became an _heroic legend_, and the _heroic legend_ fades away into a _nursery tale_. Our nursery tales have well been called the modern _patois_ of the ancient sacred mythology of the Aryan race."[81:1] How striking are these words; how plainly they illustrate the process by which the story, that was true and intelligible as told originally of the _Day_ being swallowed up by _Night_, or the _Sun_ being swallowed up by the _Earth_, was transformed into a legend or fable, too marvellous to be believed by common mortals. How the "_divine myth_" became an "_heroic legend_," and how the heroic legend faded away into a "_nursery tale_." In regard to Jonah's going to the city of Ninevah, and preaching unto the inhabitants, we believe that the old "Myth of Civilization," so called,[82:1] is partly interwoven here, and that, in this respect, he is nothing more than the Indian _Fish Avatar of Vishnou_, or the Chaldean _Oannes_. At his first Avatar, _Vishnou_ is alleged to have appeared to humanity in form like a fish,[82:2] or half-man and half-fish, just as Oannes and Dagon were represented among the Chaldeans and other nations. In the temple of _Rama_, in India, there is a representation of _Vishnou_ which answers perfectly to that of _Dagon_.[82:3] Mr. Maurice, in his "Hist. Hindostan," has proved the identity of the Syrian _Dagon_ and the Indian Fish Avatar, and concludes by saying: "From the foregoing and a variety of parallel circumstances, I am inclined to think that the Chaldean _Oannes_, the Phenician and Philistian _Dagon_, and the _Pisces_ of the Syrian and Egyptian Zodiac, were the same deity with the Indian _Vishnu_."[82:4] In the old mythological remains of the Chaldeans, compiled by Berosus, Abydenus, and Polyhistor, there is an account of one _Oannes_, a fish-god, who rendered great service to mankind.[82:5] This being is said to have _come out of_ the Erythraean Sea.[82:6] This is evidently _the Sun rising out of the sea_, as it apparently does, in the East.[82:7] Prof. Goldzhier, speaking of Oannes, says: "That this founder of civilization has a _Solar character_, like similar heroes in all other nations, is shown . . . in the words of Berosus, who says: '_During the day-time_ Oannes held intercourse with man, _but when the Sun set_, Oannes fell into the sea, where he used to pass the night.' Here, evidently, only the _Sun_ can be meant, who, in the evening, dips into the sea, and comes forth again in the morning, and passes the day on the dry land in the company of men."[82:8] _Dagon_ was sometimes represented as _a man emerging from a fish's mouth_, and sometimes as half-man and half-fish.[82:9] It was believed that he came _in a ship_, and taught the people. Ancient history abounds with such mythological personages.[82:10] There was also a _Durga_, a fish deity, among the _Hindoos_, represented as _a full grown man emerging from a fish's mouth_[82:9] The Philistines worshiped Dagon, and in Babylonian Mythology _Odakon_ is applied to a fish-like being, who _rose from the waters of the Red Sea_ as one of the benefactors of men.[83:1] On the coins of Ascalon, where she was held in great honor, the goddess Derceto or Atergatis is represented as a woman with her lower extremities like a fish. This is Semiramis, who appeared at _Joppa_ as a mermaid. She is simply a personification of the _Moon_, who follows the course of the _Sun_. At times she manifests herself to the eyes of men, at others she seeks concealment in the Western flood.[83:2] The Sun-god Phoibos traverses the sea in the form of a fish, and imparts lessons of wisdom and goodness when he has come forth from the green depths. All these powers or qualities are shared by Proteus in Hellenic story, as well as by the fish-god, Dagon or Oannes.[83:3] In the Iliad and Odyssey, Atlas is brought into close connection with Helios, the bright god, the Latin Sol, and our Sun. In these poems he rises every morning from a beautiful lake by the deep-flowing stream of Ocean, and having accomplished his journey across the heavens, plunges again into the Western waters.[83:4] The ancient Mexicans and Peruvians had likewise semi-fish gods.[83:5] [Illustration: Fig. No. 5] Jonah then, is like these other personages, in so far as they are all _personifications of the Sun_; they all _come out of the sea_; they are all represented as _a man emerging from a fish's mouth_; and they are all _benefactors of mankind_. We believe, therefore, that it is one and the same myth, whether Oannes, Joannes, or Jonas,[83:6] differing to a certain extent among different nations, just as we find to be the case with other legends. This we have just seen illustrated in the story of "Little Red Riding-Hood," which is considerably mutilated in the English version. [Illustration: Fig. No. 6] Fig. No. 5 is a representation of _Dagon_, intended to illustrate a creature half-man and half-fish; or, perhaps, a man emerging from a fish's mouth. It is taken from Layard. Fig. No. 6[84:1] is a representation of the Indian Avatar of Vishnou, _coming forth from the fish_.[84:2] It would answer just as well for a representation of Jonah, as it does for the Hindoo divinity. It should be noticed that in both of these, the god has a crown on his head, surmounted with a _triple_ ornament, both of which had evidently the same meaning, _i. e._, _an emblem of the trinity_.[84:3] The Indian Avatar being represented with four arms, evidently means that he is god of the whole world, his _four_ arms extending to the _four corners of the world_. The _circle_, which is seen in one hand, is an emblem of eternal reward. The _shell_, with its eight convolutions, is intended to show the place in the number of the cycles which he occupied. The _book_ and _sword_ are to show that he ruled both in the right of the book and of the sword.[84:4] FOOTNOTES: [78:1] Tylor: Early Hist. Mankind, pp. 344, 345. [78:2] "En effet, quelques anciens disent qu' Hercule fut aussi devorà par la beleine qui gurdoit Hesione, qu'il demeura trois jours dans son ventre, et qu'il sortit chauve de ce sejour." (L'Antiquité Expliqueé, vol. i. p. 204.) [78:3] Bouchet: Hist. d'Animal, in Anac., vol. i. p. 240. [78:4] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 638. See also Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 306, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Jonah." [79:1] Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 296. [79:2] See Hebrew Mythology, p. 203. [79:3] See Tylor's Early Hist. Mankind, and Primitive Culture, vol. i. [79:4] Chambers's Encyclo., art. Jonah. [79:5] See Fiske: Myths and Myth Makers, p. 77, and _note_; and Tylor: Primitive Culture, i. 302. [80:1] Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, pp. 102, 103. [80:2] This is seen from the following, taken from Pictet: "_Du Culte des Carabi_," p. 104, and quoted by Higgins: _Anac._, vol. i. p. 650: "Vallancy dit que _Ionn_ étoit le même que Baal. En Gallois _Jon_, le Seigneur, Dieu, la cause prémière. En Basque _Jawna_, _Jon_, _Jona_, &c., Dieu, et Seigneur, Maître. Les Scandinaves appeloient le _Soleil_ John. . . . Une des inscriptions de Gruter montre ques les Troyens adoroient _le même_ astre sous le nom de _Jona_. En Persan le _Soleil_ est appelè _Jawnah_." Thus we see that the _Sun_ was called _Jonah_, by different nations of antiquity. [80:3] See Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, p. 148. [80:4] See Tylor: Early History of Mankind, p. 845, and Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, pp. 102, 103. [80:5] See Tylor: Early History of Mankind, p. 345. [80:6] Fiske: Myths and Myth Makers, p. 77. [80:7] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 88, 89, and Mallet's Northern Antiquities. [80:8] In ancient _Scandinavian_ mythology, the _Sun_ is personified in the form of a beautiful _maiden_. (See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 458.) [80:9] See Fiske: Myths and Myth Makers, p. 77. Bunce: Fairy Tales, 161. [80:10] Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 307. "The story of Little Red Riding-Hood, as we call her, or Little Red-Cap, came from the same (_i. e._, the ancient Aryan) source, and refers to the _Sun_ and the _Night_." "One of the fancies of the most ancient Aryan or Hindoo stories was that there was a great dragon that was trying to devour the Sun, and to prevent him from shining upon the earth and filling it with brightness and life and beauty, and that Indra, the Sun-god, killed the dragon. Now, this is the meaning of Little Red Riding-Hood, as it is told in our nursery tales. Little Red Riding-Hood is the evening Sun, which is always described as red or golden; the old grandmother is the earth, to whom the rays of the Sun bring warmth and comfort. The wolf--which is a well-known figure for the clouds and darkness of night--is the dragon in another form. First he devours the grandmother; that is, he wraps the earth in thick clouds, which the evening Sun is not strong enough to pierce through. Then, with the darkness of night, he swallows up the evening Sun itself, and all is dark and desolate. Then, as in the German tale, the night-thunder and the storm-winds are represented by the loud snoring of the wolf; and then the huntsman, the morning Sun, comes in all his strength and majesty, and chases away the night-clouds and kills the wolf, and revives old Grandmother Earth, and brings Little Red Riding-Hood to life again." (Bunce, Fairy Tales, their Origin and Meaning, p. 161.) [81:1] Müller's Chips, vol. ii. p. 260. [82:1] See Goldzhier's Hebrew Mythology, p. 198, et seq. [82:2] See Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 277. [82:3] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 259. Also, Fig. No. 5, next page. [82:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. i. pp. 418-419. [82:5] See Pilchard's Egyptian Mythology, p. 190. Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 87. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 646. Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 57. [82:6] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 646. Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 39, and Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 57. [82:7] Civilizing gods, who diffuse intelligence and instruct barbarians, are also _Solar Deities_. Among these _Oannes_ takes his place, as the _Sun-god_, giving knowledge and civilization. (Rev. S. Baring-Gould: Curious Myths, p. 367.) [82:8] Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, pp. 214, 215. [82:9] See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 111. [82:10] See Chamber's Encyclo., art "Dagon." [83:1] See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Dagon" in both. [83:2] See Baring-Gould's Curious Myths. [83:3] See Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 26. [83:4] Ibid. p. 38. [83:5] Curious Myths, p. 372. [83:6] Since writing the above we find that Mr. Bryant, in his "_Analysis of Ancient Mythology_" (vol. ii. p. 291), speaking of the mystical nature of the name _John_, which is the same as _Jonah_, says: "The prophet who was sent upon an embassy to the Ninevites, is styled _Ionas_: a title probably bestowed upon him as a messenger of the Deity. The great Patriarch who preached righteousness to the Antediluvians, is styled _Oan_ and _Oannes_, which is _the same as Jonah_." [84:1] From Maurice: Hist. Hindostan, vol. i. p. 495. [84:2] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 634. See also, Calmet's Fragments, 2d Hundred, p. 78. [84:3] See the chapter on "The Trinity," in part second. [84:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 640.