Egyptian Oedipus: Athanasius Kircher and the Secrets of Antiquity

320 Pages·2015·3.65 MB·English

by  Daniel Stolzenberg

egyptian oedipus

egyptian oedipus
Athanasius Kircher and
the Secrets of Antiquity
daniel stolzenberg
the university of chicago press
chicago and london
daniel stolzenberg is assistant professor of history at the University of
California, Davis.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2013 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2013.
Printed in the United States of America
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978-0-226-92414-4 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978-0-226-92415-1 (e- book)
isbn- 10: 0-226-92414-9 (cloth)
isbn- 10: 0-226-92415-7 (e- book)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stolzenberg, Daniel.
Egyptian Oedipus : Athanasius Kircher and the secrets of antiquity / Daniel
Stolzenberg.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-226-92414-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 0-226-92414-9 (cloth :
alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-226-92415-1 (e-book) — isbn 0-226-92415-7 (e-book)
1. Kircher, Athanasius, 1602–1680. Oedipus aegyptiacus. 2. Egyptian language—
Writing, Hieroglyphic. 3. Occultism. I. Title.
PJ1093.K643S76 2013
493(cid:2).1092—dc23
2012022898
o This paper meets the requirements of ansi/ niso z39.48-1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
HIEROGLYPHICS Language of the ancient Egyptians, invented by the
priests to conceal their shameful secrets. To think that there are people
who understand them! But perhaps the whole thing is just a hoax?
—Gustave Flaubert, Dictionary of Received Ideas

contents
A Note on Quotations and Translations ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction: Oedipus in Exile 1
1. Esoteric Antiquarianism 36
2. How to Get Ahead in the Republic of Letters 71
3. Oedipus in Rome 104
4. Ancient Theology and the Antiquarian 129
5. The Discovery of Oriental Antiquity 151
6. Erudition and Censorship 180
7. Symbolic Wisdom in an Age of Criticism 198
8. Oedipus at Large 226
E pilogue: The Twilight of Tradition and
the Clear Light of History 254
Acknowledgments 261
Bibliography 265
Index 297
vii

a note on quotations and translations
Since virtually all the early modern books that I quote, including some of
the rarest and most obscure, have recently become easily available online,
especially through open access sites like Gallica, the Hathi Trust, the Mu-
nich Digitization Center, the Internet Archive, and Google Books, in the
footnotes I have provided original text only for signifi cant quotations from
unpublished manuscripts. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are
my own. For ease of reading, I have translated the titles of books into En-
glish; the original titles are given in the footnotes.
ix