DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0087
38
The Elysian Way
The Basutos call it the 'Way of the Gods1' ; the Ojis say it is the 'Way of
Spirits,' which souls go up to heaven by2. North American tribes know it as
' the Path of the Master of Life,' the 'Path of Spirits,' ' the Road of Souls,' where
they travel to the land beyond the grave, and where their camp-fires may be
seen blazing as brighter stars3. Such savage imaginations of the Milky Way fit
with the Lithuanian myth of the ' Road of the Birds,' at whose end the souls of
the good, fancied as flitting away at death like birds, dwell free and happy4.
Classical evidence of the Galaxy conceived as a Seelenpfad is not
wanting5. Ovid speaks of it as a road leading to the palace of
Iupiter :
1 E. Casalis The Basutos; or, Twenty-three Years in South Africa London 1861
p. 196 ' I have known great boys who hardly dared to look up at the stars, because they
imagined that the milky way was a monstrous collection of those transparent beings whose
imaginary appearance is so much dreaded*. (*The Basutos call the milky way, "the way
of the gods.")'
2 T. Waitz Anthropologic der Naturvblker Leipzig i860 ii. 191 'Den Odschis gilt
ebenfalls der Himmel als der Aufenthaltsort der Guten nach dem Tode: sie steigen zu
ihm auf dem " Geisterwege," der Milchstrasse, hinauf, wogegen die Bdsen im anderen
Leben zu leiden haben (Riis im Bas. Miss. Mag. 1847 iv. 251. Muller 96).'
3 S. H. Long An Expedition to the Rocky Mountains i. 288, H. R. Schoolcraft
Historical and Statistical Information respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of
the Indian Tribes of the United States Philadelphia 1851 i. 272 'The milky-way, they
[the Creeks, or Muscogees] believe to be the paths of the spirits; but the spirits of whom,
or what, they do not know.' P. le Jeune Relation de ce qui s'esl passe' en la Nouvelle
France, en Pat/ne'e 1634 Paris 1635 p. 63 ' ils [les sauvages montagnais de Kebec]
appellent la voye lactee, Tchipa'i miskenau [?], le chemin des ames, pource qu'ils
pensent que les ames se guindent par cette voye pour aller en ce grand village.'
G. H. Loskiel History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians hi North
America trans. C. I. La Trobe London 1794 35 'When they revived, they related that
this place was to the south of heaven, and that the bright track called the milky way, was
the road to it. This led to a most glorious city, the inhabitants of which enjoyed every
possible good in great abundance.' J. G. Muller Geschichte der Amerikanischen Urre-
ligionen Basel 1855 p. 63 ' Der stidliche Himmel ist uberhaupt das Land der Verstorbenen,
und die Sterne der Milchstrasse, die angeheftete Feuer sind, sind der Weg dorthin.
Loskiel 47. Catlin 116. Vollmer I.e. Andree N. A. 247.' [See also J. F. Lafitau Meeurs
des Sauvages Ameriquains compare's aux meeurs des premiers temps Paris 1724 ii. 406,
E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture3 London 1891 ii. 72.]
4 I. J. Hanusch (Hanus) Die Wissenschaft des Slawischen Mythns im weitesten, den
altpreussischlithauischen My thus miiumfassenden Sinne Lemberg 1842 pp. 272, 407, 415.
[Cp. W. von Schulenburg IVendische Volkssagen und Gebrduche aus dem Spreewald
Leipzig 1880 p. 272 'die Milchstrasse teskowa drogaz (3So in Burg, eigentlich wol ptaskowa
droga.)'' etc., J. B. Holzmayer 'Osiliana' in the Verhandlungen der Gelehrten Estnischeti
Gesellschaft zu Dorpal Dorpat 1872 vii. 2. 48 ' linno rada,' F. R. Rreutzwald and H. Neus
Mythische und magische Lieder der Ehsten Saint Petersburg 1854 ' linno teerada,'1—cited
by H. Gaidoz and E. Rolland in Mdusine 1884—85 ii. 154 f.] Infra § 3 (a) vi (X).
5 See now P. Capelle De lunar, stellis, lacteo orbe animarum sedibus Halle 1917
(reviewed by E. Pfeiffer in the Deutsche Litteraturzeitung 1918 p. 35 f., by W. Nestle in
the Wochenschrift fur klassische Philologie 1918 p. 47 f., and by O. Hofer in the Berl.
philol. Woch. April 27, 1918 p. 396 f.) p. 37 ft".
The conception of the Milky Way as an abode of souls survived into post-classical
literature and art. Paulinus (353—431 A.D.), bishop of Nola, makes Enoch, Elijah, and
other pious souls ascend to heaven via the Galaxy : Paulir Nolan, carm. 5. 37ft". pande
The Elysian Way
The Basutos call it the 'Way of the Gods1' ; the Ojis say it is the 'Way of
Spirits,' which souls go up to heaven by2. North American tribes know it as
' the Path of the Master of Life,' the 'Path of Spirits,' ' the Road of Souls,' where
they travel to the land beyond the grave, and where their camp-fires may be
seen blazing as brighter stars3. Such savage imaginations of the Milky Way fit
with the Lithuanian myth of the ' Road of the Birds,' at whose end the souls of
the good, fancied as flitting away at death like birds, dwell free and happy4.
Classical evidence of the Galaxy conceived as a Seelenpfad is not
wanting5. Ovid speaks of it as a road leading to the palace of
Iupiter :
1 E. Casalis The Basutos; or, Twenty-three Years in South Africa London 1861
p. 196 ' I have known great boys who hardly dared to look up at the stars, because they
imagined that the milky way was a monstrous collection of those transparent beings whose
imaginary appearance is so much dreaded*. (*The Basutos call the milky way, "the way
of the gods.")'
2 T. Waitz Anthropologic der Naturvblker Leipzig i860 ii. 191 'Den Odschis gilt
ebenfalls der Himmel als der Aufenthaltsort der Guten nach dem Tode: sie steigen zu
ihm auf dem " Geisterwege," der Milchstrasse, hinauf, wogegen die Bdsen im anderen
Leben zu leiden haben (Riis im Bas. Miss. Mag. 1847 iv. 251. Muller 96).'
3 S. H. Long An Expedition to the Rocky Mountains i. 288, H. R. Schoolcraft
Historical and Statistical Information respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of
the Indian Tribes of the United States Philadelphia 1851 i. 272 'The milky-way, they
[the Creeks, or Muscogees] believe to be the paths of the spirits; but the spirits of whom,
or what, they do not know.' P. le Jeune Relation de ce qui s'esl passe' en la Nouvelle
France, en Pat/ne'e 1634 Paris 1635 p. 63 ' ils [les sauvages montagnais de Kebec]
appellent la voye lactee, Tchipa'i miskenau [?], le chemin des ames, pource qu'ils
pensent que les ames se guindent par cette voye pour aller en ce grand village.'
G. H. Loskiel History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians hi North
America trans. C. I. La Trobe London 1794 35 'When they revived, they related that
this place was to the south of heaven, and that the bright track called the milky way, was
the road to it. This led to a most glorious city, the inhabitants of which enjoyed every
possible good in great abundance.' J. G. Muller Geschichte der Amerikanischen Urre-
ligionen Basel 1855 p. 63 ' Der stidliche Himmel ist uberhaupt das Land der Verstorbenen,
und die Sterne der Milchstrasse, die angeheftete Feuer sind, sind der Weg dorthin.
Loskiel 47. Catlin 116. Vollmer I.e. Andree N. A. 247.' [See also J. F. Lafitau Meeurs
des Sauvages Ameriquains compare's aux meeurs des premiers temps Paris 1724 ii. 406,
E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture3 London 1891 ii. 72.]
4 I. J. Hanusch (Hanus) Die Wissenschaft des Slawischen Mythns im weitesten, den
altpreussischlithauischen My thus miiumfassenden Sinne Lemberg 1842 pp. 272, 407, 415.
[Cp. W. von Schulenburg IVendische Volkssagen und Gebrduche aus dem Spreewald
Leipzig 1880 p. 272 'die Milchstrasse teskowa drogaz (3So in Burg, eigentlich wol ptaskowa
droga.)'' etc., J. B. Holzmayer 'Osiliana' in the Verhandlungen der Gelehrten Estnischeti
Gesellschaft zu Dorpal Dorpat 1872 vii. 2. 48 ' linno rada,' F. R. Rreutzwald and H. Neus
Mythische und magische Lieder der Ehsten Saint Petersburg 1854 ' linno teerada,'1—cited
by H. Gaidoz and E. Rolland in Mdusine 1884—85 ii. 154 f.] Infra § 3 (a) vi (X).
5 See now P. Capelle De lunar, stellis, lacteo orbe animarum sedibus Halle 1917
(reviewed by E. Pfeiffer in the Deutsche Litteraturzeitung 1918 p. 35 f., by W. Nestle in
the Wochenschrift fur klassische Philologie 1918 p. 47 f., and by O. Hofer in the Berl.
philol. Woch. April 27, 1918 p. 396 f.) p. 37 ft".
The conception of the Milky Way as an abode of souls survived into post-classical
literature and art. Paulinus (353—431 A.D.), bishop of Nola, makes Enoch, Elijah, and
other pious souls ascend to heaven via the Galaxy : Paulir Nolan, carm. 5. 37ft". pande