Pynchon, Dante and Divine Light

[Michael J. Hußmann]

David Payne (dpayne1912 at hotmail.com) wrote:

> Ironically, "Lucifer", as a word, traces back to the Latin "lucis"
> "ferre" -- "bringer of light."
> 
> "Lucis" means "of light" (from "lux" meaning "light", as in "Deus lux
> est"), and "ferre" means "carry" (as used in "infer").
> 
> I understand, however, that Lucifer = Satan is really a case of mistaken
> identity? A misread biblical passage?

All of the above. "Lucifer" is the Roman name for the planet Venus as
the morning star. In Jesaja 14 ("How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning!"), the king of Babylon is metaphorically
linked to the morning star (i.e. Venus), and since this passage got to
be interpreted allegorically as referring to the overthrow of Satan,
"lucifer" became a name for the devil.

- Michael


Michael J. Hußmann

E-mail: michael at michael-hussmann.de
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