Skip to main content

Pontius Pilate


I happened across this short article on what we do and don't know about the historical Pontius Pilate.  Good reading for Holy Saturday evening.

The author notes at the end that authors and artists have always been fascinated by Pilate.  One he doesn't mention--a favorite of mine--is the Swiss author and playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt, who wrote a short early play entitled Pilatus.  Dürrenmatt, who initially hoped to become a painter before turning to writing, also painted the image of Pilate above.  I don't believe there is an English version of the play, however.

The author also mentions various legends about what happened to Pilate, but not my own preferred favorite.  According to one story his corpse eventually found its last resting place in Lake Lucerne, at the base of Mount Pilatus, in Switzerland.  Several years ago, in 2013, my family spent a few weeks in Switzerland during the summer, and we wanted to take a special outing before we left, and also give our children a chance to go up a mountain.  So we took a boat ride across Lake Lucerne and then rode the cogwheel railway--the world's steepest!--up the side of Pilatus.  Our route was in fact the "Golden Round Trip" referred to in the Wikipedia article I linked to a few lines above.  It was quite an experience.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Warning Against Drink

I have gotten several things read over the last few days, but I keep forgetting to post any of it.  Some more Gotthelf, but also a couple of other things.  I'll try to break them up in order to get a few more posts out of them! Last Friday I finished another Gotthelf novella, Wie fünf Mädchen im Branntwein jämmerlich umkommen .  That title does not translate very well into English, or at least I don't think so.  Something like, How Five Young Women Perish Miserably Due to Brandy  (or literally "in brandy").  It is an early work of Gotthelf's and a piece of social criticism.  When Gotthelf was writing (1838), the canton of Bern had recently liberalized its system for granting licenses to operate a pub.  At the same time, new methods of producing cheap brandy from different sources, including even the ubiquitous potato, were developed.  As a consequence, inns and pubs sprang up throughout the countryside, creating a new temptation for poor...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Plague Time" Essay Contest

If you are a major or minor in History, Political Science, Augmented History, Humanities, or German Studies, you are eligible to enter a brand-new essay contest being sponsored by the Department of History and Political Science.  Details available here . And if you aren't a major or minor in one of those areas... it is not too late to become one now !
Post a Comment
Read more

Titian Exhibition at the National Gallery, Live on BBC

London's National Gallery currently has an exhibition of Titian's work -- one that unfortunately cannot be seen right now due to the coronavirus shutdown. But on Saturday, the BBC will air a one-hour documentary about the exhibition -- a chance to "see" it in spite of the plague.  According to the webpage, it should be available shortly after its broadcast. Update (4/4): Rats--it looks as though you can only see it in the UK.  Very disappointing.
Post a Comment
Read more