Literary notes about magus (AI summary)
Literary texts employ the term magus to evoke images of enigmatic mystics and cunning sorcerers, whose portrayals range from the profoundly wise to the strikingly deceptive. In some narratives, figures bearing the name—such as Simon Magus—are characterized as ambitious individuals who attempted to exchange divine power for earthly gain [1, 2], while in others a character like Elie Magus is imbued with a more human sensitivity, his tears reflecting a deep emotional engagement with beauty and art [3]. Elsewhere the magus appears as a scholar or alchemist whose unorthodox methods stand in contrast to established religious and philosophical doctrines [4, 5]. By weaving together these multifarious images, writers use the magus as a potent symbol merging ancient mysticism with contemporary ambivalence over the nature of true wisdom and spiritual authority [6, 7].
- Do you see why I call them the real followers of Simon Magus, who sought to buy the gift of God with a price?
— from The Jessica Letters: An Editor's Romance by Paul Elmer More - Simony.—Simony derives its name from Simon Magus, the first person in New Testament times, as far as we know, who committed this crime.
— from Moral Theology A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities by Charles J. (Charles Jerome) Callan - The tears stood in Elie Magus’ eyes as he looked from one masterpiece to another.
— from Cousin Pons by Honoré de Balzac - And yet every philosopher in this age must concede that Magus' assumption in the case is more sensible and philosophical than that of Peter's.
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves - Sir Walter Raleigh contends that only the word ‘magic,’ and not the magical art, is derived from Simon Magus.
— from Witch, Warlock, and MagicianHistorical Sketches of Magic and Witchcraft in England and Scotland by W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport) Adams - Lucian's Alexander Simon Magus, whose statue was to be seen and adored in Rome, saith Justin Martyr, Simoni deo sancto , &c., after his decease.
— from John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address by John F. (John Fitzgerald) Kennedy - He would know then what was the sin of Simon Magus and what the sin against the Holy Ghost for which there was no forgiveness.
— from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
