Mephistopheles flying over Wittenberg, in a lithograph by Eugène Delacroix.

Mephistophiles (also Mephistophilus, Mephistophilis, Mephostopheles, Mephisto and variants) is a name given to a devil or demon in the Faust legend. Mephisto or Mephistopheles could refer to: Mephistopheles (One of the chief demons in European literary traditions) Mephisto (The demon in the Marvel Comics universe) Dr. Mephisto (The mad scientist in the South Park TV series) Mephisto is one of the three Greater Evils in the Diablo game series released by... Image File history File links Mephistopheles2. ... Image File history File links Mephistopheles2. ... Statue of Martin Luther in the main square Wittenberg, officially [Die] Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany, in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, at 12° 59 E, 51° 51 N, on the Elbe river. ... Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (April 26, 1798 – August 13, 1863) was one of the most important of the French Romantic painters. ... Faust depicted in an etching by Rembrandt van Rijn (circa 1650) Faust (German for fist) or Faustus (Latin for auspicious or lucky) is the protagonist of a classic German legend in which a medieval scholar makes a pact with the Devil. ...

In the Faust legend

MEPHISTO_PHILES in the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana attributed to Faust.

The name is associated with the Faust legend of a scholar who wagered his soul against the devil being able to make Faust wish to live, even for a moment, based on the historical Johann Georg Faust. The name appears in the late 16th century Faust chapbooks. In the 1725 version which was read by Goethe, Mephostophiles is a devil in the form of a greyfriar summoned by Faust in a wood outside Wittenberg. The name Mephistophiles already appears in the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana, printed in Passau, alongside pseudo-Hebrew text. It is best explained as a purposedly obscure pseudo-Greek or pseudo-Hebrew formation of Renaissance magic. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 392 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (588 × 898 pixel, file size: 72 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 392 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (588 × 898 pixel, file size: 72 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Faust depicted in an etching by Rembrandt van Rijn (circa 1650) Faust (German for fist) or Faustus (Latin for auspicious or lucky) is the protagonist of a classic German legend in which a medieval scholar makes a pact with the Devil. ... 17th century German portrait of Faust. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Historia von D. Johann Fausten. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 28, 1749–March 22, 1832) was a German writer, politician, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ... Franciscans is the common name used to designate a variety of mendicant religious orders of men or women tracing their origin to Francis of Assisi and following the Rule of St. ... Statue of Martin Luther in the main square Wittenberg, officially [Die] Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany, in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, at 12° 59 E, 51° 51 N, on the Elbe river. ... Magic and occultism in the Late Medieval and Renaissance period (15th and 16th century). ...

From the chapbook, the name enters Faustian literature and is also used by authors from Marlowe down to Goethe. In the 1616 edition of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Mephostophiles became Mephistophilus. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the Faust story (Faustus is Latin for Faust), in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. ...

Burton (1992, p. 61) speculates on Greek elements that may have played a part in the coining of the name, including Greek mē "not", phōs "light" and philos "lover", suggesting "not a lover of light" in parody of lucifer. Variations in mephost- may be due to attraction by Latin mephitis "pungent", and Goethe's Mephistopheles may due to Hebrew tophel "liar". Hamlin (2001, p. 9), however, suggests that the name is derived from the Hebrew 'Mephistoph,' meaning "destroyer of the good." This article is about the star or fallen angel. ...

In a passage from Marlowe's Faustus, Mephostophiles says:

'Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting bliss?'

Mephistopheles in later treatments of the Faust material frequently figures as a title character: in Meyer Lutz' Mephistopheles, or Faust and Marguerite (1855), Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868), Klaus Mann's Mephisto, and Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mefistofele is the only completed opera by the Italian composer Arrigo Boito. ... There are two movies of this name. ... The Mephisto Waltzes are four virtuoso piano solos composed by Franz Liszt. ...

Outside the Faust legend

Shakespeare mentions "Mephistophilus" in the Merry Wives of Windsor (Act1, Sc1, line 64), and by the 17th century, the name had begun to lead an existence independent of the Faust legend. Burton (1992, p. 61) finds, "That the name is a purely modern invention of uncertain origins makes it an elegant symbol of the modern Devil with his many novel and diverse forms." Shakespeare redirects here. ... The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ...

References

• Burton, Jeffrey Russell, Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World, Ithaca, NY: Cornell (1986); 1990 reprint: ISBN 978-0801497186

• Hamlin, Cyrus, et al, "Faust", New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company (2001): ISBN 978-0-393-97282-8

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Mephistopheles