jules?

Moses escaped him, so did Jesus and apparantly Krishna had a lucky escape. The evil murderous king seems to be connected to new hereos but why?

Jesus' escape from the murder of the innocents could just be a retelling of the Moses story which in turn may have older roots. Krishna's escape may be independant. are there any more examples of this theme and is it significant beyond an old order fearing the arrival of a new one?

thanks
jules?

Dirge

If you're talking about Quirinius, he really was a murderous fellow, killing his own relatives, apparently out of spite. It was said his pig was safer around him than his family. Whether this has anything to do with the Bible, aside from the fact there really was a census taken, who knows for certain. People who don't want Jesus to exist will say one thing, others who accept a historical Jesus, the late Albert Einstein among them, will think another.

Toto

Do you mean Herod?

mountainman

Maybe King Constantine?

Minimalist

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius should sue for libel.

Solitary Man

It was present in Father-Son relationships also. The father of Oedipus tried to expose his son to the elements lest the prophecy came true. Zeus was spirited away so that he would return to defeat Cronus. Augustus had to flee to escape Antony's power grasp in the wake of Caesar's death. Julius Caesar had to go into hiding since Sulla wanted him dead. Ditto with C. Marius f. C. who tried to defeat Sulla. Caesarion tried to go into hiding upon Augustus advent in Egypt, but he was captured and killed. I think here we see myth clearly reflecting historical phenomena.

premjan

Shiva cut off his son Ganesha's head (repented later), Krishna's uncle Kamsa tried to have him assassinated many times.

jules?

If yours and other examples are connected as a mythological theme then this puts a different slant on the bible stories, connecting Herod and Pharoah as relatives to Jesus and Moses.

The commonest 'old attempting to kill the new' motif is associated with pagan yearly cycles of the new and old sun. The other example, and I am thinking Celtic myth as one example is the old gods being superceded by the new 'invaders' [new culture] gods.

It appears to be a common theme but the meaning beyond cyclic and possibly invasion seems obscure.

thanks for the input.

Solitary Man

I think you're reading too much into my words. I said it was present in Father-Son relationships also, and only gave the Oedipus-Laius and Zeus-Cronus as examples of that. Consider that Sulla and Young Marius were not related. There wasn't a blood relation between Sulla and Caesar either. In fact, Sulla's targeting had nothing to do with family at all. It was essentially an optimates v. populares fight.

Evidence?

Can you pinpoint exact myths?

jules?

I was thinking of the less violent usurping of power by the Irish Angus [Oengus] of the Dagda's rule/sidhe mound through trickery and the cyclic greenman/giant vs knight battle. Gawain being the most modern of updates. the twist on the old vs new is Arthur and his son. But this leads away from the specific murderous King seeks baby. Beyond the 'old fears the new' I just wondered if there was some subtle mythological message lurking beneath the Herod/Jesus, Moses/King tales.