(urth) stab in the thigh (was: mysteries of the long sun?)

Jane Delawney jane_delawney at sky.com
Sat Oct 29 13:24:24 PDT 2011


On 29/10/11 18:18, David Stockhoff wrote:
> On 10/29/2011 1:07 PM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:
>> David Stockhoff wrote:
>>
>>> And Jesus was stabbed in the thigh. Don't forget that one!
>> Excuse me -- when was this? He was stabbed in the side with a spear,
>> but I don't recall a stab in the thigh.
>>
>
> Details, details.
>
> You're right, it was someone else.

Possibly Jacob, who was wounded  in the 'thigh' (read: groin, I strongly 
suspect) when he wrestled with the angel?

However ... David, is it possible you were thinking of Robert Graves's 
novel 'King Jesus' when you wrote your OP? In this, the 'wrestling with 
an angel' motif is transformed into a rite of passage for the rightful 
king of Israel; Jesus undertakes this rite and is wounded in the 
thigh/hip area (his hip is dislocated) giving him a permanent limp.

Not exactly being stabbed in the thigh/groin but close.

In King Jesus, this rite is undertaken as a preliminary to the marriage 
ceremony for the rightful King. Jesus is married to Mary Magdalene who 
is also of the royal line - but he derails the ritual by refusing to 
consummate this marriage (he tells Mary on their wedding night, 'You are 
my sister! - I can't remember whether or not Graves intends this to be 
literally true, ie. that here MM was actually Jesus's sister and that 
this was supposed to be an Egyptian-royalty style sibling marriage). 
It's all very 'White Goddess' as one might expect from Graves.

This is the only occasion, literary, mythological or otherwise, when I 
recall Jesus being wounded (not stabbed though) in the 'thigh'.

This is a long way from what happened to Silk, though - though rather 
nearer to what happened to Severian, whose injury is undoubtedly in the 
thigh.

And let's not forget the Fisher King either.
JD
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