Historically-Minded Immortals June 25, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Ancient, Contemporary, Medieval, Modern , trackback
Imagine if you will a man or woman who has lived not three score years and ten, but three score centuries and ten. They have rutted, defecated, masticated there way through the generations, watching the changing nuances of human idiocy, the misleading crab walk of technology and the intolerable brightness of every new young generation who believe that they know it all… Imagine what they would have seen. Beach ran across this very fine paragraph.
I was in the Pinta’s shrouds [loved this] with Columbus when America burst upon his vision. I saw Charles I beheaded. I was in London when the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. I was present at the trial of Warren Hastings. I was on American soil when the battle of Lexington was fought when the declaration was promulgated – when Cornwallis was surrendered- when Washington died. I entered Paris with Napoleon after Elba. I was present when you mounted your guns and manned your fleets for the war of 1812 – when the south fired upon Sumter – when Richmond fell – when the President’s life was taken. In all the ages I have helped to celebrate the triumphs of genius, the achievements of arms, the havoc of storm, fire, pestilence, famine.
It’s a nice passage and was written by Mark Twain. It got Beach thinking and looking for other immortal tropes. here’s one courtesy of Mick Jagger: the line with Anastasia has always been the most haunting.
And I was ’round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate…
I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Tsar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain…
I rode a tank
Held a general’s rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank…
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
(Woo woo, woo woo)
I shouted out,
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me
Assuming, as we must unfortunately do, that no one has lived through five centuries, what fictional characters have been allowed to last through the ages? Here is a list run up in ten minutes. Can anyone add to it? Preferably humans, but the most important thing is breadth of historical vision. In other words an immortal Albanian mermaid who has, though, only been counting fish is of no interest whatsoever.
Highlander (‘There can be only one’ see below, the best of the history scenes)
Orlando (who has been brought wonderfully back to life by Alan Moore)
Puck of Pook Hill
Marcus Flaminius Rufus (in one of Borges’ greatest stories ‘The Immortal’)
Taliesin (‘I was there with Christ on the cross…)’
The Count of St Germaine
The Flying Dutchman
The Wandering Jew (once spotted in Burnley)
Any others from folklore, literature or, why not, rap music: drbeachcombing At yahoo DOT com
PS There is a British sailor in a series of novels. He lives through the ships of the Royal Navy from Elizabethan to Elizabethan II times. Can’t remember the name…
And here is 1783 in Highlander
26 June 2015: Lehmansterms writes ‘I am reminded of the final novels of Robert Heinlein here – he of so many scarily prophetic and occasionally generational-gestalt gauging/grabbing sci-fi novels. In his final days he rather abandoned the prophetic voice of his earlier “History of the Universe” novels and wrote a series of novels which although they take place in approximately the same imaginary reality, I can only describe as the mastubatory fantasies of a great mind descending into senility.It’s been decades since I looked at any of them and the only title I can recall at this moment is “Time Enough for Love”, but his central and wishfully semi-autobiographical character is reborn as his consciousness is placed into a series of new bodies – his favorites seemed to be female – over a not-very-well defined temporal period (although with some convenient time-travel tropes, he allows himself to visit certain times and places familiar to those of our general era) in which he seems to survive for some several centuries with every expectation to continue on in not just a single, but occasionally several bodies simultaneously sharing the same background and consciousness.Science, emulating sci-fi as it so often does, seems to be hinting that human survival, if not eternal, at least far beyond the biblically allotted three-score and ten may well be nearly within our grasp even as we speak.’
Tacitus from Detritus writes:The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson follows a group of ten Immortals from ancient to near future times. One of them is even named Rufus in apparent homage to Borges.
Mike G.: Regarding “There is a British sailor in a series of novels. He lives through the ships of the Royal Navy from Elizabethan to Elizabethan II times. Can’t remember the name…”I think the book in question is Nicholas Monsarrat’s “Master Mariner”. IIRC he starts off sailing with Henry Hudson. Only two books, one of which was unfinished when Monsarrat died, which is usually included with the first in modern editions.
KMH:Do you count TV characters? Here is one from the ABC series called “Forever.” Admittedly, he is only 200 years old, but then TV is on a short attention span basis.”Doctor Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), New York City’s star medical examiner, has a secret. He doesn’t just study the dead to solve criminal cases, he does it to solve the mystery that has eluded him for 200 years—the answer to his own inexplicable immortality. This long life has given Henry remarkable observation skills which impresses his new partner Detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza), but piques her curiosity about who he is. Each week, a new case and their budding friendship will reveal layers of Henry’s long and colorful past. Only his best friend and confidant, Abe (Judd Hirsch) knows Henry’s secret.”
29 Jun 2015:
LH writes: I can think of at least three other historically minded immortals in literature:
- Wolverine in the old pre-Jackman Marvel comics. The original character was a short, ugly, hairy man born sometime in the early to mid 19th century. The comic went downhill after the movies and lost it’s sense of humor unfortunately.
- “The Mortal Immortal” by Mary Shelley. This character gains an elixer that gives him immortality and all of its subsequent troubles.
- Then there is Emilia Marty in “Makropulos Case” in the opera by Leos Janachek. Emilia drank an immortality potion developed by her father when she was young. The opera takes place 300 years after this. I can’t say it’s my favorite opera but it does have an unusual plot and interesting music. It’s not so modern that I can’t enjoy it but it’s still twentieth century. As I remember the plot touches on how an ‘immortal’ person would perceive life. Does she value it? Has it become so dull that she is is incapable of love? She meets her own descendants and is forced to decide whether or not she wants to continue her existence. Note existence, after 300 years she is really only going through the motions of human life. Her ability to empathize or love has been eroded so much she no longer really feels anything. One character remarks that he feels as if he has made love to a corpse. I really like this opera, it has a rare scify fantasy plot and the music is accessible for folks who don’t enjoy most ‘modern’ 20th century music.
Karita Mattila in Janacek’s ‘Makropulos Case’ at the Met
JH writes: Reminds me of a book I read long ago “This Immortal…..or call me Conrad” by Zelazny. Avery strange book. Also a little of the old Jew in a “Canticle for Leibowitz” by Miller.
30 June 2015: Vale writes ‘The Gnarly Man” by L. Sprague DeCamp may be the oldest immortal character yet – if you haven’t read this classic 1930s science fiction story I won’t spoil his identity for you, but he is tens of thousands of years old.’
30 Oct 2015: Ricardo R, an old friend of this blog writes, Is it bias or nobody remembered “She, who must be obeyed” of Alan Quatermain fame? Although in fact for “spread of history vision”
arguments could be made if she could be on the list. On the other hand the biggest of human creations should be on the list: God himself and all the entourage of devils and angels. But if
we start with the religious theme it will get endless I suppose.
