The grail [antikvár]

Quest for the eternal The symbol of the Grail has occupied a place in the imagination since awareness of it first dawned in the European Middle Ages; and it continues to exert a fascination upon all who come within its sphere of influence. Yet there is no single, clearly defined image of the Grail, nor indeed evidence that it ever existed; opinions differ widely about the origins of the stories that have circulated in written form since the beginning of the twelfth century. Its outward shape is debated - it may be a cup, a shallow dish, a stone or a jewel - yet most agree that it is a profound and mysterious thing, perhaps worth giving up the whole of one's life to find, even in the knowledge that the search may be fruitless. It was this quest that dominated the stories of the Grail throughout the Middle Ages, and no matter what form the quest took, the objective remained the same: a spiritual goal representing inner whorteness, union with the divine, self-fulfilment. The scene is usually set in a far-off country of Paradisial status, where the Grail is housed in a temple on top of a mountain, surrounded by water and protected by obstacles which only the chosen few can overcome. Its guardian is both a priest and a king, at once alive and dead; and the rewards of the hero successful in the quest are good fortune, blessings and (sometimes) the hand of the king's daughter. These elements are the basic matter of the story, and are to be found, in varying forms, in a world-wide mythological context, by no means always Christian - for though the Grail became firmly entrenched in the western imagination as a symbol of Christ's teaching, it can be shown that a considerable amount of the imagery originated in eastern cultures. But before we can begin to separate the many strands that constitute the life of the symbol, it is necessary to remind ourselves of the story as it has come down to us by way of the mediaeval texts. They tell us almost all we know of the Grail's outward history, and it is from them that the following narrative is reconstructed. The story begins with Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy Jew to whose care Christ's body is given for burial and who, according to some stories, also obtains the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. While he is washing the body to prepare it for the tomb, some blood flows from the wounds which he catches in this vessel. After the disappearance of the body, Joseph is accused of stealing it, is thrown into prison and deprived of food. Here