la légende des siecles

Hobbe. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the famous English philosopher, is best known by
his defence of absolute monarchy. In ethics he held that man is swayed only by the
desire for pleasure and the fear of pain. Either of these views would be to Hugo a
system of despair.
Erèbe (Erebus) was originally one of the Titans who was cast by Zeus into Tartarus.
The word is thus used as a synonym for the lower world, especially those regions where
evil deeds are expiated.
fatalité. See note on L. 245.
géhenne. Gehenna was the valley near Jerusalem where crimmals were executed. In the
New Testament it is used as a synonym for hell.
Nimrod is again the embodiment of the spirit of war. Aaron typifies ecclesiastical
resistance to progress.
Beccaria was an Italian publicist (1738-94) who worked for the reform of the penal law.
His principal work was a small volume called Treatise on Crime and Punishment,
which was translated into nearly every language in Europe. His opposition to the use of
torture, to the infliction of the death penalty, and to arbitrary arrest no doubt appealed
specially to Hugo.
Dracon, i.e. Draco, the Athenian legislator, the memory of the excessive severity of
whose laws lingers in our adjective draconian.
Empédocle. Empedocles was a Greek philosopher who was born in Sicily about 450
B.C. He is best remembered from the tradition that he threw himself down Etna in
despair at his incapacity to solve the problem of its action.
Prométhée. Prometheus was the Titan who stole fire from heaven and gave it to men,
for which Zeus chained him to a rock in the Caucasus. In legend and poetry he figures
as the benefactor and civilizer of mankind.
pesanteur. See note on L. 305. l'antique idéal, the ancient visions, as for instance those
of Isaiah and Virgil, of a golden age.
farouche, i. e. that has never been realized.
L. 473. i. e. leaving the old humanity farther and farther behind.
LA TROMPETTE DU JUGEMENT.
buccin. See note on LA CONFIANCE.
blanchissant l'absolu, i.e. lighting up infinite space.
urne, used as the symbol of Destiny. See notes on PLEIN CIEL.