History Literature / TheHomunculusOfMaimonides

'''The Homunculus of Maimonides''' is an Eastern European [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} Jewish]] folk tale first written down in the ''Sippurim'' by Wolf Pascheles in 1847. It concerns the historical Maimonides, a Late 12th Century rabbi and man of science, and his fictional attempt to resurrect a man he had killed for the purpose of the experiment. The tale is a product of the Maimonidean Controversy, which is a centuries-spanning series of debates regarding Maimonides and his views on Judaism. It is [[PropagandaPiece evidently from the anti-Maimonides camp]], because the man is depicted far from positively and eventually suffers the rest of his life for it.

Maimonides's fame as a doctor draws the interest of an ambitious young Londoner, who sets out to become Maimonides's equal. To gain access to Maimonides's secrets, the young man pretends to be a pitiful and mute beggar eager for a job as servant. He proves himself so competent that Maimonides has him assist with each of his experiments. In addition to what he learns there, he reads the doctor's works behind his back so that in only a few years his knowledge is on par with Maimonides's. The deception ends when Maimonides is called to the court to cure a courtier. While he does correctly identify the nature of the ailment, his solution would be fatal. Thus, Maimonides's assistant finally speaks to warn his master and remind him of the correct treatment he himself has written about. Given the beneficial outcome of the assistant's deceit, the doctor forgives him and makes him his co-researcher proper. Eventually, Maimonides proposes an experiment to make someone immortal, which requires killing them and letting the parts soak in a special concoction for a while. It is to be one of them and they cast lots for the unenviable role. The assistant comes out as the guinea pig and at first all goes well. Then Maimonides begins worrying about the consequences of his experiment. In the final days, Maimonides gets around the vow by releasing an animal into the room, which knocks over the container holding the assistant, ending the experiment. Maimonides buries the remains and flees, but wherever he goes all people, Jewish or not, treat him with hostility.

* WorldTree: The sap of the Tree of Life is one of the ingredients needed to revive a human and make them immortal. It's not said how Maimonides got his hands on some (assuming it's not just a poetic name for something less esotoric).

The story is closely related to ''Maimonides and the Study of Medicine'' and variations, in which it is Maimonides who is the assistant. His master, a brilliant doctor, needs the help of a student but won't allow any to surpass him and thus kills them after a year of service until Maimonides gets the better of him. The (supposed) resurrection method is in line with tales such as the one of [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Isis and Osiris]], [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Medea and Pelias]], and ones about Creator/{{Virgil}}'s and [[UsefulNotes/{{Alchemy}} Paracelsus]]'s deaths. Depending on the version, Maimonides kills the student out of jealousy as the master would do in ''Maimonides and the Study of Medicine'' or he has a crisis of conscience that echoes the self-destructive reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Ben Sira in the ''Commentary on the Secret of the Tetragrammaton''.

Maimonides's fame as a doctor draws the interest of an ambitious young Londoner, who sets out to become Maimonides's equal. To gain access to Maimonides's secrets, the young man pretends to be a pitiful and mute beggar eager for a job as servant. He proves himself so competent that Maimonides has him assist with each of his experiments. In addition to what he learns there, he reads the doctor's works behind his back so that in only a few years his knowledge is on par with Maimonides's. The deception ends when Maimonides is called to the court to cure a courtier. While he does correctly identify the nature of the ailment, his solution would be fatal. Thus, Maimonides's assistant finally speaks to warn his master and remind him of the correct treatment he himself has written about. Given the beneficial outcome of the assistant's deceit, the doctor forgives him and makes him his co-researcher proper. Eventually, Maimonides proposes an experiment to make someone immortal, which requires killing them and letting the parts soak in a special concoction for a while. It is to be one of them and they cast lots for the unenviable role. The assistant comes out as the guinea pig and at first all goes well. Then Maimonides begins doubting about what he's doing and worries about the consequences. In the final days, Maimonides gets around the vow by releasing an animal into the room, which knocks over the container holding the assistant, ending the experiment. Maimonides buries the remains and flees, but wherever he goes all people, Jewish or not, treat him with hostility.

The story is closely related to ''Maimonides and the Study of Medicine'' and variations, in which it is Maimonides who is the student. His master, a brilliant doctor, needs the help of a student but won't allow any to surpass him and thus kills them after a year of service until Maimonides gets the better of him. The (supposed) resurrection method is in line with tales such as the one of [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Isis and Osiris]], [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Medea and Pelias]], and ones about Creator/{{Virgil}}'s and [[UsefulNotes/{{Alchemy}} Paracelsus]]'s deaths. Depending on the version, Maimonides kills the student out of jealousy as the master would do in ''Maimonides and the Study of Medicine'' or he has a crisis of conscience that echoes the self-destructive reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Ben Sira in the ''Commentary on the Secret of the Tetragrammaton''.

Although ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' was published three decades before the ''Sippurim'', ''The Homunculus of Maimonides'' itself is an older tale if of unknown age. Despite the similarities between the two creatures and their circumstances, the homunculus's relation to FrankensteinsMonster, if any, is unknown.

Title notwithstanding, the student is as much a [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]] as he is an [[TheUndead undead]], a {{golem}}, and he even shares an aspect with the mandrake.[[Note]]The usage of an animal to "harvest" the student brings to mind the usage of a dog to harvest a mandrake.[[/Note]] How much he leans to any of them depends on the version.

The story is closely related to ''Maimonides and the Study of Medicine'' and variations, in which it is Maimonides who is the student. His master, a brilliant doctor, needs the help of a student but won't allow any to surpass him and thus kills them after a year of service until Maimonides gets the better of him. The (supposed) resurrection method is in line with tales such as the one of [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Isis and Osiris]], [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Medea and Pelias]], and ones about Creator/{{Virgil}}'s and [[UsefulNotes/Alchemy Paracelsus]]'s deaths. Depending on the version, Maimonides kills the student out of jealousy as the master would do in ''Maimonides and the Study of Medicine'' or he has a crisis of conscience that echoes the self-destructive reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Ben Sira in the ''Commentary on the Secret of the Tetragrammaton''.

'''The Homunculus of Maimonides''' is an Eastern European [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} Jewish]] folk tale first written down in the ''Sippurim'' by Wolf Pascheles in 1847. It concerns the historical Maimonides, a Late 12th Century rabbi, philosopher, and scientist, and his fictional attempt to resurrect a man he had killed for the purpose of the experiment. The tale is a product of the Maimonidean Controversy, which is a centuries-spanning series of debates regarding Maimonides and his views on Judaism. It is [[PropagandaPiece evidently from the anti-Maimonides camp]], because the man is depicted as gullible, fallible, and arrogant beyond belief, and eventually suffers the rest of his life for it.

Maimonides's fame as a doctor draws the interest of an ambitious young Londoner, who makes his way to Cordova to become Maimonides's equal. To gain access to Maimonides's secrets, the young man pretends to be a pitiful and mute beggar eager for a job as servant. He proves himself so competent that Maimonides has him assist with each of his experiment. In addition to what he learns there, he reads the doctor's works behind his back so that in only a few years his knowledge is on par with Maimonides's. The deception ends when Maimonides is called to the Spanish court to cure a courtier. While he does correctly identify the nature of the ailment, his solution would be fatal. Thus, Maimonides's assistant finally speaks to warn his master and remind him of the correct treatment he himself has written about. Given the beneficial outcome of the assistant's deceit, the doctor forgives him and makes him his co-researcher proper. Eventually, Maimonides proposes an experiment to make someone immortal, which requires killing them and letting the parts soak in a special concoction for nine months. It is to be one of them and, after swearing that the living one will see the experiment through, cast lots. The assistant comes out as the guinea pig and for the first seven months of the experiment all goes well. Then Maimonides begins doubting about what he's doing and worries about the (theological) consequences of having a man who defies death walking around. In the final days of the eighth month, he brings his case to the Great Council. The rabbis decide that Maimonides should break his vow for the greater good. Maimonides gets around the vow by releasing a cat and a dog into the room, who in agitation knock over the container holding the assistant, ending the experiment. Maimonides buries the remains and flees to Egypt, but wherever he goes all people, Jewish or not, treat him with hostility.

The title is a tad misleading, because the creature takes aspects not just from the [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]], but also from the {{golem}} and the mandrake, the latter going by the fact that the usage of a cat and a dog to "harvest" the homunculus brings to mind the usage of a dog to harvest a mandrake. In particular, Maimonides's crisis of conscience echoes the self-destructive reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Sira in the ''Commentary on the Secret of the Tetragrammaton''.

* AlchemyIsMagic: In reality, the ''Sefer Yetzirah'' is about the LanguageOfMagic, but ''The Homunculus of Maimonides'' wouldn't be the first to recast it as a manual of alchemy. In full, the experiment described within that grants immortality instructs one to "kill a healthy man, cut his body into pieces, and place the pieces in an airless glass container. Sprinkle upon them an essence gathered from the sap of the Tree of Life and the balsam of Immortality, and after nine months the pieces of this body will be living again." From the way Maimonides saw the remains develop, it's certain the setup would've worked if left to run its course.
* AnimalJingoism: Maimonides shoos a cat and a dog into the room with the glass container, because it's inevitable they'll go at each other's throats and oh-so-unfortunately damage the glass container during their fight.

** The courtier literally has a worm sucking on his brain. His skull needs to be cut open to remove it. Maimonides almost removes the worm by force, which would've caused fatal brain damage. Instead, a plant is held next to the brain so that the worm leaves willingly to nibble on the leaves.

* BrainFood: The courtier's illness is due to a worm in his head that's sucking on his brain.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The assistant is essentially rebirthed in an alchemical womb, nine months development time included. For all intents and purposes, Maimonides performs a late term abortion.
* ExactWords: The promise was that the living researcher would under no circumstances damage the glass container to end the experiment before the dead researcher's revival. So Maimonides lets a cat and a dog do the work for him.

* {{Golem}}: The usage of the ''Sefer Yetzirah'', the pretend-muteness of the student early on, the need for two researchers, and the necessity to destroy the creature, make the titular homunculus part of the golem tradition.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Of the well-deserved kind. This story does have a propaganda angle, after all. Maimonides and his assistant start out wealthy and renowned. But when they shoot for immortality, the assistant ends up dead and Maimonides an outlaw.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Quite literally. Maimonides starts doubting during the seventh month of the experiment and the doubt only gets worse and worse. He realizes he is risking heresy by creating a human who could replace God. And in the end, he understands he will have to both kill and break his vow to set things sort of right.
* NoNameGiven: No character but Maimonides is named. This is egregious in regards to the assistant, who otherwise is given plenty of detail.

* PeopleJars: The glass container in which the immortal-to-be is kept for nine months. The descriptions of how things develop inside aren't pretty.
* SecretlyWealthy: The assistant is the son of a rich businessman in London. He keeps this secret from Maimonides at first.

* Golem: The usage of the ''Sefer Yetzirah'', the pretend-muteness of the student early on, the need for two researchers, and the necessity to destroy the creature, make the titular homunculus part of the golem tradition.

* AnimalJingoism: Maimonides shoos a cat and a dog into the room with the glass container, because it's inevitable they'll go at each other's throats and it's likely they'll oh-so-unfortunately damage the glass container during their fight.

The title is a tad misleading, because the creature takes aspects not just from the [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]], but also from the {{golem}} and the mandrake, the latter going by the fact that the usage of a cat and a dog to "harvest" the homunculus brings to mind the usage of a dog to harvest a mandrake. In particular, Maimonides's crisis of conscience clearly echoes the self-destructive reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Sira in the ''Commentary on the Secret of the Tetragrammaton''.

* AlchemyIsMagic: In reality, the ''Sefer Yetzirah'' is about the LanguageOfMagic, but in the tale it's all but said to be a manual of alchemy. In full, the experiment described within that grants immortality instructs one to "kill a healthy man, cut his body into pieces, and place the pieces in an airless glass container. Sprinkle upon them an essence gathered from the sap of the Tree of Life and the balsam of Immortality, and after nine months the pieces of this body will be living again." From the way Maimonides saw the remains develop, it's certain the setup would've worked if left to run its course.

** The assistant gets cut up to start the process of immortality. In the fourth month, Maimonides takes a look and sees the severed meat had restructured itself. In the fifth month, the meat is back to to a singular if rudimentary human form. In the sixth month, the arteries and nerves are visible. In the seventh month, the organs become functional. And in the eighth month, the face is nearly done. ''Nearly''. Maimonides is "unable to bear the demonic grin".

The title is a tad misleading, because the creature takes aspects not just from the [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]], but also from the {{golem}} and the mandrake, the latter going by the fact that the usage of a cat and a dog to "harvest" the homunculus brings to mind the usage of a dog to harvest a mandrake. In particular, Maimonides's crisis of conscience clearly echoes the self-destructive reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Sira in ''The Secret of the Tetragrammaton''.

The title is a tad misleading, because the creature takes aspects from multiple construct traditions and not just [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculi]]. Traits it shares with the alchemical creature include the artificial womb it develops in and the human intellect it would've had. Other traits, such as the usage of the ''Sefer Yetzirah'', the pretend-muteness of the student early on, the need for two researchers, and the necessity to destroy the creature, make the titular homunculus part of the {{golem}} tradition.[[note]]Maimonides's crisis of conscience is nearly identical to the reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Sira.[[/note]] Lastly, the usage of a cat and a dog to "harvest" the homunculus brings to mind the usage of a dog to harvest a mandrake.

Maimonides's fame as a doctor draws the interest of an ambitious young man from London, who travels all the way to Cordova to become Maimonides's equal. Aware that Maimonides wouldn't just up and give him access to his biggest secrets, the young man pretends to be a pitiful and mute beggar eager for a job as servant. He proves himself so competent that Maimonides has him assist with each experiment. In addition to what he learns there, he reads the doctor's works in secret so that in only a few years his knowledge is nearly equal to that of Maimonides. The deception ends when Maimonides is called to the Spanish court to cure a courtier. While he does correctly identify the cause of the disease, his solution would end up killing the patient. Thus, Maimonides's assistant finally speaks to warn his master and remind him of the correct treatment he himself has written about already. Given the beneficial outcome of the assistant's deceit, the doctor forgives him and makes him his co-researcher proper. Eventually, Maimonides proposes an experiment to make someone immortal, which requires killing them, cutting them up, and letting the parts soak in a special concoction for nine months. It is to be one of them and, after swearing that the living one will not prematurely end the experiment, cast lots. The assistant comes out as the guinea pig and for the first seven months of the experiment all goes well. Then Maimonides begins doubting about what he's doing and worries about the (theological) consequences of having a man who defies death walking around. In the final days of the eighth month, he brings his case to the Great Council. The rabbis decide that Maimonides should break his vow for the greater good. Finding a way around his vow during the ninth month, Maimonides releases a cat and a dog into the room, who in agitation knock over the container holding the assistant, ending the experiment. Maimonides buries the remains and flees to Egypt, but wherever he goes all people, Jewish or not, treat him with hostility.

The title is a tad misleading, because the creature takes aspects from multiple construct traditions and not just [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculi]]. Traits it shares with the alchemical creature include the artificial womb it develops in and the human intellect it would've had. Other traits, such as the usage of the ''Sefer Yetzirah'', the pretend-muteness of the student early on, the need for two researchers, and the necessity to destroy the creature, make the titular homunculus part of the {{golem}} tradition.[[note]]Specifically, Maimonides's crisis of conscience is nearly identical to the reasoning of the golem created by Jeremiah and Sira.[[/note]] Lastly, the usage of a cat and a dog to "harvest" the homunculus brings to mind the usage of a dog to harvest a mandrake.

Maimonides's fame as a doctor draws the interest of an ambitious young man from London, who travels all the way to Cordova to become Maimonides's equal. Aware that Maimonides wouldn't just up and give him access to his biggest secrets, the young man pretends to be a pitiful and mute beggar eager for a job as servant. He proves himself so competent that Maimonides has him assist with each experiment. In addition to what he learns there, he reads the doctor's works in secret so that in only a few years his knowledge is nearly equal to that of Maimonides. The deception ends when Maimonides is called to the Spanish court to cure a courtier. While he does correctly identify the cause of the disease, his solution would end up killing the patient. Thus, Maimonides's assistant finally speaks to warn his master and remind him of the correct treatment he himself has written about already. Given the beneficial outcome of the assistant's deceit, the doctor forgives him and makes him his co-researcher proper. Eventually, Maimonides proposes an experiment to make someone immortal, which requires killing them, cutting them up, and letting the parts soak in a special concoction for nine months. It is to be one of them and, after swearing that the living one will not prematurely end the experiment, cast lots. The assistant comes out as the guinea pig and for the first seven months of the experiment all goes well. Then Maimonides begins doubting about what he's doing and worries about the (theological) consequences of having a man who defies death walking around. Finally, in the final days of the eighth month, he brings his case to the Great Council. The rabbis decide that Maimonides should break his vow for the greater good. Finding a way around his vow during the ninth month, Maimonides releases a cat and a dog into the room, who in agitation knock over the container holding the assistant, ending the experiment. Maimonides buries the remains and flees to Egypt, but wherever he goes all people, Jewish or not, treat him with hostility.

'''The Homunculus of Maimonides''' is an Eastern European [[UsefulNotes/Judaism Jewish]] folk tale first written down in the ''Sippurim'' by Wolf Pascheles in 1847. It concerns the historical Maimonides, a Late 12th Century rabbi, philosopher, and scientist, and his fictional attempt to resurrect a man he had killed for the purpose of the experiment. The tale is a product of the Maimonidean Controversy, which is a centuries-spanning series of debates regarding Maimonides and his views on Judaism. It is [[PropagandaPiece evidently from the anti-Maimonides camp]], because the man is depicted as gullible, fallible, and arrogant beyond belief, and eventually suffers the rest of his life for it.

'''The Homunculus of Maimonides''' is an Eastern European Jewish folk tale first written down in the ''Sippurim'' by Wolf Pascheles in 1847. It concerns the historical Maimonides, a Late 12th Century rabbi, philosopher, and scientist, and his fictional attempt to resurrect a man he had killed for the purpose of the experiment. The tale is a product of the Maimonidean Controversy, which is a centuries-spanning series of debates regarding Maimonides and his views on Judaism. It is [[PropagandaPiece evidently from the anti-Maimonides camp]], because the man is depicted as gullible, fallible, and arrogant beyond belief, and eventually suffers the rest of his life for it.