Enoch - the Modern Apocalyptic Hero. Contemporary Cultural Representations of the Biblical/Apocryphal Patriarch

Abstract

Enoch is an evasive character from the Bible (Genesis 5, 18-19; Jude 14-15; Hebrews 11,5). More is known about his mission for the rebel angels who sinned with the daughters of men and his subsequent elevation to heaven from the apocryphal Books of Enoch, the third version of which also informs us that for his righteousness the patriarch was promoted to become the mighty angel, Metatron. These books were written in Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek during the first few centuries, then they fell into oblivion, however, from the time of the Renaissance, scholars and mystical enthusiasts were looking for them in vain. It wasn’t until 1773 when the Scottish explorer of Africa, James Bruce managed to bring copies of the Book of Enoch (written in the Ethiopic language) to Europe and thus a new career of the patriarch started in the Western cultural sphere which is vigorously developing still today. My survey will start with William Blake’s famous and shocking drawings of Enoch and the promiscuous angels, but soon I will turn to postmodern interpretations of Enoch. I will talk about three theoretical works, one of radical-feminist and environmentalist theology by Margaret Barker, the other by a radical Afro-American evangelical, Khamit Kush, the third one by two freemasons, who in their Uriel’s Machine proposed to present Enoch as the original founder of their order. These are interesting and challenging scholarly, or pseudo-scholarly appropriations of Enoch, but I plan to go even further in my conclusion by looking at two contemporary novels (Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, 2005) and Alton Gansky’s Enoch, 2008) and a postmodern cult film (Kevin Smith’s Dogma) in which Enoch-Metatron features as an important character, angel, or concept. Wherever possible, I use visual illustrations and parallels and intend to concentrate on the iconological aspects of the mentioned cultural representations.