or is an accuser of his enemies; in essentials, this is the familiar formula of the per aspera ad astra, which we also find in connection with the heroes of the Greek world, and Heracles in particular. Of course, here to a great extent we are still moving in the sphere of the theological interpretation made by Mark, who presumably wrote his gospel shortly before AD 70. The masterly arrangement of the material at least is his work, even if, as I believe, he took over a much earlier account in his