The Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian mythology whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century.
The original legend concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming. The exact nature of the wanderer's indiscretion varies in different versions of the tale, as do aspects of his character; sometimes he is said to be a shoemaker or other tradesman, while sometimes he is the doorman at Pontius Pilate's estate.
Read more about Wandering Jew: Name, In Ideology (19c. and After), On Stage, and In Other Media
Famous quotes containing the words wandering and/or jew:
“We all indulge in the strange, pleasant process called thinking, but when it comes to saying, even to someone opposite, what we think, then how little we are able to convey! The phantom is through the mind and out of the window before we can lay salt on its tail, or slowly sinking and returning to the profound darkness which it has lit up momentarily with a wandering light.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“Being a Jew is like walking in the wind or swimming: you are touched at all points and conscious everywhere.”
—Lionel Trilling (1905–1975)