The name Mephistopheles is a corrupted Greekcompound.[2]
The Greek particle of negation (μή, mē) and the Greek word for "love" or "loving" (φίλος, philos) are the first and last terms of the compound, but the middle term is more doubtful. Three possible meanings have been proposed, and three different etymologies have been offered:
"not loving light" (φῶς, phōs; the old form of the name being Mephostopheles)
"not loving Faust"
mephitic, pertaining to poisonous vapors arising from pools, caverns, and springs.[2]
MEPHISTO_PHILES in the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana, attributed to FaustMephistopheles and Margaretta, wooden double sculpture, c. 1876
Mephistopheles is associated with the Faust legend of an ambitious scholar, based on the historical Johann Georg Faust. In the legend, Faust makes a deal with the devil at the price of his soul, Mephistopheles acting as the devil's agent.
The name appears in the late-sixteenth-century Faust chapbooks – stories concerning the life of Johann Georg Faust, written by an anonymous German author.
In the 1725 version, which Goethe read, Mephostophiles is a devil in the form of a greyfriar summoned by Faust in a wood outside Wittenberg.
From the chapbooks, the name entered Faustian literature. Many authors have used it, from Goethe to Christopher Marlowe. In the 1616 edition of Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Mephostophiles became Mephistophilis.
Although Mephistopheles appears to Faustus as a demon – a worker for Lucifer – critics claim that he does not search for men to corrupt, but comes to serve and ultimately collect the souls of those who are already damned. Farnham explains, "Nor does Mephistophiles first appear to Faustus as a devil who walks up and down on earth to tempt and corrupt any man encountered. He appears because he senses in Faustus' magical summons that Faustus is already corrupt, that indeed he is already 'in danger to be damned'."[4]
Mephistopheles is already trapped in his own Hell by serving the Devil. He warns Faustus of the choice he is making by "selling his soul" to the devil: "Mephistophilis, an agent of Lucifer, appears and at first advises Faust not to forego the promise of heaven to pursue his goals".[5] Farnham adds to his theory, "...[Faustus] enters an ever-present private hell like that of Mephistophiles".[6]
^Farnham, Willard (1969). Twentieth Century Interpretations of Doctor Faustus. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN978-0132163095.
^Krstovic, Jelena; Lazzardi, Marie, eds. (1999). "Plot and Major Themes". Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. 47. Detroit, Michigan: The Gale Group: 202.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von (2001). Hamlin, Cyrus (ed.). Faust: A Tragedy; Interpretive Notes, Contexts, Modern Criticism (Norton Critical ed.). New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN978-0-393-97282-5.