The phrase Shirt of Flame refers either to a specific form of the poison dress trope in folklore, or to a particular type of clothing given to people about to face burning at the stake.
Creusa (daughter of Creon) drew the attentions and favor of the hero Jason, and in revenge the sorceress Medea gave her a shirt or dress to wear, which Medea had cursed to stick to her body and burn her to death.
They [Jason and Medea] went to Corinth, and lived there happily for ten years, till Creon, king of Corinth, betrothed his daughter Glauce to Jason, who married her and divorced Medea. But she invoked the gods by whom Jason had sworn, and after often upbraiding him with his ingratitude she sent the bride a robe steeped in poison, which when Glauce had put on, she was consumed with fierce fire along with her father, who went to her rescue. [1]
Heracles, who was both a hero and god, was killed by the Shirt of Nessus, which was also a Shirt of Fire. Heracles used an arrow poisoned with the blood of a Lernaean Hydra to kill the Centaur Nessus. As he lay dying, Nessus told the wife of Heracles, Deianeira, that a shirt stained with his blood would insure the faithfulness of her husband. [2] She gave the shirt, a chiton, to Heracles, and when he put it on, the poisoned shirt began to burn him so much, that he made his own funeral pyre and leaped upon it.
According to legend, a cursed mantle was among the items used by Morgan Le Fey to attempt to kill King Arthur.
The next morning there arrived a damsel at the Court with a message from Morgan le Fay, saying that she had sent the King her brother a rich mantle for a gift, covered with precious stones, and begged him to receive it and to forgive her in whatever she might have offended him. The King answered little, but the mantle pleased him, and he was about to throw it over his shoulders when the lady of the lake stepped forward, and begged that she might speak to him in private. 'What is it?' asked the King. 'Say on here, and fear nothing.' 'Sir,' said the lady, 'do not put on this mantle, or suffer your Knights to put it on, till the bringer of it has worn it in your presence.' 'Your words are wise,' answered the King, 'I will do as you counsel me. Damsel, I desire you to put on this mantle that you have brought me, so that I may see it.' 'Sir,' said she, 'it does not become me to wear a King's garment.' 'By my head,' cried Arthur, 'you shall wear it before I put it on my back, or on the back of any of my Knights,' and he signed to them to put it on her, and she fell down dead, burnt to ashes by the enchanted mantle. Then the King was filled with anger, more than he was before, that his sister should have dealt so wickedly by him. [3]
During the Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, many early Christians were executed by being doused with tar, pitch and oil, and set alight in Rome. According to Tacitus, the Roman Emperor Nero used Christians as human torches. As such, they martyrs wore the metaphorical "Shirt of Flame" as they were consumed. Often they were stripped and forced to wear a Tunica molesta or "annoying shirt" that was impregnated with oil, that was also a "Shirt of Flame". "The tunica molesta, or flaming shirt, was commonly used to execute criminals in ancient Greece and Rome." [4]
In Roman Catholic countries such as France, Italy and Spain, heretics after their trial were confined until the execution. The shirt of flame in the auto-da-fe under the Inquisition also was worn at different times through the centuries. Often the outfit for those to be burned were funny hats, and a shirt or tabard with flames, and sometimes imps and demons, sewn upon them. These images were used to terrify the convicted heretics, as well to subject them to ridicule and abuse as they were paraded to the place of execution.
In Spain, special clothing such as the sanbenito was worn as part of their penance. Often made of yellow or faded sackcloth, these shirts used special symbols, including the Cross of Saint Andrew, for the convicted. The humiliation of the shirt of flame outfit was part of the punishment, and also was used to warn others of the penalties of nonconformity in faith, speech and practice.
Under the De heretico comburendo of 1401, heretics in England would be executed by burning at the stake. Many Protestants were later sentenced to "death by burning" in 16th-century England because of their faith. A number of them were ministers to small congregations, who were arrested and tried for heresy. Sometimes, they were given a special "Shirt of Flame" to wear under their clothes. Then, just before their execution, they were stripped to their underclothes, which would be this special shirt.
When he was sentenced to death by burning, John Bradford was give a special shirt by a Mrs. Marlet, for whom he had previously written a devotional work. This was a clean shirt that was sewn specifically for the burning, made in the style of a wedding shirt. "This clothing with a new shirt to wear at the stake became a common feature at the burnings, a way of signaling support for and honouring the victim, as though he were being dressed as a bridegroom for a wedding." Also, the ceremonial donning of the shirt of flame could be seen as similar to the priest donning his vestments, thus subverting Catholic ritual. "...and so the martyr might pray over and kiss the shirt before putting it on... underlining their oneness with Christ and the fact they were willing to die..." [5]
The white gown or Shirt of Flame used by Protestant martyrs was modeled in part on the long white garments worn by the martyrs "of the great tribulation" in heaven, as mentioned in chapter seven of the Bible's Book of Revelation. "9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands... 13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." [6]
Oscar Wilde, in his letter "De Profundis," written from prison, writes: "The martyr in his shirt of flame may be looking on the face of God, but to him who is piling the faggots or loosening the logs for the blast the whole scene is no more than the slaying of an ox is to the butcher, or the felling of a tree is to the charcoal burner in the forest, or the fall of a flower to one who is mowing down the grass with a scythe."
T. S. Eliot, after his conversion to Anglicanism, wrote in "Little Gidding" (one of his Four Quartets ): "Love is the unfamiliar Name / Behind the hands that wove / The intolerable shirt of flame / Which human power cannot remove." [7]
Heracles, born Alcaeus or Alcides, was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon. He was a descendant and half-brother of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι), and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well.
Jason was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He was also the great-grandson of the messenger god Hermes, through his mother's side.
In Greek mythology, Medea is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, appearing in Hesiod's Theogony around 700 BCE, but is best known from Euripides's tragedy Medea and Apollonius of Rhodes's epic Argonautica. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, but also as a witch, and is often depicted as a priestess of the goddess Hecate.
Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira, also known as Dejanira, is a Calydonian princess in Greek mythology whose name translates as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her husband". She was the wife of Heracles and, in late Classical accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned Shirt of Nessus. She is the main character in Sophocles' play Women of Trachis.
Creon, is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus.
In Greek mythology, Iole was the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia. According to the brief epitome in the Bibliotheca, Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed by Heracles for a bride, but Eurytus refused her hand in marriage. Iole was indirectly the cause of Heracles' death because of his wife's jealousy of her.
In Greek mythology, Glauce, Latin Glauca, refers to different people:
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides. It is based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and was first produced in 431 BC as part of a trilogy; the two other plays have not survived. The plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering his new wife as well as her own two sons, after which she escapes to Athens to start a new life.
In Greek mythology, Nessus was a famous centaur who was killed by Heracles, and whose poisoned blood in turn killed Heracles. He was the son of Centauros. He fought in the battle with the Lapiths and became a ferryman on the river Euenos.
In Greek mythology, the Shirt of Nessus, Tunic of Nessus, Nessus-robe, or Nessus' shirt was the poisoned shirt that killed Heracles. It was once a popular reference in literature. In folkloristics, it is considered an instance of the "poison dress" motif.
Women of Trachis or The Trachiniae c. 450–425 BC, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles.
Medea is a 1969 Italian film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, based on the ancient myth of Medea. Filmed in Göreme Open Air Museum's early Christian churches, Pisa, and the Citadel of Aleppo, it stars opera singer Maria Callas in her only film role. She does not sing in the movie.
Médée is a tragédie mise en musique in five acts and a prologue by Marc-Antoine Charpentier to a French libretto by Thomas Corneille. It was premiered at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris on December 4, 1693. Médée is the only opera Charpentier wrote for the Académie Royale de Musique. The opera was well reviewed by contemporary critics and commentators, including Sébastien de Brossard and Évrard Titon du Tillet, as well as Louis XIV whose brother attended several performances, as did his son; however, the opera only ran until March 15, 1694, although it was later revived at Lille.
The Capture of Oechalia is a fragmentary Greek epic that was variously attributed in Antiquity to either Homer or Creophylus of Samos; a tradition was reported that Homer gave the tale to Creophylus, in gratitude for guest-friendship (xenia), and that Creophylus wrote it down.
Medea in Corinto is an 1813 opera in Italian by the composer Simon Mayr. It takes the form of a melodramma tragico in two acts. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the Greek myth of Medea and the plays on the theme by Euripides and Pierre Corneille. The same subject had formed the basis for Luigi Cherubini's famous opera Médée (1797) which may have had an influence on Mayr's work. Medea in Corinto was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 28 November 1813 and was Mayr's greatest theatrical success.
The tale known as "The Poison Dress" or "Embalmed Alive" features a dress that has in some way been poisoned. This is a recurring theme throughout legends and folktales of various cultures, including ancient Greece, Mughal India, and the United States. Although lacking evidence suggesting that some American urban legends are directly linked to the classical tales, they share several common motifs.
Medea is a 1988 Danish tragedy television film directed by Lars von Trier. It is based on Carl Theodor Dreyer's adaptation of Euripides' play Medea.
Medea is a fabula crepidata of about 1027 lines of verse written by Seneca the Younger. It is generally considered to be the strongest of his earlier plays. It was written around 50 CE. The play is about the vengeance of Medea against her betraying husband Jason and King Creon. The leading role, Medea, delivers over half of the play's lines. Medea addresses many themes, one being that the title character represents "payment" for humans' transgression of natural laws. She was sent by the gods to punish Jason for his sins. Another theme is her powerful voice that cannot be silenced, not even by King Creon.
In Greek mythology, Creon, son of Lycaethus, was a king of Corinth and father of Hippotes and Creusa or Glauce, whom Jason would marry if not for the intervention of Medea.
In Greek mythology, Creusa or Glauce, Latin Glauca, was a princess of Corinth as the daughter of King Creon.