mythology, clear traces are still retained, not the least of which is the circumstance that the dying and resurrected gods are the lovers of their own mothers or have generated themselves through their own mothers. Christ as the “God becoming flesh” has generated himself through Mary; Mithra has done the same. These Gods are unmistakable Sun-gods, for the Sun also does this, in order to again renew himself. Naturally, it is not to be assumed that astronomy came first and these conceptions of gods afterwards; the process was, as always, inverted, and it is even true that primitive magic charms of rebirth, baptism, superstitious usages of all sorts, concerning the cure of the sick, etc., were projected into the heavens. These youths were born from the cave (the womb of mother earth), like the Sun-gods, in a new era, and this was the way they vanquished death. In this far they were immortal. It is now interesting to see how the Koran comes, after long ethical contemplations in the course of the same sura, to the following passage, which is of especial significance for the origin of the Chidher myth. For this reason I quote the Koran literally: “Remember when Moses said to his servant, ‘I will not stop till I reach the confluence of the two seas, or for eighty years will I journey on.’ “But when they reached their confluence they forgot their fish, and it took its way in the sea at will. “And when they had passed on, Moses said to his servant, ‘Bring us our morning meal, for now we have incurred weariness from this our journey.’ “He said, ‘What thinkest thou? When we repaired to the rock for rest, then verily I forgot the fish; and none but Satan made me forget it, so as not to mention it; and it hath taken its way in the sea in a wondrous sort.’ “He said, ‘It is this we were in quest of.’ So they both went back retracing their footsteps. “Then found they one of our servants to whom we had vouchsafed our mercy, and whom we had instructed with our knowledge;[369] “Moses said to him, ‘Shall I follow thee that thou teach me, for guidance of that which thou hast been taught?’ “He said, ‘Verily, thou canst by no means have patience with me; and how canst thou be patient in matters whose meaning thou comprehendest not?’”—Trans. Rodwell, page 188. Moses now accompanies the mysterious servant of God, who does divers things which Moses cannot comprehend; finally, the Unknown takes leave of Moses, and speaks to him as follows: “They will ask thee of Dhoulkarnein (the two-horned).[370] Say: ‘I will recite to you an account of him.’ “Verily, we established his power upon the earth and we gave him a means to accomplish every end, so he followed his way; “Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it to set in a miry forest; and hard by, he found a people....” Now follows a moral reflection; then the narrative continues: