 |
Oracle of the Holy Bottle, Bacbuc
near Cathay, in Upper Egypt. Books iv. and v. of Rabelais are
occupied by the search for this oracle. The ostensible object was to
obtain an answer to a question which had been put to sibyl and poet,
monk and fool, philosopher and witch, judge and “sort,” viz. “whether
Panurge should marry or not?” The whole affair is a disguised satire on
the Church. The celibacy of the clergy was for a long time a moot point
of great difficulty, and the “Holy Bottle” or cup to the laity was one
of the moving causes of the “great schisms” from the Roman Catholic
Church. The crew setting sail for the Bottle refers to Anthony, Duke of
Vendôme, afterwards king of Navarre, setting out in search of religious
truth. Bacbuc is the Hebrew for a bottle. The anthem sung before the
fleet set sail was When Israel went out of bondage, and all the
emblems of the ships bore upon the proverb “In vino veritas.” Bacbuc is both the Bottle and the priestess of the Bottle.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Oracle of the Holy Bottle Bacbuc from Infoplease:
|
|
