Legacy

What really matters? The answer to that question depends on who you ask. For King Eumenes II it was simple: culture and glory. Between 180-160 B.C. he commissioned an incredible work of art to tell the origin of his kingdom. The picture above includes a section of this art. It is a marble frieze that portrays a mythical figure named Telephus. It is told that Telephus was the son of a priestess of Athena named Auge who was committed to a life of chastity. Telephus was fathered by Hercules who either seduced her or raped her, depending on which version of the story you are reading. In the picture, you can see the figures making a boat. This was because Auge’s father, Aleus, was mortified and sent both, the baby Telephus and his daughter, adrift in the sea to appease Athena’s wrath. Despite this, Telephus survived, grew up and, supposedly, founded the kingdom that King Eumenes now ruled. The king wanted the divine origins of his city prominently displayed so he commissioned the frieze to tell the tale.

The frieze by itself is rare work of art. However, Eumenes II was not done. The story of Telephus could not be viewed by the casual passer-by. It surrounded a massive altar to the Greek gods, where sacrifices were burned in mass. An artist has pictured what this would have looked like based on the ruins.

The Telephus frieze was meant to be an artistic homage to the divine heritage of King Eumenes’ city. Culture and glory, indeed.

You are probably wondering what city this is. It isn’t Rome. It isn’t Athens. It is the city that Revelation 2 calls Pergamum. When Jesus gives his assessment of Pergamum he does not laud its art and culture. He tells John to write this to the city’s Christians, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet, you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” Clearly, Jesus does not think highly of the city of Pergamum.

What I see is a contrast of two legacies. For one, you have a king who wanted to identify his rule with a story featuring rape and child abandonment. Then, the worship of pagan deities is fixed as a constant in a city which already has monuments to Zeus and Athena.

The other legacy is that of the Christians at Pergamum. For these believers, there are no magnificent friezes of artistic beauty. There are no grand structures. You can’t find ruins of what they left behind. You can’t visit an entire museum dedicated to their work like you can of Eumenes’ masterpiece (It’s in Berlin, ironically, not Pergamum).

For the world, this is a huge loss. King Eumenes has a name which has gone down in history. He built wonders of beautiful, white marble. The believers of Pergamum have nothing…nothing except a white stone of their own. To the believers in Pergamum who are faithful, Jesus says, “…I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone…” (Revelation 2:17). The church has no specific legacy that people remember. However, their legacy is not enjoyed by men in museums, but by their heavenly savior. He remembers their name, and even gives them a new one! The world can get wrapped up in the culture and glory of human achievement, but this will not last. The “glory” of Pergamum was Satanic and awful. The glory of Christ will last for eternity and the believers of Pergamum will be worshipping him long after the last marble statue crumbles to dust.