Apotheosis (pronounced uh-poth-ee-oh-sis (U) or ap-uh-thee-uh-sis (non-U))
(1) The elevation or exaltation of a person to
the rank of a god.
(2) An example of an ideal; epitome;
quintessence.
(3) The highest achievement of a person or
institution.
(4) The highest point in the development of
something; a culmination or climax.
(5) A glorified ideal; the realization of the apex or pinnacle (of a
concept, construction or belief).
(6) In some Christian writings, a (sometimes blessed)
release from earthly life, ascension to heaven; death; a technical synonym for the
earthy death which precedes the soul rising to Heaven; the abbreviation in the texts
was apoth.
(7) In psychology, the latent entity which mediates
between a person's psyche and their thoughts (best known in the example of the id,
ego and superego in Freudian psychology.
1570-1580: From the Late Latin apotheōsis (deification (especially of
an emperor or royal personage)), from the Ancient Greek ἀποθέωσις (apothéōsis),
from the verb ἀποθεόω
(apotheóō) (to deify”). The surface
analysis apo- + theo- + -sis
may be deconstructed as a factitive verb formed by the intensive prefix ἀπο- (apo-)
+ θεός (theós) (God) + -σις (-sis) (the suffix which formed nouns of
action), the popular form in later Medieval texts being apotheoun (deify, make someone a god) and all forms were related to
the primitive Indo-European root dhēs
-, forming words for religious concepts which may have been an extension of the
root dhe- (to set, put). The verb apotheosize (exalt to godhood, deify)
emerged circa 1760 and begat the inevitable apotheosized & apotheosizing,
the extinct earlier (1670s) version being apotheose. From the Late Latin & Church Latin other
European languages picked up the word, the variations including the Catalan apoteosi, the French apothéose, the Galician apoteose, the Italian apoteosi, the Occitan apoteòsi, the Portuguese apoteose and the Spanish apotheosis. Apotheosis is a noun, apotheosize is a verb
and apotheotic is an adjective; the noun plural is apotheoses.
In the Roman Empire, apotheosis was a process
whereby a dead ruler was declared divine by his successor. Usually, the Senate passed a decree in
accordance although, even at the time, it was often regarded a tawdry political
trick by a new Emperor attempting to identify with a popular predecessor. Time has not lessened the attraction for politicians and names like Reagan and Churchill are often invoked by those who'd like some of the lustre to reflect on them (although Mr Trump seems happy to mention only the more distant Washington and Lincoln). Worse still was declaring divine a deceased
dill: a work of satire attributed to the Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger
(Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 4 BC–65 AD) was The Apocolocyntosis (divi) Claudii (literally “The Pumpkinification
of the divine Claudius”) which details the death of the Roman emperor Claudius and his
judgement before the gods, the list of his crimes and failings so long that he’s
cast down to the underworld. Among
scholars of Antiquity, there has been debate about whether Seneca really wrote
the piece because among his many essays on politics, morality and philosophy,
it’s the solitary satire and it’s thought he may have lent his name to give the
piece some intellectual respectability.
Divas: Maria Callas (1923-1977), Chicago, 1955 (left), Lindsay Lohan (b 1986), Los Angeles, 2009 (centre) & Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (b 1981), London, 2018 (right).
An expired emperor's deceased loved ones could
also be deified and posthumously, they were awarded the title Divus (or Diva if a women). Classic Roman religion distinguished between
a real god (of which the Romans had many) called deus and mortals defied through apotheosis who were called divus.
The label diva has long been used to describe highly-strung sopranos but
in the modern age it’s applied also to pop-singers, reality-TV stars and the
odd “difficult duchess”. In Greek mythology
there were mortals who became gods and many cultures embraced the idea, Hinduism
by the million and most famously, until 1945 the Emperor was a “living God and
the most honorable son of heaven”. The
three great monotheist faiths differ somewhat.
Islam is the clearest in that there is but one God in heaven and his
greatest and final prophet was Muhammad (circa 570–632) who
spoke through divine guidance but was flesh & blood. In Judaism there is only one God and he has a
special relationship with the Jews because of the covenant with them, the Jews
believing (there are a few heretics however) that their Messiah has yet to
appear on Earth but that day will come. Christianity,
predictably perhaps, is the most open to interpretation because of the notion
of Jesus Christ as both earthy flesh & the second divine being of the
Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit). Thus, among Christian sects and cults which
have come and gone, there's always been a bit of theological wriggle-room.
The Gullwing’s apotheosis
In the churning world of the collector car
market, the ecosystem of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W198) is noted for the
benchmarks set in the prices for which they sell. They were produced as both a coupé
(1954-1957) with the memorable gullwing doors and a roadster (1957-1963) and in
the context of the multi-million dollar used car business, were actually made
in quite substantial numbers, some 1400 Gullwings and 1858 roadsters made. One quirk of the 300 SL has always been that
unusually, it’s the roadster which has always sold for less, such is
the allure of those exotic doors.
Unexpectedly, the orthodoxy was almost overturned. In 2018, a 1963 300 SL Roadster with just 1372 km (852 miles) on the odometer attracted US$3.7 million at auction in France, making it the most expensive roadster ever sold, nudging the record (US$4.2) set in 2012 by a 1955 aluminum Gullwing. It was well above expectations but even apart from it being barely used, it was an exceptional example because it came with both the factory hardtop and soft-top (still untouched in its original shipping crate) and, as one of the few dozen made in the last year of production, it included the all-aluminum engine and the notable (and overdue) addition of four-wheel disc brakes. Another thing which would have attracted collectors is that based on the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), just ten more were built before the line ended.
However, the record didn’t last long because early in 2022, one of the twenty-nine aluminum-bodied Gullwings sold at auction in the US for US$6.825 million which does sound impressive but in what may be a sign of these troubled times, the bids actually failed to reach the estimates of US$7-8 million. Long known as the Weckerlé Alloy because it was originally ordered by Joseph Weckerlé, the factory’s agent in Casablanca, the provenance of chassis 5500332 was close to impeccable, the 1955 car retaining its Sonderteile (special parts (NSL)) engine with tweaked fuel-injection and a more aggressive camshaft, gaining fifteen horsepower. Additionally, it was fitted with the much admired Rudge knock-off wheels, the only deviations of note from the original Leichtmetallausführung (light-alloy design) specification being a replacement (1957) gearbox and glass windows which at sometime had replaced the thinner plexiglass units. A newly trimmed, fitted-luggage set (something of a fetish in the Gullwing world) was also included.
Trumping all these results however was a world-record which not only set the mark for Gullwings but became the most expensive car ever sold. In June, 2022, at a private auction conducted in the Mercedes-Benz factory museum in Stuttgart, one of the two 1955 300 SLR (W196S “Uhlenhaut”) coupés went under the hammer for US$143 million. The 300 SLR (W196S) was a sports car, nine of which were built to contest the 1955 World Sportscar Championship. Essentially the W196 Formula One car with a body and the straight-eight engine enlarged from 2.5 to 3.0 litres (152 to 183 cubic inches), the roadster is most famous for the run in the 1955 Mille Miglia in Italy which was won over a distance of 992 miles (1597 km) with an average speed of almost 100 mph (160 km/h); nothing like that has since been achieved. There's infamy too attached to the 300 SLR; one being involved in the catastrophic crash and fire at Le Mans in 1955. The two 300 SLR Gullwings were intended to be run in the 1955 Carrera Panamericana Mexico but were rendered instantly redundant when both the event and the Mercedes-Benz racing programme was cancelled after the Le Mans disaster. The head of the competition department, Rudolf Uhlenhaut (1906-1989), added an external muffler to one of the coupés, registered it for road use (such things were once possible when the planet was a happier place) and used it for a while as his company car. It was then the fastest road-car in the world, an English journalist recording a top speed of 183 mph (295 km/h) on a quiet stretch of autobahn but Uhlenhaut paid a price for the only partially effective muffler, needing hearing aids later in life. So the relationship to the W198 road cars is distant but such is the resemblance the Uhlenhaut coupés have always been thought the Gullwing’s apotheosis.
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