This latin phrase means "A father cannot disinherit his son unless..." However, notice again that Faustus interrupts the reading in order to offer his opinion. This suggests that Faustus believes that he is more intelligent than the authorities that he has studied.

This Latin phrase means, "If something is bequeathed to two persons, one shall have the thing itself, the other something of equal value." Notice that Faustus ends this phrase with an "etc," suggesting that he does not finish reading the passage but rather trails off before he gives his comments on it.

Faustus finds medicine problematic because it does not offer him enough power. He could not use it to raise the dead from their graves or give everlasting life to his patients. These are two powers that Marlowe's Early Modern audience would have recognized as powers unique to Jesus Christ. This implicit comparison shows that Faustus envisions himself with godlike power.

This Latin phrase means "the purpose of medicine is the body's health." Notice that before he states this, Faustus considers medicine for its ability to make him rich and give him a famous legacy (if he discovers a wondrous cure). The juxtaposition of Faustus's perception of medicine and the purpose he reads on his medical textbook demonstrates Faustus's vanity, greed, and arrogance.

This Latin phrase means "where the philosopher leaves off the physician begins." Galen was the ancient authority on medicine and his theories were the foundation of Early Modern medicine. Having dismissed philosophy as below his level of wit, Faustus begins to contemplate pursuing medicine.

"On cay mae on" is Latin for "being and not being." This is a tongue and cheek way to refer to philosophy that demonstrates Faustus's intelligence.

Analytics is the title of Aristotle's treatise on logic. This phrase in Latin means "to carry on a debate well is the end or purpose of logic." Notice that Faustus kind of misses the point of this phrase when he translates it to mean, "arguing is the point of logic" when Aristotle is instead talking about debating, discussion fueled by opposing positions.

By "commenced" Faustus means that he has now received his doctoral degree. He begins this scene trying to decide what to do with his life now that he has achieved the highest level of education.

Notice that Faustus recognizes the danger in his actions. He mentions the death that comes with engaging in necromancy and decides that power is more important to him. This end to Scene 1 simultaneously foreshadows Faustus's tragic end and demonstrates the character's careless vanity.

Pietro d'Abano was a 13th century alchemist. Alchemy was the medieval practice of trying to transform matter, specifically valueless stones like granite into precious materials like gold. It was a seemingly mysterious process in which people were thought to magically create something out of nothing.

Roger Bacon was a Franciscan friar, philosopher, and a scientist in the 13th century. He is now remembered for his use of empirical science and Aristotle's scientific method, however, in the Early Modern period, he was thought to be a wizard who engaged in black magic.

"Want" in this context means to lack. This is a rhetorical question that signifies that Cornelius believes that these three men will want for nothing if they engage in necromancy.

The Delphian Oracle was the most powerful and famous priest in ancient Greece who was able to communicate with the gods. This oracle originated to worship Gaea the goddess of the earth. But it soon passed to Apollo. The site of the oracle became one of the most famous shrines to Apollo in the summer and Dionysus in the winter when Apollo was absent.

Here, Valdas compares Prince Philip of Spain's treasury, rich with silver and gold from the New World, to the Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. Jason and his band of Argonauts went on a quest to find the Golden Fleece because it was a symbol of authority and kingship. King Pelias sent Jason to find it so that he could claim rightful kingship to the throne of Iolcus and was only able to complete his mission with the help of Medea.

Almain rutters are German horsemen. Valdes's list of similes here demonstrates the physical nature of all of his fantasies. he cannot conceptualize the power he seeks without comparisons to power in the physical world.

In the Catholic tradition, canonization was the formal recognition of a martyr or holy person as a saint. Here Valdes claims that Faustus's excellent wit and learning of necromancy will canonize them in many nations, even though necromancy was seen as extremely sacrilegious. Notice how religion and dark magic are conflated and mixed in this play.

Cornelius could be an allusion to Cornelius Agrippa, a German author who wrote The Vanity and Uncertainty of Arts and Sciences. He was believed to have the power to call shades or shadows back from the dead.

Musaeus was a legendary singer and the son of Orpheus. He was looked up to by other souls in Elysian, and featured in Virgil's Aeneid.

Agrippa was a Roman statesman and close advisor of Octavian. He is remembered for his military prowess in battles against Antony and Cleopatra, and the renovation of Rome. He repaired the aqueducts, and provided public services for every social class. He also created multiple baths, porticoes, and the Pantheon.

By ravished Faustus means "transported in spirit with strong emotion; captivated. However, this word also means carried or dragged away by force, raped, and violated. The double meaning of this word is interesting because it highlights the tension between Faustus's expectations and the reality of his involvement with magic: he believes that he is being enriched and livened with the practice of necromancy, when in fact these actions will cause him to be forcibly dragged to hell.

These are Faustus's friends who are already practitioners of magic. Like all of the other characters in this play, except for Mephistophilis, Valdes and Cornelius appear in one scene and disappear for the rest of the play.

The "Prince of Parma" was the Spanish governor general of the Low Countries, modern Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Germany, from 1579-1592.

Wittenberg was on the bank of the Elbe River. Faustus it talking about changing geography to fit his means instead of allowing nature to dictate its own form.

The Good Angel and the Bad Angel appear to Faustus throughout this play and represent a literary trope called psychomachia. Psychomachia is the embodiment of the battle over one's soul: generally a "Good Angel" that represents Christianity battles a "Bad Angel" that represents Paganism. Generally the angels stand on opposing sides of the character experiencing the crisis and offer the character arguments to resolve his crisis.

Jove is the Roman god also known as Jupiter. He was the god of the sky and father of all of the gods, much like Zeus in the Greek tradition. Notice that the Evil Angel invokes Pagan imagery, then considered sacrilegious, to convince Faustus to keep going.

This statement is ironic. While Faustus believes that he will become a "deity" by practicing necromancy, in reality the only "deity" he will gain is the Devil.

These are the qualities that Faustus was looking for and did not find in his consideration of other professions. Notice that all of these traits are condemned as sinful in the Christian tradition. This established Faustus as the anti-Christian hero, very different from the main characters of other plays at this time.

After dismissing all legitimate forms of study and profession, Faustus picks up necromancy books and decides that they are "heavenly." Faustus rhetorically replaces theology and church practices with dark magic.

This Latin phrase means "If we claim not to have sinned, we are liars and there is no truth in us." In the Christian tradition, the idea of Original Sin holds that all men are marked with the sins of Adam and Eve, who defied God in the Garden of Eden. Thus, men must accept Christ in order to be redeemed from their cursed birth. Thus claiming one has no sin is inherently a lie because men are inherently sinners.

This Latin phase means "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Notice that in Faustus's interpretation of the lines he only focuses on the first half of the phrase rather than the heart of the line—that piety will reward itself in everlasting life.

Jerome's Bible, or the Vulgate Bible, was a Latin translation of the Bible by Saint Jerome in the 4th century. Faustus's final consideration is theology after he has dismissed all other disciplines.

Justinian I was the Byzantine Emperor from 482-565. In his Institutiones, Justinian proposed a complete revision of Roman law known as the Corpus Juris Civilis, which is the basis for modern day civil law. In turning to Justinian, Faustus begins to contemplate the law.