ABSTRACT
After staging a long debate between Antichrist and his two righteous opponents—the Old Testament worthies, Enoch and Elias—the Chester Coming of Antichrist suddenly introduces the archangel Michael. The words of the archangel signal a more profound change in the play's action as well, for now the Coming of Antichrist ceases to recapitulate scenes staged earlier in the Chester cycle and begins to foreshadow the final event of the cycle, doomsday. A better understanding of the serious meaning of the Coming of Antichrist and of its key structural role in the Chester cycle may depend upon a methodology which studies the play in conjunction with other works in the medieval Antichrist tradition. The escliatological role of Enoch and Elias in opposition to Antichrist is evident in the biblical sources of the medieval Antichrist legend. Exegetical and artistic works, however, generally place greater emphasis on the role of Elias.
