St Simon of Cyrene was an ordinary eggler who was impressed by indolent imperial Romans into assisting Jesus in the act of carrying his cross to Calvary (as depicted in the 5th station of the cross). One gnostic apocrypha holds that along the way by some bumbling mis-fortune, Simon and Jesus got mixed up by the Romans leading to Simon's crucifixion in Jesus' place. Which is a sort of grim black joke that does not quite fit the style of the new testament in general ( while the old testament on the other hand...). Another gnostic tale holds that by some vaguely defined form of empathetic telepathy Simon felt the anguish of Christ on the cross, and after Jesus' expiration, found that his eggs had been covered in delightful and colorful patterns. Thus the easter tradition. As one text analyzing various gnostic versions of the testaments puts it: "Substantive evidence for this legend is weak."
