Orpheus

Charles Segal surveys the literary treatment of the Orpheus myth as the myth of the essence of poetry - the ability to encounter the fullest possible intensity of beauty and sorrow and to transform them into song. The first half of the book concentrates on the ancient literary tradition, from the myth's Greek origins through the influential poetic versions of Ovid and Virgil and its treatment by other Latin authors such as Horace and Seneca. Later chapters focus on the continuities of the myth in modern literature, including the poetry of H.D., Rukeyser, Rich, Ashbery, and, especially, Rilke. Segal's leitmotif throughout is the relation of poetry to art, love and death, the "three points of the Orphic triangle". Through close readings of individual texts, he shows how various versions of the myth oscillate between a poetry of transcendence that asserts its power over the necessities of nature - including the ultimate necessity, death - and a poetry that celebrates its immersion in the stream of life.

ISBN 0801847206   Pages 250 ISBN13 9780801847202 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press   Weight (grammes) 380 Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press   Published in Baltimore, MD Format Paperback   Height (mm) 229 Publication date 01 Aug 1993   Width (mm) 152 Non-book description soft-bound cover on acid-free paper   Spine width (mm) 16 DEWEY 881.0109351   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly DEWEY edition DC20

"Human beings in general, like Segal in particular, revisit the myth of Orpheus from age to age, revising old meanings and devising new. Those in our age should be grateful to Segal for his preoccupation. One may take issue with particular passages, but who could rival the breadth and depth of the whole score?"--'Classical Views'

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