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The Iliad: the Poem of Zeus
The Iliad: the Poem of Zeus
Pietro Pucci
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The scholarly tendency has too often weakened the conspicuous novelty and originality that characterizes Zeus in the Iliad. This book remedies that tendency and depicts the extraordinary figure of Zeus: lord (or impersonation) of lightning and thunders, exclusive master of human destiny --and therefore of human history--and chief of Olympus. This unique personality endowed with polyvalent powers represents itself the conflict between superhuman moral indifference for mortal destiny and anthropomorphic feelings for human beings: he both preordains the death of his son and weeps on his demise. Zeus embodies the Mysterium tremendum. This new Zeus cannot glance at the past image that the tradition painted of him without smiling at its simplicity and disrespect: a parodic or amusing tone surrounds him as he refers or is referred to aspects of his traditional image. The great characters of the Poem give two wise responses to Zeus, lord of destiny: "heroic death" or serene acceptance. We, the readers, are expected to react in the same way.
Categories:
Year:
2018
Publisher:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Language:
English
ISBN 10:
3110602458
ISBN 13:
9783110602456
ISBN:
9783110602456,3110602458
Series:
Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes 66
Your tags:
Homer -- Iliad -- Criticism and interpretation;heroism;myth;destiny;Iliad;Zeus
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