Juliusz Slowacki's Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia

The importance of Juliusz Slowacki (1809-1849) as Poland's second greatest Romantic poet, after Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1856), is a platitude. Yet, in the English-speaking world, Slowacki receives little more than honorable mention even among students of Slavic literatures. The goal of the authors of Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia is to demonstrate Slowacki's use of Antiquity in his famous lyric, Agamemnon's Tomb, written in 1839. Since Antiquity is an essential part of the fabric of Romantic poetry, of all works of Polish Romanticism, Agamemnon's Tomb fits best into the larger framework of European Romanticism. It is grounded in the Ancient and therefore universal language of the epoch probably more than any other European Romantic poem. "If I am a poet, the air of Greece has made me one," Lord Byron once remarked. What is true of Byron is equally true of Slowacki and his literary output, where antique themes and elements flow like a torrent through virtually all his works. What makes Agamemnon's Tomb unique, however, is that it harnesses Antiquity as an interpretative minor for Slowacki's understanding of the history of Poland and the Polish national character.

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Juliusz Slowacki's Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia

The importance of Juliusz Slowacki (1809-1849) as Poland's second greatest Romantic poet, after Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1856), is a platitude. Yet, in the English-speaking world, Slowacki receives little more than honorable mention even among students of Slavic literatures. The goal of the authors of Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia is to demonstrate Slowacki's use of Antiquity in his famous lyric, Agamemnon's Tomb, written in 1839. Since Antiquity is an essential part of the fabric of Romantic poetry, of all works of Polish Romanticism, Agamemnon's Tomb fits best into the larger framework of European Romanticism. It is grounded in the Ancient and therefore universal language of the epoch probably more than any other European Romantic poem. "If I am a poet, the air of Greece has made me one," Lord Byron once remarked. What is true of Byron is equally true of Slowacki and his literary output, where antique themes and elements flow like a torrent through virtually all his works. What makes Agamemnon's Tomb unique, however, is that it harnesses Antiquity as an interpretative minor for Slowacki's understanding of the history of Poland and the Polish national character.

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Juliusz Slowacki's Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia

Juliusz Slowacki's Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia

Juliusz Slowacki's Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia

Juliusz Slowacki's Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia

Overview

The importance of Juliusz Slowacki (1809-1849) as Poland's second greatest Romantic poet, after Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1856), is a platitude. Yet, in the English-speaking world, Slowacki receives little more than honorable mention even among students of Slavic literatures. The goal of the authors of Agamemnon's Tomb: A Polish Oresteia is to demonstrate Slowacki's use of Antiquity in his famous lyric, Agamemnon's Tomb, written in 1839. Since Antiquity is an essential part of the fabric of Romantic poetry, of all works of Polish Romanticism, Agamemnon's Tomb fits best into the larger framework of European Romanticism. It is grounded in the Ancient and therefore universal language of the epoch probably more than any other European Romantic poem. "If I am a poet, the air of Greece has made me one," Lord Byron once remarked. What is true of Byron is equally true of Slowacki and his literary output, where antique themes and elements flow like a torrent through virtually all his works. What makes Agamemnon's Tomb unique, however, is that it harnesses Antiquity as an interpretative minor for Slowacki's understanding of the history of Poland and the Polish national character.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781587310171
Publisher: St. Augustine's Press
Publication date: 02/25/2019
Edition description: First Edition
Pages: 144
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Catherine O’Neil, graduate of the University of Chicago, is author of With Shakespeare’s Eyes: Pushkin’s Creative Appropriation of Shakespeare (2003) and for many years was editor of Pushkin’s Review. She is associate professor of Russian at the United States Naval Academy.

Zbigniew Janowski is author of Cartesian Theodicy (2000), Augustinian-Cartesian Index (2004; French edition 2000), How to Read Descartes’s Meditations (2011), and editor of Leszek Kolakowski’s The Two Eyes of Spinoza and My Correct Views on Everything.
 

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Agamemnon's Tomb: The Text 4

Sunset over Salamis: The Text 18

Introduction 24

Historical Background 30

Part 1 Poetic Background of Slowacki's Agamemnon's Tomb 35

Part 2 "Sing, O Muse": In the footsteps of Aeneas and Electra 38

Part 3 "Poland and Greece: Thermopylae? No, Chaeronea" 56

Part 4 The "Jovial Skull" and the Naked Hero 73

Part 5 Poland - the Parrot and Peacock of Nations 90

Part 6 "I say this because I am full of guilt myself" 98

Part 7 A Polish Oresteia. Literary Messianism 103

Part 8 A Note on Slowacki's Messianism 108

Part 9 Greek Connections: "Put a curse on your son and howl in pain" 120

Part 10 Conclusion 128

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Poetry
European Poetry
Other European Poetry
European poetry
Poetry
European Poetry
Other European Poetry
European poetry

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