The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature

Phoenix ◽  
1950 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Gilbert Norwood ◽  
Gilbert Highet
Author(s):  
Bernat Castany Prado

Castany Prado’s chapter offers a fuller understanding of Borges’s cosmopolitanism, which has been influential in contemporary Western literature in general, and, more specifically, in postnational Latin American literature. The author traces the roots of cosmopolitanism back to the teachings of the Cynics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Neo-Platonists, before identifying their literary projections in contemporary Hispanic literature. He then argues that the postnational paradigm is neither the direct result of recent globalization processes, nor can it be understood in solely internationalist terms; rather, it is heir to a millennia-long tradition of philosophical cosmopolitanism. This is especially important in the area of postnational Latin American literature, for which, according to Castany Prado, Borges constitutes a decisive influence.


1950 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
William C. Grummel ◽  
Gilbert Highet

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-226
Author(s):  
Maciej Junkiert

This article aims to examine the Polish literary reception of the French Revolution during the period of Romanticism. Its main focus is on how Polish writers displaced their more immediate experiences of revolutionary events onto a backdrop of ‘ancient revolutions’, in which revolution was described indirectly by drawing on classical traditions, particularly the history of ancient Greeks and Romans. As this classical tradition was mediated by key works of German and French thinkers, this European context is crucial for understanding the literary strategies adopted by Polish authors. Three main approaches are visible in the Polish reception, and I will illustrate them using the works of Zygmunt Krasiński (1812–1859), Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849) and Cyprian Norwid (1821–1883). My comparative study will be restricted to four works: Krasiński's Irydion and Przedświt (Predawn), Słowacki's Agezylausz (Agesilaus) and Norwid's Quidam.


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