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daximus's review against another edition
5.0
A worthy read. This text - is magnificent, if unfinished. Claudian is certainly a poet of excess, and his descriptions trail and trail and trail, mirrored within the content of the poem itself by the endlessly detailed construction of the world by Persephone´s hands. He is, if nothing else, descriptive, and each scene bleeds with beauty and feeling, subtext and sublime invigoration.
Example subtext and context:
¨first Lachesis, her hair unkempt and disordered, thus called out upon the cruel king: “Great lord of night, ruler over the shades, thou at whose command our threads are spun, who appointest the end and origin of all things and ordainest the alternation of birth and destruction; arbiter thou of life and death¨
So much is at play here already.
Fates portrayed as subservient to Hades establishing a parallel context to Zeus ¨Moiragetes¨ (Leader of the Fates) as at times, in mythology, he is the father of them and controller of their decisions, the connection bringing to mind the obvious epithet of Hades that is ¨Zeus Cthonius¨, or simply that he is the Zeus of the Underworld/of the Earth. With such a reference playing in the mind, the shock of the scene is established quickly and smoothly - if Hades controls the Fates, and has the army of a world to rouse into action, then he is, indeed, a Zeus, and like any other Zeus he is going to fall upon some unsuspecting maiden or lad. Identification breeds similarity, or vice versa, but either way it is a wonderful foreshadowing - especially when Zeus, later on, says directly ¨Such is my will; thus let the unchangeable fates fulfil my decree¨, and when his thunderbolt accords to the desires of Hades.
¨if thou refuse to hearken to my word I will throw open Hell and call forth her monsters, will break Saturn’s old chains and shroud the sun in darkness.¨
Hades direct challenge to Zeus accentuates the implication of their parity in their respective worlds here, and also presented is what seems like a Near-Eastern reference - compare here to Ishtar´s
¨but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts; there will be confusion of people, those above with those from the lower depths.¨
And note that both scenarios occur in the absence of Love - Gilgamesh refuses Ishtar´s love (rudely, but also correctly), and Hades, is, obviously, alone at this point. Note also here Ereshkigal´s request for love - I cannot help but wonder how much of this is natural, and how much of it was simply the genius of Claudianus.
Ultimately, to Claudius, it seems this whole excursion is the space for Zeus´ refutation of the Golden Age of Mankind under Kronos, a reassertion of his power in the world that currently is. No longer is it the case that men die and become guardians of spirit (as Plato says), but instead the Lord of Death makes his power known in the Underworld and on Earth, ruling men beneath the ground and walking wanton and free. No longer can it be that the Earth gives men food freely, or even is consistent - now, we approach the days of work, and hard winter. Like Persephone, our eternal chastities, and the seemingly endless and carefree days of our youths must come to a quick and terrible end - our mothers leave us to take place with their mothers before them, we become wives, husbands, parents, and vie in contests of love, feel betrayed and see our families rarely, and, altogether, are exposed to the brutal reality of death in all its power. But these things are, if not good, at least important - these are the things that make us adults, instead of children. In consigning Persephone to Hades, Zeus becomes, even more than he already is, the architect of a new age - of struggle, but also, of change.
read here: https://www.theoi.com/Text/ClaudianProserpine.html
Example subtext and context:
¨first Lachesis, her hair unkempt and disordered, thus called out upon the cruel king: “Great lord of night, ruler over the shades, thou at whose command our threads are spun, who appointest the end and origin of all things and ordainest the alternation of birth and destruction; arbiter thou of life and death¨
So much is at play here already.
Fates portrayed as subservient to Hades establishing a parallel context to Zeus ¨Moiragetes¨ (Leader of the Fates) as at times, in mythology, he is the father of them and controller of their decisions, the connection bringing to mind the obvious epithet of Hades that is ¨Zeus Cthonius¨, or simply that he is the Zeus of the Underworld/of the Earth. With such a reference playing in the mind, the shock of the scene is established quickly and smoothly - if Hades controls the Fates, and has the army of a world to rouse into action, then he is, indeed, a Zeus, and like any other Zeus he is going to fall upon some unsuspecting maiden or lad. Identification breeds similarity, or vice versa, but either way it is a wonderful foreshadowing - especially when Zeus, later on, says directly ¨Such is my will; thus let the unchangeable fates fulfil my decree¨, and when his thunderbolt accords to the desires of Hades.
¨if thou refuse to hearken to my word I will throw open Hell and call forth her monsters, will break Saturn’s old chains and shroud the sun in darkness.¨
Hades direct challenge to Zeus accentuates the implication of their parity in their respective worlds here, and also presented is what seems like a Near-Eastern reference - compare here to Ishtar´s
¨but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts; there will be confusion of people, those above with those from the lower depths.¨
And note that both scenarios occur in the absence of Love - Gilgamesh refuses Ishtar´s love (rudely, but also correctly), and Hades, is, obviously, alone at this point. Note also here Ereshkigal´s request for love - I cannot help but wonder how much of this is natural, and how much of it was simply the genius of Claudianus.
Ultimately, to Claudius, it seems this whole excursion is the space for Zeus´ refutation of the Golden Age of Mankind under Kronos, a reassertion of his power in the world that currently is. No longer is it the case that men die and become guardians of spirit (as Plato says), but instead the Lord of Death makes his power known in the Underworld and on Earth, ruling men beneath the ground and walking wanton and free. No longer can it be that the Earth gives men food freely, or even is consistent - now, we approach the days of work, and hard winter. Like Persephone, our eternal chastities, and the seemingly endless and carefree days of our youths must come to a quick and terrible end - our mothers leave us to take place with their mothers before them, we become wives, husbands, parents, and vie in contests of love, feel betrayed and see our families rarely, and, altogether, are exposed to the brutal reality of death in all its power. But these things are, if not good, at least important - these are the things that make us adults, instead of children. In consigning Persephone to Hades, Zeus becomes, even more than he already is, the architect of a new age - of struggle, but also, of change.
read here: https://www.theoi.com/Text/ClaudianProserpine.html
clitullus's review
5.0
“ovid on lsd,” to quote my advisor. what the actual fuck is this (unfinished) epic!!!!! damn fine latin poetry.
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