Hyperion (poem)
Hyperion is an unfinished poem by the English romantic poet John Keats and. The poem is based on the war and the fall of the Titans of Greek mythology. Keats worked from 1818 to 1819 in the poem.
Characters and action
The Titans are a pantheon of gods, whose dominion was broken by the Olympians with Jupiter in the poem. The Titanic Pantheon consists of:
- Saturn ( King of the Titans )
- Ops ( his wife )
- Theia ( his sister )
- Enceladus (Titan / God of War )
- Okeanos (Titan / God of the Sea)
- Hyperion (Titan / god of the sun )
- Clymene ( a young Titan )
- Uranus (father of Saturn, the forefathers king of the sky)
Of course, Keats has used in his poem the English equivalents of the respective titanium names, so instead of Thea Theia and Oceanos instead of Okeanos.
The poem begins with Saturn's lament over the loss of his power which was put to him by Jupiter. Thea finds him and takes him to the other Titans, who ousted just now discussing whether they should fight the Olympians. Oceanos admits during this discussion that he is willing his power to give the Olympians Neptune, as this is far more beautiful than he himself. Clymene then describes their almost painful experience, when she heard the beautiful music of the Olympian Apollo. Finally Enceladus tries to persuade the other Titans to fight. The scene then changes to Hyperion, which has received only one of the Titans his power. The poem begins by describing his palace and then Uranus speech, asking Hyperion to go to the other Titans. The scene switches to Apollo, the new god of the sun - but at the same time god of music, culture and civilization - who cries on a beach. Mnemosyne joins him, and he tells her the reason for his tears. He was aware of his immense potential conscious, but was not in a position to use it. When he looks into her eyes, comes over him knowledge, and it is transformed completely into a god. Here the poem breaks off.
Later influence
The American writer Dan Simmons wrote from 1989 to 1990 his groundbreaking sci-fi epic The Hyperion songs, consisting of the novels Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. In both books, John Keats occurs as a personality reconstruction of the true poet. The stories are also peppered with quotes from Keats.
Literature
- John Barnard John Keats. . Cambridge University Press 1987 Chapter 4 Hyperion: ' Colossal Grandeur '
- Cedric Watts: A Preface to Keats. . Longman Group Limited 1985 Part two: The Art of Keats, The Influence of Milton: Hyperion.
- John Keats: Collected Poems. 3rd edition. Penguin Classics 1988.