To go off at a wild tangent here - - not before remarking that I'm
following this thread with great interest & gratitude for the
opportunity both to learn about the original Greek form of Cavafy's
poems & become acquainted with 2 recent translations of same (preferring
the Economou on the whole, but also retaining an investment in the
Dalven versions & agreeing on the stiltedness of some of
Sherrard/Keeley's work) - - I'd like to direct your attention & I
suppose great enjoyment to a new use of the Eros/Psyche myth in the
great Japanese cartoon director Hayao Miyazaki 's *Howl's Moving
Castle* based upon a fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones (which I don't
know): an amazing & moving reflection on the awakening (and different
phases) of the female eros, with mirror stages aplenty & more
alternative worlds than *His Dark Materials*. It's certainly époustouflé
me - oh Beauty & the Beast! (beauty of the beast, beastly beauty, la
belle bêtise etc)...
mj
Alison Croggon wrote:
>Thanks Anny - I've often seen the word "trope" used in relation to painting
>in art criticism. I see (via my OED) that it applies specifically to music
>as well as rhetoric, but in English it gets applied widely in a casual way
>to embrace standard figures of expression in all media. I think my meaning
>- that Eros/Cupid, the boy god of love, appears commonly in European
>paintings - is perfectly clear.
>
>
>
>>And starting from Cranach the Old to Picasso (but way before Christ there
>>are plenty of depictions), Eros had different meanings, sometimes of Love
>>and sometimes of Eros, which are completely different. And each language I
>>mentioned previously has well defined meanings for the two, they might
>>interact (erotic love, loving eros) but they are distinct. I cannot speak of
>>Greek. This is what I meant.
>>
>>
>
>I'm not sure what you're saying here: Eros is love, just as Agape is. That
>these kinds of love might differ doesn't exile Eros from the party. Of
>course the meaning of Eros shimmers with contradictions and different
>interpretations in Gnostic and pagan mythologies, and yet again in
>Renaissance and modern symbology, but generally speaking, Eros' union with
>Psyche is a metaphor for the soul's introduction to life, sexual pleasure,
>delight, carnality and death. But isn't this what Cavafy is alluding to?
>
>Best
>
>A
>
>
>Alison Croggon
>
>Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
>Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
>Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
>
>
>
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