Two French Thinkers on Gods and Literature: Jerphagnon and Calasso
Two recent publications explore the relationship between humanity and the divine through philosophy and literature. Lucien Jerphagnon's posthumous "L'Homme qui riait avec les dieux" (Albin Michel) examines ancient Greek thought on death, time, and eternity, arguing that reason and myth are distinct but not mutually exclusive. He discusses how Greek poets like Pindare and Euripides framed the question of time, and how philosophers from Pythagoras to Socrates addressed immortality. Roberto Calasso's reissued "La Littérature et les dieux" (Tel/Gallimard) traces the presence of gods in literature from Homer onward, asserting that gods have become "fugitive guests" in literature. Calasso identifies a primordial scene on an Attic cup from the Peloponnesian War showing a young man writing, a severed head, and Apollo, concluding that literature always involves at least three actors: the hand that writes, the voice that speaks, and the god who watches and imposes.
Key facts
- Lucien Jerphagnon's 'L'Homme qui riait avec les dieux' published posthumously by Albin Michel.
- Roberto Calasso's 'La Littérature et les dieux' reissued by Tel/Gallimard.
- Jerphagnon was a historian of ancient philosophy who died in 2011.
- Jerphagnon argues that Greek poets like Pindare and Euripides posed the question of time most clearly.
- Pythagoras of Samos proposed metensomatosis, the soul migrating between bodies.
- Socrates believed death liberates the immaterial soul, with eternal happiness proportional to good deeds.
- Calasso states that gods are 'fugitive guests of literature' and that every age is one where gods have almost vanished.
- Calasso references linguist Jacob Wackernagel on the lack of a vocative case for 'theos' in Greek.
- An Attic cup from the Peloponnesian War period depicts a young man writing, a severed head, and Apollo.
Entities
Artists
- Lucien Jerphagnon
- Roberto Calasso
- Pindare
- Euripides
- Pythagoras of Samos
- Socrates
- Homer
- Jacob Wackernagel
- Vincent Roy
Institutions
- Albin Michel
- Tel/Gallimard
- artpress
Locations
- Ambracie
Sources
- artpress —