The Myth of Sisyphus: Renaissance Theories of Human PerfectibilityThe myth of Sisyphus symbolizes the idealization of human excellence as a perpetual process of becoming over the impossibility of absolute achievement. In Stoic philosophy, the writing of the Early Church Fathers, and in its allegorical interpretations in medieval and renaissance mythologies, Sisyphus is the archetypal model of human perfectibility. This Sisyphean archetype is a principal theme in renaissance theories of astral magic in the works of Pico, Ficino, Reuchlin, Paracelsus, Agrippa, and Dee. Erasmus, Melanchthon, and Ascham, and in utopian thought from More to Bacon. Sisyphus illuminates the sacred mysteries of life in the works of Philo Judaeus, Plato, Nicholas Cusanus, and Ficino; the spiritual and sensual contraries of love in the dialogues of Leone Ebreo, Bembo, and Bruno; and the tribulations of the unrequited lover in the works of Petrarch, Ronsard, and Sidney. |
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Page 16
... revealed by the Holy Spirit through its divine agency of celestial powers that interact with the imagination . Based on the assumption that all physical and spiri- tual beings are unified in their purified form , astral magic is the ...
... revealed by the Holy Spirit through its divine agency of celestial powers that interact with the imagination . Based on the assumption that all physical and spiri- tual beings are unified in their purified form , astral magic is the ...
Page 19
... revealed by their con- frontations with the ambiguous moral qualities and creative skills of their own nature . Throughout the classical , medieval , and Renaissance periods the human aspiration to perfectibility is dependent on the ...
... revealed by their con- frontations with the ambiguous moral qualities and creative skills of their own nature . Throughout the classical , medieval , and Renaissance periods the human aspiration to perfectibility is dependent on the ...
Page 29
... revealed all that he witnessed . The enraged river god " rushed out " to the island , but Zeus escaped by transforming himself into a large black rock.H Although he satisfied the angry river god and brought great benefit to his fellow ...
... revealed all that he witnessed . The enraged river god " rushed out " to the island , but Zeus escaped by transforming himself into a large black rock.H Although he satisfied the angry river god and brought great benefit to his fellow ...
Page 32
... revealed their own forms of physical and moral dis- order manifest in the procreative infidelities of Zeus and the dire conse- quences that faced his consorts from the revengeful nature of Hera , as well as the capricious nature of ...
... revealed their own forms of physical and moral dis- order manifest in the procreative infidelities of Zeus and the dire conse- quences that faced his consorts from the revengeful nature of Hera , as well as the capricious nature of ...
Page 37
... reveal human destiny that must be obeyed irre- spective of its moral qualities . Both Homer and Hesiod portrayed the behavior of the gods as morally shameful , but they neither associated that immorality with the divine essense of the ...
... reveal human destiny that must be obeyed irre- spective of its moral qualities . Both Homer and Hesiod portrayed the behavior of the gods as morally shameful , but they neither associated that immorality with the divine essense of the ...
Contents
27 | |
50 | |
67 | |
86 | |
Sisyphus as Astral Magician | 110 |
Sisyphus as Humanist | 136 |
Sisyphus as Lover | 193 |
Sisyphus as Hero | 313 |
Notes | 427 |
Bibliography | 544 |
Index | 597 |
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The Myth of Sisyphus: Renaissance Theories of Human Perfectibility Elliott M. Simon No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
achieve actual Aeschylus appears archetypal argues ascending aspirations assertion attempt attributes authority beauty become believed beloved body Books Cambridge Chicago Christian created creative cyclical death descending desire divine earthly edited English Erasmus eternal evil excellence existence experience expression faith fall forms frustrated gods grace heart hero heroic human being's human perfectibility idea ideal identified imagination imperfect inspired intellectual interpretation John justice Knight knowledge labor language Laura laws living London lover magic means mind moral mysteries myth myth of Sisyphus nature never Oxford perfectibility perpetual person Petrarch Philip philosophy physical poem poet Poetry Princeton punishment Queene quest rational reason Reformation Renaissance reveal rhetorical rock-burden sensual Sidney Sisyphean Sisyphus social society soul Spenser spiritual Studies summit symbolizes things Thomas thought tion transcendent transformed Translated true truth ultimate University Press Utopia virtue vision whole wisdom York Zeus
Popular passages
Page 316 - Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Page 316 - Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin : but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Page 527 - And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil : and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever...
Page 525 - Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Page 525 - Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: (for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;) being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood...
Page 304 - Nature never set forth the earth in so rich tapestry as divers poets have done, neither with so pleasant rivers, fruitful trees, sweet-smelling flowers, nor whatsoever else may make the too much loved earth more lovely. Her world is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden.
Page 306 - Then, even of fellowship, O Moon! tell me, Is constant love deemed there but want of wit? Are beauties there as proud as here they be? Do they above love to be loved, and yet Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess ? — Do they call "virtue
Page 95 - And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven ; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Page 524 - O Goodness infinite, Goodness immense ! That all this good of evil shall produce, And evil turn to good...