Apollons oprør - de udødeliges historie

by Villy Sørensen

Den græske mytologi gendigtet i 24 muntre og spændende beretninger og kommenteret i 24 betragtninger, der udvider perspektivet.

Genres: Danish

123 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Villy Sørensen (13 January 1929 – 16 December 2001) was a Danish short-story writer, philosopher and literary critic of the Modernist tradition. His fiction was heavily influenced by his philosophical ideas, and he has been compared to Franz Kafka in this regard. He is the most influential and important Danish philosopher since Søren Kierkegaard.

Born in Copenhagen, Sørensen graduated from the Vestre Borgerdydskole in 1947, and then attended the University of Copenhagen and the University of Freiburg studying philosophy. Although he did not graduate, he later received an honorary degree from the University of Copenhagen.

Sørensen published his first collection of short stories, Strange Stories in 1953, which many critics have identified as being the start of Danish literary Modernism. He published additional collections of short stories in 1955 and 1964, all winning various awards in Denmark. These stories generally explored the absurd and hidden parts of the human psyche.

Sørensen began editing the journal Vindrosen (with Klaus Rifbjerg) in 1959. Afterward, he became a member of the Danish Academy in 1965, subsequently editing several other Modernist journals and periodicals. Sørensen, though he continued to produce short fiction throughout his life, was also deeply engaged in philosophy, about which he wrote many essays and several books including Seneca: The Humanist at the Court of Nero and his response to Søren Kierkegaard's Either/Or, Hverken-eller (i.e. "Neither/Nor"). He also published books and essays about Nietzsche, Kafka, Marx, Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard, and was a notable translator of over 20 books. He was awarded the Grand Prize of the Danish Academy in 1962, The Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 1974, the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1983, the inaugural Swedish Academy Nordic Prize in 1986, along with many other awards and recognitions. He died in Copenhagen in 2001.

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

En helt fantastisk bok. Min favorit alla kategorier, betyg 10 av 5 möjliga. Det här är den bok jag skulle välja att ta med mig till en öde ö. Läste den flera gånger när den var ny, kunde inte få nog. Det var länge sedan. När jag nu läser om den blir jag precis lika fascinerad.

Sörensen är filosofen som tydligen grävt sig ner i alla källor kring grekiska myter och gudar, och vaskat fram en kronologi, från världens skapelse, via Zeus maktövertagande, i en tid av sjöfart och ridande erövringar, fram till de filosofiska grekernas favoriserande av Apollon, Zeus son som skiljer sig avsevärt från övriga grekiska gudar, och deras häftiga passioner. Dionysos dök visserligen upp på slutet, för att balansera Apollon, ett hellenistisk rus.

Boken är precis så filosofiskt kontemplativ som jag vill ha dem. Den består av 24 'berättelser', dvs mytologiska stadier återberättade, som alla följs av filosofiska betraktelser, dvs kommentarer som fördjupar förståelsen, och även tar upp motsägelser, förväxlingar, påståenden som ibland hävdats, men som vi kan vederlägga som felaktiga.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short summary of all Greek myth from the theogony to the end of the Oresteia. Sørensen is not as witty as Fry nor as thorough as Vandiver and he remixes or subverts some of the myths in a somewhat playful way that makes the book less useful as an introduction to the myths.