The Greek Poet Cavafy and History

This book presents a survey and evaluation of Cavafyâ (TM)s poetical work with an emphasis on his historical and didactic poems. The poet prefers to describe events while they are still in progress. We, the readers, know from History that the game is lost and we feel like wise men hearing â oethe mystic sound of the approaching eventsâ . We see the future of that era which is the past of our era. For the first time, the relation of Cavafyâ (TM)s poetics to Aristotleâ (TM)s Poetics is examined. Some of Cavafyâ (TM)s techniques, including the use of details and of an intervening narrator are also discussed in detail, showing that, through such devices, he succeeds in taking the reader back to the living past. The basic motifs of Cavafyâ (TM)s poetry are also systematically analysed, under the light of his proclaimed manner of revisiting the same areas by completing, illuminating or revealing the oppositions of the initial form. In addition, new translations of Cavafyâ (TM)s most well-known poems, including â oeThermopylaeâ , â oeIthacaâ , â oeExpecting the Barbariansâ , â oeVoicesâ , â oeDesiresâ , â oeWallsâ , and â oeThe Cityâ , are appended to this volume.