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Description
This 1954 lecture by Heinrich Blücher positions the poet Homer as a foundational figure in Western culture, whose work provides crucial insights into the human condition, particularly relevant in the "second Promethean age" of atomic power. The lecture explores Homer's "miracle" of transforming myth into art, thereby establishing a poetical religion and freeing human creative power.
Blücher argues that art, unlike myth, is a power "beyond good and evil" where being and meaning become identical. Through a detailed analysis of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the lecture examines how Homer established man as the hero of his own story, free and responsible. The speaker discusses Homer's concepts of space, time, and divinity, centering on characters like Achilles and Odysseus, who reject immortality to preserve their humanity. The lecture concludes that Homer's artistic vision remains eternally relevant, providing a source of strength and hope for humanity.
Publication Date
1954
Recommended Citation
Blücher, Heinrich, "03-III. Homer (1954)" (1954). Bazelow Transcripts. 3.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/blucher-bazelow-transcripts/3