Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary Portraits
Walter Pater’s fascination with the Hyperborean Apollo, who according to myth resided north of the home of the northern wind, is explored in two of his pieces of short fiction, ‘Duke Carl of Rosenmold’ (1887) and ‘Apollo in Picardy’ (1893). The essay discusses some of Pater’s complex dialogue with V...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2014-09-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/1520 |
| _version_ | 1811255205879087104 |
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| author | Lene Østermark-Johansen |
| author_facet | Lene Østermark-Johansen |
| author_sort | Lene Østermark-Johansen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Walter Pater’s fascination with the Hyperborean Apollo, who according to myth resided north of the home of the northern wind, is explored in two of his pieces of short fiction, ‘Duke Carl of Rosenmold’ (1887) and ‘Apollo in Picardy’ (1893). The essay discusses some of Pater’s complex dialogue with Victorian science, mythography and folklore in the texts, in an attempt to map the topicality of his fiction. Although he chose historical settings in medieval France and eighteenth-century Germany for his tales, they reflect recent debates about the disappearance of the sun and the folkloristic animalism of Apollo the nature god. Furthermore, Pater is engaging in a complex geopolitical argument, playing out German, French and English culture against each other, as he traces the survival of the pagan gods after the onset of Christianity. The myth of the Hyperborean Apollo is a myth about the North: where does it begin? Where does it end? Is it a place of light or of darkness? Pater’s dark Apollo challenges conventional notions of the sun god and testifies to the strong presence of paganism in Pater’s late writings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:20:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0775bba9cc6049aab92e786138fd94ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:20:18Z |
| publishDate | 2014-09-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj.art-0775bba9cc6049aab92e786138fd94ea2022-12-22T03:23:29ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492014-09-0110.4000/cve.1520Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary PortraitsLene Østermark-JohansenWalter Pater’s fascination with the Hyperborean Apollo, who according to myth resided north of the home of the northern wind, is explored in two of his pieces of short fiction, ‘Duke Carl of Rosenmold’ (1887) and ‘Apollo in Picardy’ (1893). The essay discusses some of Pater’s complex dialogue with Victorian science, mythography and folklore in the texts, in an attempt to map the topicality of his fiction. Although he chose historical settings in medieval France and eighteenth-century Germany for his tales, they reflect recent debates about the disappearance of the sun and the folkloristic animalism of Apollo the nature god. Furthermore, Pater is engaging in a complex geopolitical argument, playing out German, French and English culture against each other, as he traces the survival of the pagan gods after the onset of Christianity. The myth of the Hyperborean Apollo is a myth about the North: where does it begin? Where does it end? Is it a place of light or of darkness? Pater’s dark Apollo challenges conventional notions of the sun god and testifies to the strong presence of paganism in Pater’s late writings.http://journals.openedition.org/cve/1520Heine (Heinrich)Hyperborean Apolloimaginary portraitsLang (Andrew)Müller (Max)Pater (Walter) |
| spellingShingle | Lene Østermark-Johansen Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary Portraits Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens Heine (Heinrich) Hyperborean Apollo imaginary portraits Lang (Andrew) Müller (Max) Pater (Walter) |
| title | Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary Portraits |
| title_full | Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary Portraits |
| title_fullStr | Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary Portraits |
| title_full_unstemmed | Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary Portraits |
| title_short | Apollo in the North: Transmutations of the Sun God in Walter Pater’s Imaginary Portraits |
| title_sort | apollo in the north transmutations of the sun god in walter pater s imaginary portraits |
| topic | Heine (Heinrich) Hyperborean Apollo imaginary portraits Lang (Andrew) Müller (Max) Pater (Walter) |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/1520 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leneøstermarkjohansen apollointhenorthtransmutationsofthesungodinwalterpatersimaginaryportraits |