This essay tries to shine a light on the Faustian image of Helen by considering Goethe’s stance on the Gnostic ideas disseminated by Simon Magus. Syrian Gnostics identified Helen of Troy with one of the forms assumed by the Divine Thought on earth, and were convinced that only through the gift of knowledge could the original integrity of man be restored. The wager Faust makes with Mephistopheles originates in a very similar concept of knowledge, which finds evidence above all in the image of the Greek heroine: The beauty of Helen is the tangible expression of the highest knowledge attainable by humankind.
Colombo, G., Die Schönheitsquelle zeigt sich tief im Sinn: Goethes Helena und die Gnosis, <<PUBLICATIONS OF THE ENGLISH GOETHE SOCIETY>>, 2014; LXXXIII/3 (Novembre): 164-176. [doi:10.1179/0959368314Z.00000000040] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/59994]
Die Schönheitsquelle zeigt sich tief im Sinn: Goethes Helena und die Gnosis
Colombo, Gloria
2014
Abstract
This essay tries to shine a light on the Faustian image of Helen by considering Goethe’s stance on the Gnostic ideas disseminated by Simon Magus. Syrian Gnostics identified Helen of Troy with one of the forms assumed by the Divine Thought on earth, and were convinced that only through the gift of knowledge could the original integrity of man be restored. The wager Faust makes with Mephistopheles originates in a very similar concept of knowledge, which finds evidence above all in the image of the Greek heroine: The beauty of Helen is the tangible expression of the highest knowledge attainable by humankind.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
