Case Study of Bolivar and Contemporary Greek Mythology

The excessive element of the hero in both the poetic and artistic

expression of Nikos Engonopoulos: The case study of “Bolivar” and the

contemporary revival of Greek mythology

It is, I think, in itself an heroic act to speak today of heroes and heroic

excession in an era that is characterized as anti heroic. In earlier times – much earlier

than the nineteenth century – the history of human achievement was not conceived of

as anything but the history of heroic deeds which the distinguished dared to undertake

and successfully managed to execute (J.P.Vernant 1989: 145) and whose memory is

still alive. But, nowadays, achievement is considered to be the transient personal

flaunting in fields such as politics, economics, athletics and entertainment. Those

people, indeed, inspire admiration bordering on deification, reverence, in other words,

equal to the admiration for heroes of earlier times, adoration of idols. Our time is

antiheroic, a time in which idols have substituted for heroes and the necessity for selfassertion

and personal benefit wins over this collective development.

However, the question still remains as to the excess in human potential and

the choices confronting an adventurous temperament extinguishing or at least

neglecting fear in the face of danger. No matter how extraordinary and insane it might

be, very often, heroic behaviour continues to enchant. This happens, possibly, because

of the element of excess which is characterised, more than at any other time, by a

convergence of the desire of modern man not to be hemmed in by individual “musts”

of the technological civilization and a desire to return to the charm of the fairy-tales of

his childhood years. This effort to accept the reality is neve...

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...nica Mc Goldrick, 1995.

16. Todorov Tzvetan, 1995, Les abus de la memoire, Arlea, Paris.

17. Gellner Ernest, 2002, Nationalism, Alexandria Athens.

B. Articles

1. Engonopoulos Nikos, May 1956, Zygos, “Are there common points of contact

between modern art and the ideal of Greek art?”, Athens.

2. Friar Kimon, 1978, Modern poetry, “Simon and Schuster”, New York.

3. Gonzales F., 1976, Collection Voix, Maspero, « Battle, N. Engonopoulos,

Bolivar, Introduction, traduction et postface», Paris.

4. Vasiliou A ., 1978, Modern thought, 20, “Engonopoulos – Empirikos and

Greek surrealism”, Athens.

5. Diamantopoulou Evangelia, May 2000, Elelef, 3, “ Fear and fearless heroes in

Theophilos Hadjimichail’ s paintings”, Athens.

6. Diamantopoulou Evangelia, 2002, Anef, 5, “Aphrodite, goddess of ancient

Greece, goddess of the sea: the artistic proposal of Theophilos”, Cyprus.