Cumaean Sibyl

world that is complicated to comprehend, which to Eliot, is how he perceives the modern state of existence in post-war existence. Eliot begins of The Waste Land with an epigraph that is in written in both Latin and Greek, Eliot writes, “Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis/ vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent:/ Σιβυλλατι θελεις; respondebat illa:αποθανειν θελω.” (Eliot, The Waste Land). The translation of this Latinate text is “I have seen with my own eyes the Sibyl hanging in a jar, and when the boys asked her “What do you want?” she answered, “I want to die.” Not only is this text in a language that is alien to English readers, it is also a reference to a Latin fiction piece, the Satryicon written by Petronius. Sibyl was granted immortality by Apollo, although she does not die, she continues to age because she forgot to ask for immortality in the form of beauty. Importantly, when Sibyl states that she wants to die, this sets up the entire framework of the poem. Sibyl finds herself in this apparent limbo between receiving what she asked for, which is immortality, but also is forced to live for eternity as a version of herself that will never regain her beauty is a comment upon Eliot’s vision of modern existence. Those who reside in modernity are incapable of seeing past the destruction that has been created around them, but Eliot believes that the contemporary audience is on the cusp of enlightenment. The answer to the destruction and chaos that…

article, Margolis covers what was going on throughout Christine’s life during her writing career, which served as a helpful tool for both grounding and contextualizing things for the reader. Margolis also draws the connection between Christine and Boethius, stating that “The Boethian presence haunts Christin’s persona throughout her literary production, for though he is not alluded to directly in every work, one finds traces of the famous pupil of Lady Philosophy in every one of Christine’s…

worked hard on the tomb for 40 years and still after it was still not finished to his liking. During the same year, he had to take on another big task. Which was to paint one of the most famous artworks of all time, The Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo began working on The Sistine Chapel and only finished it in a matter of four years. Michelangelo was originally suppose to paint the Twelve Apostles but convinced Pope Julius ll to give him an free hand and nominate a more elaborate plot. The Sistine…

a lack of chastity in the aforementioned youth. This is interesting as it indicates a fear that the Greek practice of pederasty would be adopted by Romans thus corrupting them. Furthermore, this seems to be in contrast with many of the other features of Greek culture which the Romans did adopt. There are various examples of Greek culture such as Stoicism which many members of the Senate adhered to. Long asserts that there were men in the Roman Empire who claimed to be Cynics, derived from the…