Supervisors info:
Γκαράνη Μυρτώ, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Κλασικής Φιλολογίας ΕΚΠΑ
Βαϊόπουλος Βάιος, Καθηγητής Κλασικής Φιλολογίας ΕΚΠΑ
Μιχαλόπουλος Ανδρέας, Καθηγητής Κλασικής Φιλολογίας ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
This thesis attempts to approach five of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Fall of the House of Usher", "Mesmeric Revelation", "The Mask of the Red Death", "A Descent into the Maelström" and "The Imp of the Perverse", in the light of the influence of Lucretius' philosophical poem, "De Rerum Natura". Common denominators between Lucretius and Poe are, in principle, materialism and the atomic physical theory, as well as the aesthetic theory of the sublime. On a more specific level, Poe's affinities with the Epicurean philosophy and the DRN are also highlighted in terms of the nature of the spirit and soul, the fear of death, and the hypothesis of the end of the world. Poe's aesthetic of the negative/dark sublime is thus illuminated in terms of its philosophical background and it can be argued that it ultimately leads to a positive dissolution, since it features points where it abuts the Epicurean worldview of ataraxia and the rejection of metaphysical fear.
Keywords:
Lucretius, Poe, DRN, sublime, atomic theory, materialism
