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SCOTT HORTON?Heine and the Battle of the Gods |
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Contributed by Scott Horton
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Below I have posted an original translation of Heine?s poem ?Die Götter Griechenlands,? taken from the North Sea cycle of the Buch der Lieder. It?s not one of Heine?s better known poems; it?s not even the best known poem bearing the title ?Die Götter Griechenlands??that distinction lies with Friedrich Schiller?s poem from 1783?with which this poem stands in a curious dialogue. But it?s an underappreciated work of genius that reveals a great deal about Heine?s attitude towards the society in which he lived, its weaknesses and failure to reach for transcendent values. This poem also contains the essence of the great critique that Nietzsche spun of Middle European culture in the nineteenth century; indeed it is strikingly like Nietzsche in approach, conceptualization and criticism?so much so, that I can?t imagine that Nietzsche didn?t know it or work under its influence. And all of that is presented in the context of musings on gazing into a bank of clouds, in a garb at once romantic and ironic. . . .
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