Byron and the distorted prism
relative partnership between Greek antiquity and Greek modernity rather than complete dominance of the former as the sheer numerical values might suggest. In satirical fashion Byron in Don Juan ensures Greek antiquity is not portrayed as a serious grounding in which to frame one’s perceptions of Greece. Ultimately, then, Don Juan can be said to represent the culmination of Byron’s efforts in escaping the ‘distorted prism’ . Just as in CHP, he continues in Don Juan to satirize those who insist on using Greek antiquity to frame their perceptions of Greece, whilst at the same time continuing to engage with modern Greece through his enigmatic musings on the political landscape. However, unlike CHP , Greek modernity joins its ancient counterpart in the body of Byron’s verse in Don Juan as opposed to being situated in the Notes . Don Juan can therefore be said to represent the culmination of Byron’s new approach to perceiving Greece, one that amalgamates both antiquity and modernity.
Conclusion
Greek antiquity cannot be said to be the ultimate and defining influence informing Byron’s perceptions and writings on Greece. As demonstrated in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage , Byron struggles to adhere to traditional classical norms when describing Greece, resulting in ambiguities in his work. Such ambiguities are highly indicative of a poet who is sceptical of the consequences generated by a slavish allegiance to the classical perceptions of Greece to which many of his peers subscribed. This distrust of Gree k antiquity is clarified further in the ‘Notes’ section to CHP , where Byron not only continues to attack such a reliance but also actively begins to unearth modern Greek culture, distinct from its ancient counterpart. If Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage , then, represents Byron’s embryonic concept of a Greece capable of existing beyond its ancient ghost, Don Juan is the complete formulation of this idea. In Don Juan , Greek antiquity is further satirized and references to modern Greece are no longer hidden in the ‘Notes’, but rather stake their rightful claim in verse and coexist with Greek antiquity. This essay does not refute that Byron was in many ways deeply influenced by his predecessors’ ideal ized vision of ancient Greece (Waterfield, 2002) . However, in observing Byron’s gradual development from CHP to Don Juan it can be said that while Greek antiquity was an influence on Byron, it was not the ultimate and defining influence. Rather, Byron’s subversion of classical ideas and exploration of modern Greek culture prove beyond doubt that the poet was determined not to become wholly consumed by the preconceptions of classical antiquity. Instead, the poet’s ability to amalgamate ancient with modern allowed him to resist the two polarized but equally toxic effects of perceiving Greece through just a classical lens; these being melancholic lament for a fallen Greece, or idealized dreaming for a modern Greece based on replicating its ancient origin. Antithetically, perhaps it was the ambivalence towards the p hilhellene movement generated by this ‘third - way’ to think about Greece, of ancient and modern united, which actually made Byron one of the most successful philhellenes 5 of all time; a poet not asphyxiated by lament nor intoxicated by idealized hope.
Bibliography
Beaton, R. 2013. Byron's War: Romantic rebellion, Greek revolution. Cambridge. 2016. 'The Romantic Construction of Greece', in P. Hamiliton, ed. The Oxford Handbook of European Romanticism. Oxford: 601 – 618
5 ‘Successful’ in this instance meaning tangibly influential to the cause of Greek liberation.
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