Summer Vacation

A long and challenging academic year has come to an end. The Edgar Allan Poe Blog has surpassed any initial expectations receiving hundreds of visits from the United States, Belgium, Spain, and Greece, to name a few countries. I would like to thank you all for your support. This break is much needed; yet it does not signify the absence of hard work.
My upcoming research stay at the Penn State University will undoubtedly aid my research in the field of Poe studies and it will also allow me to delve into new aspects in this field which will be reflected on this blog. Wishing you all a relaxing summer.

D.T.

How Did Edgar Allan Poe Die?

How did Edgar Allan Poe die? This remains a mystery up until this very day. The American author was most certainly a troubled personality. Yet, no apt evidence exists to justify his sudden death nor the lack of clues with respect to the events that led to it days before he was found in a state of insanity. An interesting approach to the topic can be found at the History is Now Magazine. For further details visit here

Poe's Biography [In Spanish]

A large number of the visitors of this blog come from Spain. Spain has been a very active country in the study of Poe; very recently, "The Edgar Allan Poe Spanish Association" was formed under the presidency of Dr. Margarita Rigal Aragon. For all the Spanish speakers who visit my blog, I present you with a splendid video on Poe's biography which has been dubbed and subtitled.   

The Beautiful Yet Dark Mind of Edgar Allan Poe

Nikos Mavrelos: The reception of Poe in Greece and Roidis' perspective

I have recently come across a very intriguing study by Nikolaos Mavrelos, faculty member of  the Democritus University of Thrace. His 2003 publication titled "The reception of Poe in Greece and Roidis' perspective," carefully examines how Poe's works were introduced to the Greeks while reconsidering the similarities and dissimilarities of these translations compared to the original texts as well as to Baudelaire's adaptations. 

It is well known that Baudelaire influenced the majority of European countries when it came to Poe's arrival there. In fact, many have justly argued that the ideal image of Poe in the eyes of the Europeans is owed to the French author. 

In spite of this, Mavrelos uncovers a number of dissimilarities between Rhoides and Baudelaire. There is a general consensus that it was only natural for translators of Poe's works to follow Baudelaire's lead. Yet, after a triple comparison of a number of works, Mavrelos interestingly asserts that "it is not certain that Rhoides had not checked the original work". Mavrelos ultimately concludes that the Greek litterateur's previous works are "forerunners of the way he presented Poe, unveiling a somehow forgotten side of Poe's work". More on that article, and on the reasons why Rhoides opted for a different approach to Poe's works in my future posts.
You may find Mavrelos' article here.

Works Cited

Mavrelos, Nikos. "The Reception of Poe in Greece and Roidis' Perspective." Comparaison 14.1 (2003): 75-99.

Emmanuel Rhoides and Poe

Emmanuel Rhoides, the first translator of Poe in Greece

Emmanuel Rhoides, the first Greek translator who introduced Poe to the Greeks, has been widely praised for his work. Indeed, his translations inspired many, and several translators of Poe emerged soon after his 1872 translation of Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar". 

Rhoides was severely influenced by Baudelaire upon his task of translating Poe's stories, just like the majority of the European countries. Yet, over the past few years, relevant research has wondered why his translations were not similar to the French author's. In answer to this question, I may note that Rhoides has intentionally tried to avoid being influenced by Baudelaire. In fact, I argue that he had read the original works in English, and there are several clues that point to that conclusion. 

A page before his first translation in 1877 in the first ever issue of "Parnassus", readers encounter the first Greek critical text on Poe, a foreword written by Rhoides. Its title is "Εδγαρδος Ποου", Poe's name exactly as it is pronounced in English. Why didn't Rhoides adopt one of the foreign versions of pronunciations of Poe's name? Most likely, he was a fluent English speaker. Also, Rhoides makes no mention of Baudelaire in his work, and he never advertises Poe's lie of having travelled to Greece--Baudelaire frequently fell into Poe's trap. 

More on Rhoides, his passion for Poe's work, and his impact on other Greek authors and poets in future posts.

"A Predicament" and Chronos

Chronos, the Hellenic God 

Upon reexamining Poe's "A Predicament," a short story that has rightly been considered as a 'sequel' of "How to Write a Blackwood Article" I stumbled upon some images that reminded me of the Hellenic god of Time. 

Chronos, often confused by scholars as the ancient god Cronus, was Time in Hellenic thought. He is usually depicted by archaeologists bearing a scythe. His role was to dominate people's lives, taking them away when their time was due. It is interesting that Psyche Zenobia, the story's protagonist, passes away by being decapitated by a clock. Perhaps we might be witnesses of yet another Hellenic allusion here, one that I was not able to find in any relevant study. 

More on this on a future publication of mine which I will connect to this post in due time. 

Technical Difficulties

Dear visitors,
This is to apologize for the long period of being inactive. Due to technical difficulties I have not been able to have access to the blog; this ultimately prevents me from publishing posts. Be that as it may, I am soon going to resolve these issues and I will be return with several interesting posts on Poe and his reception in Europe.
Coming up, my focus will fall upon Maria Filippakopoulou's Transatlantic Poe which mainly focuses on the American author's reception in Europe while also dealing with Baudelaire and his engagement with Poe's works.
Once again, I apologize for the lack of posts over the past few weeks.
With best wishes,

D.T.

First Hellenic Translation of Poe: "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" by E. Rhoides (1877) [1]

As I have formerly noted in a previous post, Poe's first work to have been translated into Greek was "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" in an 1877 issue of Παρνασσός. Emmanuel Rhoides was responsible for this exquisite introduction and he never hid his enthusiasm for Poe. 

Below, you may find the first pages from the original issue of the aforementioned literary journal. The issue, more than 140 years old, is priceless and it is still maintained by the literary association "Parnassus" in Athens. In future posts I will attempt to offer images from the entire issue, since the arrival of Poe's works in Greece is an insufficiently explored topic in the field of Poe studies. 

Rhoides' unknown translation of Poe's "The Black Cat"

Emmanuel Rhoides

Edgar Allan Poe was introduced rather belatedly to the Greeks. In fact, as I have already mentioned in a number of previous posts, the first Greek translation of his works appeared in 1877 in an issue of Παρνασσός. Poe was made known to the Greeks through the French translations of Baudelaire. Be that as it may, despite the fact that relevant criticism has downplayed the American author's impact on Hellenic letters, Poe did influence many translators and writers. 

One of these was Emmanuel Rhoides. Rhoides never hid his enthusiasm for Poe. Among his many translations, that of "The Black Cat" stands out. This short story belongs to Poe's tales of horror and mystery. As Christina Dounia rightly argues in her 2004 chapter, Rhoides' translation is more of an interpretation rather than a faithful version of the original. After reading the Hellenic version of the tale I quickly realized that Rhoides most certainly had access to the original text, and he possibly ignored Baudelaire's version.

Emmanuel Rhoides (Greek: Ἐμμανουὴλ Ῥοΐδης; 28 June 1836 – 7 January 1904) was a Greek writer and journalist. He is considered one of the most illustrious and reviving spirits of the Greek letters of his time. More on his perspective of Poe's tales, and his contribution to the latter's introduction to Greece, will be analyzed in my future publications.

Works Cited

Dounia, Christina. "Μια άγνωστη μετάφραση του Εμ. Ροίδη: 'Ο Μαύρος Γάτος' του Εμμανουήλ Έ. Ά. Πόε." In Μνήμη Άλκη Αγγέλου (Thessaloniki: University Studio Press, 2014), 493-502

Top 5% of researchers on Academia.edu

This is to thank every scholar who took an interest in my recent publications. Reaching the top 5% of researchers on academia.edu was entirely unexpected, and it will be a motivating factor for my future research. You can visit my academia.edu profile through the link below.

https://ual-es.academia.edu/DimitriosTsokanos

Edgar Poe and Virginia Clemm- An Interesting Short Movie

I recently came across this quite interesting movie dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe. Starring Barry O'Moore as Edgar Allan Poe and Linda Arvidson as Virginia Poe, the 1909 mini-production offers a realistic view of Poe's life when Virginia Clemm fell ill which I highly recommend. You may find the video on youtube by clicking here.

Poe's First Introduction to the Hellenes (1877)

Poe's introduction to the Hellenes was rather belated. In fact, the first translation of his works was that of Emmanuel Rhoides in the 1877 issue of Parnassus. Despite the fact that Romantic ideas spread widely in the Kingdom of Greece ever since the Hellenic Revolution against the Turks, Poe's arrival in Greece took more than 28 years after his death. In my upcoming article in The Edgar Allan Poe Review (Fall 2017) I explain the reasons why this interval occured, and I also indicate that Poe has indeed had a major influence in Hellenic Letters. The following image is the first page of Rhoides 1877 translation ("The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"), a rather historic document that has been preserved by the literary association Parnassus. More on that in my future posts.

Hellenic Allusions in "Berenice"

Over the past few decades, Edgar Allan Poe's “Berenice” has been investigated from a number of different perspectives; in fact, scholars have particularly connected this story to the author's biography. Poe's choice to name his main protagonist Egaeus, fact which may indicate a Hellenic influence on the author's literary production, has not been overlooked. However, even in meticulous studies such as Silverman's seminal A Never-Ending Remembrance, one can observe that Poe's engagement with the Hellenic past in “Berenice” has not been examined in depth. My most recent publication aims to delineate Hellenic allusions that are apparent in the tale, offering an additional connection between Poe's narrative and ancient Greece which has not been sufficiently emphasized by relevant literature in this field of Poe studies. You may find my article here


Works Cited

Tsokanos, Dimitrios. "'My Baptismal Name is Egaeus': Assessing Hellenic Allusions in Poe's 'Berenice'." Verbeia. Revista de Estudios Filologicos 2.1 (2017): 214-223.

Poe in Spain (2)

While examining Poe's permanence in the Spanish letters, I deemed relevant to research on the vast number of academic editions of his works in Spain. Though it is true that Cortazar's translations of Poe's tales and poems are indeed seminal, over the past few years, from 2000 until 2015, a large number of academic studies on Poe have been developed here. Javier Castillo Martin and Santiago Guerrero-Strachan stand out among many Spanish Poe scholars, as their studies have dealt with aspects of Poe's works that had not been discussed sufficiently in the past. José Manuel Correoso-Rodenas's 2016 essay offers an overview of all the academic studies on Poe in Spain, interestingly claiming that the American author was and still is unknown to the Spaniards. You may find his article in The Edgar Allan Poe Review here

Works Cited

Correoso-Rodenas, José Manuel. "Poe's Academic Editions in Spain within the First Fifteen Years of the Twenty-First Century." The Edgar Allan Poe Review 17.2 (Autumn 2016): 161-77.

Poe in Spain

It is no secret that during the 19th century in Spain, especially between the 1850s and 1890s, many English-speaking writers entered the Spanish literary spheres and influenced many. Shakespeare, Dickens, and Byron, among others, inevitably became idols for Spanish writers of fantastic fiction. Even though Poe's name does not often appear in this list, he did influence a number of writers as well, greatly so, I dare say. In his 2009 essay, Santiago Rodríguez Guerrero-Strachan recounts mentions of Poe "in newspapers and journals such as in José Ortega Munilla's 'news of society' page in Los lunes del Imparcial and in Rafael María de Labra's 1879 article, 'La literatura norte-americana en Europa: J. Fennimore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edgar Allan Poe'" (2009: 49). In fact, according to Guerrero-Strachan, "Spanish authors of the period showed an interest in Poe that ranged from mere curiosity to a more profound interest in the techniques of the fantastic story" (49). Of course, just as in the case of many other European countries, Spain is indebted to Charles Baudelaire when it comes to Poe. Even though Poe's poetry was not widely known in Spain until the early 20th century, and despite cultural misinterpretations that occured due to the incomplete knowledge of American and British Romantic poetry here, Poe did leave his mark on Spanish literature. For further insight please visit Strachan's 2009 article in The Edgar Allan Poe Review here. 

Works Cited

Rodríguez Guerrero-Strachan, Santiago. “Edgar A. Poe's Poetry in Spain in the 19th Century: An Issue for Connoisseurs”. The Edgar Allan Poe Review. 10.2 (Fall 2009): 49-56.

Poe and Psychoanalysis

Poe was, beyond doubt, a troubled person. The horrid events that marked his life--the death of his biological mother, the death of his foster mother and of his wife, Virginia, among others-- inevitably led him to the depths of despair. It is, however, true that he caused many of his predicaments on his own in several occasions. Insubordination, alcoholism and insanity seem to be some of his sufferings. In fact, his behavior does hint a personality destined to constantly wish self-destruction and death.

Sadly, there is no written document enlightening us on Poe's mental state. The American author never left a diary detailing his feelings and emotions either, leaving contemporary Poe scholars with no option but to speculate. When one tries to pinpoint Poe's internal woes they are inevitably led to a research method that requires no proof, but only interpretations through an author's work: Psychoanalysis. 

Among the many scholars who attempted to fully understand Poe, princess Marie Bonaparte stands out. Her tremendously lengthy work delved the depths of Poe, ultimately reaching to conclusions that have been disputed widely over the past few years. Her work will not escape my attention. Yet I wish to focus on one study that has fascinated me; that of Mario Praz (1960). In his study, Praz carefully reconsiders theories on Poe's impotence, his Oedipal complex, and his problem of repetition while pointing out "how psychoanalysis can contribute to a study of the background of Poe's Tales" (1960: 377). You may find his study through the following link

Works Cited

Praz, Mario. "Poe and Psychoanalysis (1933)." The Swanee Review 68.3 (1960): 375-89. 

Poe's Spaces in "The Following"- by M. Rigal Aragon & JM Correoso-Rodenas

Poe's spaces have been examined in the past by several studies since the complexity of the American author's use of spaces has shaped crime fiction. Poe's storytelling has, beyond doubt, affected popular culture and the cinema as well. Movies such as The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), Two Evil Eyes (1990), Lunacy (2005), or, more recently, the Tell-Tale (2009) prove this claim.

Margarita Rigal Aragon, president of "The Edgar Allan Poe Spanish Association," and Jose Manuel Correoso Rodenas, Ph.D. Candidate of the University of Castilla-La Mancha have recently published an essay in which they examine the presence of Poe's spaces in "The Following" (2013-to date), a TV show created by Kevin Williamson starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy. 

In their study, these two Poe scholars meticulously explore the Poeian spaces ever since the first episode, concluding that "the series is, indeed, full of piquerist manifestations" (2017: 31). Their conclusions ultimately point out the fact that the directors have read and analyzed Poe's tales while also arguing that "perhaps unaware of it, Williamson and his team have managed to assemble a series in which spaces resonate with Burke's idea of the sublime, the idea present in Poe's own understanding of terror" (2017: 31). 

You may find Rigal Aragon's and Correoso Rodena's entire essay here

Works Cited

Rigal Aragon, Margarita, and Jose Manuel Correoso-Rodenas. "Poe's Spaces and The Following." Studia Neurophilologica 89.1 (2017): 14-33.

"Sonnet-To Zante"--Burton R. Pollin's Study

My previous post was dedicated to one of my favorite poems, Poe's "Sonnet-To Zante". As I mentioned, there are several Hellenic motifs to be found in this work; after all, Poe dedicates this poem to the beauty of Ζάκυνθος [Zacynthos]. As I read the poem again and again, I am surprised by its philhellenic tone. I thus decided to delve into relevant criticism in an attempt to explore scholarly affirmations that focus on those elements. It is true that several Poe scholars have acknowledged the presence of Greece in Poe; yet none of them explore the sources of Poe's inspiration as Burton R. Pollin did. In his 1968 essay, he carefully explores all the connections between the poem and Greece indicating the that the land of the Hellenes was Poe's "Holy Land," as the American author calls it in "To Helen". You may find Pollin's article here. 

Works Cited

• Pollin, Burton R. "Poe's 'Sonnet-To Zante': Sources and Associations." Comparative Literature Studies 5.3 (1968): 303-15.  

International Poetry Month-- "Sonnet- To Zante"

April is the national poetry month and I cannot help remembering one of Poe's shortest yet greatest poems: "Sonnet- To Zante".

Upon his first literary steps, Poe famously said the phrase "If the poem is published, succeed or not, I am 'irrecoverably a poet," and his love for the art of poetry was undeniably affected by his affection for the Hellenes. 

Below you may find the entire poem:

  Fair isle, that from the fairest of all flowers,
    Thy gentlest of all gentle names dost take!
    How many memories of what radiant hours
    At sight of thee and thine at once awake!
    How many scenes of what departed bliss!
    How many thoughts of what entombed hopes!
    How many visions of a maiden that is
    No more- no more upon thy verdant slopes!
    No more! alas, that magical sad sound
    Transforming all! Thy charms shall please no more-
    Thy memory no more! Accursed ground
    Henceforth I hold thy flower-enameled shore,
    O hyacinthine isle! O purple Zante!
    "Isola d'oro! Fior di Levante!"

Its elegiac tone, its rime, its punctuation, all testify that Poe had not finished the poem when it was first published. Poe directly refers to the beauty of Zante, otherwise known as Zacynthos, one of the seven Ionian islands. Poe was a Hellenophile and his reference to the Greek island is not accidental; he knew that Byron's body had been in the state of Zante.

Which is your favourite poem? Feel free to comment and discuss. 

13th SAAS Conference- Poe Studies Panel (2)

During the 13th Conference of the Spanish Association for American Studies (SAAS) at Caceres, Spain, Poe's impact in the Spanish letters did not escape scholars' attention. Celia López González's lecture, titled "The Reception of Poe in Spanish: Spread Words in ‘The Purloined Letter’," was an interesting exploration of Poe's impact in the Hispanic world. Lopez pointed out that "The Purloined Letter" has been the most misinterpreted work in Spain in the twentieth and the twenty-first century even though it was the least translated work there during the nineteenth century. 

Celia Lopez Gonzalez, Ph. D. Candidate of the University of Castilla-La Mancha 

After dividing Poe's reception in Spain into three periods (the nineteenth century; the period between 1940 and 1960; and the bicentennial of Poe's birth), Celia López focused on four different Spanish translations of "The Purloined Letter" in order to demonstrate the obvious differences among them as the decades pass. In her analysis she made mention of several translating patterns, mentioning the words "utilitarian approach," "domestication," and "foreignization". 

Despite the fact that Lopez indicated a vast difference among translations, she also mentioned that the determination of their quality is only "a matter of scope".    

13th SAAS Conference- Poe Studies Panel

The 13th International Conference of the Spanish Association for American Studies at Caceres is over and I had the opportunity to be in the Poe studies panel. 

The faculty of Humanities of the University of Extremadura

Many fruitful conversations emerged, and several new proposals for the field of Poe studies were made. I would like to discuss some of the interesting papers that were presented, but I will do so individually--most of the papers examined different aspects of Poe's stories. 

Dr. José R. Ibáñez presenting his paper titled “‘Death watches in the wall:’ Revisiting Cortázar’s translation of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’”

One very intriguing speech was given by Dr. José R. Ibáñez (University of Almería). His presentation titled “‘Death watches in the wall:’ Revisiting Cortázar’s translation of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’,” examined how Cortazar's translation of "The Tell-Tale Heart"--considered as seminal in the Spanish-speaking world--does not do justice to Poe's skillful literary devices. More specifically, Ibáñez reconsidered two paragraphs of Spanish renditions while expressing his concern "that Spanish readers may have a faulty appreciation and understanding of the tale as a result of a questionable word choice," in his own words. Though his arguments were indeed very thought-provoking and accurate, he also admitted that Cortazar's work was indeed the most literary and comprehensive translation.  

Poe's Egaeus VS Mythological Aegeus-- Imagery

In examining Poe's allusion to the Hellenistic king whose name is given to the well-known Aegean Sea, I may present a side-by-side comparison of artistic representations of Poe's Aegeus and of the mythological king.

      HELLENIC  MYTHOLOGY               VS                   POE'S "BERENICE"

"Berenice-A Tale" and Hellenic Past

Poe's “Berenice” (1835) has been viewed differently from a number of scholars. Over the years, some have attempted to trace back Poe's biography in an effort to fully understand the author and his literary devices. 

The narrator, Egaeus, is a studious young man who grows up in a large gloomy mansion with his cousin Berenice. He suffers from a type of obsessive disorder, a monomania that makes him fixate on objects. She, originally beautiful, suffers from some unspecified degenerative illness, with periods of catalepsy a particular symptom, which he refers to as a trance. Nevertheless, they are due to be married. One afternoon, Egaeus sees Berenice as he sits in the library. When she smiles, he focuses on her teeth. His obsession grips him, and for days he drifts in and out of awareness, constantly thinking about the teeth. He imagines himself holding the teeth and turning them over to examine them from all angles. At one point a servant tells him that Berenice has died and shall be buried. When he next becomes aware, with an inexplicable terror, he finds a lamp and a small box in front of him. Another servant enters, reporting that a grave has been violated, and a shrouded disfigured body found, still alive. Egaeus finds his clothes are covered in mud and blood, and opens the box to find it contains dental instruments and "thirty-two small, white and ivory-looking substances" – Berenice's teeth.

Poe's choice to name his main protagonist Egaeus undeniably hints a Hellenic influence which has not escaped relevant criticism. Be that as it may, even seminal studies such as Silverman's (1992) do not undertake an extensive approach to the Hellenic motifs in the story. Within the next few weeks I will post a relevant essay of mine which is due to be published in April in Verbeia (University of Camilo José Cela). In this paper I reconsider all the Hellenic allusions in "Berenice" while focusing on Berenice and her effect on Egaeus. 

I will soon attend the XIII SAAS Conference at Caceres (Spain) where I will have the opportunity to discuss with Poe experts on the matter. Updates coming soon. 

Works Cited

• Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe. A Biography. Mournful and Never- Ending Remembrance. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992. Print.

Poe's Influence in Spain

Several studies have underplayed the importance of fantastic fiction in Spain. That position has been defended mainly due to the belated arrival of Romantic ideas in Spain, even though Romanticism has undeniably shaped European literature since the 19th century. Yet such assertions seem to also diminish Poe's influence in Spain. José R. Ibáñez's (2009) short note in The Edgar Allan Poe Review interestingly disputes these claims by drawing a parallel between “The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" and  Bremón’s “Siete historias en una”. You may find Dr. Ibáñez's work here.

Works Cited

• Ibáñez, José R. "Poe’s Maison de Santé Revisited. A Spanish Imitation of ‘The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether’.” The Edgar Allan Poe Review 10.2 (2009): 63-69. 

A Review of the Hellenic Allusions in "To Helen"

Poe's "To Helen" has drawn scholars' attention in diachronic fashion. Even though the poem is merely a few lines long, the Bostonian writer skillfully manages to incorporate an abundance of allusions in his quest for the Ideal Beauty. Seminal studies such as those of Kenneth Silverman (1992) and Scott Peeples (1998) have not omited to stress Poe's indebtedness to foreign literatures. Yet, Poe here appears to search for the Ideal which he personifies by remembering Helen of Troy; another fine sample of Poe's poetry that hints philhellenism. My recent publication in Littera Aperta (University of Cordoba) is an attempt to delve into this poem from a Hellenic point of view. Of course, any attempt to fully comprehend Poe's allusions in a few pages is futile, and I need to mention that this study is a prolegomenon to a more systematic review. For further insight, please visit my published essay here. 

                                        

Works Cited 

• Peeples, Scott. Edgar Allan Poe Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1998. Print.
• Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe. A Biography. Mournful and Never- Ending Remembrance. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992. Print.
• Tsokanos, Dimitrios. "'To the glory that was Greece': Hellenic Patterns in Poe's Poetry." Littera Aperta 3.1 (2015): 23-36.

Poe's Life in Drawings

Who was Poe? Learn more about his life through a very intriguing and straightforward video Here

Poe and the Visual Arts

I just got my hands on Dr. Barbara Cantalupo's Poe and the Visual Arts. I have to admit that I was already inclined to be fond of her study after reading relevant reviews. To be fair, Cantalupo is a Quinn Award recipient, an award that is never given unless we have to do with a worthy study; that shows a lot about the book's quality. 

The book consists of five chapters, and it principally delves into Poe's interest in the visual arts. To that end, we are brought back to Poe's exposure to art in Philadephia, the writer's homely interiors, and his visual tricks. Cantalupo also explores Poe's art criticism in an elegant way. There have been several studies on Poe's artistic principles, and a number of critical reviews (Cantalupo drawn on Pollin's and Deas', for instance); yet this field of Poe studies has definitely been unexplored as a whole. 

Poe and the Visual Arts wonderfully describes Poe's world of art, his artistic companions, and the art he was exposed to during his final years; all these explorations are escorted by a large number of wonderful images which I am sure took quite a lot of time and effort to get a hold of. Undoubtedly, the book has a lot to offer, and it should be in every Poe scholar's collection, as it offers a further insight to Poe's knowledge of the visual arts.  

Works Cited

Cantalupo, Barbara. Poe and the Visual Arts. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Penn State University Press, 2014. 

Poe's Fondness of Greece

Edgar Allan Poe's knowledge of Greek and Latin is incontestable. Readers can observe that through a number of works of his in which he frequently attempts to write in these two languages (unsuccessfully so in many instances). Poe's Hellenic education seems to have commenced ever since his teenage years. His University education also demonstrate an inclination to Greek studies. In their seminal Poe Log, Dwight Thomas and David Jackson transport us to Poe's youth. According to them, when the Bostonian writer was 17 years old he began his studies at the University of Virginia. More specifically, they remind us the following:

[1826] 14 FEBRUARY. CHARLOTTESVILLE. Poe is one of five students who matriculate at the University of Virginia on this day. He is 136th on the list of 177 who attend this year. Of the 177, six withdraw, three are suspended, three are dismissed, and three are expelled during the year (Kent, pp. 10-11). Poe pays his fees ($60) for attendance on two professors, George Long, School of Ancient Languages (Greek and Latin), and George Blaettermann, School of Modern Languages (French, German, Italian, and Spanish). (Thomas and Jackson, 1987: 67-8)

Later on in his life, Poe demonstrated his philhellenism by lying about having travelled to Greece in order to fight against the Turks who oppresed them. The Poe Log also accounts for Timothy P. Jones' claims of Poe's exaggerating tendencies (Jones was a member of the army who served his country alongside Poe):

On the morning of the 6th [19th] of March [February], when Poe was ready to leave West Point, we were in our room together, and he told me I was one of the few true friends he had ever known, and as we talked the tears rolled down his cheeks . . . . He told me much of his past life, one part of which he said he had confided to no other living soul. This was that while it was generally believed that he had gone to Greece in 1827 to offer his services to assist in putting down the Turkish oppressors, he had done no such thing... (1897: 114) 

Works Cited

Dwight R. Thomas, and David K. Jackson. The Poe Log. A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1987. Print.

Poe's "The Raven": A Dramatic Reading

A wonderful reading of Poe's "The Raven" by Christopher Lee

Poe's Critique on Contemporary Society

Edgar Allan Poe constantly attempted to criticize contemporary society through a number of his works. His satire is unmistakable in various tales, and readers can infer that Poe may have considered destruction and annihilation as the only way for absolution. In this concept, the American author goes back to Hellenic and Latin antiquity and he skillfully incoporates allusions in order to mask his criticism. For a reading of Poe's "Mellonta Tauta", "The Colloquy of Monos and Una" and "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion" in this context see my recent article here.

Transatlantic Poe

Poe's works have indubitably affected Literature at a global scale. One cannot overlook similarities in terms of form, structure and amusing elements in works that have been written in Europe, Russia and Asia during the 20th century. The presence of Edgar Allan Poe outside the United States was thoroughly covered in a volume edited by Lois D. Vines, Poe Abroad (1999). This meticulous study examines the influence of the American author in Europe (Britain, Spain, France, Estonia, Russia, Italy, Romania, Hungary, among others), South America (Brazil, Spanish America), Asia (Japan, China or India). Quite surprisingly, one can find no indication regarding Poe’s presence in Greece in this work.

Scott Fitzerald was indeed among the most renowned authors that was influenced by Poe. Kopley and Hayes (2002) remind us of Fitzerald's The Side of Paradise which seems to imitate "Ulalume", and their arguments are convincing in my view. Yet, Fitzerald was not the sole author that Poe inspired: Kopley and Hayes barely scratch the surface of Poe's transatlantic impact by pointing out that the Spanish poem of Francisco Villaespesa, Antonio Machado, and Ruben Dario “embody their enthusiasm for ‘Ulalume’". In Russia, the works of Konstantin Balmont and Valery Bryusov also seem to bear similar characteristics to Poe's ouevre (2002: 197). For an interesting reading of another imitation of Poe's "The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" in Spain see Dr. Jose R. Ibanez Ibanez's 2009 essay here. 

Works Cited

1. Ibáñez, José R. “Poe’s Maison de Santé Revisited. A Spanish Imitation of ‘The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether’”. The Edgar Allan Poe Review. Volume X, no. 2 (Fall 2009): 63-69.
2. Kopley, Richard and Kevin J. Hayes. "Two verse masterworks: 'The Raven' and 'Ulalume'", collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Kevin J. Hayes. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002: 197–198.
3. Vines, Lois D., ed. Poe Abroad: Influence, Reputation, Affinities. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999. Print.

Who was Poe? A Mini BIO

Who was Edgar Allan Poe?
A wonderful mini biography by Mini Bio released on 9/24/12
(Season 1, episode 1)

Poe in Greece

Edgar Allan Poe has always been among the most criticized authors and poets in English-speaking countries. His works have over the years been judged as 'strange', or even as 'juvenile' in several occasions. In fact, Rufus Griswold took this criticism one step further by arguing that Poe was paranoid and dangerous. All Poe scholars and readers of his works outside the US should perhaps thank Charles Baudelaire for discovering him, translating him, even though he also plagiarized and borrowed ideas from the Bostonian's tales and poems in many instances. He did, however, make Poe renowned in France. It was this 'French love' for Poe that made the American author famous in Europe as well. Ever since, Poe influenced many, including Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde, Vladimir Nabokov and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Greece could not escape Poe's growing recognition. Emmanuel Rhoides was the first who translated his works based on Baudelaire's edition, and this Greek writer and journalist never concealed his affection for Poe's tales and poems. Rhoides' example was then followed by many: Pericles Yannopoulos, Apostolos Melahrinos, Napoleon Lapathiotes, Mitsos Papanikolaou et al. Even today, Poe is among the most translated authors in Greece. Nonetheless, despite the tremendous interest in his storytelling, there are merely a few Greek scholars who noticed that a Hellenic influence is indeed present in the majority of Poe's works. In fact, a systematic research that delves into these Hellenic motifs has never been undertaken, to my knowledge. It seems surprising, especially if one considers that Poe regularly lied about having travelled to the land of the Hellenes. 

Poe and Psyche

I was reading Poe's "Ulalume" again and again over the past few days and I quickly became curious about Poe's reference to Psyche. The poem takes place on a night in the "lonesome October" with a gray sky as the leaves are withering for the autumn season. In the region of Weir, by the lake of Auber, the narrator roams with a "volcanic" heart. He has a "serious and sober" talk with his soul, though he does not realize it is October or where his roaming is leading him. He remarks on the stars as night fades away, remarking on the brightest one, and wonders if it knows that the tears on his cheeks have not yet dried. His soul, however, mistrusts the star and where it is leading them. Just as the narrator calms his soul, he realizes he has unconsciously walked to the vault of his "lost Ulalume" on the very night he had buried her a year before.

Poe presents a narrator who is not aware of his return to the burial place of his beloved, unlike in the case of "Annabel Lee". Much work has been done by scholars to identify all of Poe's allusions, most notably by Thomas Ollive Mabbott. The narrator personifies his soul as the ancient Greek Psyche, representing the irrational but careful part of his subconsciousness. It is Psyche who first feels concerned about where they are walking and makes the first recognition that they have reached Ulalume's vault. I observe that whenever Edgar Allan Poe tries to delve into his inner self he always alludes to Psyche. See, for instance, "A Predicament" whose main protagonist is Psyche Zenobia; or "To Helen" where Poe attempts to identify true beauty and he does so by directly referring to Psyche in one of his lines. Did Poe make these allusions on purpose? Yes, in my view. Perhaps he did so to show us that his idea of the mind, the conscious and the subconscious was exactly as these are found in Hellenic thought.
 

Poe's "The Black Cat", and the god of the Underworld

Poe's "The Black Cat" is undeniably one of the most eerie tales the author has to offer. Its unreliable narrator is led by the spirit of PERVERSENESS into committing horrible crimes which he recollects as he awaits for his demise in death row. 

Among his crimes, the removal of one of his black cat's eyes is perhaps the one that terrifies readers the most, and I have noticed that from reactions that I have obtained while being next to people who were reading the story in the past. 

Many critics have considered the second cat to be a doppelganger, whereas others have claimed that it is Pluto that has come back to life. Beyond doubt, Pluto bears a number of supernatural features; or at least that's what Poe intended to achieve. Even though the narrator tries to logically figure out the answer to occurences that seem to be out of this world, he also comes to realize that the cat is "a phantasm", as he calls it. 

Is Pluto a regular cat just like those you see in every neighborhood? That question could only be answered by Poe himself. Yet, if one observes closely, they may observe that Poe's choice of name might be an reference to the ancient Pluto himself. That idea has been remarked on in one of Mabbott's notes, but no one has ever delved its depth. The god of death fed upon his subjects to prolong his ruling just like the black cat fed upon the dead wife to stay alive in the 'tomb'. Have you noticed how Poe describes the moment of the corpse's reappearance? The cat has a red mouth, hinting that it fed had been devouring the dead wife without even saying a word. That is why this tale is among my favourites. Do you believe that the cat is an allusion to Classical literature? Let me know on your thoughts.

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"A Predicament"

Poe's “A Predicament” has diachronically elicited a number of different interpretations, and critics have stressed the story's obvious satiric tone. “A Predicament” had another initial title, “The Scythe of Time”, which was later changed by Poe to its current one. Like most critics, I have tried hard to observe Poe's satire, but despite these efforts I constantly fail to find any extensive research that delves into the significance of Poe's allusions to the ancient past and his plain use of Greek words in the text.

Poe once again alludes to Psyche who now appears to be walking her dog through a city along with her black servant, Pompey. She is soon led to a large Gothic cathedral and, standing on Pompey's shoulders, she places her head in a small opening. However, she soon realizes that she is inside an enormous clock. As she observes the city, she becomes aware of the fact that the knifelike minute hand has begun to touch her neck. Unable to escape, she is ultimately decapitated. 

Why does Poe use the Hellenic word Ψυχή once more? Is it a mere coincidence that the Hellenic Psyche, the mythological character, also passes away on the top of a tall tower? Why has no study sufficiently delved the depths of Poe's use of Time in the narrative? All these questions remain unanswered. 

I am open to any ideas, suggestions and feedback through comments or via email (tsokd12@gmail.com).

Poe and Hellenic Allusions

Despite the fact that seminal studies such as that of Kenneth Silverman (1991) clearly indicate Poe's Hellenic education, his ability to read ancient Greek texts, and his fondness of Lord Byron — a renowned member of the 1821 Hellenic Revolution against the Turks — there have been merely a few scholars who have delved into the presence of Greece in Poe in a systematic manner. Below you will find the link to one of my first published articles that barely scratches the surface of the topic.

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Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog! 

This page is an attempt to come in contact with readers of Poe who are particularly fond of some, if not all, of the American author's tales and poems. 

I am a Ph.D. Candidate of the University of Almeria and my research focuses on the Hellenic presence in Poe's storytelling. I am particularly interested in deciphering Poe's Hellenic allusions, his tendency to lie about having travelled to Greece, and his constant and inaccurate efforts to write in Greek, as one can easily observe in a number of his works. My aim is to publish polls, relevant concepts, queries and interesting articles in an effort to exchange ideas with all of you.I welcome your thoughts on any of my published articles and other academic activities. 

I want to thank my fellow Ph.D. Candidates: Germán Asensio for his kind help in changing the appearance of the main page of this blog, and Marina Asián for her truly useful advice.