Winged Words

Flight has always fascinated human minds, but until a century ago it remained a dream - the exclusive domain of birds, gods, and mythological heroes. From the myths of the ancients to the poetry of Pindar and Yeats, "Winged Words" traces the imprint of the human impulse to fly from premodern times up to the age of terrorism in both literature and history. Piero Boitani begins his analysis with an account of how the myths of Pegasus and Icarus have persisted from classical to twentieth-century politics and literature. He then takes up the figure of Hermes; the roles of halcyons and eagles in classical, biblical, and later literatures; and literary responses to Pieter Brueghel's "The Fall of Icarus". Homing in on modern figures and concerns, Boitani also offers a fascinating discussion of author - pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupery and concludes with a meditation on the flight of the hijacked airliners on 9/11. Throughout, "Winged Words" brings a remarkable range of men of action, politicians, theologians, writers, and artists into dialogue with each other: Shakespeare with T. S. Eliot, Horace with Ovid, Leonardo with Milton, Leopardi with Mallarme, Saint-Exupery with Faulkner and Rilke, and the Ulysses of Homer with the Ulysses of Dante. Ultimately, by showing how writers and fliers have looked to the ancients for inspiration, Boitani testifies to the modern relevance of poetry and the classics.