To transfigure destiny
I like this a lot. My undergraduate thesis was on Ovid's use of names in his exile poetry -- sounds faintly ridiculous but I'm sure you can appreciate that there's a lot to it.
What’s the tweet version of your thesis?
In exile, he uses names to conjure the memory/presence of his loved ones but often he leaves a conspicuous absence to highlight his isolation.
Excellent
Loved this. Thank you.
🙏
Another lens I've appreciated before:
- Abram is renamed, and the change is total. He is never Abram again.
- Isaac is never renamed.
- Jacob is renamed, and the change is partial. He is sometimes Jacob, sometimes Israel.
- Joseph is renamed, and the change is null. He is basically never Zaphnath-Paaneah.
Through four generations, we see four different archetypes of transformation – total, nonexistent, partial, and reverted.
Isaac ia sacrificed rather than transfigured. He never recovers.
I like this a lot. My undergraduate thesis was on Ovid's use of names in his exile poetry -- sounds faintly ridiculous but I'm sure you can appreciate that there's a lot to it.
What’s the tweet version of your thesis?
In exile, he uses names to conjure the memory/presence of his loved ones but often he leaves a conspicuous absence to highlight his isolation.
Excellent
Loved this. Thank you.
🙏
Another lens I've appreciated before:
- Abram is renamed, and the change is total. He is never Abram again.
- Isaac is never renamed.
- Jacob is renamed, and the change is partial. He is sometimes Jacob, sometimes Israel.
- Joseph is renamed, and the change is null. He is basically never Zaphnath-Paaneah.
Through four generations, we see four different archetypes of transformation – total, nonexistent, partial, and reverted.
Isaac ia sacrificed rather than transfigured. He never recovers.