Die Literatur und die Götter

"Calasso's survey of the renewed interest in myth shows how crucial the influence of the gods has been on modern literature. Calasso is not only immensely erudite, he is also one of the most original thinkers and writers we have." Charles Simic
The gods of Greece are rediscovered in the Italian Renaissance, then banished in the Age of Enlightenment until they reappear at the beginning of German Romanticism. Their history can also be read as a coded history of literature. Calasso's exploration of "absolute literature," which refuses any service to society, leads to the realm of Dionysus and Orpheus, to Baudelaire, Novalis, Mallarmé, and Hölderlin.
Orpheus, Apollo and a scribe. Attic Cylix, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
"Literature is never the business of a single subject. At least three agents belong to it: the writing hand, the speaking voice, and the god who supervises and commands."