Dec 25, 2009

The Death of Empedocles | The Death of Empedocles

At a glance:

Author: Friedrich Hölderlin
First Published: 1826
Type of Work: Play
Type of Plot: Tragedy
Time of Work: The fifth century
Setting: Agrigentum and Mount Etna
Genres: Drama, Tragedy
Subjects: Philosophy or philosophers, Death or dying, Gods or goddesses, Drama or dramatists, Life, philosophy of, Life and death, Greek or Roman times, Romanticism, Greece or Greek people
Locales: Mount Etna, Agrigentum

Characters Discussed

Empedocles (ehm-PEHD-eh- kleez), the legendary philosopher and savant, portrayed as a healer and magician intent on committing suicide for different reasons, depending on which of the three versions of the text is under discussion. Two versions focus on his tragic flaw of hubris. In the first, Empedocles has the powers of the magician to heal and to move the elements, but his desire to be reunited with the gods causes him to disregard his people’s pleas that he return to them from exile, and ultimately to commit suicide. In the second version, before the...

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The Death of Empedocles | The Death of Empedocles

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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