Journeys
Passover is the story of a journey. It is the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, a journey from slavery to freedom, and from being a tribe to becoming the Jewish nation.
This journey is unique, but many journeys are at the heart of world literature. One of the first examples was the journey of Odysseus from Troy to his home in Greece that took ten years and was beset by many trials and temptations as described in "The Odyssey." Dante's "Inferno" describes a journey through the nine circles of hell. Cervantes "Don Quixote" describes the journeys of a man from illusion to reality. The Icelandic sagas tell of journeys that are the foundations of a nation, and there are Polynesian myths about their great seafaring journeys and Hungarian myths about the journeys of the Huns and Magyars from central Asia to central Europe. But all of these and many other journeys are not merely travels, but they also have a moral or a didactic element, from a time long before there was universal literacy and mass communications.
Yet, many of these classic tales have been resurrected in modern times, for example the modern versions of "The Odyssey" in Joyce's "Ulysses", from "The Inferno" to Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "First Circle," from Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness" to the movie "Apocalypse Now." In each of these modern versions the journey also has a destination, not necessarily a physical one, but a metaphorical goal, a quest.
Literary stories such as "Moby Dick," that tells of a quest with great metaphorical significance, have been fashioned from real life events. And "Heart of Darkness," that was once thought to be purely imaginary, is now known to have been based on Conrad's year as a pilot of ferries on the Congo River. Other more fantastical examples are Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," and C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia," which are both designed for children, but with a strong ethical message. Then there are Charles Dodgson's "Alice's adventures in Wonderland" and Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz" that tell of imagined journeys from danger to the safety of home.
There are many examples of stirring journeys, such as "The man who would be King" by Rudyard Kipling about British India, or Patrick White's "Voss" a journey of discovery in Australia, and Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's mines," a journey into the heart of Africa. In the end all these quests are metaphors for our life's journey.
This article is based on a talk given by Debbie Steinberger, Head of the Literature Department at Touro College, Jerusalem.
This journey is unique, but many journeys are at the heart of world literature. One of the first examples was the journey of Odysseus from Troy to his home in Greece that took ten years and was beset by many trials and temptations as described in "The Odyssey." Dante's "Inferno" describes a journey through the nine circles of hell. Cervantes "Don Quixote" describes the journeys of a man from illusion to reality. The Icelandic sagas tell of journeys that are the foundations of a nation, and there are Polynesian myths about their great seafaring journeys and Hungarian myths about the journeys of the Huns and Magyars from central Asia to central Europe. But all of these and many other journeys are not merely travels, but they also have a moral or a didactic element, from a time long before there was universal literacy and mass communications.
Yet, many of these classic tales have been resurrected in modern times, for example the modern versions of "The Odyssey" in Joyce's "Ulysses", from "The Inferno" to Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "First Circle," from Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness" to the movie "Apocalypse Now." In each of these modern versions the journey also has a destination, not necessarily a physical one, but a metaphorical goal, a quest.
Literary stories such as "Moby Dick," that tells of a quest with great metaphorical significance, have been fashioned from real life events. And "Heart of Darkness," that was once thought to be purely imaginary, is now known to have been based on Conrad's year as a pilot of ferries on the Congo River. Other more fantastical examples are Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," and C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia," which are both designed for children, but with a strong ethical message. Then there are Charles Dodgson's "Alice's adventures in Wonderland" and Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz" that tell of imagined journeys from danger to the safety of home.
There are many examples of stirring journeys, such as "The man who would be King" by Rudyard Kipling about British India, or Patrick White's "Voss" a journey of discovery in Australia, and Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's mines," a journey into the heart of Africa. In the end all these quests are metaphors for our life's journey.
This article is based on a talk given by Debbie Steinberger, Head of the Literature Department at Touro College, Jerusalem.
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:40 AM
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