Novel
Darker Muses: The Poet Nero
Nero, a véres költő
Dezső Kosztolányi · 1922
Opening lines
Csak egy álmos hangot lehetett hallani.
Only one sleepy voice could be heard.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from mek.oszk.hu
Synopsis
Rome, in the year 54. Claudius dies, poisoned by Agrippina, and the young Nero, fair-haired and fond of the arts, becomes emperor while his mother governs in his place. Consumed by boredom, he discovers in writing the purpose of his life and composes an elegy, which his tutor Seneca praises without believing in it. He surrounds himself with two mediocre, flattering poets, Zodicus and Fannius, and begins to envy the true artists, starting with his adoptive brother Britannicus, a genuine poet who refuses him.
Context
The novel first appeared as a serial in the Nyugat in 1921, under the title A véres költő, then in volume form with Genius. Its German translation, in 1924, opens with a letter from Thomas Mann, dated Munich, 23 May 1923, which says that he places Seneca above Nero as a character. The author tells there of power handed to a dilettante: a childish, soft and dissatisfied tyrant, whom the fear of those around him lets slide towards crime, and who pursues true poetry for lack of being able to attain it.
Who it is for
Thirty-three brief chapters, which can be read without any particular knowledge of Roman history; translated into French and English.
Prizes and reception
Translated into ten languages, and introduced to German readers by a prefatory letter from Thomas Mann.
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