Re: Wagner and the Greeks

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 15:32:16 -0800, Charles Zigmund wrote:

> Derrick Everett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> 
>> ...We should keep in mind that Wagner selected elements that suited his
>> purposes from contemporary interpretations of the Eddas and discarded
>> others that did not suit his purposes.  In the case of the Norns,
>> Wagner was more influenced by the Greek fates (Gk. Moirai) than by any
>> Nordic tradition; in particular it should be noted that there is no
>> reference there to the Norns weaving a rope of fate.  Like other
>> important aspects of Wagner's "mythology", this one was taken from
>> Greek, not Nordic, sources...
> 
> This is interesting. Would you be good enough to note some other
> instances of Wagner's use of Greek mythology as a source? Perhaps not a
> complete survey, this would be asking too much, but some important
> examples.

A couple of additional points, briefly, both concerning Achilles.

1. During his Dresden years, Wagner began to sketch a drama about the hero
Achilles, drawing upon the "Illiad".  It should be noted that, while there
is clearly a similarity between Siegfried and Achilles in their secret
vulnerability, the influence if there was any appeared first in the
sources, not introduced by Wagner.  You will recall that Achilles was held
by the heel when his mother immersed him in the river Styx, and therefore
his heel was not protected.  In most versions of the Sigurd/Siegfried
story, he is protected after bathing in the blood of the dragon, except
for a spot on his back which he could not reach.  In the "Nibelungenlied"
the spot was covered by a leaf.  Thus both heros have an area of
vulnerability.

2. The spear that wounds and heals, which Wagner discovered rather late in
the development of the scenario for "Parsifal" as a unifying element of
the story, is based on the spear of Achilles, which wounded Telephos.  The
wound would not heal, so Telephos consulted the oracle and was told that
only the weapon that had caused the wound could heal it.  Therefore he
sought out Achilles, forced him to cooperate by taking hostages, and was
then healed by the spear -- in some versions by metal filings taken from
the weapon and placed in the wound.  The story of Telephos is one of many
that were told about minor characters involved in the events surrounding
the Trojan war.

-- 
Derrick Everett   (deverett at c2i.net)
==== Writing from  59°54'N 10°36'E ====
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