Hyperion - Hyperion (English spelling)

This is an epistolary novel by German poet Hölderlin. It is a work that expresses deep thoughts in an elegiac, sorrowful tone, and ends with a hymn to life. It is also a work of criticism of the times. After the initial plan (1792), it was revised several times, and the first part was published in 1797, and the second part in 1799. The protagonist Hyperion tried to save his homeland, Greece, from Turkish oppression but failed, and is now living in hiding to escape from persecution. He tells his friends the story of his past: his peaceful childhood, his boyhood under the guidance of his teacher, his youth when he talked with Alabanda about the ideal state, his love for Diotima, and his actions to liberate his homeland. His life gradually widened, but in the end it seems that he has lost everything. However, Diotima dies, predicting his future as a poet. In the letters that tell him the traces of his growth, thoughts born from past experiences and the emotions he felt at the time of writing are woven into them, and although the plot may seem simple at first glance, the structure is complex. Beauty was at the same time sacred and was considered to be fundamentally one with truth. Diotima was the living embodiment of this, and the poet's mission was to restore and demonstrate such beauty in this devastated modern age.

[Ichiro Nomura]

"Hyperion" translated by Ichiro Nomura (included in "World Literature Collection 20", 1977, Kodansha)" ▽ "Hyperion" (translated by Kakuji Watanabe, Iwanami Bunko / translated by Junsuke Suita, Shincho Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの詩人ヘルダーリンの書簡体小説。悲歌的な哀切な響きのなかに深い思想をたたえ、最後は生の賛歌に終わる。時代批判の書でもある。最初の計画（1792）ののち改作を重ね、第一部1797年、第二部1799年刊。主人公ヒュペーリオンは祖国ギリシアをトルコの圧制から救おうとして失敗し、追及の手を逃れて隠れ住んでいる。彼は友人にその過去を物語る。安らかな幼時、師の導きを受けた少年時代、アラバンダと理想国家を語り合った青年時代、ディオティーマへの恋、祖国解放のための行動。彼の人生はしだいにその輪を広げたが、最後はすべてを失ったようにみえる。しかしディオティーマは彼に詩人としての将来を予言して死ぬ。そうした自分の成長の跡を順次知らせていく手紙のなかには、過去の体験から生まれた思想と、手紙を書いているそのときの感情も織り込まれ、一見単純な筋立てでも、その構成は複雑である。美は同時に神聖なものであり、根底では真理と一つのものと考えられた。それが生きた姿となって現れたのがディオティーマであり、荒廃した現代にそのような美を回復し、それを示すことが詩人の使命であった。

［野村一郎］

『野村一郎訳『ヒュペーリオン』（『世界文学全集20』所収・1977・講談社）』▽『『ヒュペーリオン』（渡辺格司訳・岩波文庫／吹田順助訳・新潮文庫）』

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