From Proteus to Icarus in Antonio Cicero: myth and philosophy in Brazilian contemporary poetry

Abstract

Since the beginnings of civilization, mythological figures permeated the popular imagination, as the gods were constantly evoked due to great deeds and fantastic situations unimaginable to a mortal. They were cultivated as a way of escaping reality, they were sublime beings who lived alongside the real world. In this way, mythology emerged to help man deal with possible human difficulties. In Antiquity, the origin of poetry was also attributed to deities, as was the Muses, who had a great influence on archaic poetry. This was considered sacred and was part of a society that did not yet have knowledge of writing as a way of preserving the past. Because of this, and due to such influence since Homer, it is inevitable to find remnants of great mythological deeds in modern poetry, since a considerable number of 19th and 20th century poets wrote about or cited the great deeds of the gods. Based on this, this article attempts to analyze the poems “Proteu”, published in the book A Cidade e os Livros (2002), and “Icaro”, published in the book Porventura (2012), evaluating their comparative-analytical compatibility with texts that they worked on the relationship between myth, poetry and philosophy, and the great mythological works, mainly Theogony, published probably between VIII and VII BC, by Hesiod and Metamorphosis, by Ovid, published in VIII BC.