Clash of Cultures

Reviews / Votes

"Homer created his Iliad circa three millennia ago. The level of his creativity is measureless; his sense of harmony and balances, his masterly ability to deal with subtle points and counterpoints is so impressive that it is not surprising how his works survived for 3,000 years." We may say the same for Sanguineti, who masterfully deals with the subtle points of Homer's grand epic. Clash of Cultures is one of the finest examples of revisionist Homeric scholarship, one that is a great joy to read and will deepen anyone's love for Homer's grand masterpiece. * VoegelinView * Who was Homer? What was Homer's embodied relationship to his material, to the annihilating wars, to the unappeasable, ungovernable personalities of Achilles and Agamemnon? Above all, who are Homer's gods? Are these divinities better today when expressed as archetypes? If so, then what revolutions do they sponsor or anticipate? In Clash of Cultures: A Psychodynamic Analysis of Homer and the Iliad, Sanguineti offers compelling psychological insight into Homer as an artist and man, as well as the tragic structures of his epic. With wit and wisdom, Sanguineti provides a revealing study of a past that is historically distant, yet spiritually immanent to Western modernity. This book is essential reading for those wanting to pursue the psychodynamics of cultures and nations. It also re-reads Homer criticism in the cause of a psychologically coherent scholarship. Homer scholars will feast upon it. -- Susan Rowland, Pacifica Graduate Institute, author of Jung: A Feminist Revision A thoroughly engaging therapeutic encounter with Homer's imagination. Sanguineti is a masterful analyst, who guides us carefully through Homer's relationships with his characters and the epic struggles they encounter, ever mindful of the cultural and political turmoil of Homer's time and the dangers of projecting contemporary values and presumptions into his interpretation. The result is a captivating synthesis of Freudian/Jungian ideas with Homeric storytelling that encourages us to re-read Homer's epic works anew-often by reading between the lines and by reflecting from time to time on what is not said. Sanguineti's book is a poignant reminder of the timelessness of human experience, not least the tumult and travails of emotions. Despite leading us to the evocative depths of human grief, guilt, sorrow, despair, rage, it is a very enjoyable book! -- Lucy Huskinson, Bangor University; former editor-in-chief of <i>International Journal of Jungian Studies</i>; and author of <i>Nietzsche and Jung and Architecture and the Mimetic Self</i> This is an intriguing book. Vincenzo Sanguineti's original interpretation of the Iliad traces the influences of Homer's background and zeitgeist together with his longing and grief for a dying civilization. Sanguineti shows that this grief is ultimately transformed in healing and sublimated in immortal poetry. -- Donatella Marazziti, University of Pisa and Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences