French Literature Reviews - 2026

T. Ziolkowski, Minos and the Moderns: Cretan Myth in Twentieth-century Literature and Art
Comparative and World Literature

Theodore Ziolkowski, Minos and the Moderns: Cretan Myth in Twentieth-century Literature and Art, Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, coll. "Classical Presences", 2008, xii-173p.

Isbn: 9780195336917 (hardcover)

Review by Constanze Güthenke (Princeton University) in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2008.12.25

Publisher's description:

Minos and the Moderns considers three mythological complexes that enjoyed a unique surge of interest in early twentieth-century European art and literature: Europa and the bull, the minotaur and the labyrinth, and Daedalus and Icarus. All three are situated on the island of Crete and are linked by the figure of King Minos. Drawing examples from fiction, poetry, drama, painting, sculpture, opera, and ballet, Minos and the Moderns is the first book of its kind to treat the role of the Cretan myths in the modern imagination.

Beginning with the resurgence of Crete in the modern consciousness in 1900 following the excavations of Sir Arthur Evans, Theodore Ziolkowski shows how the tale of Europa—in poetry, drama, and art, but also in cartoons, advertising, and currency—was initially seized upon as a story of sexual awakening, then as a vehicle for social and political satire, and finally as a symbol of European unity. In contrast, the minotaur provided artists ranging from Picasso to Dürrenmatt with an image of the artist's sense of alienation, while the labyrinth suggested to many writers the threatening sociopolitical world of the twentieth century. Ziolkowski also considers the roles of such modern figures as Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud; of travelers to Greece and Crete from Isadora Duncan to Henry Miller; and of the theorists and writers, including T. S. Eliot and Thomas Mann, who hailed the use of myth in modern literature.

Minos and the Moderns concludes with a summary of the ways in which economic, aesthetic, psychological, and anthropological revisions enabled precisely these myths to be taken up as a mirror of modern consciousness. The book will appeal to all readers interested in the classical tradition and its continuing relevance, and especially to scholars of Classics and modern literatures.

Theodore Ziolkowski is Class of 1900 Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He is the author of Virgil and the Moderns and Ovid and the Moderns, as well as The Sin of Knowledge, German Romanticism and Its Institutions, Modes of Faith: Secular Surrogates for Lost Religious Belief, and The Mirror of Justice: Literary Reflections of Legal Crises.

Contents:

Introduction: The modernization of myth -- Europa and the bull: Sex, society, and politics -- The minotaur: The beast within and the threat outside -- The other Cretans: Alienation, invention, liberation -- Conclusion: The modernity of myth

The early twentieth century witnessed a remarkable surge of interest in classical antiquity across European letters and the arts, as writers and artists continually sought ways to interpret contemporary experiences through ancient narratives. This broader cultural phenomenon often involved turning to foundational Mediterranean stories to make sense of rapid modernization, shifting political landscapes, and changing artistic forms. Within this intellectual climate, ancient myths functioned as a flexible medium through which creators could address both personal alienation and collective sociopolitical realities. Theodore Ziolkowski considers three mythological complexes that enjoyed a unique surge of interest in early twentieth-century European art and literature: Europa and the bull, the minotaur and the labyrinth, and Daedalus and Icarus.

Drawing examples from fiction, poetry, drama, painting, sculpture, opera, and ballet, the study examines the resurgence of Crete in the modern consciousness following the excavations of Sir Arthur Evans. It discusses how the tale of Europa evolved from a story of sexual awakening into a vehicle for political satire and a symbol of European unity, while the minotaur and the labyrinth reflected the artist's sense of alienation and the threatening sociopolitical world. Readers interested in the classical tradition and its continuing relevance may find it relevant.