Cavafy's Alexandria: Study of a Myth in Progress

by Edmund Keeley

Book Overview

C. P. Cavafy, one of the greatest modern Greek poets, lived in Alexandria for all but a few of his seventy years. Alexandria became, for Cavafy, a central poetic metaphor and eventually a myth encompassing the entire Greek world. In this, the first full-length critical work on Cavafy in English, Keeley describes Cavafy's literary progress and aesthetic development in the making of that myth.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674104307
• ISBN13: 9780674104303
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A must if you like Cavafy

I'm an unapologetic Cavafy Fan and this book provided new insights into his world. My advise is read the poems, read this book and then read the poems again and you will find a whole new way of looking at Cavafy's genius.

Important literary review of the Greek Poet

I had been reading Cavafy's poetry for a rather long time before picking up Keeley's book. The book has opened up new aspects of the poetry I didn't discover while reading consciously. For example, Keeley notes the myth-making drama of Alexandria (both ancient and modern) that Cavafy created over a span of 20 years. Toward the end of the book, Keeley outlines modern criticism of Cavafy's work and attempts to show the genius that Cavafy is.