The Argonaut Myth in the Novel Alla cieca by Claudio Magris

Abstract

The paper analyses the disintegration of identity and fragmentation of the narrative voice in the novel Alla cieca (Blindly, 2005) by Claudio Magris. Through the metaphor of sailing, the Trieste writer explores various aspects of narration, focusing on the autobiographical narrative; furthermore, he reflects on the multiple identity of the modern ego and on the destructive force of History, whose oppression has been perpetuated in the recent periods as well. The many issues addressed by the novel are connected by the continuous presence of the Argonaut myth, evoked by numerous intertextual references to the Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius and to the Argonautica Orphica – a title which is, in contrast to that of the Hellenistic poem, not explicitly cited in the text.