The Sibyl Author:Par Lagerkvist In this powerful, poetic, and moving parable, the Wandering Jew of medieval Christian legend journeys to Delphi to consult the famed oracle of the pagans. He is turned away but not before learning that one of the most adept of the old priestesses, or sibyls, lives in disgrace in the mountains above the temple. In her rude goat-hut he seeks the m... more »eaning of his disastrous brush with the son of God. She reveals too her story of how she became a priestess or pythia - that she, too, has been touched by the son of a god, a very different son, not quite human, born of her own body. He dwells with her as a constant reminder of the betrayal of her mystical and erotic union with the divine, her punishment, and?perhaps?her redemption.
Written in 1958 by Nobel Prize Swedish author Par Lagervist, "The Sibyl" is full of the sense of confusion and loss of the post war era, and Lagerkvist's own, often pessimistic, philosophical debates on the nature of man's significance. It has been regarded as a masterpiece by the European literary community, but has often been unrecognized by American readers. This translation by Naomi Walford is an easy read, and regarded as most true to the original Swedish.« less