"In this elegant book Ziolkowski creates a panoramic map of Cretan myth in the first half of the twentieth century and of its reception across the arts. Building momentum from the observation that the mythology accruing around Crete and its prehistoric and pre-classical Minoan culture sees a remarkable peak in reception across Europe from around the turn of the century, Ziolkowski catalogues a wide range of artistic engagements with those Cretan figures and links them back to a straightforward exposition of Modernist aesthetics and its programmatic interests." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review "In Minos and the Moderns: Cretan Myth in Twentieth-Century Literature and Art, Ziolkowski offers a whirlwind of examples as he traces a modernist revival of Minoan myth." --The Chronicle Review "The appropriation of Classical Greek myth in modern literature is a familiar theme. But what about the prior Cretan myths, revived so dramatically in the early twentieth century by the archeological discoveries of Arthur Evans? In this remarkably erudite, elegant, and engaging study, Theodore Ziolkowski takes us back to those erotically charged and violent tales relating to King Minos and his progeny, showing us, in beautiful detail, how the tales of Pasiphae and the Bull, Daedalus's design of the labyrinth, or the flight of Icarus, functioned as foundational narratives of Modernism-whether the modernism of Joyce and Picasso, or of the Surrealist journal Minotaure and the novels of Marguerite Yournecar. Ziolkowksi's own narrative is itself as absorbing as a novel-a total pleasure to read!" -Marjorie Perloff, Stanford University "Ziolkowski is one of our most distinguished scholars of modern literature, who, over the past decade or so, has turned his attention to the reception and appropriation of Classical literature by modernist authors. Ziolkowski offers a well-measured and readable mix of exposition, contextualization, analysis and bibliographical guidance which will make this volume accessible to a wide range of readers, from undergraduate students to scholars of both classical and modern literature." -Duncan Kennedy, University of Bristol "Ziolkowski covers a remarkable amount of material, from plays and poetry to art and music, from writers and artists as well known as Picasso, Gide, and Auden to those barely known even to specialists. This breadth makes a compelling case for the argument that the Cretan myths hold a special place in modernist culture. Ziolkowski's presentation is also very readable. Each chapter is organized around one or two interpretive patterns which give the material an argumentative thrust, with the detailed treatment of each work in turn dependent on the overarching interpretive pattern." -Craig Kallendorf, Texas A&M University "The appropriation of Classical Greek myth in modern literature is a familiar theme. But what about the prior Cretan myths, revived so dramatically in the early twentieth century by the archeological discoveries of Arthur Evans? In this remarkably erudite, elegant, and engaging study, Theodore Ziolkowski takes us back to those erotically charged and violent tales relating to King Minos and his progeny, showing us, in beautiful detail, how the tales of Pasiphae and the Bull, Daedalus's design of the labyrinth, or the flight of Icarus, functioned as foundational narratives of Modernism-whether the modernism of Joyce and Picasso, or of the Surrealist journal Minotaure and the novels of Marguerite Yournecar. Ziolkowksi's own narrative is itself as absorbing as a novel-a total pleasure to read!" -Marjorie Perloff, Stanford University "Ziolkowski is one of our most distinguished scholars of modern literature, who, over the past decade or so, has turned his attention to the reception and appropriation of Classical literature by modernist authors. Ziolkowski offers a well-measured and readable mix of exposition, contextualization, analysis and bibliographical guidance which will make this volume accessible to a wide range of readers, from undergraduate students to scholars of both classical and modern literature." -Duncan Kennedy, University of Bristol "Ziolkowski covers a remarkable amount of material, from plays and poetry to art and music, from writers and artists as well known as Picasso, Gide, and Auden to those barely known even to specialists. This breadth makes a compelling case for the argument that the Cretan myths hold a special place in modernist culture. Ziolkowski's presentation is also very readable. Each chapter is organized around one or two interpretive patterns which give the material an argumentative thrust, with the detailed treatment of each work in turn dependent on the overarching interpretive pattern." -Craig Kallendorf, Texas A&M University

Selling point: The first book to consider the striking presence of Cretan myths in major twentieth-century literature, art, opera, and ballet Selling point: Analyzes the reasons for this resurgence following more than a century of neglect Selling point: Illustrates the remarkable modernity of ancient myth

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.

Selling point: The first book to consider the striking presence of Cretan myths in major twentieth-century literature, art, opera, and ballet Selling point: Analyzes the reasons for this resurgence following more than a century of neglect Selling point: Illustrates the remarkable modernity of ancient myth