Shipwreck with Spectator Humans lve thei ves and build their initions on dey anc Neverthees, they eckto grasp dhe movement ofthet cexitence sboveall though metaphoric ofthe perloussea ope, The repertory of thi nasties metsphoris of Crtence i wer ch Ieinclads costs and land, harbors fd the bigh se, 88 and stom shallows and ls, sl Ande, helmsmen and anchorages, compas and a0 totieal navigation lighthouses and plo. On the repre tention ofinger onthe igh seas serves only to underine ‘he comfort and peace, the sty and ereniy ofthe harbor tn vhich asa voyage reacherit end: Only where there can bbe wo achievement of goal arin the eases of Sepa and plsurcan, cin calm onthe high ear uel tand fora vision cof fore good fortne ‘mong the elementary clits we confront ss human bingy he ane with which we ae least aes the se— withthe posible exception ofthe ai, conquered Inter on “The power and gods rexponsbeforittubbomy witha fom the sphere of determinable forces, Out of the oceanhat i ll around the edge of te habitable word come ‘mythial monte, whichare tthe firtestremove fromthe fara viage of mati and seem to have no knowledge of the world st common, Another feature of this kind of luncanines i hat mj asignsearhgusker—aince sme tnmemoralncontesabiy ae mos iptening of mater ‘secarrencer—to thera god Poreion’s elm In the hal ‘mythical explanation given by the fit ofthe fonian nara plulosophes, Thales of Miles, earthquakes are compared ‘with the swaying of a ship on the sex—and not only Ietaphorically since fori the deylandfoxtsonthe weld ‘ocean? This protphilropher thereby ui the caret ‘badge toward an undentanding ofthe range paradox font ‘which bez, that human beings ving on land neverthe- Jes prefer, in their imagination, to represent their over ‘condition inthe world in term af ua voyage “Two prior ssunpion shove alldetemnine the burden of meaning cased bythe metaphoric of vaiing and ship ‘wreck fie, dhesen ra matualygiven boundary ofthe el (of human sctvies and, second, i demoniation a che sphere of the unreckonable and lawless in which iis Aificue to find one's beaings. In Christian iconography at twel thesea the pice where evilappear sometimes with the Gaottic ouch that stands oral devouring Mater hat takes everyting back ino ele leis par ofthe Johannine spoclype'proasse that, i dhe mesa Fallen, here Willa longer be ase (he thai ou tt) In hex pret fom, odyueys ace an expresion ofthe abirarnes of the powen that denied Odyweus* homecoming, senelesly Erving him bout and Gall leading him to shipseeck, in ‘which the reabilty ofthe cosmos becomes questionable 2nd ts oppose valation in Gnomticim i apt. “The set has akways been spect fr ultra enicim, ‘Whuc could have motivated the move frm land to sea but 4 sual of natue’s meager offerings, the monotony of Zypaltul labor pls the addictive vision of quickly won evn ofmore han raion findsnecesary (the lterbeing ‘omething the pilsophicly cine ae sway ready € roid a forma fr)—the vision, that of opulence and Try? The idea that here, onthe boundy between lind anedaea, what ay not have been the falc wat cersinly {rmktp into the nappeopite andthe immoderate was ist taken, ht the vividness tha satis tng cop 1a is Works and Dey, Hesiod berats his brother Peres sw, with his har fil of foaishnes,” as earned aay fon working on the land toward the opportunity ofa et voyigs along the cont, usta dee Eher, “in search of beter lif," had often sed on ships. Hess mira the alien element, ifeny because it snot under the dominion ‘fZeus-—out onthe high es, earcshaker Poseidon acts in accord wih his own decisions, Foe that reson, he advises Penes not to say beyond the lal boundaries of the fivernbleseson and wo return home afta he can, The rile oftime seem to be what remain of the cosmos for the ‘ea: For dis rexon, Hesiod strongly xis ea voyages tinder the uncertain conditions spring: they ae “hay and tdiiogs.” Yer humans, “wth their hear ack of under Staling." dose out on such voyae. Tris precisely i his ctcism that we fst encounter the culurecrdcl connection between two cements charac- tered by liquidity: water and money The ter i sid to be “ik hfe el to pitiable mankind” This tool of che sbrlate interchange ofall with all cretr out of che ‘Seperation of peoples, which is considered tobe in accord Spare wah Specter Shi wi eewth naar the enmarked road By which they can be Connected. ln Keeping withthe schema thats xablishedin vance here, Vig lew apoealypc than the prophet Job, foretee in hs fourth Edge the end, no indeed ofthe se, but of esting i the coming age of bls. 2. What the Shipwrecked Person Is Let With In this eld of representation shipreck i someting ike the “legitimate” resale of eating, and s happy reached Irtbor or srene calm on the seis only the deceptive fice ‘ofsomething tht is deeply problematic. The contapostion ‘fy land and deepsea the primary ame ofteference for the paraloxcal meuphorcs of exitence might, however, Tends coexpectthis, goingbeyond the ides oftornsatsex and sinking, there ant als be the, 8 were, emphatic Configuration in which shipurec at Sa is set beside he tminvolved spectator on dryland, Ones incined to my Prior tht thie convergence could hardly fl vo occur in Tteratac; could ale had fil to scandalize it presents the uninvalved spectator te type who, cleare-cticaly for even aethetically, takes note of hs dance fom he orm [des Ung] with aiicton or even enjoy tent. The procm*o thesecond book of Lucresus's didactic poem, together wih ts reception history, wllead usin his Abrecton, Before thi, we should examine mor closely the ancient ssopicion that undedies the metaphoric f shipwreck: chat ‘heres ivlous ifr blasphemous, moment inherent in {i human seafaring. ona par with an ofense agains the Snvuerbile of the earth, dhe bw oft inviolate, which seemed ro forbid cating through ithmases or balding Spore wi Scr stil harbor-—in other word, adel aertions of the ‘eltionship between hind andsea. Inthe writings of ancient Itoi, there are sil eferencer bh to respecting snd to Alosting this lw. But proubitions have always ao defined the eneme limits of daring and chalenge* orice ieoduced the “sip of wate” im pulial these, where it ply is role down eo the present day * However, the riohidon—correctly derrbed a allegor- calafthe problem posed by Ode 1, which Quinlan taker ship ashe state nae poe publi) and interprets ‘he sors at ci wan, nt beyond doube. The poet ses {he ship dahed under by som frm the pint of view of the menting but sninvolved spectator. Quinn's de- ‘odirg was auhostative forthe way this metaphor was Ihanded dow, andi wasao made habitatby anesablshed. form going back to Alea” But the odes ship, in its thonghiflly observed pitiablestte, sao inaccord with the ‘vaming abou sefring that Horace gave nis Proptihon (Gen aloog with Vig om his woyage to Aens), which i mong the most common cations fom him. He speaks expr of forbidden voyages over the ea and of sips 8 pions boat (nie rat tha aly connect what 3 ivi har sandered When these roves self against he agile vow, i is oly protecting thir orginal ivion ‘etablshed by the god wisdom and oveesped by human pile Aa omni poe en man per ve i Hone compares sch an offs wi that of Promeeus, who ao tened by force an alien ele not allowed «©