Between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 19th century, a kind of imagination of "ascension" was prevalent in Britain's poetic, political, intellectual, spiritual, and religious fields—an imagination that mostly manifested itself as a picture of flying to heaven. In his new book Celestial Aspirations, Philip Hardie, a professor of classics at the University of Cambridge, explores the artistic, philosophical, scientific, and poetic expressions of Britain during the period to recall the theme of "ascension."
The ascension is a complete liberation. People break free from physical and mental bondage and thus acquire other mental states or emotional experiences: desire, sacredness, ecstasy, contemplation, fantasy, imagination. They lead us beyond the banal everyday, beyond the subject's mundane perception of the world around us—even if it all exists only in the imagination.
Soared by the noble desire for love
Desire, especially love, is an important engine for ascension. And this lust is usually the result of purification and sublimation, in contrast to unpurified lust. The latter surrendered their bodies to earthly beings and even fell into hell, like the fallen Adam and Eve in Lost Paradise, and Tityos, who had a strong lust for titan goddess Leto in Greek mythology. Titius was beaten into the underworld after his death, where two giant eagles kept pecking at his internal organs. And this story becomes a symbol of "empty desire" in Lucretius's fable.
In contrast to the "fall" caused by lust, Plato returned to "divine love"—associating love with the sublime. In the beautiful passage of love, Phaedrus, Plato, through the mouth of Socrates, associates "love" with "beauty," and love becomes the wings of the soul that soar upwards, and that love drives the soul's flying chariot to continue to gallop above the sky.
The Phaedros initiated a long tradition of linking "love" with "ascension" in Neoplatonism and Christian mysticism under Plato's influence. Richard of Saint Victor, one of the most influential religious thinkers of the twelfth century, described in his meditations that the soul is humbled to dust before the "supreme beauty." But the desire for the highest allows the soul to transcend itself and rise rapidly to the sublime.
Sublimated love raises the soul of the lover to a height equal to wisdom and returns to the high ground of truth. In The Divine Comedy, Dante stumbles into the Misty Forest and faces the threat of a ferocious attack. Virgil, one of the three great poets of ancient Rome, appeared to save Dante from fire and water. Virgil said that he was entrusted by the goddess Beatrice. Subsequently, under the guidance of Beatrice, Dante enters heaven from Purgatory. Beatrice, the object of Dante's earthly love and his muse, endowed him with "beauty, virtue and strength" that gave him a "sublime power throughout the body" and accompanied him towards the final revelation.
Dante and Beatrice, by Henry Holiday. In Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
A ladder of "self-forgetfulness" and "contemplation"
The English word for "ecstasy" represents a state of "forgetting oneself." It may come from the deformation of some negative emotions—such as rage, horror, surprise, madness—or it may come from the "sublime." The latter pushes the soul upwards and is connected to a higher being.
Spiritual or intellectual upliftment can also be achieved through more subtle meditation and contemplation. For example, Dante in the Divine Comedy and Milton often mentioned the "contemplative life" in Paradise Lost. Plato's Symposium and the ancient Roman statesman Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy have the image of the "ladder": the ladder is the embodiment of philosophy that leads people to higher places. In Christianity, the sacred steps connect the temple. Through the contemplation of the soul, the believer ascends step by step to the heavenly steps of creation and reaches the holy abode of the Trinity.
Jacob’s Ladder, by William Blake. In the British Museum.
Imagination flaps its wings
"Imaginary flight", in the literature and art of the classical era and the early modern era, is far more than just an "absurd" idea, but has a richer connotation. It represents the human imagination—a kind of existence that liberates the mind and leads people to the boundless. David Hume, an important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, believed that imagination not only helped people to jump out of the space they were in, but also to wander in time: "The human imagination is sublime, can help us to experience distant and extraordinary things, allowing us to travel at the farthest distance of space and time." ”
Hume associates imagination with the sublime, and imagination with innovation is just as common. Henry Pemberton, for example, said of Milton, author of Paradise Lost: "Milton's imagination transcends the boundaries of the world, and his innovations push the limits of human action and thought." "The expansive imagination loosens the reins of thought, allowing words to stretch and spread in the endless sky.
But fantasy and imagination don't always lead to positive results. These upward momentums can sometimes backfire. For Hume, the human imagination, while sublime in time travel, deviates from "correct judgment" when it "operates uncontrollably." People hope to use the power of thinking to suppress the arbitrariness of the imagination, and to let learning guide the imagination to a higher place.
Daedalus and Icarus, by Andrea Sacchi. In Musei di Strada Nuova.
Today, although people have already flown to the blue sky and the universe through machine invention. The desire to fly freely is still prevalent, especially when physical displacement is blocked. Imagination is perhaps the best synonym for the fantasy of human flight, and even if you are trapped in a "fruit shell", you can explore the boundless. As John Keats describes in his poem Fancy:
"Let the fantasy roam.
Happiness is never confined to one place:
Sweet joy that melts at the touch,
Like foam on the ground when heavy rain pours down;
Then let the winged fantasy roam,
Travel through the ever-expanding mind.
Open the door of the cell where the soul is held,
Let her gallop forward and fly into the clouds. ”
PUP content recommendations
Celestial Aspirations
The imagination of "ascension" was an important theme in English literature, art and politics between the late 16th and early 19th centuries. In this book, the author focuses on "Soaring" and composes this masterpiece that combines the history of literature, art and ideas.
The historical development, ideology and aesthetic expression of the post-classical period are different from those of the classical period, but they are still influenced by it. From the literary depictions of "paradise" by Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, and Cowley, to the ceiling paintings of Rubens, Verrio, and Thornhill, writers and artists continued and changed the classical tradition.
In Britain, the narrative culmination of "Ascension" appears in Milton's Paradise Lost, an epic poem constructed around the Christian plot of purgatory and ascension, and one of the most classic works of English poetry. In addition, the authors examine the descriptions of "soaring" by poets such as Wordsworth and Tennyson, Alexander Pope, and Edward Young.
Although the author reviews the representative figures and works in literature and art extensively, the theme of the book is still clear: the author pays attention to the collective and individual motivation behind the "ascension"—"ascension" is both a recognition of political and military achievements and a goal of individual spiritual and soul struggle. This book provides an interesting perspective on the attempts of creative writers and artists to recreate ancient notions of time and space in the early modern period.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF PUP
Philip Hardie
Philip Hardie is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and Professor Emeritus of the Latin Department at the University of Cambridge.
Recommended by PUP celebrities
"The book spans vast spaces and traces literary and pictorial themes of human flight and ascension from the late 16th to the early 19th century, in English literature and the classical tradition. The author examines the connection between 'sublime', 'imaginative', scientific and religious sentiments. The meaning of these connections gradually became clear in the author's interpretation of different writers and artists. ”
—David Quint, Yale University
Celestial Aspirations explores themes of art, religion, and politics, encompassing classical roots and poetry and art from early modern Britain. Combining comparative literary analysis and art history, this outstanding book features Plato, Virgil, and Milton, and gives the reader a taste of the philosophical and intellectual connotations behind the ceiling paintings of Stuart and early Georgian England. This book presents an incredibly stunning paradigm of interdisciplinary classical research. ”
—Stephen Harrison, University of Oxford
"It is a clearly written and authoritative book that contains a keen reading and comparison of a large number of classical and early modern poetry. The author has an excellent reputation for content and literary appreciation, and his skill is evident in this book. ”
—Victoria Moul, University College London
"This book, which focuses on the fantasy of human flight, is a very informative interdisciplinary study. The author focuses on the interpretation of classical texts by British thinkers from the late 16th to the 18th century, providing a new perspective on classics and the history of ideas. ”
—William Fitzgerald, King's College London
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