The Beloved of the Dawn

Four classical Greek myths retold with unexpected twists by an East German dissident.

Franz Fühmann's subversive retellings of four Greek legends were first published in East Germany in 1980. In them, Fühmann plumbs the ancient tales' depths and makes them his own. Attuned to conflict and paradox, he sheds light on the complexities of sex and love, art and beauty, politics and power. In the title story, the love of the goddess Eos for the mortal Tithonos reveals the blessing and curse of transience, while "Hera and Zeus" probes the divine couple's tumultuous relationship and its devastating consequences for a world embroiled in war. Fühmann's unflinching account of Marsyas' flaying by Apollo has been widely read as a dissident political statement that has lost none of its incisive force. At times charged with sensuality, and at others honed to a keen analytical edge, Fühmann's shimmering prose is matched by Sunandini Banerjee's exquisite collages.

About the author

Franz Fühmann (1922-1984) was one of modern Germany's most fascinating literary figures and the author of dozens of novels, short stories, essays, poems, ballets, and children's books. Isabel Fargo Cole is a United States-born, Berlin-based writer and translator. She is the initiator and coeditor of No Man's Land, an online magazine for new German literature in English.

Product details

• Authors: Franz Fuhmann
• Assisted by: Sunandini Banerjee (Illustration), Isabel Fargo Cole (Translation)
• Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.09.2022
• EAN: 9780857429001
• ISBN: 978-0-85742-900-1
• No. of pages: 84
• Dimensions: 233 mm x 373 mm x 13 mm
• Weight: 272 g
• Series: The German List
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies