Dramatic poem · 1852
Empedocles on Etna
A Dramatic Poem
On the slopes of Mount Etna, the young harp-player Callicles and the physician Pausanias attend the philosopher Empedocles, who is exiled, weary of men and of his own restless thought. Callicles sings of the gods and of Chiron's teaching of Akhilleus, Pausanias hopes to cure his friend, and Empedocles on the summit, in a long meditation on mind, desire and the unity of things, leaps into the crater, while Callicles' song rises from below.
Contents · 3 parts