Reception of Dionysian Music as an Intermedial Aspect of German-Language Promethean Discourse in Lipiner’s Poem “Der entfesselte Prometheus”

This study analyzes the poem “The Liberated Prometheus” (“Der entfesselte Prometheus,” 1876) by Austrian writer S. Lipiner (1856– 1911) through the lens of the reception of Dionysian music within the literary text. The relevance of this research is underscored by contemporary literary studies' interest in Promethean discourse and the theme of Dionysianism. For the first time in domestic literary scholarship, this paper presents findings on Lipiner's poem from an intermedial perspective concerning the issue of Dionysian music. Attention is given to the genesis of Dionysian music, tracing its roots back to the philosophy and literature of ancient Greece. Sources correlating with the Dionysian discourse include works by Hesiod (8th century BCE), Goethe (J. W. Goethe, 1749–1832), and Nietzsche (F. Nietzsche, 1844–1900). The results of a comparative analysis of elements in Goethe's “Faust” and Lipiner's “The Liberated Prometheus” are presented. The continuity of Lipiner's poem with Goethe's interpretation of Dionysian music is posited. The significance of Nietzschean approaches to Dionysianism for Lipiner's poem is demonstrated. The author concludes that the intermedial aspect of Dionysian music in the work under study is most fully revealed in the context of the cult of Dionysus, characteristic of Austrian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

intermediality, Dionysian music, Goethe, Nietzsche, Promethean discourse, Lipiner