A conversation spanning three millenia: A poetic re-invention of Homer’s Iliad by T.T. Cloete

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analise the poem ‘Achilles se skild’ (The shield of Achilles) by T.T. Cloete, from his volume of poetry onversadig (unquenched) (2011). The poem, as narrated by Cloete, will be compared with the original text as we find it in the Iliad of Homer. In the first section of the article the symbolic meaning of the shield which Hephaistos makes, will be explored. Subsequently it will be demonstrated how Cloete appropriates and adapts the material from the Iliad to forge a philosophy of life which is in correspondance with the rest of the volume of poetry onversadig and his poetic oeuvre.

Digterlike beheer en herinterpretasie: T.T. Cloete se transkripsie van twee antieke tekste in Onversadig

“…Geen wonder dus dat daar in die kritiese werk oor die digter T.T. Cloete dikwels gefokus word op die metatekstuele aard en die wetenskaplike toonaard van sy digterskap nie (Du Plooy 1998; Viljoen 2009:570;Taljard 2012;Taljard 2015).…”