The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.1798  Tuesday, 25 October 2005

From: 		Rolland Banker <
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Date: 		Monday, 24 Oct 2005 15:35:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 161631 Friends, Romans, Countrymen
Comment: 	Re: SHK 161631 Friends, Romans, Countrymen

Joseph Egert states,

"Reading John's REVELATION for the first time has left me convinced 
JULIUS CAESAR is in many respects patterned after this apocalyptic work, 
with Philippi an early pagan Armageddon prefiguring the Last Judgments...."

When I read that it was like a great trumpet started blasting in my 
head....,

That's the big noisy canonical problem with including the Book of 
Revelations written by the other John (another Oxford?) in the New 
Testament-all that majestic mythology-as Northrop Frye has shown is 
really drawn from the Old Testament, and the too-simple division of the 
world into good and evil undermined the crisp lucid Christian language 
of the Gospels to the point it was malleable as any old moon cult. 
American Jesus anyone?

And now this noisy mythic opulence is intruding on our Shakespearean 
scholarship.

Bardolators Anonymous everywhere are in torment and gnashing of teeth.

Yet, I sympathise with Joe Egert...

I tell you...Darkness shall cover the earth...

Grace be with you,
Rolland Banker


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