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Carol A Kidron

The Homeric Hymn to Hermes: A journey across the continuum of paradox

The phenomenon of play is evaluated as key theme in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, where self-referential paradox is used as a passage way into play, game, and ritual. Hermes as hybrid, semi-divine God, embodies the metamessage ‘this is play,’ incessantly capitalizing on the chaotic ambiguity and generative power of play and paradox. Designing a sequence of paradoxes, Hermes moves processually along paradoxical contiunua to create a ‘play reality,’ trapping his opponents in a world of illusion, ‘magic,’ and movement and utlilizing the trajectory of his new creations to propel himself along the larger continuum of his own essential hybridity.

Semiotica, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 0037-1998
Volume: 2006, 02/2006
Pages: 35 - 69

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