Eros in Mourning: From Homer to Lacan

Eros in Mourningbegins with a reading of the Iliadthat shows how Homer, not yet influenced by the ideology of transcendence, analyzes the structure of unassuageable mourning in a way that is as up-to-date as the latest poststructuralism. Then, in readings of Dante, Hamlet, La Princess de Clèves,Heart of Darkness, and Lacan, Staten depicts the "thanato-erotic" hysteria that is set off by the specter of the dead and decomposing body that is also the body of sexual love and which, in the "transcendentalizing" tradition, is more female than male. Yet, St. John, certain troubadours, and Milton offer glimpses of a more affirmative relation to "eros in mourning."Staten, Henry is the author of 'Eros in Mourning: From Homer to Lacan', published 1994 under ISBN 9780801849237 and ISBN 0801849233.