Religious motifs : Overview. Search. About religious motifs
Keywords:
Cult, holy, myth, legend, history
Description of this motif: High places are places of worship or the goal of pilgrimage, a shrine. To such locations are often atttached stories: myths, legends, stories of miracles. The historic element is the core of Andersen's usual use of the motif; these places carry stories about something sacred – but now they are waste. The motif induces a feeling of the presence of past times and a combination of wonder and awe at the encounter with the sacred attached to a location.
Example :
Then through the air, across the sea, to Italy, where once stood old, eternal Rome. It has vanished! The Campagna is a desert; a solitary ruined wall is shown as the remains of St. Peter's, and there is even doubt that this ruin is authentic.
On to Greece, to spend a night in the hotel at the top of Mount Olympus, just so they can say that they have been there. Then to the Bosporus, for a few hours' rest and to see the spot where Byzantium stood; and where legends tell of the harems of the Turks, poor fishermen are now spreading their nets.
Comment on this quote:
The Olymp is a massif in Greece, in Greek mythologi home of the Gods.
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