Pielgrzym i panteista. Henryk Sienkiewicz w Atenach
A Pilgrim and a Pantheist. Henryk Sienkiewicz in Athens

Summary/Abstract: The article is an analysis of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s epistolography written during his stay in Greece (in 1886). The basic interpretive category is the figure of the pilgrim, which is used in two modalities: (1) as a unifying and organizing autobiographical project and (2) as a description of a specific journey to a sacred place (here: the Acrop- olis). In the first case, the trip to Greece will be an attempt to return to the self from the period of philological studies; in the second one – to perform a private ritual on the ruins of ancient temples. The second aspect will be analysed in depth in terms of: (a) impressions, (b) imaginings and (c) explanations that are triggered by a stay on the Acropolis. As a result of the inquiry, the presence of an attitude of aesthetic panthe- ism, which acquires a Stoic tinge, is established in Sienkiewicz. In the conclusion, the difference between this stance and a strictly religious experience is indicated, which is subject here to a clear suppression.

• Details
• Contents