The 19th century developed a great interest in the ancient Egyptian culture, and that interest was the beginning of modern Egyptology. According to Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian of the 1st century B.C., the largest statue in Egypt bore the inscription, “I am Ozymandias, king of kings if anyone wishes to know what I am and where I lie, let him surpass me in some of my exploits.” A controversy continues today regarding the 19th-century’s unquestioning reliance on the identity of Diodorus’s sources few of his sources survive outside his own work, making it difficult to ascertain who or what is being quoted verbatim. His reign marked the height of Egypt’s imperial power. In addition to his wars with the Hittites and Libyans, Ramses is known for his extensive building projects, as well as the many colossal statues of him throughout Egypt. Written sometime in late 1817 and published on Januin Leigh Hunt’s Examiner, “Ozymandias” is a poem that bears the Greek name for the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II (13th century B.C.). Poets should watch over the powerful, as a lesson of humility and judgement.The lone and level sands stretch far away.” With his poetry, Shelley reduces human pride, and highlights the limits of power. Sure enough, a sonnet like Ozymandias shows how real and relevant that statement is. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power leads men towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. To him, poetry was a means of saving power from itself. As a matter of fact, this tradition left a trail that continues nowadays, with young Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden‘s swearing-in.īy the way, Kennedy noted that in his works Frost coupled poetry and power. Kennedy was a pioneer in inviting a poet to such a relevant political event. Frost was one of his favorite authors, but he was also the poet that read at his inaugural address as a newly-elected President. In doing so, he spoke about Robert Frost. In Octoduring a ceremony at Amherst College in Massachussets, John F.Kennedy delivered a speech about the importance of educated citizens and about the role of the artist in the modern society. Ergo, powerful people should look at that statue “and despair”, because the punishment for arrogance is oblivion. All the great richness and deeds of Ozymandias are nothing but a bunch of abandoned remains in present times.
The parable of the ancient Pharaoh shows the inconsistency of power, which is ephemeral and fleeting as is everything that concerns human kind. With Ozymandias, Shelley constructs a warning for the mighty of the Earth.
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! A warning for the Mighty Then, he proceeds to read the inscription on his pedestal:
#Ozymandias art full
The traveler describes the facial expression of the statue, full of arrogance and haughtiness. It is abandoned, destroyed and covered in sand. The focus of the description is on the ruins of the work of art. So, Shelley wanted the curiosity and the fascination to build up while reading the text. Indeed, faraway lands are full of mysteries and oddities. In truth, the vagueness draws the reader back to the great desire for exoticism that Romantic writers had. In the sonnet, the books of Diodorus Siculus became “a traveller from an antique land”. Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,Īnd wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone As a result, Shelley wrote a sonnet called Ozymandias, which was in fact the surname of Ramesses II.
If any want to know how great I am and where I lie, let him outdo me in my work”. In narrating his voyages and discoveries, he described a huge statue in the middle of the desert and quoted its inscription: “ King of Kings Ozymandias am I. In particular, Shelley took inspiration from the works of an Ancient Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus. Bust of Ramesses II, British Museum, London.
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