The last days of Pompeii

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The Last Days of Pompeii (Engl. The Last Days of Pompeii ) is a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834.

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It tells the story of the young, rich Greek Glaucus and his lover Ione, who lived in Pompeii around 79 AD. Glaukus, who leads the life of a spoiled nobleman and spends his days in the company of useless, newly wealthy day thieves such as the patrician Clodius and the freedman Diomed, changes his way of life abruptly when he meets Ione. Like her brother Apaecides, she is a ward of the Egyptian Isis priest Arbaces, who desires her. Apaecides, instructed by Arbaces in the Egyptian religion , is disappointed with the technical mask with which Arbaces impressed the believers, and after long conversations with the Christian Olinth turns to his faith.

Glaukus and Ione meet and are in love at first sight, but their love faces some obstacles. The rich Julia, for example, wants to win Glaukus over and therefore orders a love potion from Arbaces. This, however, wants to get rid of Glaukus as a rival and therefore gives her a brew that will drive its consumers crazy for some time. Also in love with Glaukus is Nydia, a blind slave girl whom he buys from her brutal owners (does not release), but does not keep, but gives Ione as a present. Awarded to Julia, she becomes the messenger of the insane potion and hopes that the "love potion" will ignite Glaucus for her, not for Julia.

While Glaukus is drinking the brew, Apaecides meets his former teacher Arbaces and threatens to expose his religion as mere trickery. Arbaces then kills him with a Stilus and presents Glaukus, who happened to stumble past in confusion, as the perpetrator, who is then sentenced to death in the arena. In an attempt to prevent Glaucus' arrest and to cast suspicion on Arbaces as a possible murderer, the Christian Olinth is also arrested and convicted of blasphemy. The only witness to the crime is the Isis priest Kalenus. When he approaches Arbaces to blackmail him, he locks him up in his alleged treasury to let him starve to death. However, Nydia, who is also imprisoned in Arbaces 'house because of her knowledge of the potion, manages to send a message to Glaukus' friend Sallust, whereupon he frees them both.

During their captivity together, Glaukus and Olinth become closer, and Glaucus expresses increasing interest in the Christian faith, without being fully convinced to renounce the old gods. On the day of their joint execution in the arena, for which a lion and a tiger have been imported, Glaucus is led into the arena to fight the lion, equipped only with a stilus. The latter, however, senses the approaching volcanic eruption and instead of attacking, withdraws fearfully into his cage. Now Sallust appears with Kalenus and Nydia as witnesses and accuses the Arbaces, who are also present, of murder. At that moment Vesuvius erupts and Arbaces uses the resulting tumult to escape. Nydia leads Glaukus, Ione and Sallust through the chaos of the streets where the ash rains fall to the harbor from where they escape, while Arbaces, Clodius and the priest Kalenus, like thousands of others, perish.

Knowing that Glaucus will never love her, but only show her affection, Nydia drowns herself. Glaucus and Ione escape to Athens, Glaucus' homeland, where he also converts to Christianity, as he writes to Sallust in Rome.

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First edition:

  • The last days of Pompeii. Richard Bentley, London 1834.

German translations:

  • The last days of Pompeii. Translated by Friedrich Notter. Metzler, Stuttgart 1834. New edition as: The last days of Pompeii. Insel, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-458-32501-8 .
  • Pompeii's last days. Translated by Georg Nikolaus Bärmann . Schumann, Zwickau 1835.
  • EL Bulwer's the last days of Pompeii. Revised and with a historical-topographical introduction by Friedrich Förster. Ferdinand Riegel, Potsdam 1837.
  • The last days of Pompeii. Translated by Wilhelm Schöttlen. Scheible, Rieger & Sattler, Stuttgart 1845.
  • The last days of Pompeii. Translated by Günter Jürgensmeier. Abridged by Karl Wilding. Weichert, Berlin 1906, DNB 572560869 .
  • The last days of Pompeii. Translated by Richard Zoozmann . Revised by K. Walther. Franckh, Stuttgart 1913, DNB 579278255 .
  • The last days of Pompeii. Translated by Otto von Czarnowski. Reclams Universal Library # 741, Leipzig 1917, DNB 579000222 .
  • The last days of Pompeii. Modifications made by JR Woworsky. Pallas-Verlag Knaeps, Baden-Baden 1947, DNB 450695964 .
  • The last days of Pompeii. Translated by Richard Maurice Baring. Droemer / Knaur, Munich and Zurich 1958, DNB 450696073 .
  • The last days of Pompeii. Translated by Günter Jürgensmeier on the basis of several older translations. With afterword and timetable by Jürgen Kamm. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf & Zurich 2000, ISBN 3-538-06849-6 . Also: Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-423-12778-3 .

Film adaptations

The novel was filmed several times, including:

radio play

  • Europe radio plays (1971)

Web links