Archaeoastronomy in the Poetry of T.S. Eliot

Abstract

T.S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men, published in 1925, generally has been understood as a depiction of cultural and spiritual disillusionment following the First World War. Against the backdrop of a war-ravaged Europe with millions of lives lost and numerous cultural monuments destroyed, Eliot was deeply concerned about the future and preservation of humankind, and of the arts and sciences. While Modernist scholars have noted Eliot's interest in and incorporation of aspects of astronomy and physics in his poetry, this essay explores ancient Egyptian culture and archaeoastronomy as a fresh context for reading the poem.