“The Black Cat” Revisited: A Prolegomenon to Poe's Greek Imitators

Abstract

Abstract This article seeks to show how Poe has influenced writing in Greece since his somewhat late introduction into Hellenic literary spheres, despite several claims that no major Greek author or translator has yet come to understand or appreciate Poe's storytelling fully. Toward this goal I will explain some of the reasons for the late arrival of Poe's tales and poems in Greece, and will then consider a story by Emmanuel Rhoides, published in 1893, which bears numerous similarities to Poe's “The Black Cat.” Rhoides was the first Greek translator of Poe, and his admiration for the American writer will be underlined here through an overview of the points of convergence, as well as the dissimilarities, between the two works. Such a comparison will cast doubt on the position of a number of critics who have played down the significance of Poe's oeuvre in Greek literature. Finally, the present article aims to shed some additional light on Poe's impact on the Greek literary world, an insufficiently explored topic in the study of Poe, and one that serves as the prolegomenon for a forthcoming, systematic study.