‘Empedocles on Etna’ and Matthew Arnold’s Argument with History

Abstract

Claims the poem is a dialogue contrasting the timeless aspects of the human spirit with those that are transitory. Provides background on Arnold’s attitude toward the historical process; Arnold was genuinely torn between a Platonic view of history and the idea of the Zeitgeist, not resolving his own dilemma until he wrote Culture and Anarchy. Discusses Arnold’s sources before providing an examination of the dialogue in which characters in the poem represent conflicting viewpoints, with Empedocles representing modern humankind and Callicles disinterested objectivity.