What do Toni Morrison, Umberto Eco and Ridley Scott have in common? All of them have been fascinated by an ancient poem from the Nag Hammadi codices, "The Thunder: Perfect Mind", and have evoked its words in their work. This poem of provocative self-declarations by a mostly female, sometimes divine figure has already had a full life in the contemporary public imagination. Yet scholarship on "Thunder" has been limited, and has paid too little attention to the powerful and puzzling 'I' at its center. What might this poem have meant to its ancient audience? How does it complicate and change contemporary images of early Christianity? What are the poem's possibilities for meaning now? In this fresh, post-gnostic translation, and the first book-length treatment in English devoted to "Thunder", the history, social world and literary composition of the poem gain new attention and significance, as do the compelling twists and turns of gender and status that the voice of "Thunder" takes.
- ISBN10 1598150146
- ISBN13 9781598150148
- Publish Date 15 December 2010
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 15 September 2009
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Polebridge Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 168
- Language English