Among Famous Books

A series of lectures examines the recurring tension between material paganism and spiritual idealism across classical, sixteenth-century, and modern literature. By reading Greek religion and myth alongside works such as Marius the Epicurean, two treatments of Faust, Celtic revivals, Bunyan, Pepys, Sartor Resartus, and modern religious verse, the essays explore how nature, ritual, and symbolism convey sacred meaning. They consider how bodily appetites and earthly allurements both undermine and enrich moral conviction, showing a persistent continuity of the struggle between flesh and spirit and the complex interplay of sacramental insight and worldly temptation.