Welcome to the second component of our series on History and modernity. In today’s article, I will be talking about a book I discovered last year and which has yet to leave my thoughts: Yourcenar’s Mémoires d’Hadrien. In this historical novel, Yourcenar puts herself in Roman emperor Hadrien’s (IInd century) feet and writes his autobiography, which begins upon having learnt his expectedly soon death. The story, presented as a letter to Marc-Aurèle, is rich and compelling, and touches on very divers subjects, between historical descriptions of the Roman empire and its surroundings through Hadrien’s travels, and reflections on life, on love, on death, on time, on God…
From a historical point of view…
Yourcenar delivers the portrait of a great man. Written in the first person, you may actually tend to forget that these memoirs aren’t actually Hadrien’s. She tells the story of this amazing Roman emperor who was able to further embellish his empire, thanks to his strength, his devotion, his deep intelligence, but also his ability to let go. Through his eyes, we are given an incredible portrait of the Roman Empire of the IInd century, its people, its mores, its customs, its operation, but also of other lands, ancient Greece for example, through Hadrien’s travels and his love of this country. The descriptions are quite incredible, historically and esthetically speaking, they plunge you in these ancient times, so much that when you close the book you might forget what year it is…
...And much more
But the novel isn’t just about describing these ancient times. It is, first and foremost, the story of a man. A man as close to God as it gets, a man adulated, but a man who has his own inner conflicts, deceptions, and contradictions, and who has no shame in admitting them. It is a tale of love, between him and Antinoüs, a much younger man, not an idyll but a realistic tale of love, which does not hesitate to show all the difficulties that come with it. The book is also riddled with Hadrien’s reflections on diverse subjects which touch on philosophy, esthetic, and religion. A man, who, like all men, is stuck between divinity and animality, and tries to find the right balance between these to find his place in the world. A man who wonders constantly about the nature of love. A man whose death is near and who is trying to confront this thought. A man who is trying to describe himself and who realizes how hard it is to know who you are.
The book of life
All in all, it is a truly amazing book. I could not put I down once I had picked it up. Aside from the amazing style and lyricism shown by Yourcenar (which to be fair is already an incredibly important aspect), this book can only be described by one word: rich. Through this man’s journey, Yourcenar gives us a portrait of wisdom which can only inspire you.