The God Abandons Antony

"The God Abandons Antony" (Greek: Ἀπολείπειν ὁ θεὸς Ἀντώνιον; also translated as "The God Forsakes Antony") is a poem by Constantine P. Cavafy, published in 1911. The poem refers to Plutarch's story of how Antony, besieged in Alexandria by Octavian, heard the sounds of instruments and voices of a procession making its way through the city, then passing out; the god Bacchus (Dionysus), Antony's protector, was deserting him;^[1] the poem's title itself is a verbatim quotation from Plutarch's text.^[1]

Adaptations

Leonard Cohen freely adapted the poem for his song "Alexandra Leaving" (Ten New Songs, 2001).^[2] Whereas Cavafy's theme was based around the city of Alexandria, Cohen's version builds around a woman named Alexandra.

References

1. Plutarch (1920). "Antony 75.3–4". Plutarch's Lives 9. With an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. "Antony 75.3–4". Plutarch's Lives (in Greek). At the Perseus Project.
2. "The god abandons Antony". Leonard Cohen: The Leonard Cohen Files.

External links

• Poem in Greek and English translation thereof (by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard) at the Official Site of the Cavafy Archive