The legend of the Wandering Jew, which appeared in the Middle Ages, attracted the attention of writers and artists in many countries during several centuries. Ahasuerus has become one of the eternal images of world literature. This image was especially often used in the works of Romantic writers in the early 19th century. A Swedish poet Viktor Rydberg who was influenced by Romanticism used this character in several poetic works such as the ballad The Flying Dutchman (Den Flygande Holländaren, 1876) and two poems: Prometheus and Anasuerus (Prometeus och Ahasverus, 1882) and New Song of Grotti (Den nya Grottesången, 1891). In Rydberg’s lyrics, the Wandering Jew interacts with other eternal images of world culture such as the Flying Dutchman and Prometheus. His role as a stranger who witnessed a lot of different epochs and nations is emphasized in Rydberg’s poetry. Ahasuerus expresses critical judgments about modern people and actually opposes society which is the feature of Romantic characters. In the poem New Song of Grotti the image of Ahasuerus is connected with social problems. It might have been the influence of Sue’s novel The Wandering Jew. In contradiction to Romantic characters, Ahasuerus in Rydberg’s interpretation appears to be a sustainable person, which is specific to heroes of Naturalistic and Neo-Romantic Scandinavian works.
Surkov V. THE IMAGE OF AHASUERUS IN THE POETRY BY V. RYDBERG