Story summary
Краткое содержание: Lamia
- Чтение: 8 мин.
- 8 parts
- Аудио скоро
A serpent trades a god's wish for a woman's body, then waits on a Corinth road for the young man she loves.
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Lamia — кратко о книге
Краткое содержание: 8 min на чтение
- Время чтения
- Около 25 min20 min fast, 30 min slow
- Длительность
- Слов: 5 590
- Страницы
- Страниц: 3232 in large print
- Уровень в библиотеке
- Средний longer sentences, everyday words
- Первая публикация
- 1820by John Keats
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Сколько времени нужно на чтение классики · Обновлено
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Lamia in short
Lamia tells of a bargain and its consequences. Hermes, searching for a hidden nymph, strikes a deal with a serpent who longs to be a woman and to win Lycius of Corinth. She is freed at a terrible cost, meets Lycius on a lonely road, and carries him past the gates of Corinth into a secret house of music and marble.
What Lamia is about
Who would trade a serpent's skin for a woman's shape, and what would she give for it? In Lamia, a god, a snake, and a young man from Corinth meet through one bargain. That bargain sets a love affair burning that cannot last.
John Keats wrote this poem of two parts in the last years before his early death in 1821, and it appeared in 1820. He drew on an old Greek tale of a creature who wins a young man and is undone by his teacher, a philosopher. You get the poem scene by scene, with one question behind it all: what does cold reason do to wonder?
Для кого. You will love this poem if you enjoy Greek myths, rich pictures of feasts and palaces, and love stories that carry a shadow. It suits those who like verse read aloud.
The story in 8 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A god slips from Olympus to find a nymph
The poem opens in a far-off age, before the fairy folk drove the old woodland spirits from the forests. The story begins in a world still full of nymphs and satyrs.
Hermes, the winged messenger of the gods, has left his golden seat on Olympus empty. He has slipped away from the notice of Jove and landed in a forest on the shores of Crete. He is in love, and the poet calls his errand a theft, a stolen hour taken from the heights of heaven.
Somewhere on that island lives a nymph so lovely that hoofed satyrs kneel to her. Hermes thinks of this world of love, and heat runs from his winged heels to both his ears. He flies from valley to valley and follows many a river to its source. He finds nothing, and the more he searches, the more he burns.
Keats makes the god warm and a little comic. He rests on the lonely ground, thoughtful and sore. Then he hears a mournful voice that asks when its owner will wake from a coiled tomb and live in a body fit for love. Desire starts this story on both sides at once, in a god who wants a nymph and a hidden voice that wants a body.
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A serpent offers a bargain that Hermes accepts
Hermes glides through the grass like a shadow and finds the speaker in a thicket.
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Lamia is freed and flees toward Corinth
She breathes upon his eyes, and the nymph appears at once, smiling faintly on the green.
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Lamia snares Lycius on a lonely road
Keats tells how Lamia first fell in love.
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Lamia and Lycius enter Corinth and meet Apollonius
Lycius asks if Corinth is too far for her gentle feet that night.
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Trumpets in the distance spoil the secret
Part two opens with a wry thought.
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A magic banquet hall rises and the guests arrive
Lycius leaves to gather his relatives, and Lamia is alone.
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Philosophy and enchantment face each other
At the heart of the poem is a question.
Read all 8 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Lamia A serpent who longs for a woman's shape and for Lycius, and who pays a painful price to win both.
- Lycius A young Corinthian, a scholar and runner, who falls for Lamia on a lonely road and wants to show her to the world.
- Hermes The winged messenger god, who slips away from Olympus to find a hidden nymph and strikes a bargain with the serpent.
- Apollonius The old philosopher of Corinth and teacher of Lycius, who watches over his student with sharp, unblinking eyes.
- The nymph A woodland beauty on Crete, hidden from the satyrs by a charm, whom Hermes longs to find.
How it ends (spoiler)
Lamia, sitting pale and lost, cannot answer Lycius while Apollonius stares at her. When the philosopher names her a serpent, she vanishes with a dreadful scream. Lycius, left with empty arms, lies lifeless on the couch from that same night. His friends find no pulse or breath and wrap his body in its wedding robe.
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Вопросы о книге Lamia
What is Lamia by John Keats about?
It tells of a serpent who bargains with the god Hermes for a woman's shape so she can win Lycius of Corinth. It follows their secret love and a wedding feast where a philosopher's gaze matters.
Who is Lamia in the poem?
Lamia is a beautiful, shape-changing creature who begins as a serpent with a woman's voice and wins a woman's form from Hermes. She is clever, tender, and manipulative, and she loves Lycius.
Who is Apollonius and why does Lamia fear him?
Apollonius is the old philosopher of Corinth and the teacher of Lycius. Lamia trembles at his sight and begs Lycius to keep her hidden from him, because his sharp eyes seem to see through her.
Is Lamia based on a true story?
No. It is a verse tale that Keats took from an old Greek legend of a serpent-woman. He wrote it near the end of his short life and published it in 1820, in a volume with other poems.
What is the main message of Lamia?
The poem sets wonder against cold reason and asks what each is worth. Keats suggests that dissecting a marvel, like a rainbow, can destroy it, while also showing the cost of illusion and deceit.
Как сослаться на это издание
Keats, John. Lamia. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/lamia.
Keats, J. (2026). Lamia. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lamia (Original work published 1820)
Keats, John. Lamia. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lamia.
@book{keats2026lamia,
author = {Keats, John},
title = {Lamia},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lamia},
note = {First published 1820}
}
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