The Dream of the Gods

Hermann Hesse

Newcomb Livraria Press

About this ebook

"I cannot read Hermann Hesse without feeling that I am drawn into the presence of a deeply serious mind, a mind that is searching for the meaning of life." - Carl Jung

A new 2023 translation of Hesse's 1912/ 1924 The Dream of the Gods (Der Traum von den Göttern). This edition also contains an epilogue by the translator, a philosophical glossary of concepts used by Hesse and a chronology of his life and work. Hesse won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. He also received the Goethe Prize of Frankfurt in 1946 and the 1955 Peace Prize of the German Booksellers.

Hesse published this fascinating essay on a dream he had originally in 1912, and then again after WWII in 1924. It is an arcane dream where Hesse describes a prophetic dream of the flaming destruction of the world by the god of war Ares eight weeks before World War I. Carl Jung had a similar dream as well as Georg Heym in his poem "Der Krieg" (1912). This is a phenomenon that Jung describes in his book Synchronicity and Ernst Bloch called the 'Vorschein', a sense of the future that also leads to arcane dreams. Hesse's commentary on his dream is very Jungian in nature.

About the author

A German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Hesse’s literature deeply explores the individual's search for self-knowledge, authenticity, and spirituality. Influenced by Eastern philosophy, Nietzsche and Jungian psychology (he was a personal friend of Jung), his works like "Siddhartha" and "Steppenwolf" became emblematic of the counter-culture movements of the 20th century and literary manifestations of Continental Philosophy. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946, Hesse's highly individualistic and spiritual narratives continue to inspire personal growth and Socratic self-awareness