In honor of the feast of St. Albert the Great, the “Universal Teacher,”
I offer this “Who’s Who in Hermann Hesse’s The Journey to the East.” Some of this is conjecture, and there may be
factual errors, as I can’t claim to be an expert in all the areas of knowledge
that this list of characters represents.
But it is a start for fellow League members to begin exploring further…
Hugo—Fictional Byzantine Emperor visited by Charlemagne in Le
Pelerinage de Charlemagne (Charlemagne’s Journey to Jerusalem and
Constaninople). Hesse may also be making
reference here to Hugo Ball, Swiss writer, dramatist, cabaret performer, and one
of the founders of the Dadaist movement.
After embracing Roman Catholicism, he and his wife Emmy lived a life of
simplicity, mostly in or near Montagnola (where Hesse lived). He and Hesse became intimate friends, united
in their rejection of war, materialism, and bourgeois conventions. He wrote the first full-length biography of
Hesse. His slow, painful and untimely
death from cancer at age fifty affected Hesse deeply.
Mad Roland—In Italian, Orlando Furioso, the hero of the epic poem of
the same name: a warrior driven mad by love.
He was one of the paladins, mythical courtiers of Charlemagne similar to
Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table.
Tales of the paladins include The Song of Roland, Charlemagne’s Journey
to Jerusalem and Constaninople, and Ariosto’s long poem Orlando Furioso.
Count Keyserling—Philosopher Count Hermann Keyserling. Of Estonian birth, he wrote numerous books
including The Travel Diary of a Philosopher, which chronicled his journeys
around the world and his observations of various cultures and philosophies. Hesse actually wrote a favorable review of
this book. Count Keyserling founded
(with his son) a society for world culture (with a New Age-y slant) called the
School of Wisdom, which considers Hesse to be among its members.
Ossendowski—Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer and traveler,
soldier of fortune, spy, and diplomat. He
wrote a number of novels based on his extensive travels in exotic places.
Albert the Great—Swabian friar, philosopher, scientist, alchemist, theologian,
teacher, bishop, and diplomat. Considered
one of the first (along with his pupil St. Thomas Aquinas) to introduce
Aristotle to the West; a founder of modern science (with his recognition of the
autonomy of physics from metaphysics and his belief that physical science
should be based on empirical observation).
Called “Albertus Magnus” (Albert the Great) and the “Stupor Mundi”
(Wonder of the World) for his encyclopedic knowledge of everything from geology
to mystical theology. Saint and Doctor
of the Church. Hesse was very proud of
his own Swabian origin.
Siddhartha—Title character of Hesse’s book Siddhartha. Also the name of the historical Buddha:
Gotama or Gautama Siddhartha.
Rudiger—(Possibly) Rudiger von Vaihingen, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg;
Rudiger of the Knights of Limpach; or Rudiger Maness, collector of traditional
Swabian folksongs, whose work had a strong influence on Swabian poetry.
Princess Fatima—Character in one of the stories found in The One
Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights.
Novalis—Pen name of Georg Phillip Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg,
German Romantic poet, essayist, novelist, and “spiritual center” of the German
Romantic Literary Movement. He believed
that the Romantics were destined to issue in a poetic golden age, where science
and religion, art and philosophy, would all be poetically united. Influenced Hesse immensely—in many ways Hesse
was “the last of the German Romantics.”
The Giant Agramant—Character in Orlando Furioso and other legends of
the paladins, a Saracen king who engages the paladins in battle and falls by
Orlando’s hand.
St. Christopher—“Christ-bearer,” he was said to have been a giant who
sought the mightiest of masters. He
carried travelers across a ford in a river, and one night carried a child who
became so heavy that Christopher was barely able to make the crossing. The child told him that he had been carrying
the sins of the whole world on his shoulders, as he (the child) was Jesus
Christ. Christopher became a convert to
Christianity and eventually met a martyr’s death. He is depicted in art carrying the Christ Child
and holding a pilgrim’s staff. Large
images of him were painted on church walls because of a belief that anyone who
looked upon his image would suffer no harm that day. (Ticino, the Swiss canton where Hesse spent
much of his life, is famous for the “Christophers” painted on many of its
churches.) He became the patron saint of
travelers, who wore medals bearing his image.
In 1969, the Vatican declared that there was no sound historical basis
for this lovely legend.
Hohenstaufen—A dynasty of Germanic Kings of Swabian origin, some bore
the titles King of Sicily, Duke of Swabia, Holy Roman Emperor, and others.
The Prophet Mohammed—Messenger of God. Born in Mecca, he received his first revelation from the Angel Jibril in his fortieth year. The angel's words became the Holy Qur'an and the foundation of Islam.
He preached a
religion of monotheism, of a compassionate and merciful God who would call all
to judgment. Died in Medina in A.D. 632.
Princess Isabella—Character in Orlando Furioso. Daughter of the King of
Galicia, falls tragically in love with a Saracen, is convinced to flee her
native land, is held captive by Moorish sailors, from whom she is rescued by
Orlando, and later dies a tragic death.
The Poet Lauscher—Title character of a story in Hesse’s first published
prose work, Hermann Lauscher. A kind of
alter-ego for young Hesse.
The Artist Klingsor—Title character of Hesse’s Klingsor’s Last
Summer. Another Hesse alter-ego. Hesse himself was a painter of some note.
Paul Klee—Major twentieth century Swiss artist. His work is marked by whimsy, musical
elements, magic, fantasy, dreamlike imagery.
He and Hesse probably never met but are considered kindred spirits.
Don Quixote—Title character in Miguel de Cervantes 1605 novel Don
Quixote de la Mancha, the first great work of, and foundation for, modern
fiction, especially the novel. Although
Cervantes wrote Don Quixote as a satire of popular novels of chivalry, Hesse
and others saw the underlying nobility of mad Quixote’s character. Quixote also experiences a great
disillusionment with his ideals similar to that which H.H. undergoes at Morbio
Inferiore.
Jup, the Magician—Hesse's nickname for Josef Englert, Swiss friend who
for a time actually did seek his fortune in Kashmir.
Colofine, the Sorcerer—In the original German, Collofino der Rauchzauberer (Collofino the smoke-conjurer). Josef Feinhals, cigar manufacturer and Latin
philologist; friend of Hesse; from the Italian version of his name.
Louis the Terrible—Ironic nickname given by Hesse to his friend, the
Swiss expressionist Louis Moilliet.
Friend of Paul Klee.
Anslem—Character in Hesse’s short story, “Iris.” He searches for years for the wonder that a
purple iris in his mother’s garden once awoke in him. Hesse was probably at least partially
inspired by the blue flower (a symbol of poetry) that Heinrich von Ofterdingen
searches for in the novel by Novalis that bears his name.
Ninon “the foreigner”—Ninon Dolbin, Hesse’s third wife. Her maiden name was Ausländer, “foreigner” in
German. Although much younger than
Hesse, she was a remarkable woman in her own right; Hesse’s equal in both
intelligence and strength of character.
Almansor—Almansor ben Abdullah, the title character of German Romantic
poet Heinrich Heine’s verse play, “Almansor.”
Heine was a complex intellectual who denounced Romanticism after his
conversion to political radicalism, and yet, because of his poetry, remains
identified with the German Romantic Movement.
It is to Almansor that Hassan speaks the most famous line of Heine’s, “Just as they
now burn books, so they shall eventually burn people.”
Parsifal—The title character of German epic poet Wolfram von
Eschenbach’s Parzival. Composed in the
early 13th century, Parzival is a retelling of the legend of Percival, one of
King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table.
Though based on an earlier source, it is Wolfram’s version of the
knightly adventures of Percival and the Grail that has had the greatest
influence on other writers. Parzival is
a story of a spiritual journey, with striking similarities to H.H.’s, as much
as it is an adventure story. Hesse may
have been thinking (or also thinking) of Chrétien de Troyes unfinished
Perceval, the Story of the Grail, an earlier source that Wolfram based his epic
poem on.
Witiko—Title character of Austrian author Adalbert Stifter’s novel
Witiko. Witiko is a sprawling novel set
in medieval Bohemia, where the hero seeks after and finds righteousness and
beauty. Witiko was greatly admired by
Hesse. He makes reference to Stifter’s suicide
in Steppenwolf. (He also may have borrowed the
idea of using Steppen as a prefix from Stifter.)
Goldmund—Title character of Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund. The artist Goldmund represents the ideal of
nature and art, as opposed to the monk Narcissus, who represents the mind and
the spirit.
Sancho Panza—Loyal companion and squire of Don Quixote in Cervantes’ novel Don
Quixote de la Mancha.
The Barmekides—A powerful family of Persian administrators under the
Abbasid Caliphate of Bagdad. They figure
in several tales in The Thousand and One Nights, especially the vizier Ja'far.
Hans C.—Hans C. Bodmer, friend and patron of Hesse. Built the house where Hesse was to spend his
later years. Bodmer’s own house in
Zurich was nicknamed “Zur Arch,” hence the reference to finding Noah’s Ark amid
the tramways and banks of Zurich.
Max and Tilli—Max and Tilli Wassmer, Swiss friends of Hesse.
Othmar—Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer, conductor, and close friend of
Hesse’s. He created a song cycle based
on ten of Hesse’s poems.
Mozart—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer, whose musical
uniqueness, virtuosity, prolific output, and mastery of practically every
“classical” form makes him almost certainly the greatest musical genius of all
time. Hesse describes him in Steppenwolf
as “the god of my youth, the object, all my life long, of love and veneration.” Mozart and Pablo (see below) form a dyad in
Steppenwolf, as do so many of Hesse’s characters throughout his work.
Armida—Character in the legend of the paladin Rinaldo and the witch
Armida, Jerusalem Delivered, by Torquato Tasso.
At the festival at Bremgarten, Armida is depicted as singing, this is
probably a reference to one of the many operas that have been based on the
story of Armida and Rinaldo, most likely Handel’s Rinaldo.
The Astrologer Longus—Josef B. Lang, disciple of Carl Jung and
pioneering Swiss psychoanalyst in his own right. Hesse underwent an intense course of
psychotherapy under Lang in 1916 and the two remained lifelong friends. The character Pistorius in Hesse’s Demian was
based on Dr. Lang.
Henry of Ofterdingen—Title character of Novalis’ unfinished novel,
Heinrich von Ofterdingen; he seeks the blue flower, symbol of poetry, also
adopted as a symbol of the German Romantic Movement as a whole.
Puss in Boots—Character in a fairy tale, a cat who cleverly helps his
impoverished master become wealthy and marry a princess.
Hans Resom—the Swiss writer Hans Albrecht Moser.
Charles the Great—Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Lombards, ruler
of the Carolingian Empire, given the title Emperor of the Romans by the Pope,
first major empire builder in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire,
considered in legend to have been the champion of Christianity in the West, his
reforms in secular law, church law, education, and economic policy shaped
Western Europe for centuries.
Pablo—Major character in Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf, he is a handsome,
polyglot, sensual, drug-using, seemingly shallow Latin American Jazz
saxophonist. But he is also the master
of the Magic Theater and Mozart’s double.
It has been surmised that he was in part based on American Jazz musician
Sidney Bechet, whom Hesse heard play and who was his introduction to Jazz.
Hugo Wolf—Austrian composer, primarily of songs based on poetic
texts. He was a favorite of Hesse’s.
Brentano—Clemens Brentano, German Romantic poet and novelist; later
Roman Catholic lay monk, (and, along with his brother-in-law) folklorist.
Hoffmann—Ernst Theodor Wilhelm (Amadeus) Hoffmann, also known as E.T.A.
Hoffmann, late German Romantic writer and composer. He is best known for his short stories and
novellas, which often emphasize the pathological, fantasy, horror, and
mystery. In his own life, Hoffmann lived
a dual existence: as a responsible jurist and administrator, and as an artist
of the supernatural and the weird. This
dualism is found in much of his work: in "Der goldne Topf " (“The Golden Pot”), one of his Märchen
(fairytale-like stories), the subject is the struggle of a young man between
the pull of the world of reality and the world of poetry. This theme of the incompatibility of the
artist’s world and everyday life is also found in Hesse’s work. Hoffmann was “small and elfish,” and quite a
drunk.
The Archivist Lindhorst—Character in E.T.A. Hoffman’s story “The Golden
Pot.” Although he has taken the human
form of an Archivist, Lindhorst is in reality a salamander, an Elemental Spirit
of Fire.
Paladins of Charles the Great—(see Mad Roland).
Lukas—Martin Lang, Swabian poet and editor, friend of Hesse. Lukas was the name of the author of a
gardening book that Lang used to consult when looking after Hesse’s garden in
Gaienhofen, a town on the Bodensee where Hesse lived with his first wife.
Zoroaster—Founder of the religion Zoroastrianism, one of the most
ancient beliefs still practiced today.
Zoroaster is the Greek form of Zarathustra. Tradition places him somewhere around 660 to
583 B.C. He was a religious reformer in
Bactria. His teaching spread to Persia,
where it enjoyed success until the coming of Islam. There are still small groups of Zoroastrians,
usually called Parsis, in India and Iran.
Hesse was probably drawn to Zoroaster because of the complex dualism
that is part of the theology attributed to Zoroaster and the Avesta, a
collection of religious writings at least partially ascribed to him. Because of the ancient nature of
Zoroastrianism, there are questions as to how much of the rigidly dualistic
belief held today can actually be attributed to Zoroaster.
Lao Tse—Literally “old master,” a Chinese sage born in 604 B.C. He is considered the founder of Taoism, and
the authorship of the Tao Teh Ching is attributed to him. One of the three great teachers in Taoism.
Plato—Greek philosopher, born around 428 B.C. His ideas, along with those of Aristotle and
Socrates, form the basis for Western philosophy. He is best-known for his Dialogues, a series
of conversations on philosophical subjects, nearly all of which are led by
Socrates. There is
dispute as to whether the ideas attributed to Socrates in the Dialogues actually belonged to him, or were primarily the work of Plato. Plato helped found
the Academy in Athens, the first “university.”
Xenophon—Ancient Greek soldier, historian, and political philosopher. Contemporary of Plato and Socrates.
Pythagoras—Greek philosopher and mathematician of the late fifth
century B. C. What we know of him comes
strictly from secondary sources. He is
believed to have headed an esoteric mystical and ecstatic religious cult,
making his name synonymous with cryptic or mysterious beliefs. He is also credited with discovering
important basic mathematical theorems and formulae, which he believed to have
divine significance.
Tristram Shandy—Title character of The Life and Opinions of Tristram
Shandy, Gentleman, by Laurence Sterne (1713-1768.) Supposedly the autobiography of Shandy, it is
a comic novel filled with digressions, non-sequiters, blank pages, and other
strange devices that made it unique until the avant-garde modern novel. It influenced Goethe and many of the German
Romantics.
Baudelaire—French Symbolist poet, 1821-1867. A common theme in his poetry is the conflict
between reality and the ideal, a theme found in Hesse’s work as well.
King David—In the Old Testament, he is depicted as a shepherd boy who
eventually rises in the favor of Saul, King of the Israelites, due to his harp
playing and defeat of the giant Goliath.
He becomes a great warrior, and, after Saul’s death, King of Israel. He, along with his son Solomon, are often
thought of as the noblest of the kings of Israel, although both eventually “did
many really wicked things;” in the case of David these included adultery and
murder. Nevertheless, David was seen as
a forebear and symbolic reflection of Jesus Christ.
Saul—In the Old Testament, first King of the Israelites. He was troubled by “evil spirits,” a kind of
madness that threw him into rages that could only be pacified by the harp
playing of David. He eventually
became fiercely jealous of David’s prowess as a warrior and was rejected by God
for disobedience. After defeat in
battle, Saul attempted to kill himself, but was actually finished off by one of
his soldiers. David succeeded to the
kingship after his death.
The Ferryman Vasudeva—Character in Hesse’s Siddhartha. The ferryman Vasudeva acts as a spiritual
guide to Siddhartha, showing him the way to understand his life and find enlightenment as he works beside him as a ferryman and they listen to the
mystical chanting of the river. He also
demonstrates to Siddhartha the non-existence of time and the unity of all
experience.
