The golden fleece as rite of passage

Abstract

Borislav Pekić's novel 'The Golden Fleece' has been so far - since its complex poetics allowed it - interpreted in many ways. This is the first time that his seven volume novel is analyzed as a rite of passage, based on the works of the ethnologist Arnold van Gennep. The most important rite of passage we have found in The Golden Fleece was, of course, death. It is conceptualized as a gate toward a timeless mythical past. This concept has allowed us to conclude that Pekić immerged his literary heroes and their fate in numerous myths, mystical and esoteric teachings, including ancient Greek and Roman mythology and Masonic rites.

Keywords

• rite of passage
• initiation
• Borislav Pekić
• The Golden Fleece