The Spoons of Menas. On the Poem Hagia Sophia by Andrzej Busza

Abstract

An outstanding poem, “Hagia Sophia” by Andrzej Busza uses the historical context of early medieval Byzantium in order to describe the universal situation of a human being that confronts the ideas of God and divinity. While reading this poem, the deeper meaning of its reality and symbols putting forward the byzantine setting can be traced; moreover, such a process makes it possible to attempt at deciphering the mysterious inscriptions engraved on the silver spoons of Menas, the protagonist of this poem, with regard to the tragedy of human faith and doubt, an issue that has never lost its significance. In fact, this poem is a bitter and idiosyncratic meditation on the uncertainty embedded in human existence and the doubtful usefulness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.