Empedocles on Etna

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was an English poet, writer and cultural critic. He has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. He was also an inspector of schools for thirty-five years, and supported the concept of state-regulated secondary education.

In 1883 and 1884, Arnold toured the United States and Canada delivering lectures on education, democracy and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883. In 1886, he retired from school inspection and made another trip to America.

Empedocles on Etna is Matthew Arnold’s most famous poem. It is a dramatic poem or closet drama in two acts, first published, anonymously, in 1852. It describes the philosophic contemplations and suicidal ravings of the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles (c. 494 - c. 434 BC) and his legendary death in the fires of Mount Etna on Sicily.