Myth and Tragedy, Fatality and Failure in the Destiny of the Realistic Character – Ion by Liviu Rebreanu

This study proposes a unique interpretation key for a novel considered classic in Romanian literature, a novel which seems to have nothing new to offer concerning significance. However, a valuable work cannot be depleted, on the contrary, it will be open to new interpretations and controversies beyond time. Such a work seems to be "Ion" by Liviu Rebreanu, which is not a simple rural novel, and, even if it were so, this "rural novel" offers nowadays many unexploited significances in this direction, too. Ion appears in this study in his grandiose mythological dimension, taking part subconsciously to the great cosmic drama; he is a civilizing hero, who copies the sacred gesture of God creating the world, assuring in this way the perpetuation of life in the endless circle of life and death from that moment on until the present time.