Spitteler, << SHPIHT uh luhr, >> Carl (1845-1924), was a Swiss poet who won the 1919 Nobel Prize in literature. Spitteler’s most notable works are pessimistic in tone. They are based on Greek mythology and reflect the author’s interest in human behavior as determined by external forces that cause pain and suffering.
Spitteler gained acclaim for his vast and expressive mythological epic, The Olympic Spring (1900-1905, revised 1910). This work, written in rhymed couplets, explores the human condition through the Greek deities living on Mount Olympus. Spitteler’s other major work in verse deals with the Greek god Prometheus. This epic, Prometheus and Epimetheus, was published in 1881 and appeared in a revised version as Prometheus the Long-Suffering in 1924.
Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler was born on April 24, 1845, in Liestal, Switzerland. He was a journalist, tutor, and teacher as well as an author. His other writings include shorter poems, essays, novels, and short fiction. The nonfiction My Earliest Experiences (1914) and the novel Imago (1906) are autobiographical. Spitteler also wrote under the name Carl Felix Tandem. He died on Dec. 29, 1924.
