205:
187:, and after decades of total isolation encountering two youths from a new culture which had arisen in the world, who come exploring the ruined city. Pangborn depicted a different world than that of Benét, but referred to Benét's story in the title and in many of the story's details. Pangborn returned to that devastated world in his later writings, including the novel
27:
107:. After being chased by dogs and climbing the stairs of a large building, John sees a dead god. Upon viewing the visage, he has an epiphany that the gods were humans whose power overwhelmed their good judgment. After John returns to his tribe, he tells his father of "the place
111:." His father warns him against recounting his experiences to others in the tribe, for sometimes too much truth is a bad thing, that it must be told little by little. The story ends with John stating his conviction that, once he becomes the head priest, "We must build again."
347:
Wagar, p. 163, who also calls him a "young savage" (p. 25). Macdonald, p. 267-268, who calls him a "young brave". In the play adaptation, he appears as a young man and, in a non-speaking part, as a boy. (Duffield,
139:. This story took place before the creation of nuclear weapons, but Benét's description of "The Great Burning" is similar to later descriptions of the effects of the atomic bombings at
92:. The plot follows John’s self-assigned mission to get to the Place of the Gods. His father allows him to go on a spiritual journey, not realizing John is going to this forbidden place.
147:. His "deadly mist" and "fire falling from the sky" are eerily prescient of the descriptions of the aftermath of nuclear blasts. However, the "deadly mist" may also be a reference to
623:
99:. Once John gets to the Place of the Gods, he feels the energy and magic there. He sees a statue of a "god"—in point of fact, a human—that says
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84:. The priests of John's people (the Hill People) are inquisitive people associated with the divine. They are the only ones who can handle
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183:
wrote "The Music Master of
Babylon", a post-apocalyptic story told from the point of view of a pianist living alone in a ruined
155:, a feared weapon of war that Benét's generation was very familiar with. The story was written in 1937, five years before the
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128:
375:
Source is Izzo, who also notes that Benét wrote other stories and poems in response to the threat of
Fascism in the 1930s.
300:"Book Information: Pocket Book of Science Fiction, the. Donald A. Wollheim, ed. (1943). Steven Jeffery / IBList.com, 2007"
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Shape-shifting: images of Native
Americans in recent popular fiction
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Stephen
Vincent Benet's By the waters of Babylon; a play in one act
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Macdonald, Andrew, Gina
Macdonald, and MaryAnn Sheridan. (2000).
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The adaption is distinct from the 2003 play of the same name by
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1937 post-apocalyptic short story by
Stephen Vincent Benét
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Description from the play catalog of
Dramatic Publishing.
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Benét wrote the story in response to the April 25, 1937
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Works originally published in The
Saturday Evening Post
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30:First page of the story with its original title in
480:Duffield, Brainerd; Stephen Vincent Benét (1971).
285:Benét changed the title when selecting works for
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227:List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
558:Terminal Visions: The Literature of Last Things
456:(5). Henry C. Pitz (illus.): 10–11, 59–60 (4p).
127:military forces destroyed the majority of the
103:on its base. He also sees a building marked
463:Thirteen O'Clock: Stories of Several Worlds
448:(July 31, 1937). "THE PLACE OF THE GODS".
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560:. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
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176:may have been inspired by this story.
78:destruction of industrial civilization
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391:. Lexington Books. pp. 120–121.
499:. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
54:, first published July 31, 1937, in
516:"Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943)"
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243:Rivers of Babylon (disambiguation)
66:The Pocket Book of Science Fiction
21:Rivers of Babylon (disambiguation)
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495:Fenton, Charles A. (1978) .
484:. Chicago: Dramatic Pub. Co.
269:Date of publication is from
231:The title is a reference to
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388:Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem
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583:"By the Waters of Babylon"
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420:The World That Couldn't Be
41:"By the Waters of Babylon"
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520:The Literary Encyclopedia
57:The Saturday Evening Post
33:The Saturday Evening Post
271:"BENÉT, STEPHEN VINCENT"
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163:Influence on later work
62:"The Place of the Gods"
609:American short stories
446:Benét, Stephen Vincent
414:Galaxy Science Fiction
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619:Stephen Vincent Benét
514:Izzo, David Garrett.
450:Saturday Evening Post
52:Stephen Vincent Benét
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19:For other uses, see
417:, appeared 1959 in
121:bombing of Guernica
50:by American writer
604:1937 short stories
411:Published 1954 by
329:2011-07-17 at the
276:2007-07-08 at the
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398:978-0-7391-5474-8
265:paraphrases Izzo.
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598:Categories
588:Faded Page
525:2007-06-20
487:(WorldCat)
310:2007-12-07
97:Ou-dis-sun
490:(preview)
429:Doubleday
425:H.L. Gold
261:The term
233:Psalm 137
222:(novella)
145:Hiroshima
105:"UBTREAS"
590:(Canada)
556:(1982).
327:Archived
274:Archived
197:See also
179:In 1955
168:Ayn Rand
141:Nagasaki
133:Guernica
131:town of
115:Analysis
101:"ASHING"
439:Sources
235:in the
125:Fascist
109:newyork
36:in 1937
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423:, Ed.
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220:Anthem
173:Anthem
129:Basque
82:priest
348:1971)
280:, in
249:Notes
237:Bible
86:metal
43:is a
562:ISBN
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190:Davy
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90:gods
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