The image of the 'living-dead' in Nathan Alterman's poetry: from archetype to national symbol

This article traces the motif of the living-dead in Nathan Alterman's poetry, beginning with Stars Outside and through Ten Plagues of Egypt to The City of the Dove, indicating the way in which Alterman's literary-symbolic structure was gradually replaced by a historical-literary one that reflects the influence of historical events - the two world wars, the Holocaust, and the War of Independence. With the wiping out of Jewish existence and literature, the Jewish hero became the Jewish victim and national symbol who in sacrificing himself ensured the life of the nation.