In the mythological writings of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

, Fuzon is the fourth and final son of

Urizen In the mythology of William Blake, Urizen () is the embodiment of conventional reason and law. He is usually depicted as a bearded old man; he sometimes bears architect's tools, to create and constrain the universe; or nets, with which he ensna ...

, associated with the classical element of fire. In ''

The Book of Ahania ''The Book of Ahania'' is one of the English poet William Blake's prophetic books. It was published in 1795, illustrated by Blake's own plates. The poem of the book consists of six chapters. The content concerns Fuzon, a son of Urizen, a ''Zo ...

'' he fights Urizen for control of the world.

Identifications

S. Foster Damon in his '' Blake Dictionary'' states that Fuzon represents fire in the four classical elements. His siblings representing the other elements are

Utha In the mythological writings of William Blake, Utha is the second son of Urizen. In Chapter VIII of ''The Book of Urizen'', Utha's birth is briefly described: :'' ..Utha,'' :''From the waters emerging laments;'' His identification is with the ...

, Grodna and Thiriel. Damon notes parallels in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

with the castration of Uranus, by

Cronus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or ; ) was the leader and youngest of the Titans, the children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky). He overthrew his father and ruled dur ...

(Saturn); and in the Freudian

Oedipus complex In classical psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex is a son's sexual attitude towards his mother and concomitant hostility toward his father, first formed during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. A daughter's attitude of desire ...

. David V. Erdman proposed an identification of Fuzon with

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...

;

Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". Af ...

supported it as "probable" in "historical allegory", adding that in "moral allegory" he is a "Promethean version of Moses".

Northrop Frye Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, ''Fearful Symmetr ...

finds a connection of Fuzon with the biblical

Absalom Absalom ( , ), according to the Hebrew Bible, was an Israelite prince. Born to David and Maacah, who was from Geshur, he was the only full sibling of Tamar. He is described in the Hebrew Bible as being exceptionally beautiful, as is his siste ...

Fuzon the rebel

Fuzon appears as a rebel in ''The Book of Ahania'', a sequel of sorts to ''

The Book of Urizen ''The Book of Urizen'' is one of the major William Blake's prophetic books, prophetic books of the English writer William Blake, illustrated by Blake's own Intaglio (printmaking), plates. It was originally published as ''The First Book of Urizen ...

''. Hobson writes

If the Fuzon material in ''Ahania'' is read continuously with ''Urizen'', the sequence of events is that
Orc An orc (sometimes spelt ork; ), in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy fiction, is a race of humanoid monsters, which he also calls "goblin". In Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', orcs appear as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevol ...
is bound, and his cries awaken the dead and, by implication, awaken Urizen's sons .. one of whom, Fuzon, leads the revolt that begins in ''Urizen'' .. and continues in ''Ahania''.

According to Davis, Fuzon, who leads an exodus of children of Urizen as a pillar of fire, is an "Orc-like rebel who represents Passion". Fuzon's fate is bound up with the Tree of Mystery, introduced in the poem '' The Human Abstract''. Urizen shoots Fuzon with a poisoned rock, and crucifies him on the Tree, for a period of

forty years ''Forty Years'' or '' Veertig Jaren '' is a 1938 Dutch film directed by Edmond T. Gréville. Cast * Cees Laseur ... Rolf van Meerle *Lily Bouwmeester ... Annetje Maasdonk *Matthieu van Eysden ... Frans Maasdonk * Ank van der Moer ... Eline ...

Notes

{{William Blake, myth William Blake characters Absalom Fictional characters introduced in 1794 Male characters in literature