The origin of “Paganism” by Ricardo Reis - the most mysterious heteronym of Fernando Pessoa

The article reveals the essence and significance of the new Portuguese or transcendental paganism put by Fernando Pessoa into the basis of the work of his most poorly studied and most mysterious heteronym - Ricardo Reis. The first part of the article reveals the origin of this heteronym, the features of his biography, connected Reis with his creator. The features of his peculiar poetic style are highlighted. His poetic language is filled with lexical archaisms, Latinisms and even Hellenisms. It is characterized by a deliberately Latinized style, repeated use of such figures of speech as hyperbaton, ellipsis, silence, oxymoron, etc., inverted or distorted word order, reinforcing the impression of his poetic speech, giving it nobility and sublimity, but at the same time attaching something cold, artificial detachment from the reader, in connection with which his texts for a long time were not understood and recognized by critics. This article reveals a kind of metric reflecting antique models, but it’s not at all following blindly, but it a kind of poetic experiment by Reis / Pessoa. The second part of the article is about the origins of “paganism” by Ricardo Reis, which can be found in following the example of Luís Camões (especially his “The Lusiads”), in the constant search for an alternative to the official Christian religion, in which he was completely disappointed, which led him, in particular to Gnosticism, namely to pagan Gnosticism, expressed in hermetic books. Another reason for Pessoa / Reis to paganism: for him, this is the path to freedom. Reis - the only heteronym Pessoa, in the work of which the Portuguese genius found peace and inner freedom.