The tragic interpretation of the myth of Atrids by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides

Ancient tragedians most often took ancient myths as the basis of their works, which each of the authors interpreted exclusively in their own way. One and the same myth could be interpreted so differently by different authors that the heroes of this myth in some works could appear as positive, in others - as negative. An example of such a phenomenon can be considered a complex of tragedies, which are based on the "myth of the Atrids". The three greatest ancient Greek tragedians - Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides - created a number of dramatic works in which they interpreted mythological events in their own way, the conditional chronological framework of which is considered to be the first decade after the Trojan War.

directly myth

1) The Atrid family begins with Tantalus, the son of Zeus and the nymph Pluto. Tantalus, who ruled the city of Sipila, was mortal, but considered himself equal to the gods. Because he was their favorite, then he had to visit their divine feasts more than once, from where he dared to deliver the food of the gods to earth to treat mortals. He repeatedly tried to deceive the gods, and, in the end, the cup of their patience overflowed. Once Tantalus decided to test the gods, how omniscient they are. He killed his son Pelops and decided to treat him to the meat of the gods invited to his feast. The gods, of course, were not deceived, with the exception of Demeter alone. Pelops was resurrected, and Tantalus was punished by the gods, and was the first to bring a curse on his descendants.
2) Pelops, the son of Tantalus, decided to marry the daughter of King Oenomaus, Hippodamia. However, for this he needed to defeat Enomai in the races, then he was the best rider. Pelops defeated Oenomaus with cunning. Before the competition, he turned to Mithril, the son of Hermes, who was watching the horses of Enomai, with a request to give Enomai a chariot in a form not ready for the competition. As a result, Pelops won solely thanks to this trick, but did not want to reward Mithril, as expected, but simply killed him, having received a generic curse as Mithril's death cry. Thus, Pelops brought the wrath of the gods on himself and on his whole family.
3) Atreus and Fiesta are the sons of Pelops. They are initially doomed to commit atrocities: Atreus received power in Mycenae, because of which his brother began to envy him. Fiesta stole his brother's son and instilled in him hatred for his father, as a result, the young man himself fell at the hands of his father, who did not know whom he was killing. Atreus, in revenge, prepared a meal for Fiesta from his own sons. The gods cursed Atreus and sent a crop failure on his lands. To remedy the situation, it was necessary to return Fiesta to Mycenae, but Atreus found only his little son, Aegisthus, whom he himself raised. Then the sons of Atreus - Menelaus and Agamemnon, found Fiesta and called him to Mycenae. The brothers - Fiesta and Atreus - never reconciled. Atreus ordered Aegisthus to kill Fiesta, imprisoned in a dungeon. However, Aegisthus learned that Thyestes was his father. Aegisthus killed Uncle Atreus. And he and his father began to rule together in Mycenae, and Agamemnon and Menelaus were forced to flee. Subsequently, Agamemnon overthrows Fiesta and takes the throne in Mycenae.
4) Agamemnon sacrifices his own daughter to Artemis so that she changes her anger to mercy and allows Agamemnon's ships to reach Troy. Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, takes revenge on her husband when he returns from Troy, for the death of his daughter. Together with Aegisthus, they seize power in Mycenae.
5) Orestes, the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, almost suffered a terrible fate while still a child. He was the only heir of Agamemnon, so Clytemnestra was interested in not having him. However, Orestes escapes and is brought up for a long time by King Strophius in Phocis. At a conscious age, Orestes returns with his friend Pylades to Mycenae and kills Clytemnestra and Aegisthus as revenge for the death of Agamemnon. Orestes, as a mother-killer, is pursued by Erinyes, the goddess of revenge. The hero seeks salvation in the temple of Apollo, but Apollo sends him to Athens to the temple of Athena, where Athena establishes a trial over Orestes, during which Orestes is acquitted.
7) Orestes' wanderings do not end there, and he is forced to go to Tauris for the sacred statuette of Artemis. On the island, he was almost sacrificed to the gods by his own sister Iphigenia, who is alive, despite the fact that Agamemnon sacrificed her to the gods (at the last moment, the gods, in order to prevent bloodshed, put a doe on the altar instead of Iphigenia, and Iphigenia is sent to Tauris as a priestess of the temple of Artemis). Orestes and Iphigenia recognize each other, flee from Taurida and return to their homeland together.

The last episodes of the myth of Atrids were reflected in the trilogy of Aeschylus "Oresteia", consisting of parts "Agamemnon", "Weepers" and "Eumenides", and in the tragedies of Sophocles "Electra" and Euripides "Iphigenia in Aulis", "Electra", "Orestes ”, “Iphigenia in Tauris”. A direct comparison of the three author's points of view is possible at the level of Aeschylus' Oresteia and the two tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides.

Aeschylus
In order to understand the point of view of Aeschylus, it is necessary to trace how the myth of Atris develops, starting from the first part of the trilogy.
The main characters of the first tragedy "Agamemnon" are King Agamemnon himself and his wife Clytemnestra. Events are tied to the tenth year of the Trojan War. Clytemnestra plots an evil plan against her husband, wanting to avenge him for the murder of her daughter Iphigenia, whom Agamemnon was forced to sacrifice in order to appease Artemis, by whose will his fleet could not go on a campaign against Troy. The king pursued the public interest:
In the yoke of fate - since he harnessed the yoke,
And a dark thought - unfortunately,
Hardened, evaded, -
He became bold, began to breathe courage.
Intentionally evil, the mortal dared:
An unhealthy spirit is a single rage.
Here is the seed of sin and punishment!
The daughter is condemned to death by the father,
Avenger of the fraternal bed, -
Just start a war! (remark of the choir, reflecting the author's position)
Clytemnestra could not come to terms with the death of her daughter and the injustice of fate. Judging by the text of the tragedy of Aeschylus, she was a wayward and free woman, she did not want to wait for her husband to return from a long war, she took a lover in the person of Aegisthus, who was Agamemnon's cousin. The heroine skillfully hides her feelings under the guise of outward chastity.
The house is intact: the tsar's seal has not been removed anywhere.
How I could not tint a copper alloy,
I don't know about change. Temptation is alien to me.
Evil speech is muted. An honest woman
With such truth, it seems, boasting is not shame.
Gradually, the author's vision of the problem of the Atrid family is introduced into the tragedy, Aeschylus points to fate as an inevitable and eternally prevailing force over all representatives of this family. The motive of fate appears in the tragedy of Aeschylus on different levels. In particular, it appears in the replicas of the choir of the first stasim, which says that the war with Troy was also inevitable, since Elena, the main culprit of the well-known events, belonged to the Atrid family, since she was the wife of Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon.
She left, the gift of swords to the motherland
And the spears of the forest, the way of the sea, leaving military labor,
Bringing ruin to the Trojans as a dowry.
Fluttered like a bird from the towers! Threshold
Impenetrable passed...
It turns out that through the prism of the author's vision, the events taking place are dictated by fate and the gods, whom Aeschylus portrays as supreme beings that have a huge impact on people. The narration is conducted in such a way that the representatives of the choir know in advance the whole situation unfolding before the reader, in their remarks there are periodically hints at the terrible end of the unfolding events:
Herald
Why are the citizens so crushed? Al for the army of fear?
choir leader
So as not to call dashing - I'm used to being silent.
Herald
Are people afraid of strong people without a king?
choir leader
Like you, I say: now death is red to me.
So, Clytemnestra, as a cunning and dexterous woman, greets her husband with great pomp, skillfully playing the role of a happy wife who rejoiced at her husband's return. The meeting turns out to be so magnificent that even Agamemnon himself becomes embarrassed in front of the gods for such a luxurious reception in his honor. Clytemnestra clouds his mind with her sweet speeches, and tells that she sent their son Orestes from Argos in order to avoid the terrible danger that seemed to await him, although the whole story was invented personally by Clytemnestra herself in order to be able to carry out her insidious plan.
True intentions are directly expressed by Clytemnestra only at the end of the second stasim, when she lures Agamemnon alone into the palace in order to fulfill her intention.
O Supreme Zeus, Zeus the arbiter, do it yourself,
What am I praying for! Remember what you judged to do!
The feeling of inevitability, tragedy is pumped up by introducing the tragedy of another significant character - Cassandra, whom Agamemnon brings with him from Troy as a concubine. According to the myth, Cassandra had an exceptional gift to see the future, but by the will of Apollo, no one believed her words. Thus, the heroine becomes the spokesman for the true order of things in tragedy:
God-opposing shelter, evil concealer of deeds!
The house is a living place! Executioners
Platform! Human slaughter, where you slide in the blood.
<…>
Here they are, here they are, witnesses of blood!
Babies cry: "The body to us
They cut it and boiled it, and my father ate us."
The speeches of the representatives of the choir reach an emotional climax at the moment of the murder of Agamemnon, when it becomes clear that even the hero exalted by the gods in numerous battles will not escape the terrible fate of the entire Atrid family:
Exalted by the gods, he came home.
If the blood of the king is destined to atone
Ancient blood and, having sated the shadows,
To bequeath blood vengeance to descendants:
Who boasts, hearing the legend that he himself
The original is not touched by the infection? (remark of the leader of the choir)
Immediately after the murder, the reader learns about the internal state of Clytemnestra, who in the first hours after the terrible accomplishment felt that she was completely right, spotless before the gods; she justifies herself by claiming revenge on her husband for the death of her daughter. However, gradually, Clytemnestra comes to the realization that her will was subordinated to the power of fate beyond her control:
Now you have found a just word:
Navi demon in the family.
Weaned by blood drinking, but the womb gnaws
Infected family voracious worm.
And the festering vered in the groin did not heal,
How new ulcers opened up.
The heroine wakes up fear for what she has done, she is already losing confidence in her rightness, although she tries to convince herself and reassure that she did everything right. However, her remarks about fate hanging over the clan remain key:
It's none of my business, even though my hands
They brought an ax.
All the same, think, old man: Agamemnon is my husband!
Not! the evil spirit of the family, domozhils fatal,
Ancient ghoul - under the features of his wife -
For the massacre of Atreus, parental sin,
Agamemnon as a gift
He gave it to those tortured to babies.
At the end of the fourth stasim, Clytemnestra herself calls her act an obsession, she sees no way to correct what happened.
The tragedy "Agamemnon" ends neither on a sad nor on a joyful note, which indicates that the main issue of the trilogy has not yet been resolved; further development of events takes place in the tragedy "Weepers".

The tragedy of "The Weepers", unlike the previous one, reveals the images of two more heroes belonging to the Atrid family - Electra and her brother Orestes. The action begins with Orestes arriving with his friend Pylades at home to honor the memory of his father. At the same time, a choir of mourners led by Elektra approaches the grave. The heroine complains about her unfortunate fate, in every possible way condemns her mother for her actions: the murder of her lawful husband, the new husband of Aegisthus, cruel treatment, etc.
We've been sold. We are homeless, we are without shelter.
Mother drives us from the threshold. I took my husband into the house.
Aegisthus is our stepfather, your enemy and destroyer.
I serve as a slave. In a foreign land brother
Robbed, disgraced. For luxury
Went their arrogance that you acquired by labors. (Electra's speech)
Miraculously, a scene of recognizing a brother and sister takes place, during which Electra did not want to believe the words of Orestes for a long time, and only indirect evidence managed to convince her, heartbroken, that her brother was really standing in front of her:
Orestes
Didn't she recognize my cloak that she wove herself?
And who wove these patterns on it?
Elektra
My desired, beloved! you four times
My stronghold and hope; rock and happiness!
Brother and sister unite in the desire to avenge their father. On the one hand, the members of the choir, the mourners, convince the heroine of the need for revenge, on the other hand, the god Apollo calls on Orestes to pay tribute to the mother-husband. The decisive attitude and hatred for the mother, which grew over time, are transmitted from Electra to Orestes. And the heroine's complaints heat up the atmosphere:
Oh my mother, wicked mother,
You dared to turn the takeaway into dishonor!
Without citizens, without friends,
No crying, no prayers
Atheist, bury the lord in dust!
Despite the fact that the heroes, at first glance, themselves take responsibility for everything that is destined to happen according to their plans, Aeschylus does not cease to include his key position in the choir's remarks, which is that all members of the Atrid family are initially doomed to suffering and misfortune. Despite the apparent freedom of the heroes in making decisions, the motive of fate comes to the fore:
choir
For a long time the destination awaits:
Rock will come to the call.
The members of the choir are initially aware of how the events connecting Elektra, Orestes and Clytemnestra will develop, however, in order to maintain the intrigue and emotional intensity that arises almost from the very beginning of the tragedy, the choir's remarks are often not direct and sometimes ambiguous. So, thanks to the dialogue between the leader of the choir and Orestes, the reader learns that fate haunts Clytemnestra even in a dream, because she saw a bad omen regarding her own death. Before the false guest in the face of Orestes, she expresses artificial regret about the death of her son, while we learn about her true thoughts only from the speech of the maid:
... in front of the servants
She is heartbroken, and there is laughter in her eyes
Hiding under a frown. Good luck to her
And to the house weeping and final destruction, -
What the guests announced with a clear speech. (Kilissa)
Meanwhile, a deception is committed, which turned into another tragedy for the Atrid family in a series of terrible murders. The author, through the replicas of the choir, continues to explain the events taking place with fate and divine will:
Destroy the enemy force!
When the time comes to lower the sword
And the mother will cry out: "Have mercy, son!" -
Just remember your father
And do not be afraid to strike: dare
The burden to accept the curse!
And indeed, nothing stops Orestes from committing two murders - first Aegisthus, and then the mother of Clytemnestra. Orestes himself understands that he is to some extent weak-willed and, killing his mother, shows an inability to resist the power of fate and divine influence, completely refuses to think independently. At the time of the murder, the hero utters the phrase: “I am not the killer: you are executing yourself,” which reflects the hero’s internal state, shows that the hero either does not think or does not worry that punishment from above will follow the murder. In addition, in Exod, the leader of the choir, among the final remarks, says:
In truth, you did. Forbid your mouth
Defame your sword. Evil calls a slander.
You freed all the people of Argive, cutting down
With a single blow to two dragon heads.
However, immediately after the crime, the hero is punished in the form of the terrible Erinyes chasing him, who want to punish him for the bloody murder he committed. The work ends on a tragic note with a replica of the choir, which includes a question, the answer to which remains unclear:
Calm again - how long? And where will it lead
And will the curse of the family die?

The trilogy "Oresteia" ends with the tragedy "Eumenides", where the main character is one of the few living descendants of the Atrid family - Orestes. The central problem of tragedy is no longer the problem of fate, but rather the problem of just punishment.
Orestes, pursued by Erinyes, does not find protection in the temple of his patron Apollo, who only briefly puts Erinyes to sleep, thereby allowing Orestes to flee to Athens in the temple of Pallas Athena and seek protection there. Apollo takes responsibility for the crime, but this does not remove the blame from the protagonist.
Apollo
I will not change you; to the end your guardian,
Representative and intercessor - am I approaching,
I stand at a distance - I am formidable to your enemies.
Erinyes and Clytemnetstra, appearing in the tragedy in the form of a shadow coming from the underworld of Hades, yearn for revenge. Their main argument against Orestes is that he killed his mother, committed a blood crime, which in no way can be compared with the crime of Clytemnestra - manslaughter.
Accordingly, there is a confrontation between Apollo, who above all puts "the oath union that Zeus established / With the family Hero ...", and Eriny, for whom "Madicide is not the murder of blood."
Wise Athena decides to arrange a fair trial of Orestes and convenes judges and honorary citizens.
Aeschylus expresses his position in such a way that he moves away from what is happening in the tragedy and presents the heroes to solve problems on their own:
The old order is overthrown
The age has come - new truths,
If the court now decides:
Mother to kill - there is no sin,
Orest is right.
At the trial, the votes are distributed equally, which allows the author to skillfully introduce into the work his own vision of the problem of punishment, this time expressed in the remarks of Apollo and Athena:

Apollo
Not the mother of a child born of her,
Parent: no, she is a breadwinner
Accepted seed. sowed
Direct parent. Mother, like a gift, as a pledge
From a friend-guest taken for safekeeping, -
What is conceived will cherish, if God does not destroy.

Athena
All men are kind, - only marriage is alien to me;
I am courageous in heart, I am a desperate daughter.
Holyer than the blood of a husband, how can I honor
The wife who slew the householder, blood?

Thus, the trilogy of Aeschylus has a happy ending, although during the three tragedies the heroes had to experience many difficulties and face intractable tasks.
The author offers the reader his own interpretation of the myth of Atrids, the main feature of which is the belief in imminent fate, in the practical complete absence of a personal principle in the hero at the time of the commission of terrible crimes, as for Clytemnestra, who quickly had doubts about her rightness, as soon as she committed crime, whereas at the time of the murder she had no doubt that her act was justified, so Orestes, who fulfills the will of the gods when committing the murder of his own mother.

Sophocles
Sophocles also offered his own dramatic interpretation of the myth of Atrids in the tragedy Elektra. By the name alone, one can judge that the author's embodiment of the ancient myth in this work will differ from that proposed by Aeschylus. Sophocles brings the protagonist of the tragedy into the title, but from the plays of Aeschylus we know that Electra was not the main character even in the second part of the Oresteia - in the Weepers.
The tragedy opens with a prologue containing the monologues of Orestes, the Mentor, and Electra. Already from the first speech of Orestes, the reader can understand what basic principles Sophocles was guided by, translating the well-known myth in his own way. The heroes of the tragedy are endowed with a large number of individual traits, they are free to make their own decisions, and do not blindly obey the commands of the gods:
I visited the sanctuary of Python,
Seeking to find out how I should take revenge
For the death of a father, how to repay the murderers -
And the brightest Phoebus answered me,
With cunning, without troops, without weapons,
I must do the righteous revenge myself. (Orestes speech)
Electra's speeches are not only full of tragedy, but also emotionally rich. Even at the level of purely visual perception of the text, it is hard not to notice that the heroine's remarks consist of a large number of exclamatory sentences and unfinished sentences that convey the vibrations of Elektra's internal state:
Ah, noble at heart
Girls! You comfort my grief...
I see and feel - believe me, it's noticeable to me
Your participation ... But no, I still
I will lament for the unfortunately ruined
Father... Oh, let
We are bound by friendly tenderness in everything,
Leave, let me
Grieve, please!
Sophocles often resorted to the use of contrasts, which were a hallmark of his work, therefore, in Electra, he uses this technique on many levels.
So, to embody the image of Electra, Sophocles introduces another female image into the work - Chrysothemis, Electra's sister. Both girls experienced the same tragedy, but Chrysothemis resigned herself to her bitter fate, but Electra did not. One sister yearns for revenge, while the other urges her to calm down and silently endure the state of the humiliated, while the behavior of their mother Clytemnestra and Aegisthus only exacerbates the situation, forcing Chrysothemis to suffer even more, and Electra to thirst for cruel revenge.
Chrysothemis
Why try to strike
When there is no power? Live like me...
However, I can only give advice
And the choice is yours... To be free,
I submit, sister, to those in power.

Elektra
A shame! Forgetting such a father,
You please the mother of crime!
After all, all your exhortations - by her
Prompted, advice - not yours.

Sophocles brings to the fore not the problem of fate, as Aeschylus does, but the problem of the inner experience of the murder, which seems unfair to Electra. Elektra practically does not leave the stage, and the author conducts the entire course of the tragedy through the replicas. She is the only heroine in front of whom the whole horror of what is happening is open, because she experiences not only the death of her father at the hands of her own mother, but also the lack of human conditions for life, which is caused by the will of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. However, the heroine is too weak to dare revenge on her own, and she does not find support in her sister.
In the tragedy "Electra" Sophocles uses a number of traditional elements dating back to the works of Aeschylus: the prophetic dream of Clytemnestra, the false death of Orestes, the scene of recognition by a strand of hair, which, as we will see later, will be interpreted in a completely different way by Euripides.
As for the image of Clytemnestra, the author also portrayed her in a new way. The heroine is fully aware of the committed crime, but she does not feel pangs of conscience:
It's right,
Killed, I don't deny it. But killed
Not only me: it was the Truth that killed him.
If you were smart, you would help her.
Elektra cannot agree with the mother's point of view, not only because she is heartbroken, but also because she believes that the mother had not the slightest right to raise her hand against her husband, that in addition to murder, she also committed a betrayal of her entire family, when she placed Aegisthus, an unworthy husband, next to her.
Orestes and the Mentor come up with a tragic story about the alleged death of Orestes in order to trap Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Elektra has to go through another shock, but even after the news and death of her brother, it cannot be said that she is broken in spirit. She invites Chrysothemis to take a just revenge with her, but her sister continues to stand in her position and urge Electra to abandon thoughts of revenge and obey the will of "those in power."
In the numerous dialogues of Electra with her sister, with Orestes (when she did not yet know that her brother was standing in front of her), the emotional state of the main character, her unceasing rebellious spirit, which became the key to understanding the author's interpretation of the myth of Atrids, is reflected. Sophocles allows the viewer to look into the soul of his heroine - he makes her lines so alive. It becomes clear that for the author of "Electra" it is not so much the twisted and complex plot that is important, but the detail of the images of the characters, their plausibility. The main subject of the image in Sophocles is feelings.
The scene of recognition of the heroes is not so magnificent, but more vital - Elektra recognizes her brother by her father's ring. They agree on how they will take revenge, but even here, despite the similarity of the storylines with the tragedy of Aeschylus, Sophocles introduces a number of his own elements. An interesting detail is that Orestes asks his sister not to reveal her joyful feelings to others for the time being, so that no one - and mainly Clytemnestra and Aegisthus - would suspect something was wrong while Orestes was preparing revenge on them. Ultimately, Orestes kills his mother and then Aegisthus. And the final conclusion, sounded in the last remark of the choir is as follows:
O Atreev, who knew all disasters, kind!
At last you have achieved the desired freedom, -
Happy with the present.
It must be said that such a sequence of murders (first Clytemnestra, and then Aegisthus) is found only in Sophocles. It can be assumed that such a rejection of the traditional arrangement of plot elements reflects the author's desire to show that this order does not play such a major role for him, that it is much more important for him to reveal the image of Elektra.
Thus, apparently, Sophocles does not consider it necessary to continue the further development of the plot, as Aeschylus did, because he achieved his main goal - the multifaceted and complex nature of the main character is revealed. The myth itself acquires a more everyday and reduced sound, in contrast to the work of Aeschylus, however, the wealth of images and artistic techniques allows us to call Sophocles a great Greek tragedian.

Euripides
Another ancient Greek tragedy dedicated to the theme of the Atrid family is considered to be Euripides' Electra, written in a fundamentally different manner compared to the previously considered works. Obviously, Euripides relied on the experience of his predecessors, but he also showed a lot of originality in his interpretation of the myth of Atrids. Mainly, in his interpretation, the author enters into a controversy with Aeschylus. In addition, the question of which "Electra" was written earlier - Sophocles or Euripides, remains open.
Characters already known to us are peculiar. Particularly stands out against the general background of Electra, who in the tragedy of Euripides unexpectedly turns out to be the wife of a simple plowman. Aegisthus, who is afraid of revenge from his new "relatives", comes up with a very specific way to protect himself from danger from Electra - he passes her off as a simple person without a family and a name, assuming that he will not take revenge, because, as a simple person from the people, will not be filled with high feelings, will not strive to restore the honor and nobility of his wife.
Aegisthus
Expected that by betrothing the princess
Insignificant, he will reduce to nothing
And the danger itself. After all, perhaps
The noble son-in-law would inspire the rumor,
He would have threatened the murderer of his father-in-law with punishment ... (remark of the choir)
In a peculiar way, Euripides introduces into the work the motive of recognizing the heroes: the author enters into a polemic with Aeschylus, emphasizing the naivety and frivolity of the image of the meeting of recognition in the tragedy “The Weepers”. From Aeschylus, Electra recognizes Orestes by the clothes that he himself once wove. According to the myth, we remember that the brother and sister parted a very long time ago, so it would be unreasonable to assume that since then Orestes has not grown up or worn out his clothes. Aeschylus allows artistic conventionality, because. focuses his attention on other moments of the work, but on the basis of this, the following lines appear in Euripides' Electra:

Old man
And if the trace of a sandal is compared
With your leg, child, can we find a resemblance?
<…>
Say again: the work of children's hands,
Do you recognize Orestov's clothes,
which you wove for him
Before I carry him to Phocis?
Ultimately, Orestes is recognized by the scar he received as a child. Perhaps, in this case, we are dealing with a connection between the motive of recognition in Euripides and a similar one in Homer, because Odysseus is also recognized by the scar. Thus, it can be said that in some way Euripides, entering into polemics with Aeschylus and Sophocles, turned to the ancient perfect model - the Homeric epic.
In the tragedy of Euripides, Electra shows cruelty towards her mother, although she does not give specific arguments in defense of her point of view. She appraises her with contempt:
What children to her, she would have husbands ...
Together with Orestes, they stand a cruel plan of reprisal, and Orestes, not yet being recognized, finds out the position of his sister, and she directly expresses her readiness with the words: "The ax is ready, and the blood of the father is not washed away."
Unlike previous dramas, in Euripides it turns out that the entire responsibility for the upcoming murders falls on the shoulders of Orestes and Electra, because. there are not enough arguments to recognize Clytemnestra guilty of all the troubles of the Atrid family.
O our father, who saw the underground darkness,
Killed by misfortune, oh earth -
Mistress, my hands are stretched out to you,
Save the king's children - he loved us. (remark of Orestes)
The scene of the murder of Aegisthus by Orestes is depicted with amazing accuracy and with a large number of details:
And just over the heart
He bowed attentively, Orestes
On tiptoe, the knife rose
He thrust the king in the scruff of the neck, and with a blow
He breaks his spine. The enemy collapsed
And rushed about in agony, dying. (remark of the Herald)
Electra, with genuine interest, finds out the details of the murder of Aegisthus. Only mother, Clytemnestra, remains. Before committing the murder, feelings awaken in Orestes, he begins to doubt whether he is really right, going to a terrible bloody murder. Those. it is implied that the hero of Euripides did not act according to the will of the gods, but according to his own conviction.
Clytemnestra, in this case, is portrayed as the most sensible person, able to explain the reason for his actions:
Oh, I would forgive everything if the city
Otherwise, they would not have taken it if the house
Or did he save the children with this sacrifice,
But he killed the baby for his wife
Depraved, because her husband did not understand
The traitor deserves to be punished.
Oh, I was silent then - I'm oblivious
I was already preparing my heart and executing
Atrida didn't want to. But from Troy
The king brought a mad maenad
On the wedding bed and stood in the hall
Keep two wives. O wives, our destiny -
Blind passion. Let it be careless
Husband will show us coldness, now
To spite him, we make a lover,
And then everyone blames us for everything,
Forgetting the instigators of resentment ...
The spokesman for the truth, which reflects the author's point of view, is Corypheus, who responds to Clytemnestra's speech in this way:
Yes, you are right, but in truth - your shame:
No, women, if the mind is healthy,
Husbands are submissive in everything, about the sick
I will not speak - those from the accounts ...
Clytemnestra sincerely regrets what she has done, but Elektra remains inexorable, as if there is nothing alive in her. "She is in the hands of children - oh, a bitter lot!" - this is how the author characterizes her position. The author focuses on the fact that all the misfortunes of the Atrid family are connected not so much with fate, but with the personal will of the representatives of the same family. That is why the phrase sounds in the exode:
No home, no more miserable than you
The house of Tantalus... will never be happier...
Orestes is experiencing internal disagreements after the murder, is put on trial. The author only briefly introduces the story of the trial and forgiveness of Orestes, while for Aeschylus this theme is the theme of a whole tragedy. Thus, it is obvious that the dramatic interpretation of the myth of Atrids by Euripides differs significantly from the interpretations of Aeschylus and Sophocles, which allows us to speak about the development of the theatrical tradition, about the appearance of a wide variety of heroes.
The problems that are raised by Euripides are embodied, at first glance, as everyday ones (which is facilitated by a specific manner of narration, images of heroes), although, of course, such simplicity hides a deep author's vision of how life works, what place is assigned to fate and fate in it , and what is the heroes' own decisions.

Findings:
1) Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, who lived in the same era, used similar material to create their works. However, the interpretation of various myths, in this case, on the example of the myth of Atrids, each of the authors has their own, and it is due to the author's vision of the problems raised in their works, and the artistic preferences of each of them.

2) For Aeschylus, the key was the concept of fate, although the author cannot completely refuse to try to individualize the characters, but nevertheless, the heroes mostly act not of their own free will, but according to what fate they are destined for, or according to what order they received from the gods . It can also be assumed with no small degree of probability that in the third part of the Oresteia trilogy, the author sought to express his socio-political views, giving the Areopagus a significant role in his tragedy. Here we can also speak about the expression of the moral position of the author: Orestes is acquitted with an equality of votes, we can talk about the entry of the court of conscience, in which the decision on the issue of “spilled blood” is given to the Areopagus. The tragedy of Aeschylus was in tune with the time in which it was created. Thus, the author's interpretation allows him, in addition to directly mythological elements, to bring a lot of personal things into the work.

3) For Sophocles, the key element of the tragedy about Electra is the detailed depiction of one image, which practically does not disappear from the scene during the entire action of the tragedy. The game of contrasts allows Sophocles to introduce new methods of depicting images into literature, to show that the myth does not at all limit the scope of the work and the breadth of the images.

4) For Euripides, an innovative approach to the interpretation of the myth is most characteristic, since he departs furthest from the traditional interpretation of the myth of Atrids. But at the same time, he brings a lot of new things to the tragedy as a whole, because even at the level of the Elektra tragedy, one can notice an increased interest not so much in social problems, but in the problems of a particular individual. The concept of fate and fate fades into the background, the characters become more independent.

The following translations of works were used in the work:
Aeschylus "Oresteia" - Viach. Ivanov.
Sophocles "Electra" - S. Shervinsky.
Euripides "Electra" - I. Annensky

The birth of tragedy. Already in the dithyrambs of Arion, according to the testimony of the ancients, there was a dialogue between the luminary and the choir, depicting goat-footed satyrs - companions of Dionysus. From the dithyramb, the genre of tragedy is born (from gr. "t ragos" - goat, " ode"- song). In Thespides and Phrynichus, whose works have not been preserved, the tragedy, obviously, is still close to the dithyramb. Thespis is the first to introduce an actor commenting on songs into the dithyramb, creating the basis of tragedy as a genre. Phrynichus, Heril (like Aeschylus) were the first to use not a mythological, but a historical plot for the tragedy (about the victories of the Greeks in the Persian wars). Pratin adapts the genre to the stage satyr drama.

At the end of the VI-V centuries. BC. in Athens, on the bowl-shaped slope of the Acropolis, the theater of Dionysus is being built (first from wood, in the 4th century BC from stone) for 17 thousand spectators, i.e. for the entire population of the city. Here begins the annual theatrical competition in honor of Dionysus. Initially, they took place in the Great Dionysia - in March, from the second half of the 5th century. BC. and on the holiday of Leney - in January. On the first day, five comedies were presented, on the second, third and fourth - one tetralogy each. On the second, third and fourth days, the competition was attended by three playwrights, each prepared a tetralogy for competitions - a cycle of four plays (three tragedies and the final satyr drama, where the choir portrayed the companions of Dionysus - satyrs), staged their works and initially played the role of the protagonist - the main character. This is exactly what is known about Thespides, Phrynichus, Aeschylus. Note that Sophocles has achieved national recognition as an outstanding actor. Ten judges determined the winner. Lists of such competitions for a number of years have been preserved. In just 240 years of the development of this genre, only significant tragedians created more than 1,500 tragedies. But from the works of the ancient Greek tragedians, only 7 tragedies of Aeschylus have come down to us (including one trilogy - "Oresteia") 7 tragedies and excerpts from one satyr drama by Sophocles, 17 tragedies and one satyr drama by Euripides (the authorship of another tragedy is disputed).

The tragedy was prologue, parody (introductory song of the choir entering the orchestra - round platform before skene - a building, on an elevated platform in front of which - proskenia - the actors acted out the performance), three or four episodial (action) stasimov( choir songs between episodes), epod (finale with closing song and departure of the choir). Parod and stasim were divided into stanzas and similar antistrophes (under them, the choir moved along the orchestra first in one direction, then in the other direction). In tragedies, there could also be monologues of the hero, kommos (joint lamentation of the choir and the hero), hyporchema (song of the choir at the climax, before the catastrophe breaks out).

Aeschylus. Aeschylus (525 - 456 BC) - "the father of tragedy." Aeschylus introduced a second actor into the performance and thereby determined the specifics of tragedy as a dramatic work and the leading role of action in it (later, following the example of Sophocles, he began to introduce a third actor). He was a participant in the battles of Marathon and Salamis. Tradition connects the fate of three great tragedians with the second battle: Aeschylus was greeted among the winners by the young Sophocles, who sang in the choir, and Euripides at that time was born on the island of Salamis. From 500 BC e. Aeschylus took part in the tragedian competitions and won 13 victories in them. 7 of his tragedies have come down to us: "Persians"(about the victory of the Athenians over the Persians at Salamis), "Seven against Thebes"(about the campaign of Polynices against his native city, from the trilogy about Oedipus)," Petitioners, or Prayers”(from the trilogy about the Danaids), presented in 458 BC. e. trilogy "Oresteia"(tragedy " Agamemnon", "Choephors", "Eumenides”- about Orestes’ murder of his mother Clytemnestra as revenge for the murder of her husband Agamemnon committed by her, the trial of Orestes, pursued by Erinyes - the goddesses of revenge, and his cleansing of what he had done), "Prometheus Bound"- the most famous of the tragedies, which made the image of Prometheus, who rebelled against the tyranny of Zeus, an eternal image of world literature (works by Goethe, Shelley, etc.). The concept of the tragic in Aeschylus is based on the belief in the law of world justice, the violation of which leads to misfortune and death. His characters are amazingly solid, monumental.

Sophocles. Sophocles (496 - 406 BC) - the second great Greek tragedian, in 486 BC. won the contest of Aeschylus, 24 times taking the first place and never taking the last third place. Sophocles was an ally of Pericles, under whom Athens reached an unprecedented prosperity, participated in hostilities as a strategist (commander). 7 of his tragedies have come down to us (“ Ajax, The Trachinian Women, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus in Colon, Antigone, Electra, Philoctetes”), 400 verses from his satyr dramas Pathfinders and The Kidnapping of Cows by the Boy Hermes, and some other passages. Sophocles introduced a third actor, scenery, reduced the role of the choir, neglecting the trilogical composition, increased the completeness of each tragedy. The main character of Sophocles is not a god, but a strong man. The character of the protagonist determines the action to a much greater extent than that of Aeschylus. Sophocles pays close attention to the motivation of the characters' actions. It is not the problem of fate that comes to the fore, but the problem of moral choice. So, Antigone in the tragedy of the same name, obeying a moral duty, decides to bury her brother's body, despite the prohibition of the authorities. Thus, she herself chooses her own fate, which is the main sign of a tragic hero.

The most famous tragedy Sophocles - Oedipus the King» (429 BC). Aristotle considered this tragedy the most perfect example of the use of tragic ups and downs- transitions from happiness to unhappiness and vice versa. Here the idea of ​​the tragic guilt of the hero is most fully realized.

The action begins in Thebes, on the square in front of the royal palace. The city was struck by a terrible pestilence. It turns out that the gods are angry with the city because a certain person lives in it, who killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus rex gives orders to find this criminal. But as a result of the investigation, it turns out that he himself committed the crime, albeit out of ignorance. Then Oedipus blinds himself as a punishment for what he once did, and renounces the Theban throne.

The tragedy uses a retrospective composition: the origins of events lie not in the present, but in the past.

The hero tried to fight fate, fate: having learned from the oracle that he could kill his father and marry his mother, he fled from his parents, not suspecting that they were not his relatives. On the way to Thebes, Oedipus committed an accidental murder, and upon arrival in this city, which he saved from the Sphinx, having guessed its riddle, accepted the offer to rule it and take the widow queen as his wife. Only now, within the framework of stage time, did he realize that by doing so he had nevertheless fulfilled the prophecy.

Oedipus cannot fight fate, but he can make a moral decision and punish himself.

Euripides. Euripides (480 or 485 / 4-406 BC) is the youngest of the three great Greek tragedians, who received the greatest recognition in subsequent eras. However, his contemporaries valued him much less: of the 22 tetralogies he wrote and staged, only four were awarded first place. His satyr drama Cyclops and 17 tragedies have come down to us, of which the most famous "Medea"(431 BC), "Hippolytus crowned"(428 BC), as well as Hecuba, Andromache, Trojan Women, Elektra, Orestes, Iphigenia in Aulis, Iphigenia in Tauris. If Sophocles showed people as they should be, then Euripides - as they are. He significantly intensified the development of psychological motives, focusing on the psychological contradictions that make the characters do the wrong things, leading them to tragic guilt and - as a result - to misfortune and death. Aristotle considered Euripides "the most tragic poet". Indeed, the situations in which his heroes find themselves are often so hopeless that Euripides has to resort to an artificial device. deus ex machina (lit., " god from the machine), when the gods appearing on the stage allow everything. Heroes and plots of tragedies Euripides devoid of Aeschylean wholeness, Sophocles' harmony, he turns to marginal passions (love Phaedras to the stepson), unsolvable tasks (the father must sacrifice his daughter), unjustifiably cruel acts ( Medea kills her children to take revenge on the one who has grown cold towards her Jason y). His characters go berserk. Hecuba, who has lost children, sinks to the ground and knocks with her fists so that the gods of the underworld can hear her. Theseus cursing the innocent Hippolyta demands from the gods to fulfill his desire and kill his son. Undoubtedly, at the performances of tragedies Euripides the spectators, more than in the performances of the tragedies of his predecessors, were to experience catharsis.

theory of tragedy. "Poetics" of Aristotle. The experience of the great tragedians of the 5th century. BC e. allowed in the next century to theoretically comprehend the genre nature of the tragedy. The creation of the theory of tragedy is associated with the name of one of the greatest philosophers of antiquity - Aristotle Stagirite (384-322 BC). In his work "Poetics"(only the first part of 26 chapters, devoted to tragedy, has survived, only fragments of the second part, devoted to comedy, have been preserved) the genre is defined: “... Tragedy is an imitation of an important and complete action, which has a certain volume (imitation), with the help of speech variously embellished in each of its parts, by means of action and not of story, performing, through compassion and fear, the purification of such affects.

There are two key concepts in this definition. : mimesis(imitation) and catharsis(purification).

Mimesis- the most important term of the Aristotelian concept of art, which developed from the teachings of Pythagoras (c. 570 - c. 500 BC) about music as an imitation of heavenly harmony and the teacher of Aristotle - Plato (428 or 427-348 or 347 BC) about the visible world as an imitation of ideas, and about art as an imitation of imitation. Aristotle sees in the desire to imitate a common property of living beings, and above all people.

There is a large literature on mimesis. This concept became one of the main ones in the aesthetics of classicism, and was criticized by Kant and Hegel, as well as by Schelling and other romantics. He was opposed to the doctrine of expression (i.e. about primacy of the subjectivity of the artist) as the essence of art. However, mimesis was usually interpreted in a straightforward way - as a reproduction, copying of reality or any of its parts. Meanwhile, Aristotle, calling the subject of mimesis in tragedy an action (not even in itself, but in the elements identified and built by art: not events, but plot, not people, but actors, not a set of thoughts, but a way of thinking, i.e. motivation actions) considers the stage setting as a way of imitation, and verbal expression as means (recall: not ordinary speech, but “ differently decorated in each of its parts") and a musical composition, i.e. those that are not related to simple copying, but have the specifics of their own artistic forms . Considering the teleological setting of Aristotle(his idea of ​​the development of the world as a movement towards the final goal), we can definitely point out that mimesis in tragedy- only the initial means to achieve an intermediate goal: to cause viewers feelings of fear and compassion, and it, in turn, makes it possible to achieve the ultimate goal is catharsis.

This mysterious concept, not explained by Aristotle, subsequently received not only an aesthetic (associated with aesthetic pleasure), but also ethical (educates the viewer) psychiatric (gives mental relief) ritual (heals like) intellectual (frees from erroneous opinion) and other interpretations. The definition of tragedy speaks only of tragic catharsis, that is, one that is achieved through the experience of fear and compassion (obviously, to the hero). And catharsis is, logically, not the ultimate goal of tragedy.. Purified from " similar effects, or passions (apparently, not from fear and compassion, but from those because of which the hero got into a tragic situation and which gave rise to his tragic guilt), a person can return to society, unite with worthy people, because now he is equal with them " cleared." This is the apparently unspoken outcome of Aristotle's reflections on the impact of tragedy on man.

Drama as a kind of literature; origin, the role of ritual songs in honor of the god Dionysus in the development of drama; the main types of ancient Greek drama (tragedy, comedy, satyr drama). Aristotle on the origin and development of drama. The mythological basis of the tragedy, the structure of the tragedy and the role of choral parts. Organization of theatrical performances in Athens, the organization of the theater. Tragedy structure, trilogy principle.

The main stages of the Greco-Persian wars; social changes in the Greek polis.

Aeschylus(525 - 456 BC) - "the father of tragedy." The artistic significance of the introduction of the second actor by Aeschylus. Aeschylus, his worldview and creative heritage (the problem of hereditary guilt and personal responsibility of the individual in the work of Aeschylus, the understanding of suffering as a punishment for pride, the attitude of the modern playwright to political and social issues. The development of Aeschylus's tragedy from "The Begging" to "Oresteia". Tragedy "Prometheus" chained" as part of a trilogy and a monument to the archaism of the genre; the functions of choral parties in tragedy; comparison of the images of Prometheus in Hesiod and Aeschylus.

"Oresteia" as an example of a dramatic trilogy. Images of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Cassandra. The image of Orestes as an unwitting avenger. Erinnia as a vestige of maternal law. The ideological significance of the image of the Areopagus; affirmation of the value of peace and mercy in the trilogy.

The language and artistic originality of the tragedies of Aeschylus: the monumentality of conflicts (maternal and paternal right; man as part of the family; man and fate; democracy and autocracy; static images).

Antique criticism about the strengths and weaknesses of Aeschylus's dramaturgy.

Sophocles(496 - 406 BC). Social changes in Athenian society after the end of the Greco-Persian wars, the state structure and features of Athenian democracy. "Age of Pericles" as the heyday of the Athenian state. Science, art, architecture, education in Athens; social and artistic ideals; the main representatives of scientific and social thought: Empedocles, Anaxagoras (500 - 428), Hippocrates (460 - 370), Protagoras (480 - 411). The beginning of oratory, the first sophistry. Social changes during the Peloponnesian War (431 - 404).

Sophocles and his contribution to the formation of Greek drama. The reflection of his polis ideology in the tragedies of the Theban cycle "Oedipus Rex", "Oedipus in Colon", "Antigone" (manifestation of divine will in the natural course of things, the conflict of "written" and "unwritten" laws, the opposition of Antigone - Creon, the greatness and impotence of man ). Normativity of heroes and principles of social behavior, images of Sophocles' tragedies. The skill of Sophocles the playwright, the art of ups and downs. Aristotle on Oedipus as "an exemplary tragic hero". The role of the choir, the language and style of the tragedies of Sophocles.

Euripides(480 - 406 BC) - "philosopher on the stage." The ideas of the sophists in the tragedies of Euripides (a new look at traditional religion, morality, marriage and family, the position of women, attitude towards slaves). The poet's interest in psychology, especially women's. Problems of the tragedies "Medea" and "Hippolytus". Deheroization of mythological characters in the image of Jason; image of people, "what they really are"; The image of Medea as an artistic embodiment of the thesis "Man is the measure of all things." People and gods in the tragedy "Hippolytus"; means of creating dramatic images of Phaedra and Hippolytus. The role of monologues and stichomyth.

Female images in Euripides ("Alcestis", "Iphigenia in Aulis"). A new interpretation of old stories ("Electra"). Breaking genre stereotypes in the tragedies "Ion" and "Elena". Dramatic innovations and the influence of Euripides on the further development of ancient drama (tragedy of strong passions, everyday drama). Psychologism of the tragedies of Euripides; reduction of the role of the choir, artificial completion of the action "God out of the machine"; free handling of myth and a critical attitude towards the gods. The legacy of Euripides in the European cultural tradition.

Ancient Greek comedy; stages of development and main representatives: Aristophanes, Menander

Origin of comedy Stages of development and structure of comedy. Ancient Attic comedy and its folklore and ritual origins. The originality of the genre, the conservatism of the form, the political orientation and topicality of the content. Political and accusatory orientation of comedies, freedom of invective. Comic devices: hyperbole, materialized metaphor, caricature, grotesque. The composition of the comedy, the role of the agon and the parabas.

Aristophanes(c. 446 - c. 388 BC) - "the father of comedy." Creativity of Aristophanes, the problems of his comedies: reflection of the crisis state of Athenian democracy; questions of war and peace ("Aharnians", "Peace", "Lysistrata"), modern politics ("Horsemen", "Wasps"), philosophy, education ("Clouds") and literature ("Frogs", "Women at the Thesmophoria" ). Aesthetic views of Aristophanes in the comedy "The Frogs"; Aristophanes' assessment of the legacy of Aeschylus and Euripides; socio-political and aesthetic ideals of Aristophanes.

Elements of fantasy and utopia ("Birds", "Women in the National Assembly", "Plutos"). The language of comedies and the meaning of Aristophanes' creativity.

Average Attic comedy. The new Attic comedy as everyday, love, family, its difference from the ancient one. Influence of Euripides. Typical subjects and masks. Creation Menander(c. 342 - 292 BC), the safety of his comedies. Humane and philanthropic views of Menander. The problems of the comedies "Arbitration Court" and "Bruzga". The innovation of Menander and the theater of modern times.

Historical, philosophical and oratory prose: Herodotus,

General characteristics of the ancient world and its main historical periods. The historical significance of ancient culture.

Greco-Persian wars and their significance in the history of Greece. "Age of Pericles" - the flowering of culture, philosophy, arts of Greece. The harmonious image of man is a world-historical merit of Greek thought and creativity. The birth of the theater in Athens (VI-V centuries BC). The role of the cult of Dionysus, ritual procedures of the Eleusinian mysteries, choric and monodic medicine, frenos in the emergence of Greek theater, the main genres of Greek drama (tragedy, comedy, satyr drama). Aristotle on the Origin of Tragedy and Comedy. The general humanitarian and socio-cultural role of the Greek theater in the life of Athenian society and pan-European culture.

The Peloponnesian War and the Gradual Decline of the Greek Policies.

Greek mythology is the soil and treasury of Greek and pan-European art. Metaphor and universality of myths as the main motive for their use as plots by ancient playwrights and authors of modern times.

General concept of myth. Types and attributes of the myth. Mythological consciousness of the ancient Greeks. The myth of Dionysus and the holidays of the Great Dionysius. The myth of Demeter and the Eleusinian mysteries. The main mythological cycles on the basis of which the heroic epic, melika and drama arise are the Trojan, Theban and cosmogonic cycles.

The heyday of the monodic melik and its prominent representatives - Alkey, Sappho, Anacreon. Choric melika, its types and prominent representatives - Alkman, Arion, Simonides, Pindar. Appointment and composition of the choir. Corypheus and choreges.

The path from the dithyramb (a hymn in honor of Dions) to the drama - the poets Archilochus, Arion, Pratin. The meaning of Thespides is the selection of a special performer, actor from the choir and the transition of the line that separates the lyricism of the dithyramb from the drama of the tragedy. The transformation of the “song of the goats” (tragos - goat, ode - song) into drama, that is, into action. Thespis is the father of tragedy. The transformation of the “song of revelers” (komos - revelers, phallic processions of mummers; ode - song) into a comedy.

Dionysian choir, satyr drama, frenos, Eleusinian mysteries - the four main sources of ancient Greek theater. Establishment of a national holiday of the Great Dionysius in 534 BC. e. Dramatic competitions are the culmination of the holiday.

Annual feasts in honor of Dionysus: Small or Rural Dionysia, Linea, Anthisterius, Great Dionysia. The structure of the feast of the Great Dionysius in Athens, its nationwide character. The culmination of the holiday is a three-day drama competition of poets and playwrights: the role of the state in their organization.

The device of the theater of Dionysus as an open-air theater and with natural light. Orchestra with a sacrificial altar to Dionysus (femella). Skene, proscenium, paraskenium. Parod. Theatrical equipment and machines - ekkiklema. Teatron.

Choir in the ancient Greek theater, social and artistic functions. Corypheus. Choregi. Chorevets. The right to “receive a choir”. Chants and movements of the choir around the altar of Dionysus as a reflection of the strophic principle of tragedy and comedy.

Lyrical-orchestral and mimetic parts of the tragedy. Actor and acting. Law of three actors. Masks and their purpose in the ancient Greek theater. Suit. Coturny. The structure of the actor's image and the requirements for the actor. The word in the theater is a synthesis of recitation, melodic declamation, vocals. “Antique gesture”, plastic arts, dance. Kommos - actor and choir.

Aeschylus. Formation of tragedy before Aeschylus. Thespis is the father of tragedy. Phrynichus. Characteristics of the main elements of the tragedy (prologue, parodies, episodies, stasims, epods, kommos, exodes).

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) is the legislator of the Athenian tragic scene in its established forms. Theatrical "roots" of Aeschylus. Aeschylus is a warrior and patriot, a man of transitional times. The evolution of creativity: from "The Petitioners" and "Persians" (1st period) to "Prometheus chained" and "Seven against Thebes" (2nd period); to comprehend the most complex interweaving of both human and divine relationships in the Oresteia trilogy (3rd period).

The problems of fate, moral duty to people and the homeland-state, revenge or retribution in the work of Aeschylus as a reflection of the main issues of the worldview of the ancient Greeks. Myth and events of real history in the tragedies of Aeschylus. The novelty and courage of Aeschylus in the interpretation of the myth.

"Prometheus Chained" is one of the parts of the trilogy ("Prometheus Unbound" and "Prometheus the Firebearer"), which is based on the Greek myth of the titan Prometheus. The image of Prometheus in Hesiod's "Theogony" and the tragedy of Aeschylus. The plot and characters of the tragedy. Intellectual character tragedy as a personification and confrontation of ideas: on the one hand, slavish obedience, weakness, prudent compromise with the power of the almighty, on the other, rebellion against arbitrariness, violence of the gods.

Trilogy "Oresteia" ("Agamemnon", "Choephors", "Eumenides", 458 BC). Its basis is the tragic fate of the house of Atrids, borrowed by Aeschylus from the myth of the death of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon (Trojan cycle). The plot and characters of the trilogy. The intellectual character of the tragedy. The confrontation of maternal and paternal rights, deployed by Aeschylus through the clashes of people and gods, through the bloody events of the trilogy; moral, philosophical and political problems of "Oresteia". The novelty of Aeschylus' interpretation of the ancient myth and the central problem of ancient Greek views - the problem of retribution. The conflict of tragedy as a clash of different truths and rights. Approval of the idea of ​​statehood, paternal law, civil law and order through the justification of the crime of Orestes in the Areopagus.

The evolution of Aeschylus the playwright: from the tragedy-cantata (“The Petitioner”) to the tragedy-drama (“Oresteia”); bringing action into the tragedies themselves; an increase in drama and pathos in each subsequent tragedy. Aeschylus' skill. Introduction by Aeschylus of the trilogical principle, the antistrophic principle, observance of the rule of integrity of the verse. The majesty and severity of Aeschylus' heroes, their non-psychological nature. The introduction of the second actor and the development of the dialogue. The evolution of the choir and its functions. Lyric-epic nature of the tragedies of Aeschylus. The universal talent of Aeschylus.

Sophocles. (c. 496-406 BC) - philosopher-playwright and theatrical figure of the heyday of Athenian democracy, which proclaimed man "the measure of all things" (Protagoras). The political and state leader of Athens, an associate of Pericles, a constant rival of Aeschylus in dramatic competitions, “minion of fate”, a harmonious personality. Creative heritage of Sophocles and its universal sounding.

The confrontation between man and fate - the main conflict of tragedies - as an expression of the religious and ethical foundations of Sophocles' worldview. Man and power, man and state, the moral responsibility of the hero, vested with power over others, for his deeds before God and people; delusions and misfortunes of a person, frantic emotional upheavals and suffering of a person, the nature of human relationships - the humanistic foundation and stage flesh of Sophocles' dramaturgy.

The heroes of Sophocles are people of a high moral imperative, people “as they should be” (Aristotle), whose motto is: “To live beautifully or not to live at all.” Principles of the image of a person in Sophocles. The richness of the inner content of the image and mask. Ways of individualization and individuality of Sophocles' characters. The uniqueness of the situations created by the playwright or set by the myth. Contrasts in the organization of characters' speech.

"Oedipus the King" (c. 429 BC) - the tragedy of fate, "tragedy par excellence" (Aristotle). Mythological basis (Theban cycle), the problem of interpreting the myth. Content and main characters. Tragic irony in Sophocles and recognition as intertwining elements of the vicissitudes - “the change of what is happening to the opposite" (Aristotle). Oedipus's search for the killers of Laius (the plot of the tragedy) and the dialectic of the subjectively noble intentions of the hero and the objective results of his actions as a chain of involuntary crimes. The problem of Oedipus's guilt, his determination to punish himself oneself, the ability to be responsible for one's actions as the norm of a tragic hero.The ratio of fate and freedom of the individual.Oedipus is a symbol of mankind's eternal striving for truth, for the mystery of being.The concept of catastrophe.The composition of the tragedy of Sophocles.

"Antigone" (c. 442 BC) - the tragedy of duty. Mythological basis (Theban cycle), the problem of interpreting the myth. Content and main characters. The conflict between Antigone and Creon is a clash of different public ideas about the duty of the individual. Public the meaning of the conflict is the agon of Creon and Antigone Heroic maximalism of Antigone and her moral victory over Creon.

"Electra" - the tragedy of revenge. The novelty of the interpretation of the Mycenaean myth (Trojan cycle) in comparison with Aeschylus' "Choeforms". Content and characters. The principle of contrasting comparison of two sisters. The truth of Electra, her determination in the implementation of revenge and obsession with the idea. The social meaning of the conflict is agon Electra and Clytemnestra.

"Oedipus in Colon" (406 BC) - the completion of the theme of Oedipus in the work of Sophocles. The Athenian myth and the glorification of Athens. Justification of Oedipus.

Euripides. Peloponnesian War (431-401 BC) and the defeat of Athens. The crisis of faith in divine power, the justice of the universe, the reasonableness of laws. Criticism of mythological traditions. Deheroization and decomposition of the myth.

Euripides (480-406/407 BC) is a philosopher on stage, “the most tragic of poets” (Aristotle). The circle of interests of Euripides: the inner proximity of the philosophy of the sophists; attitude to traditional religion, to war, to democracy.

"Alcesta" (438 BC) is a family and everyday drama; the image of a wife (Alcesta) who accepts death to save her husband. An image of the idea of ​​self-sacrifice, the idea of ​​true love in a collision with selfish love.

"Medea" (431 BC) - the originality of the interpretation of the myth of the Argonauts. The shift of the semantic center from the sphere of divine commands and predestination to the sphere of tragic relations between people is the main discovery of Euripides. The tragedy of the image of Medea as a result of the internal split of her soul. The collision of Medea's personality with the world hostile to her is the tragic conflict of the work.The impact of Euripides' "Medea" on the dramaturgy of modern times (the tragedies of Shakespeare, Racine, the European psychological drama).

“Hippolytus” (428 BC) is a unique interpretation of the myth. The theme of Phaedra’s strange love for her stepson Hippolytus. Love as a curse, as a distortion of the norm of human relations, leading to death, is the novelty and originality of this theme in ancient tragedy. Philosophical aspects of the image of Hippolytus.

“Iphigenia in Aulis” is an original interpretation of one of the myths of the Trojan cycle associated with the sacrifice of Iphigenia. The image of the love of Iphigenia and Achilles as a feeling that transforms the consciousness of Iphigenia, helping her to comprehend the world, to realize the idea of ​​freedom and free choice of her own destiny.

The interweaving of lyrical, civil, philosophical motifs in the dramaturgy of Euripides, the creator of a new type of drama (“the tragedy of intrigue”), where in the center is the clash of man and the world, the clash between people; image of the inner world of a person with his tragic dissatisfaction and, often, a split soul. The insignificant significance of the choir and choral parties in the tragedies of Euripides. Prologues and denouements (“God from the machine”). Agony and monody. The staging of the tragedies of Euripides in modern times.

Aristophanes. Folk origins of comedy. Traditions of the Attic Komos. Sicilian mimes and fliacs. Epicharmus and Cratin are the creators of the comedy genre and the forerunners of Aristophanes. The structure of the comedy (prologue, agon, parabasa, exode).

The comedies of Aristophanes (445-385 BC) are an artistic document of his time. Agon in Aristophanes as a clash of opposing political ideas. The comedies “Acharnians” (426 BC) and “Horsemen” (424 BC) are a mockingly grotesque depiction of politicians-demagogues during the crisis of Athenian democracy.

The anti-war character of the comedies Peace (421 BC) and Lysistrata (411 BC).

"Frogs" (405 BC) - questions of the theater, literature, art; a look at the playwright as a teacher of fellow citizens; censure of Euripides.

"Birds" - the problem of the relationship between the demos and the leaders.

The dramaturgy of Aristophanes as a living public comprehension of the philosophical, aesthetic, political problems of the time in the form of a theatrical performance. Techniques of caricature, caricature, free imitation of real historical characters; imperceptible transitions from reality to fantasy, sharpness and courage in building a dramatic comedic conflict; folk humor, puns, lively colloquial speech are features of the style of Aristophanes comedy.

The evolution of the creative principles of Aristophanes, changes in the artistic fabric of his comedies. Aesthetic and religious views of the playwright. Productions of comedies by Aristophanes in modern times.

Topic 2. Theater of Ancient Rome

The emergence of Roman culture and the contradictions of relations with ancient Greek culture. Troy and the Trojan culture - the source of Roman culture. Antagonism between Roman aristocracy and Greek democracy. The history of Rome as a history of wars of conquest (Punic Wars). The principle of practical necessity is the central feature of Roman utilitarianism, embracing all spheres of life, from everyday life to philosophical and poetic manifestations. Greek cultural influence in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC e. The origins of the Roman theatre. Fescennins. Performances of histrions (from the Etruscan "gister" - actor). Livy Andronicus (d. c. 205 BC) - the founder of Roman literature, literary translation, author of tragedies and comedies, creator of the new stage genre “palliata” (“cloak comedy”), author and director of the first drama in Latin language (240 BC). Gnaeus Nevius (c. 280-201 BC) - the first Roman poet, creator of a new genre of Roman tragedy - pretext ("Romulus"). Comedy is the main genre of Roman theatrical culture. Saturs (“okroshka”) and Roman Saturnalia. Atellana and her masks.

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254-184 BC) and the “Togata” play: Roman life and customs are wrapped by Plautus in the “cloak” of Greek plots and names; the techniques of the neo-Attic comedy of intrigue are combined with the Roman atellana. Heroes of the comedies of Plautus. Images of clever crafty slaves (“Pseudol”, “Boastful Warrior”). Euklion is the first image of the “mean” in the world theater (“Comedy about the Pot or Treasure”). Development of a comedy of intrigue (“Menechmas” or “Twins”) and a touching, serious comedy (“Prisoners”). The dynamism of the action, the technique of lowering the sublime, buffoonery (“Amphitrion”). Combination of dialogues with canticles (arias, duets, trios), creating a musical comedy. Roman humor. Plautian language. The influence of his comedies on the work of Shakespeare, Moliere, Lessing, Ostrovsky.

Publius Terence Africanaeus (ca. 185-159 BC) and translations-reworkings of plays by Menander and others. Contamination as the main method of reworking. Orientation to the circle of the Roman aristocracy. Themes of the family and the Hellenic education of youth (“Brothers”); noble relationships based on trust and assistance (“mother-in-law”). Terence's language is the language of an educated Roman, orator, rhetorician - the standard of Latin speech for subsequent eras.

Separation of theater from literature, gradual descent from the stage of tragedies and comedies. The displacement of the theater by the spectacles of the circus and pantomime. Pompous processions, animal persecution, gladiator fights, circus games. The enchanting naturalistic style of the spectacles of the Empire. An increase in the number of holidays from four in the Age of the Republic to one hundred and fifty in the Age of the Empire. Organization of holidays. The Great Circus and the Flavian Amphitheater (Coliseum).

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD) and his tragic theater - Oedipus, Medea, Phaedra. Tragedies of Seneca - dramas for reading. Problems of the individual and the state, the vicissitudes of fate and the destructiveness of passions in the tragedies of Seneca. His works as a form of philosophical expression. The influence of Seneca on the history of the European theater, on the aesthetics and dramaturgy of classicism.

Pantomime as a common genre of the era of the Empire. Differences between the Roman theater and the Greek. Organization of theatrical performances. The low position of the actors. The first stone theater of Pompey (55 BC).

Topic 3. Medieval theater

Feudal formation and its culture. Periodization: Early Middle Ages - V-XI centuries; Mature Middle Ages - XII - mid-XVI century. The system of suzerainty and vassalage.

Religion as the dominant form of ideology in a feudal society. Ideas of Christian humanism of the Middle Ages. The role of the Christian religion and the Catholic Church in literature and art. Folk culture of the Middle Ages.

The actions of amusing histrions (jugglers in France, mimes in Italy, spielmans in Germany, minstrels in England, frames in Poland, buffoons in Russia) are a new type of folk spectacle of the 11th-13th centuries, which developed in the fair environment. The syncretism of the art of the histrions. Variety of genres. Differentiation: buffoons, storytelling jugglers, troubadours. Church persecution.

The emergence and development of the theater in the bosom of the church. Presentation at the altar. Liturgical drama (since the 9th century) as part of the Catholic Mass. Christmas and Easter cycles. Liturgical drama "The Bridegroom, or the Wise Virgins and the Foolish Virgins" (late 11th - early 12th century). Semi-liturgical drama (mid-12th century) - a drama on the church porch. The principle of simultaneity. Secularization of the liturgical drama - "Action about Adam" (XII century). Vagants (“wandering clerics”) are the spokesmen for the rebellious spirit of the histrion free games in the medieval city. The impact of Vagant creativity on the process of secularization. Evolution of Liturgical Drama into Mystery (XV-XVI centuries).

Miracle is a dramatization of church legends about saints. Sources, content and heroes of the Miracles. French Miracles of the 13th century: “The Game of St. Nicolae” (1200) by trouveur Jean Bodel, where the sanctity and inviolability of private property, guarded by the miracle worker Nicholas, acts as the main idea of ​​the miracle; “The Miracle of Theophilus” by Truver Rutbef (translated by A. Blok), where the “Faustian” theme of the hero leads him along the path of suffering, atonement for guilt and leads to the miracle of transformation. The development of the miracle genre (“a play about a miracle”) in the 14th century. and its proximity to everyday didactic drama. “Miracle about Robert the Devil” and “Miracle about Bert with big feet” are pictures of a cruel age.

Mystery - a performance brought to the square in front of the cathedral - the main genre of the medieval folk theater of the XV-XVI centuries. Mysteries and the free city. Areal, mass and amateur nature of the mystery. Workshop participation. The role of the "brotherhoods". Thematic and plot range of the mystery. Religious and worldly, passionate piety and blasphemy, the asceticism of Christian morality and “freedom of judgments of the square” (A. Pushkin) as a content and genre fusion of mystery. The junction of poetic convention and crude naturalism, fantasy and everyday life, pathos and caricature, religious ecstasy and buffoonery. Mimic mystery (“The Passion of the Lord”, Paris, 1313) as the source of mystery theater.

Mystery as a phenomenon of the square theater. Three ways of the scenic device of the mystery. The principle of simultaneity in the construction of scenery, the movement of the plot. Stage wonders. A spectacle of torture and executions. Comic improvisations and comic figures of a fool and a demon. "Game Leader" Gothic style in the mystery theater. The activities of the “brotherhoods” (“Brotherhood of passions” in Paris). The evolution of the mystery from a citywide holiday to a theatrical spectacle of a professional type - "Acts of the Apostles" (1541). Prohibition of the Mysteries by the French Parliament (1548).

Urban culture and secular theater of the Middle Ages. Truver Adam de la Halle (1238-1286) and his activities in the Arras "puy", in Paris and Naples. “Game in the Gazebo” (1262) as a synthesis of living impressions of reality and folklore poetry and music. “The Game of Robin and Marion” (c. 1280) - a musical-song, folk-dance performance about the love of a shepherd and a shepherdess, Adam de la Alle - a poet, actor, composer, playwright - the founder of the future musical theater.

Moralite (XV-XVI centuries) - “dispute in faces”, an edifying drama about the clash of good and evil, about the struggle of the spirit and the flesh, about the duality of man, presented in the form of allegories in specific characters-symbols. Replacing dramatic action with discussion, passions with judgments about passions, actors with rhetoricians. Performance as a stage illustration for the Prologue. French (“Moral and Immoral”, “Prudent and Unreasonable”, 1436) and English (“Every Man”, 1493) morality as examples of moralistic drama, “sermons in faces”. Moralite is the repertory basis of the chamber of rhetors in Dutch cities. Representation of morality by amateurs in monasteries, at the courts of feudal lords, in the market squares of a medieval city. The introduction of domestic interior (compared to the mystery). Allegorical figures of morality in the Renaissance drama of Bayle, Cervantes, Shakespeare.

Farce (from lat. farte - stuffing) - a comedy genre formed by separating comedy-everyday elements (inserts) from the composition of the mystery and dramatizing schwank. Plebeian roots of farce (performances of histrions, Maslenitsa games). A story-driven anecdote, an everyday incident as the basis of a farce - “The Wife in a Tub”. Cunning, trickery, private interest - the main virtues of the hero of the farce. Life, manners and psychology of a medieval city dweller in the anonymous farce “Lawyer Patlen” (XV century). Parodic style of farce by Pierre Grenghor's "Play of the Prince of Fools and the Fool's Mother" (1512).

Farcers are a sharp characteristic, dynamics, cheerfulness of their art. The famous French actor-farce master Jean Pontale (Jean de l "Espina). National varieties of farce - soti (France), fastnachtspiel (Germany), interlude (England).

Farce and the Renaissance Theater of Europe: Commedia dell'arte (Italy), Lope de Rueda (Spain), Interludes by John Gaywood (England), Molière (France).

Theater of the Renaissance and Modern Times (XVII century)

The Renaissance (XIV-XVI centuries in Italy; the end of the XV-XVII centuries in Spain; XVI-XVII centuries in England and France) - the gradual disintegration of feudalism, the crisis of church ideology. The liberation of man from the shackles of subordination to religious dogmas. Development of science and arts. Formation of the culture of humanists. The ideals of the humanists in the work of the great artists of the era. Cheerful freethinking and the evolution of Renaissance humanism. The concept of man and the world in the art of the Renaissance.

The main ideas of the early and High Renaissance: freedom is “that dynamic idea that blew up the world” (Hegel); man and the cult of individuality; discovery of the world and knowledge of both the external and internal world of the individual: the revival of antiquity.

Second half of the 16th-17th centuries The crisis of the Renaissance consciousness, the image of a disharmonic world, a return to a pessimistic view of the possibilities of man, for man himself is the center of tragically insoluble contradictions. The main ideas of the late Renaissance (second half of the 16th-17th centuries): the incomprehensibility of life and reality, “limited human capabilities, self-restraint of human pride, subordination of self-will and claims of the individual to more common interests.

Art of baroque and classicism. Theater in the system of styles of the Renaissance and Modern times (XVII century).

9. Culture of Ancient Rome. Periods of cultural development and their general characteristics.

12. Ancient Roman literature: general characteristics

13. Culture of Ancient Greece.

14. Ancient Roman lyric poetry.

1. Poetry of the Ciceronian period (81-43 BC) (heyday of prose).

2. The heyday of Roman poetry - the reign of Augustus (43 BC - 14 AD).

16. Ancient Greek tragedy. Sophocles and Euripides.

18. Traditions of ancient Indian literature.

22. Ancient Greek epic: the poems of Hesiod.

24. Ancient Greek prose.

25. Steppe civilizations of Europe. Characteristics of the culture of the Scythian world of Eurasia (according to the collections of the Hermitage).

26. Hebrew literary tradition (texts of the Old Testament).

28. Ancient Greek comedy.

29. Types of civilizations - agricultural and nomadic (nomadic, steppe). The main typology of civilizations.

30. Literature and folklore.

31. The concept of "Neolithic revolution". The main features of the culture of the Neolithic societies of the world. The concept of "civilization".

32. The concept of verbal creativity.

34. Ancient Greek tragedy. Aeschylus' work.

35. Chronology and periodization of the traditional culture of primitive society. Geocultural space of primitiveness.

38. Ancient Greek epic: Homer's poems.

40. Analysis of a work of ancient Indian literature.

16. Ancient Greek tragedy. Sophocles and Euripides.

Tragedy. The tragedy comes from ritual actions in honor of Dionysus. The participants in these actions put on masks with goat beards and horns, depicting the satellites of Dionysus - satyrs. Ritual performances took place during the Great and Lesser Dionysia. Songs in honor of Dionysus were called dithyrambs in Greece. The dithyramb, as Aristotle points out, is the basis of Greek tragedy, which retained at first all the features of the myth of Dionysus. The first tragedies set forth myths about Dionysus: about his suffering, death, resurrection, struggle and victory over enemies. But then the poets began to draw content for their works from other legends. In this regard, the choir began to portray not satyrs, but other mythical creatures or people, depending on the content of the play.

Origin and essence. Tragedy arose from solemn chants. She retained their majesty and seriousness, her heroes were strong personalities, endowed with a strong-willed character and great passions. Greek tragedy has always portrayed some particularly difficult moments in the life of an entire state or an individual, terrible Crimes, misfortunes and deep moral suffering. There was no place for jokes and laughter.

System. The tragedy begins with a (declamatory) prologue, followed by the entrance of the choir with a song (parod), then - episodies (episodes), which are interrupted by the songs of the choir (stasims), the last part is the final stasim (usually solved in the kommos genre) and departure actors and choir - exod. Choral songs divided the tragedy in this way into parts, which in modern drama are called acts. The number of parts varied even with the same author. The three unities of Greek tragedy: place, action and time (the action could only take place from sunrise to sunset), which were supposed to reinforce the illusion of the reality of the action. The unity of time and place to a large extent limited the development of dramatic elements characteristic of the evolution of the genus at the expense of the epic. A number of events necessary in the drama, the depiction of which would break the unity, could only be reported to the viewer. The so-called "messengers" told about what was happening outside the stage.

Greek tragedy was greatly influenced by the Homeric epic. The tragedians borrowed a lot of stories from him. The characters often used expressions borrowed from the Iliad. For the dialogues and songs of the choir, playwrights (they are also melurgists, because the same person wrote poetry and music - the author of the tragedy) used iambic trimeter as a form close to living speech (for differences in dialects in certain parts of the tragedy, see the ancient Greek language ). Tragedy reached its peak in the 5th century. BC e. in the works of three Athenian poets: Sophocles and Euripides.

Sophocles. In the tragedies of Sophocles, the main thing is not the external course of events, but the internal torment of the heroes. Sophocles usually explains the general meaning of the plot right away. The external denouement of the plot is almost always easy to foresee. Sophocles carefully avoids confusing complications and surprises. His main feature is the tendency to portray people, with all their inherent weaknesses, hesitations, mistakes, and sometimes crimes. The characters of Sophocles are not general abstract embodiments of certain vices, virtues or ideas. Each of them has a bright personality. Sophocles almost strips the legendary heroes of their mythical superhumanity. The catastrophes that befall the heroes of Sophocles are prepared by the properties of their characters and circumstances, but they are always retribution for the guilt of the hero himself, as in Ajax, or his ancestors, as in Oedipus Rex and Antigone. According to the Athenian penchant for dialectics, the tragedy of Sophocles develops in a verbal contest between two opponents. It helps the viewer to better understand their rightness or wrongness. In Sophocles, verbal discussions are not the center of dramas. Scenes filled with deep pathos and at the same time devoid of Euripides' pomposity and rhetoric are found in all the tragedies of Sophocles that have come down to us. Heroes of Sophocles are experiencing severe mental anguish, but positive characters, even in them, retain the full consciousness of their rightness.

« Antigone" (about 442). The plot of "Antigone" refers to the Theban cycle and is a direct continuation of the legend about the war of the "Seven against Thebes" and about the fight between Eteocles and Polyneices. After the death of both brothers, the new ruler of Thebes, Creon, buried Eteocles with proper honors, and the body of Polynices, who went to war against Thebes, forbade to betray the earth, threatening the disobedient with death. The sister of the dead, Antigone, violated the ban and buried Politics. Sophocles developed this plot from the point of view of the conflict between human laws and the "unwritten laws" of religion and morality. The issue was topical: the defenders of the polis traditions considered the "unwritten laws" "God-established" and indestructible, as opposed to the changeable laws of people. The religiously conservative Athenian democracy also demanded respect for the "unwritten laws". The prologue to "Antigone" contains another feature that is very common in Sophocles - the opposition of harsh and soft characters: the adamant Antigone is opposed by the timid Ismene, who sympathizes with her sister, but does not dare to act with her. Antigone puts her plan into action; she covers the body of Polynices with a thin layer of earth, that is, she performs a symbolic "" burial, which, according to Greek ideas, was sufficient to calm the soul of the deceased. The interpretation of Sophocles' "Antigone" for many years remained in line with Hegel; it is still followed by many reputable researchers3. As you know, Hegel saw in "Antigone" an irreconcilable collision of the idea of ​​statehood with the requirement that blood ties put forward before a person: Antigone, who dares to bury her brother contrary to the royal decree, dies in an unequal struggle with the state principle, but King Creon, who personifies him, loses in this clash only son and wife, coming to the end of the tragedy broken and devastated. If Antigone is physically dead, then Creon is morally crushed and awaits death as a boon (1306-1311). The sacrifices made by the Theban king on the altar of statehood are so significant (let's not forget that Antigone is his niece) that sometimes he is considered the main character of the tragedy, who defends the interests of the state with such reckless determination. It is worth, however, to carefully read the text of Sophocles' Antigone and imagine how it sounded in the specific historical situation of ancient Athens in the late 40s of the 5th century BC. e., so that Hegel's interpretation would lose all force of evidence.

Analysis of "Antigone" in connection with the specific historical situation in Athens in the 40s of the 5th century BC. e. shows the complete inapplicability to this tragedy of modern concepts of state and individual morality. In "Antigone" there is no conflict between state and divine law, because for Sophocles the true state law was built on the basis of the divine. In "Antigone" there is no conflict between the state and the family, because for Sophocles the duty of the state was to protect the natural rights of the family, and not a single Greek state forbade citizens to bury their relatives. In "Antigone" the conflict between the natural, divine and therefore truly state law and the individual who takes the liberty of representing the state contrary to the natural and divine law is revealed. Who has the upper hand in this clash? In any case, not Creon, despite the desire of a number of researchers to make him the true hero of the tragedy; the final moral collapse of Creon testifies to his complete failure. But can we consider Antigone the winner, alone in unrequited heroism and ingloriously ending her life in a gloomy dungeon? Here we need to take a closer look at what place its image occupies in tragedy and by what means it is created. In quantitative terms, the role of Antigone is very small - only about two hundred verses, almost two times less than that of Creon. In addition, the entire last third of the tragedy, leading the action to the denouement, takes place without her participation. With all this, Sophocles not only convinces the viewer that Antigone is right, but also inspires him with deep sympathy for the girl and admiration for her selflessness, inflexibility, fearlessness in the face of death. The unusually sincere, deeply touching complaints of Antigone occupy a very important place in the structure of the tragedy. First of all, they deprive her image of any touch of sacrificial asceticism that could arise from the first scenes, where she so often confirms her readiness for death. Antigone appears before the viewer as a full-blooded, living person, to whom nothing human is alien either in thoughts or in feelings. The richer the image of Antigone with such sensations, the more impressive is her unshakable loyalty to her moral duty. Sophocles quite consciously and purposefully forms an atmosphere of imaginary loneliness around his heroine, because in such an environment her heroic nature is fully manifested. Of course, Sophocles did not force his heroine to die in vain, despite her obvious moral rightness - he saw what a threat to Athenian democracy, which stimulated the all-round development of the individual, is fraught at the same time with the hypertrophied self-determination of this personality in her desire to subjugate the natural rights of man. However, not everything in these laws seemed to Sophocles quite explicable, and the best evidence of this is the problematic nature of human knowledge already outlined in Antigone. “Fast as the wind thought” (phronema) Sophocles in the famous “hymn to man” ranked among the greatest achievements of the human race (353-355), adjoining his predecessor Aeschylus in assessing the possibilities of the mind. If the fall of Creon is not rooted in the unknowability of the world (his attitude towards the murdered Polynices is in clear contradiction with well-known moral norms), then with Antigone the situation is more complicated. Like Yemena at the beginning of the tragedy, so subsequently Creon and the choir consider her act a sign of recklessness,22 and Antigone realizes that her behavior can be regarded in this way (95, cf. 557). The essence of the problem is formulated in the couplet that concludes Antigone's first monologue: although Creon sees her act as stupid, it seems that the accusation of stupidity comes from a fool (f. 469). The finale of the tragedy shows that Antigone was not mistaken: Creon is paying for her foolishness, and we must give the girl’s feat the full measure of heroic “reasonableness”, since her behavior coincides with objectively existing, eternal divine law. But since for her loyalty to this law Antigone is awarded not glory, but death, she has to question the reasonableness of such an outcome. What law of the gods have I broken? therefore Antigone asks. “Why should I, unhappy, still look at the gods, what allies to call for help if, acting piously, I deserved the accusation of impiety?” (921-924). “Look, the elders of Thebes ... what I endure - and from such a person! - although I piously revered the heavens. For the hero of Aeschylus, piety guaranteed final triumph; for Antigone, it leads to a shameful death; subjective "reasonableness" of human behavior leads to an objectively tragic result - a contradiction arises between the human and divine minds, the resolution of which is achieved at the cost of self-sacrifice of the heroic individuality Euripides. (480 BC - 406 BC). Almost all of the surviving plays by Euripides were created during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) between Athens and Sparta, which had a huge impact on all aspects of the life of ancient Hellas. And the first feature of the tragedies of Euripides is the burning modernity: heroic-patriotic motives, hostility to Sparta, the crisis of ancient slave-owning democracy, the first crisis of religious consciousness associated with the rapid development of materialistic philosophy, etc. In this regard, the attitude of Euripides to mythology is especially indicative: the myth becomes for the playwright only material for reflecting contemporary events; he allows himself to change not only the minor details of classical mythology, but also to give unexpected rational interpretations of well-known plots (for example, in Iphigenia in Tauris, human sacrifices are explained by the cruel customs of the barbarians). The gods in the works of Euripides often appear more cruel, insidious and vindictive than people (Hippolytus, Hercules, etc.). It is precisely for this reason, “from the contrary”, that the technique “dues ex machina” (“God from the machine”) has become so widespread in the dramaturgy of Euripides, when in the finale of the work God suddenly appears and hastily administers justice. In the interpretation of Euripides, divine providence could hardly consciously take care of restoring justice. However, the main innovation of Euripides, which caused rejection among most of his contemporaries, was the depiction of human characters. Euripides, as Aristotle already noted in his Poetics, brought people to the stage as they are in life. The heroes and especially the heroines of Euripides by no means possess integrity, their characters are complex and contradictory, and high feelings, passions, thoughts are closely intertwined with base ones. This gave the tragic characters of Euripides versatility, evoking in the audience a complex range of feelings - from empathy to horror. Expanding the palette of theatrical and visual means, he widely used everyday vocabulary; along with the choir, increased the volume of the so-called. monody (solo singing of an actor in a tragedy). Monodia was introduced into the theatrical use by Sophocles, but the widespread use of this technique is associated with the name of Euripides. The clash of opposite positions of characters in the so-called. agonakh (verbal competitions of characters) Euripides exacerbated through the use of the technique of stichomythia, i.e. exchange of poems of the participants in the dialogue.

Medea. The image of a suffering person is the most characteristic feature of Euripides' work. In the man himself there are forces that can plunge him into the abyss of suffering. Such a person is, in particular, Medea, the heroine of the tragedy of the same name, staged in 431. The sorceress Medea, the daughter of the Colchis king, having fallen in love with Jason, who arrived in Colchis, provided him with once invaluable help, teaching him to overcome all obstacles and get the golden fleece. As a sacrifice to Jason, she brought her homeland, maiden honor, good name; the harder Medea is now experiencing Jason's desire to leave her with her two sons after several years of a happy family life and marry the daughter of the Corinthian king, who also tells Medea and the children to get out of his country. The offended and abandoned woman plots a terrible plan: not only to destroy her rival, but also to kill her own children; so she can fully take revenge on Jason. The first half of this plan is carried out without much difficulty: supposedly resigned to her position, Medea sends Jason's bride an expensive outfit saturated with poison through her children. The gift is favorably accepted, and now Medea faces the most difficult test - she must kill the children. The thirst for revenge struggles in her with maternal feelings, and she changes her mind four times until a messenger appears with a terrible message: the princess and her father died in terrible agony from poison, and a crowd of angry Corinthians hurries to Medea's house to deal with her and her children . Now, when the boys are threatened with imminent death, Medea finally decides on a terrible atrocity. Before Jason returning in anger and despair, Medea appears on a magical chariot hovering in the air; on the lap of the mother are the corpses of the children she killed. The atmosphere of magic that surrounds the finale of the tragedy and, to some extent, the appearance of Medea herself, cannot hide the deeply human content of her image. Unlike the heroes of Sophocles, who never deviate from the once chosen path, Medea is shown in multiple transitions from furious anger to prayers, from indignation to imaginary humility, in the struggle of conflicting feelings and thoughts. The deepest tragedy in the image of Medea is also given by sad reflections on the share of a woman, whose position in the Athenian family was really unenviable: being under the vigilant supervision of first her parents, and then her husband, she was doomed to remain a recluse in the female half of the house all her life. In addition, when marrying, no one asked the girl about her feelings: marriages were concluded by parents who were striving for a deal that was beneficial for both parties. Medea sees the profound injustice of this state of affairs, which places a woman at the mercy of a stranger, an unfamiliar person, often not inclined to burden himself too much with marriage ties.

Yes, among those who breathe and who think, We, women, are not more unhappy. For husbands We pay, and not cheap. And if you buy it, So he is your master, not a slave ... After all, a husband, when the hearth is disgusting to him, On the side of the heart amuses with love, They have friends and peers, and we have to look into the eyes of the hateful. The everyday atmosphere of Athens contemporary to Euripides also affected the image of Jason, far from any kind of idealization. A selfish careerist, a student of the sophists, who knows how to turn any argument in his favor, he either justifies his perfidy by referring to the well-being of his children, for whom his marriage should provide civil rights in Corinth, or he explains the help received once from Medea by the omnipotence of Cyprida. The unusual interpretation of the mythological legend, the internally contradictory image of Medea was evaluated by Euripides' contemporaries in a completely different way than by subsequent generations of spectators and readers. The ancient aesthetics of the classical period admitted that in the struggle for the marital bed, an offended woman has the right to take the most extreme measures against her husband and her rival who cheated on her. But revenge, the victims of which are their own children, did not fit into the aesthetic norms that demanded inner integrity from the tragic hero. Therefore, the illustrious "Medea" was only in third place at the first production, that is, in essence, it failed.

17. Antique geocultural space. Phases of development of ancient civilization Cattle breeding, agriculture, metal mining, handicrafts, trade developed intensively. The patriarchal tribal organization of society disintegrated. The wealth inequality of families grew. The tribal nobility, which increased wealth through the widespread use of slave labor, waged a struggle for power. Public life proceeded rapidly - in social conflicts, wars, unrest, political upheavals. Antique culture throughout its existence remained in the arms of mythology. However, the dynamics of social life, the complication of social relations, the growth of knowledge undermined the archaic forms of mythological thinking. Having learned from the Phoenicians the art of alphabetic writing and improved it by introducing letters denoting vowel sounds, the Greeks were able to record and accumulate historical, geographical, astronomical information, collect observations related to natural phenomena, technical inventions, mores and customs of people. The need to maintain public order in the state demanded the replacement of unwritten tribal norms of behavior enshrined in myths with logically clear and ordered codes of laws. Public political life stimulated the development of oratory, the ability to convince people, contributing to the growth of a culture of thinking and speech. The improvement of production and handicraft work, urban construction, and military art went beyond the framework of ritual and ceremonial samples consecrated by myth. Signs of civilization: * division of physical labor and mental; *writing; * the emergence of cities as centers of cultural and economic life. Features of civilization: -the presence of a center with the concentration of all spheres of life and their weakening on the periphery (when urban residents call "village" residents of small towns); -ethnic core (people) - in Ancient Rome - Romans, in Ancient Greece - Hellenes (Greeks); -formed ideological system (religion); - a tendency to expand (geographically, culturally); cities; -single information field with language and writing; -formation of external trade relations and zones of influence; -stages of development (growth - peak of prosperity - decline, death or transformation). Features of ancient civilization: 1) Agricultural basis. Mediterranean triad - cultivation without artificial irrigation of cereals, grapes and olives. 2) Private property relations, the dominance of private commodity production, oriented mainly to the market, manifested itself. 3) "polis" - "city-state", covering the city itself and the territory adjacent to it. Polises were the first republics in the history of all mankind. The ancient form of land ownership dominated in the polis community, it was used by those who were members of the civil community. Under the polis system, hoarding was condemned. In most policies, the supreme body of power was the people's assembly. He had the right to make a final decision on the most important polis issues. The polis was an almost complete coincidence of political structure, military organization and civil society. 4) In the field of development of material culture, the emergence of new technology and material values ​​was noted, handicrafts developed, sea harbors were built and new cities arose, and sea transport was being built. Periodization of ancient culture: 1) The Homeric era (XI-IX centuries BC) The main form of social control is the "culture of shame" - a direct condemning reaction of the people to the deviation of the hero's behavior from the norm. The gods are regarded as part of nature, a person, worshiping the gods, can and should build relationships with them rationally. The Homeric era demonstrates competitiveness (agon) as a norm of cultural creation and lays the agonal foundation of all European culture 2) Archaic era (VIII-VI centuries BC) everyone. A society is being formed in which every full-fledged citizen - the owner and politician, expressing private interests through the maintenance of public ones, peaceful virtues come to the fore. The gods protect and support a new social and natural order (cosmos), in which relations are regulated by the principles of cosmic compensation and measure and are subject to rational comprehension in various natural-philosophical systems. 3) The era of the classics (5th century BC) - the rise of the Greek genius in all areas of culture - art, literature, philosophy and science. At the initiative of Pericles in the center of Athens, the Parthenon was erected on the acropolis - the famous temple in honor of the virgin Athena. Tragedies, comedies and satyr dramas were staged in the Athenian theater. The victory of the Greeks over the Persians, the realization of the advantages of law over arbitrariness and despotism contributed to the formation of the idea of ​​a person as an independent (autarkic) person. The law takes on the character of a rational legal idea to be discussed. In the era of Pericles, social life serves the self-development of man. At the same time, the problems of human individualism begin to be realized, and the problem of the unconscious opens up before the Greeks. 4) The era of Hellenism (4th century BC) samples of Greek culture spread throughout the world as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. But at the same time, ancient policies lost their former independence. The cultural baton was taken over by Ancient Rome. The main cultural achievements of Rome date back to the era of the empire, when the cult of practicality, the state, and law dominated. The main virtues were politics, war, government.