This article analyses the role of the prophet Teiresias in the Bacchae of Euripides in the particular context of sophistic influence. It views the originality of the prophet’s depiction as reflective of Euripides’ creative self-consciousness within an agonistic genre that relied on the malleability of ancient myth, particularly towards the end of tragedy’s “golden era”. Our particular aim is to present the prophet independently of the Sophoсlean background against which Teiresias is often viewed, and as a more complex figure than a (not especially satisfactory) radicalization of his earlier incarnations. The prophet in Bacchae is a liminal figure poised between tragedy and comedy, man and god, male and female, tradition and innovation. As such he parallels many of the “doublings” characteristic of Dionysus himself. The analysis re-examines the extent and nature of the comedy in the early Teiresias–Cadmus–Pentheus scene (170–369) in the context of the most recent scholarship. It then offers a close examination of the so-called sophistic speech by the prophet (266–327) within the framework of contemporary attitudes to sophism and how this has unfairly influenced scholarly perception of Teiresias’s authority as a dramatic character. The argument aims to establish Teiresias’s incarnation as both fifth-century intellectual and representative of traditional values. He thus reflects the tension between old and new in the integration of Dionysiac religion in mythical Thebes
Статья посвящена русскому филологу-классику, педагогу и переводчику немецкого происхождения Карлу Фридриху (Карлу Викторовичу) Гроссгейнриху и его трудам по переложению поэм Гесиода «Теогония» и «Труды и дни» для учащихся. Приводятся краткие сведения о методике преподавания Гроссгейнрихом иностранных языков и об открытом им методе использования адаптированных текстов для чтения древнегреческой эпической поэзии. Подробно анализируется греческий текст поэм Гесиода в автографах Гроссгейнриха по рукописям Российской государственной библиотеки: РГБ. Ф. 201. No 30 и 31. Устанавливается, что рукописи содержат адаптированный греческий текст, предназначенный для учащихся. Раскрываются способы редактирования текста, с помощью которых формы гомеровского диалекта заменяются на аттические. Устанавливается источник латинского перевода поэм Гесиода в автографах Гроссгейнриха. Проводится сравнение адаптированного греческого текста с изданиями поэм Гесиода, анализируются разночтения. Приводятся сведения о занесении А. С. Норовым рукописей Гроссгейнриха в неизданную часть каталога его библиотеки. Устанавливается значение рукописей Гроссгейнриха как дара министру народного просвещения А. С. Норову в свете полемики о необходимости классического образования в России в XIX в. В Приложениях приводятся: (1) отрывок из «Теогонии» по рукописи РГБ. Ф. 201. No 30, (2) примеры редакторских замен Гроссгейнриха в тексте поэм Гесиода, (3) перевод оды Горация, переделанной Гроссгейнрихом для посвящения А. С. Норову, и (4) сопроводи - тельное письмо К. Ф. Гроссгейнриха к А. С. Норову на французском языке от 10 апреля 1857 г. с переводом на русский язык
Hannah Arendt, one of the most significant political and philosophical intellectuals of the 20th century, frequently brought up the issue of power. In The Human Condition, to distinguish power from force, strength, and, particularly, violence, she pointed out that the word ‘power’ had been derived from the Aristotelian conception of δύναμις. Since Arendt had written about power as the capacity to act together in the political realm, her understanding of the term δύναμις was credited to Aristotle. In order to make the distinction between power and its extremity, that is, violence, in Arendt’s theory more comprehendible, it is crucial to examine the Aristotelian conception of the term δύναμις and its original definitions, which are mostly found in Metaphysics. This paper aims to provide a philosophical analysis of δύναμις in Aristotle to clarify Arendt’s notion of power as well as her theory of action. In the first part of the article, the author discusses the word δύναμις which had a variety of meanings in antiquity including power, potentiality, potency, capacity, possibility, and force. Unlike common meanings, Aristotle used the word δύναμις in its relation to the term ἐνέργεια, which were usually translated as ‘potentiality’ and ‘actuality’. Aristotle defined δύναμις as the principle of change, that is, the power or capacity to act and be affected, which reveals itself when it achieves its fulfilment, or ἐνέργεια. In the second part, the author demonstrates that Arendt’s concept of power is based on the Aristotelian δύναμις as the power to act together, which cannot be stored up and exists only in its actualization. The author concludes by saying that power in the Aristotelian sense cannot be substituted for violence but instead manifests itself in the ability to be a political human being
В статье впервые публикуется и комментируется греческое стихотворение русского поэта-символиста Вячеслава Ивановича Иванова, написанное 2 сентября 1893 г. в Риме. Авторская подпись под стихотворением содержит указание на жанр плача («трена»): сочетание ямбического триметра с авторским заголовком «трен» можно найти у Григория Назианзина среди Carmina de se ipso. Несмотря на греческий метр и лексику, заимствованную частично из эпической поэзии, тематически Иванов ориентируется главным образом на русскую романтическую традицию, избирая ключевой темой тоску по «милому северу», который противопоставлен югу, олицетворяющему земной рай. Другие романтические мотивы — изгнанничество и зависть к свободным птицам. Отсылки к античной мифологии выражены в образах сада Гесперид и страны гипербореев: если сад Гесперид, в поэзии Иванова концептуально связанный не с западом, а с югом, — это идиллическое пространство, метафорически обозначающее Италию, то Гиперборея традиционно ассоциирована с Россией. Белокрылые птицы, стремящиеся в гиперборейский дом, которым завидует лирический герой, — очевидно, лебеди, и таким образом в стихотворении имплицитно возникает метапоэтическая тема, развиваемая Ивановым в контексте гиперборейского мифа в более поздних стихотворениях. И жанр, и тема изгнанничества указывают также на влияние овидиевских «Tristia»: годом ранее Иванов пишет элегическим дистихом послание к А. М. Дмитриевскому «Laeta», в котором признает Рим своим новым домом, а вместо тоски по родине здесь присутствует другой традиционный мотив — тоска по другу
This paper presents a new hypothesis concerning the prologues of Seneca’s Hercules Furens, Agamemnon, and Thyestes. It provides an interpretive alternative to the controversies associated with the current reading tradition, which places superhuman and protatic characters speaking in the opening acts of these plays on the same level of fictional reality as other heroes, or subordinates them to figurative construction. According to the proposed hypothesis, the specific nature of these three scenes may be the result of applying the convention known, with little variation, from several other dramas in which the ghosts disturb the sleeping. The argumentation emphasises the paradigmatic nature of these opening scenes, which end with a formula setting them at the close of the night. It also points to the fact that in the light of the new assumptions, these prologues — redundant in their expository and anticipatory function — play an important role in structuring the dramatic action. Moreover, in the context of the events that follow them, their content can be explained in terms of the dream theory known from the rationalising philosophical discourses of antiquity. Finally, proposed reading of these scenes is based on the assumption of continuity between the discursive and poetic activity of the author
According to the author of the article, Mithridates VI Eupator’s letter to the Parthian monarch Arsaces in Sallust’s Historiae does not reproduce the genuine document from the personal archives of the Pontic king as some researchers believe. The opinion that Sallust criticized Roman politics under Mithridates’mask is rejected; many scholars consider this letter to be a condemnation of deep moral decline of the Roman society. On the contrary, the Roman writer attributes to the Pontic king the weak and vulnerable arguments based on the false facts (at least from the Roman point of view) to discredit his (and not only his) criticism of Roman foreign policy. He calls the Romans “strangers without a homeland, without parents”, but it is naturally that Romans themselves did not think in this way. The author objects to E. Adler, who believes that most of Sallust’s readers did not know history well enough to mark the distortions of facts in Mithridates’ letter. There is every reason to believe that Sallust was counting on an educated public that would be able to appreciate these distortions and their meaning. The author thinks that Mithridates’ argumentation looks like a parody of the anti-Roman propaganda and it might have been perceived as such by Sallust’s readers.
The purpose of the following paper is to identify what kind of mythical creature Aeschylus’ γρυπαίετος (‘griffin–eagle’) that caused such a scandal for ‘Euripides’ in Aristophanes’ Frogs 928–930 (= Aesch. fr. inc. fab. 422 R.) was. The term has usually been interpreted in three ways: (a) as a poetic form of ‘eagle’; (b) as a poetic form of ‘griffin’; (c) as ‘eagle of the griffin species’. The testimony of Aristophanes’ Frogs and vase-painting suggests that it may have been an idiosyncratic, archaic type of griffin, called by modern specialists ‘griffin-bird’ and characterised by having two legs, not four, and the body of a bird, not a lion. This fantastic creature appeared quite frequently on Archaic black-figure vases in Athens, but had completely disappeared by the end of the 6 th century BC. As a result, its appearance would be unknown to Aristophanes’ public, making the term γρυπαίετος impossible to make out (Ra. 930). Thus, the following paper suggests that Aeschylus’ γρυπαίετος (‘griffin-eagle’) is a fabulous composite beast made up of griffin and eagle parts, as its name suggests: a griffin head (with an open hooked beak, long pointed ears, a protuberance or horn over the eyes, and a curl or plume falling down one side of the neck) crowning an eagle body (two-legged, feathered, with wings and talons).
Heraclides of Pontus (active ca 360–310 BC) is one of the sources used in Ps.-Plutarch’s De musica. In his turn, the Pontic philosopher is known to have quoted a list of ancient poets and musicians and their achievements from an epigraphical document preserved in Sicyon. Incising such a work in stone would be natural as a dedication to some divinity in a sanctuary, where it would promote the fame of the historian who composed it. The system of dating used in the Sicyonian chronicle was based on the records of Hera’s priestesses held in Argos. As far as we know, this approach was first applied by Hellanicus of Mytilene (ca 480–395 BC). If the unknown author of the chronicle borrowed his method of dating from Hellanicus, this implies that the document was created in the late fifth or early fourth century BC. Nevertheless, for Heraclides this inscription was, on the one hand, anonymous, and on the other, authoritative. Both these peculiarities lead us to assume that he believed the Sicyonian chronicle to be an archaic document. Perhaps the author forged it to pass for an ancient inscription, in order to quote from, and thus give weight to his arguments in discussions on music.
Предлагаемая работа представляет собой публикацию латинской переписки двух видных филологов-классиков конца XIX — начала XX в. Ф. Е. Корша и Г. Э. Зенгера, представляющей интерес как для истории классического образования в России, так и для истории филологических исследований. Латинская переписка, будучи не столь объемной частью всей академической корреспонденции двух авторов, по большей части хранится в Архиве Российской академии наук (Москва), отдельные письма также представлены в РГБ и РНБ. Публикация включает письма личного характера, а также письма с обсуждением текстологических проблем различных произведений античной литературы. Обсуждаются общие вопросы филологической науки и античной культуры, равно как и некоторые моменты, связанные с профессиональной деятельностью. Особое место занимают письма, содержащие разбор конъектур к стихотворному ответу императора Адриана поэту Флору, а также к «Энеиде» Вергилия и произведениям Горация. Отдельным достоинством переписки являются стихи: оба ученых стоят в ряду лучших представителей отечественной латинской поэзии. Для латиноязычных писем выбиралась бумага меньшего — карточного — размера. Все материалы публикуются впервые. К каждому письму предлагаются небольшие подстрочные комментарии, позволяющие получить более полное представление как об особенностях переписки, так и о тех персоналиях и проблемах, которые в них упоминаются
Установление источников «Бородина» — задача со многими неизвестными, едва ли посильная даже современной филологии. Тем не менее о нескольких слагаемых шедевра мы знаем: школьный этюд «Le champ de Borodino» 1829 г. и сочиненное годом или двумя позднее «Поле Бородина» в какой-то степени позволяют определить, между какими альтернативами Лермонтов выбирал. Например, франкоязычный прозаический текст рисует ночь перед боем в обоих станах, тогда как автор ювенильных стихов сосредоточен на русском. Историчность очевидным образом конфликтует с лиризмом. Преодолеть конфликт, то есть выступить историком битвы, оставаясь в костюме ее героя, получится лучше, если изображать действия, предполагаемые в данной сюжетной ситуации. Кроме мемуаров, среди которых явные пересечения с текстами Лермонтова обнаруживают записки Ф. Н. Глинки и Н. Н. Любенкова, поэт обращается к литературным моделям. В числе последних — «Илиада» в переводе Гнедича, который вышел в 1829 г. и живо обсуждался литераторами и учеными, в частности учителем Лермонтова А. Ф. Мерзляковым. Дополняя замеченную исследователями параллель с Ил. 11, 523, можем добавить к перечню искомых источников контрастное описание троянского и ахейского лагерей, увиденных глазами Агамемнона (10, 11–16), тем более что сочинитель «Le champ de Borodino» описывает поведение французов почти в тех же выражениях, что и Гомер — троянцев
Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, in his Saturnalia, draws upon the Platonic archetype in making overt allusions to the Symposium and yet follows Athenaeus, whose work he seems to know thoroughly, albeit does not acknowledge its influence openly. Besides the Greek paradigms, Macrobius used Roman models, i. e., Cicero’s dialogues, to infuse his literary banquet with Roman flavour. The author of Saturnalia was severely criticised, especially by representatives of the Quellenforschung movement in the second half of the 19 th century, for allegedly being a poor plagiarist. His compilatory method is described in this article, and two other plausible Macrobius’ sources are proposed: Juvenal’s Satires and Seneca the Younger’s On Tranquility of the Mind. In Roman History Ammianus Marcellinus depicted the people inhabiting Rome of his times as degenerate parasites hostile to any form of intellectual activity who fritter away time on vulgar entertainment and obsessively overfeed themselves. Many scenes of so-called sober merriment shared by the prominent Roman personages of the IV c. AD were, in all probability, introduced to Saturnalia to counterbalance Ammianus Marcellinus’ harsh criticism of Roman morals. Macrobius’s familiarity with both Juvenal and Seneca manifests itself in the list of similes, yet, as the author of the present article proposes, there are passages in the oeuvre of both writers that may have instilled the vision of frugality typical of Romans in Macrobius’s mind, so that he may have used images borrowed from both earlier writers to Saturnalia
This paper offers an analysis of similar and parallel developing projects of creating a true philosophy by the disciples and followers of Origen and Plotinus. Two texts permeated by the eulogy of the scholarch are analysed: Gregory the Wonderworker’s The Address of Thanksgiving to Origen and the Life of Plotinus by Porphyry. Gregory was a student of Origen, while Porphyry attended his school long enough to become familiar with the doctrine, teaching methods and personality of the scholarch. The author establishes the structural, thematic and lexical similarity of both texts. The text by Gregory the Wonderworker, chronologically earlier, was a pushing away point for Porphyry in creating an image of the ideal scholarch in the person of Plotinus. This is confirmed by the structural and lexical contrast in the portrayal of Plotinus in Vita Plotini and Origen in the passage preserved by Proclus (Procl. In Tim. I.63. 29–33). In particular, the negative image of Origen in Vita Plotini 13. 10–17 is echoed by the figure of Thaumasius, dissatisfied with the protracted dispute between Plotinus and Porphyry, which rarely draws the scholars’ attention. Nowhere else mentioned, Thaumasius appears as a marginal figure: either he himself was interested in general statements and wanted to hear Plotinus speaking in the manner of a set treatise (trans. Armstrong), or he wanted Plotinus to “faire une conférence suivie et propre à être écrite” (trans. Bréhier). The author hypothesises that it is not a proper name but a nickname. The author suggests that Thaumasius is not an accidental participant in a specific episode of the Neoplatonists’ school life but the philosophical rival of the Neoplatonists, theologian Origen, ironically presented in an unattractive manner. Thus, the deliberately constructed episode with Plotinus and Thaumasius is a polemical jab at Origen’s followers, who put forward a programme of philosophical renovation alternative to the Platonic, and the very depiction of Plotinus as a ‘divine man’ (θεῖος ἀνήρ) responds to the image of Origen painted by his followers. The supposed allusions in Vita Plotini 13. 5–17 testify to the openness of the Roman Neoplatonic school to the already-formed Christian version of philosophy. For this reason, Porphyry chose to portray a situation in which Plotinus showed attention and patience in interpreting difficult philosophical questions for three days. In contrast, Origen, in a similar situation, showed impatience and irritability