Features of the construction of an ancient tragedy, plot composition. Man and fate in ancient tragedy. Test topics

The second great tragic poet of Athens in the 5th century. - Sophocles (born around 496, died in 406).

The middle place that Sophocles occupied in the three-star Attic tragedians is marked by an ancient story comparing the three poets by correlating their biographies with the Battle of Salamis (480): forty-five-year-old Aeschylus took personal part in the decisive battle with the Persians, which established the naval power of Athens, Sophocles celebrated this victory in the boys' choir, and Euripides was born this year. The age ratio reflects the ratio of eras. If Aeschylus is the poet of the birth of Athenian democracy, then Euripides is the poet of its crisis, and Sophocles continued to be the poet of the heyday of Athens, the “age of Pericles.”

Sophocles' birthplace was Colon, a suburb of Athens. By origin he belonged to wealthy circles. His works enjoyed exceptional success: he received first prize in competitions 24 times and never came in last place. Sophocles completed the work begun by Aeschylus of transforming tragedy from a lyrical cantata into a drama. The center of gravity of the tragedy finally shifted to the depiction of people, their decisions, actions, and struggles. For the most part, Sophocles' heroes act completely independently and determine their own behavior in relation to other people. Sophocles rarely brings the gods onto the stage; the “hereditary curse” no longer plays the role that was attributed to it by Aeschylus.

The problems that concern Sophocles are related to the fate of the individual, and not to the fate of the race. rejection of the principle of a plot-related trilogy that dominated Aeschylus. Speaking with three tragedies, he makes each of them an independent artistic whole, containing all its problems.

Not a single work of ancient drama left such significant traces in the history of European drama as Oedipus the King. Sophocles emphasizes not so much the inevitability of fate as the variability of happiness and the inadequacy of human wisdom. It is interesting that Sophocles pays great attention female images. For him, a woman is, on a par with a man, a representative of noble humanity.

Sophocles' tragedies are distinguished by their clarity of dramatic composition. They usually begin with expository scenes in which the starting position is explained and a plan is developed; .behavior of the heroes. In the process of executing this plan, encountering various obstacles, dramatic action it either increases or slows down until it reaches turning point, followed by, after a slight slowdown, a catastrophe occurs, quickly leading to the final denouement. In the natural course of events, strictly motivated and arising from the character characters, Sophocles sees the hidden action of the divine forces that govern the world. Horus plays only an auxiliary role in Sophocles. His songs are like lyrical accompaniment to the action of the drama, in which he himself no longer takes a significant part.

Sophocles were convinced that the world is controlled by intelligent divine forces, against the background of which tragic suffering takes on moral meaning. Deities took an obvious or hidden part in the course of the drama.

In the tragedy “Oedipus the King” a truly human drama unfolds, full of psychological and socio-political conflicts. Recognizing divine predestination, against which man is powerless, Sophocles shows a man striving to avoid what was destined. The most terrible and unexpected turn occurs in the fate of his hero: a man who enjoyed universal respect, famous for his wisdom and exploits, turns out to be a terrible criminal, a source of misfortune for his city and people. It is important here to note the primary role of the motive of moral responsibility, which pushes the theme into the background rock, borrowed by the poet from an ancient myth. Sophocles emphasizes that Oedipus is not a victim, passively waiting and accepting the blows of fate. It is energetic and active person who fights in the name of reason and justice. He emerges victorious in this struggle, assigning punishment to himself, carrying out the punishment himself and thereby overcoming his suffering. The meaning is that there are no negative characters - a person does not make mistakes consciously. This tragedy is united and closed in itself. This is an analytical drama, because... the entire action is based on the analysis of events related to the hero’s past and directly related to his present and future.

The tragedy opens with a solemn procession. Theban youths and elders pray to Oedipus, glorified by his victory over the Sphinx, to save the city a second time, to save it from the raging pestilence. The wise king, it turns out, had already sent his brother-in-law Creon to Delphi with a question to the oracle. The gods say that the killer of the former king lives in this city. Oedipus energetically takes up the search for the unknown murderer and betrays him to a solemn curse. Oedipus (the current king) summons the blind old soothsayer Tiressius. However, Tiressius does not want to reveal the secret to Oedipus, he insists, and T. says “you are the murderer.” Oedipus does not believe it and blames Creon (his wife’s brother) for the death of Laius and sending him the old man. Creon calls his sister Jocasta (Oedipus’s wife) for help. In order to calm Oedipus, she talks about the unfulfilled oracle given to Laius, in her opinion, but it is this story that instills anxiety in Oedipus. (long ago Lai went to the oracle, and he predicted that the son born to him would kill him and marry his mother; Lai ordered his slave to take the child to the mountains and kill him). Oedipus is worried and asks about Laius. But he doesn’t realize that it was he who killed Laius, then a messenger comes from Corinth and talks about the death of Oedipus’s dad, Polybus. He says that they want to put Oedipus on the throne. Oedipus triumphs: the prophecy of parricide did not come true. Oedipus is afraid of the story that the oracle once predicted for him, that he would marry his mother. But the messenger tells him that he is not the son of Polybus and tells him where he found him. Jocasta, for whom everything has become clear, leaves the stage with a sorrowful exclamation. Oedipus begins to look for the second shepherd who gave him as an infant to this messenger. The shepherd (the second) comes and does not want to tell the truth, but E and the messenger forces him. The witness to the murder of Laius turns out to be the same shepherd who once gave the baby Oedipus to the Corinthian. The shepherd confesses that the baby is the son of Laius, Oedipus curses himself.

In an excode full of deep sympathy for the former savior of Thebes, the chorus sums up the fate of Oedipus, reflecting on the fragility of human happiness and the judgment of all-seeing time.

In the final part of the tragedy, after the messenger reports the suicide of Jocasta and the self-blinding of Oedipus (he removes the brooch from Jocasta’s shoulder and gouges out his eyes. Oedipus HIMSELF executes himself for an unwittingly committed offense, Oedipus appears again, curses his ill-fated life, demands exile for himself, says goodbye to his daughters. However, Creon, into whose hands power passes, detains Oedipus, awaiting the instructions of the oracle. Further fate Oedipa remains unclear to the viewer.

Meaning– there are no negative characters – a person makes mistakes not consciously. This tragedy is united and closed in itself. Sophocles emphasizes not so much the inevitability of fate as the variability of happiness and the inadequacy of human wisdom

However, never and nowhere in world drama has the story of a man haunted by misfortune been depicted so heartfeltly as in Oedipus the King. The exact time when this tragedy was staged is unknown. It dates approximately from 428-425. Already ancient critics, starting with Aristotle, considered “Oedipus the King” to be the pinnacle of Sophocles’ tragic mastery. The entire action of the tragedy is centered around the main character, Oedipus; he defines every scene, being its center. But in tragedy there are no episodic characters; every character in this drama has its own clear place. For example, the slave of Laius, who once threw out the baby on his orders, subsequently accompanies Laius on his last fatal trip, and the shepherd, who once took pity on the child and took him with him to Corinth, now arrives in Thebes as an ambassador from the Corinthians to ask Oedipus to reign as king. Corinth.

In the tragedy "Oedipus the King" Sophocles makes an important discovery that will allow him to subsequently deepen the heroic image. It shows that a person draws strength from himself that helps him live, fight and win. In the tragedies "Electra" and "Philoctetes" the gods recede into the background, as if giving up first place to man. "Electra" is close in plot to "Choephora" by Aeschylus. But Sophocles created a vitally truthful image of a courageous and honest girl who, without sparing herself, fights with her criminal mother and her despicable lover - suffers, hopes and wins. Even in comparison with Antigone, Sophocles expands and deepens the world of Electra's feelings.

The tragedy of the classical era almost always borrowed plots from mythology, which did not at all interfere with its relevance and close connections with the pressing problems of our time. Remaining the “arsenal and soil” of the tragedy, mythology was subjected to special processing in it, shifting the center of gravity from the plot of the myth to its interpretation, depending on the demands of reality.

To the features aesthetics Ancient tragedy should also include a chronologically consistent attitude towards myth and its criticism. Of its features poetics it is necessary to name: a minimum of actors, a chorus, a luminary, messengers, an external structure (prologue, skit, episody, stasim, exodus).

Ancient tragedy has many artistic features

- initial orientation towards theater production,
- the basis of the plot is myth (for example, the tragedy of Aeschylus “Oedipus”),
- the main character comes into conflict with the Gods and fate,
- the presence of heroes-Gods (for example, Artemis and Aphrodite in Euripides’ tragedy “Hippolytus”),
- the presence of a Choir (as a commentator and narrator),
- the idea of the omnipotence of the Gods and fate, the futility of fighting fate,
- the purpose of the tragedy is to cause shock and empathy in the viewer and, as a result, catharsis - purification through the resolution of conflict and coming to harmony.

Aristotle in “Poetics” gives the following definition of tragedy: “So, tragedy is the imitation of an action that is important and complete, having a certain volume, [imitation] with the help of speech, in each of its parts differently decorated; through action, and not story, accomplished through compassion and fear the purification of such affects." Imitation of action... accomplishing purification through compassion and fear..." - this is the essence of the tragedy: a kind of "shock therapy." Plato in his "Laws" writes about what is hidden in human soul and the orgy-chaotic principle inherent in it from birth, which manifests itself externally as destructive, therefore, an external control influence is necessary so that this principle, easily and joyfully freed, enters into the harmony of the world order. A tragedian who controls the play life of the viewer can do this; a politician should do this. In general, this is the way of thinking new game and its management, which we discussed above.

About the emergence of tragedy as a form into which the Dionysian principle is poured out, Aristotle writes the following ("Poetics", 4): "Having arisen from the very beginning through improvisation, both it and comedy (the first - from the founders of the dithyramb, and the second - from the founders of phallic songs , still used today in many cities) grew little by little through the gradual development of what constitutes their peculiarity.

As for the number of actors, Aeschylus was the first to introduce two instead of one; He also reduced the chorus parts and put dialogue in the first place, and Sophocles introduced three actors and scenery. Then, as for the content, the tragedy from insignificant myths and a mocking way of expression - since it arose through changes from a satirical representation - subsequently achieved its glorified greatness; and its size from tetrameter became iambic [trimeter]."

The peculiarity of ancient tragedy as a genre lies, first of all, in the fact that it was functionally, first of all, a service to God, “an imitation of a complete and important action,” i.e. divine. Therefore, all her heroes are not people, but rather masks-symbols, and what they do in the process of performance has a different meaning for the audience than for us, reading these texts two and a half thousand years later. The tragedy, like any myth, was not just a story and a narration, it was reality itself and those who sat in the stands were as much (if not more) participants in the performance than those who animated the masks. Without realizing this, it is impossible to translate Hellenic symbols into the context of twentieth-century culture.

Tragedy has become a new concept in the game, a new myth that we call a classic. Why do I think it's new? After all, the “old” myths are mainly known to us in a later, classical interpretation, so there seems to be insufficient grounds for such a statement. However, many well-known sources speak in favor of the fact that tragedy is a new myth. These are, first of all, indications of the “obsolescence” of gaming reality, once glorified by Homer.

“The Saiyan now proudly wears my flawless shield.

Willy-nilly I had to throw it to me in the bushes.

I myself, however, avoided death. And let it disappear

My shield. I can get a new one just as good."

One of the “Homeric” hymns (“To Hermes.”) is an open mockery of the gods:

"A cunning climber, a bull thief, a dream counselor, a robber,

There is a spy at the door, a night spy, who will soon

Many glorious deeds were to be revealed among the gods.

In the morning, just before light, he was born, by noon he was playing the lyre,

By evening I stole cows from the arrow thrower Apollo."

The creative heritage of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides . They are considered the greatest poet-playwrights of mankind, whose tragedies are staged on the world stage today.

"Father of Tragedy" Aeschylus (525-456 BC) created more than 90 works, but time has preserved only seven. His other plays are known in minor fragments or only by title. Aeschylus's worldview is determined by the difficult era of the Greco-Persian wars, the heroic tension of the creative forces of the people in the struggle for freedom and the creation of a democratic Athenian state. Aeschylus believed in divine wisdom and the supreme justice of the gods, firmly adhered to the religious and mythological foundations of traditional polis morality, and was distrustful of political and philosophical innovations. His ideal remained a democratic slave-owning republic.

In his tragedies, Aeschylus posed and solved the fundamental problems of the era: the fate of the clan in the context of the collapse of the clan system; development of historical forms of family and marriage; historical destinies of the state and humanity. Based on the idea of man’s complete dependence on the will of the gods, Aeschylus at the same time knew how to fill the conflicts of his tragedies with concrete historical life content. Aeschylus himself modestly claimed that his works were “crumbs from Homer’s feast,” but in fact he took an important step in artistic development humanity - created the genre of monumental world-historical tragedy, in which the importance of the issues and the height ideological content combined with the solemn majesty of the form. Of the surviving tragedies of Aeschylus, the most interesting are The Persians, Prometheus Bound and the Oresteia trilogy. His work paved the way for the emergence of the classical tragedy of the future and had a powerful impact on European drama, poetry and prose.

Sophocles (496-406 BC), like Aeschylus, took the plots of his tragedies from mythology, but endowed the ancient heroes with the qualities and aspirations of his contemporaries. Based on the conviction of the enormous educational role of the tetra, wanting to teach the audience examples of true nobility and humanity, Sophocles, according to Aristotle, openly stated that “he himself portrays people as they should be.” Therefore, with amazing skill, he created a gallery of living characters - ideal, normative, artistically perfect, sculpturally integral and clear. Singing the greatness, nobility and reason of man, believing in the final triumph of justice, Sophocles still believed that man’s capabilities are limited by the power of fate, which no one can predict and prevent, that life and the very will of people are subject to the will of the gods, that “nothing is accomplished without Zeus" ("Ajax"). The will of the gods manifests itself in constant variability human life, in the game of chance, either elevating a person to the heights of well-being and happiness, or throwing him into the abyss of misfortune ("Antigone").

Sophocles completed the reform of classical Greek tragedy begun by Aeschylus. Following the traditional method of developing a mythological plot in a coherent trilogy, Sophocles managed to give each part completeness and independence, significantly weakened the role of the chorus in the tragedy, introduced a third actor and achieved noticeable individualization of the characters. Each of his characters is endowed with contradictory character traits and complex emotional experiences. Among the most famous and perfect works of Sophocles are “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone”, written on the material of the popular Theban cycle myths. His creations had a significant influence on European literature of modern times, especially noticeable in the 18th - early XIX centuries Goethe and Schiller admired the composition of Sophocles' tragedies.

Euripides(480-406 BC), who completed the development of classical ancient Greek tragedy, worked during the period of crisis and decline of Athenian democracy. Born on the island of Salamis, he received an excellent education for those times at the schools of the famous philosophers Anaxagoras and Protagoras. Unlike Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is a humanist and democrat, ignored participation in public life, preferring privacy. He was forced to spend the end of his life in Macedonia and died there at the court of King Archelaus.

Euripides wrote over 90 tragedies, of which 17 have survived. During his lifetime he did not enjoy such significant success (four victories at the Great Dionysia) as Aeschylus and Sophocles, but in the Hellenistic era he was considered an exemplary playwright.

Euripides was a brave thinker, while myths about the gods for him are the fruit of idle imagination ("Hercules", "Iphigenia in Aulis"). Mythology retains a purely external meaning in the tragedies of Euripides, and his conflicts are almost always determined by the clash of harmful human passions. No wonder the ancients called him “a philosopher on stage” and “the most tragic of poets.” He depicted people “as they are” and wrote naturally and simply. As an artist, Euripides was primarily interested in inner world a person, his emotional experiences, therefore he is the founder of the psychological trend in European literature.

Euripides is a reformer of classical ancient Greek tragedy and actually laid the foundations of the genre of European drama.

Among the most famous works of Euripides are "Medea", "Hippolytus", "Alcestes" and "Iphigenia at Aulis", traditionally based on mythological legends. Paving the way to creation family drama, at the same time, he achieves the high tragic pathos of the heroes’ feelings.

The suffering and death of people who are objectively worthy of a better fate, capable of many glorious deeds for the benefit of humanity, who have gained immortal fame among their contemporaries and descendants, are experienced by us as tragic events. Tragic is a moral, philosophical and aesthetic category that contains not only horror of the irreparable destruction of the ideal, not only the pain of loss, not only admiration for the heroic behavior of a person fearlessly walking towards death, but also active protest human mind against destruction and death, suffering and hopelessness. At the center of the tragic event is the fate of the hero. On the one hand, it is natural and inevitable, on the other hand, it is deeply unfair. This internal inconsistency leads to the fact that tragedy not only depresses a person, but, on the contrary, mobilizes in him the best mental qualities and moral forces: courage, perseverance, personal dignity, height of spirit, readiness for self-sacrifice for a lofty goal. Therefore, the tragic opens up unique and limitless moral and aesthetic possibilities for art, and above all, it shapes the Human in man. This uniqueness of the tragic was first noticed by Aristotle (in his work “Poetics”, speaking about the impact of the tragic on the human soul, he uses the term “catharsis” - the purification of passions, achieved as a result of the collision and struggle of two strong and contradictory feelings - fear of the terrible and inevitable and active compassion for the hero trying to survive in an unequal battle). In literature, tragedy is one of the types of dramatic work - a play with a deep insoluble conflict that has a universal meaning and leads to the death of the hero.

Ancient tragedies were always written in verse. The action on stage was commented on by a choir standing to the side. The tragedy consisted of an alternation of monologues and dialogues of the characters with choir songs, which essentially expressed the reaction of the audience - often sympathy and compassion, sometimes timid murmur (after all, the gods were acting). The choir members wore goatskins. This is where the word “tragedy” comes from: in ancient Greek, “trachos” means “goat”, “ode” means “song”, which literally means “song of the goats” (the last cry of the goats intended as a sacrifice to Dionysus). The ancient theater of the classical period is represented by three classics of world drama, the tragic poets Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Each of them reflected a certain stage in the development of the tragedy genre.

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1. Features of ancient tragedy

2. Works of Aeschylus

References

1. Features of ancient tragedy

Ancient tragedy has many artistic features

Initial orientation towards theater production,

The plot is based on myth (for example, the tragedy of Aeschylus “Oedipus”),

The main character comes into conflict with the Gods and fate,

The presence of heroes-Gods (for example, Artemis and Aphrodite in Euripides’ tragedy “Hippolytus”),

The presence of the Choir (as a commentator and narrator),

The idea of the omnipotence of the Gods and fate, the futility of fighting fate,

The purpose of the tragedy is to cause shock and empathy in the viewer and, as a result, catharsis - purification through the resolution of conflict and coming to harmony.

Aristotle in “Poetics” gives the following definition of tragedy: “So, tragedy is the imitation of an action that is important and complete, having a certain volume, [imitation] with the help of speech, in each of its parts differently decorated; through action, and not story, accomplished through compassion and fear the purification of such affects." Imitation of action... accomplishing purification through compassion and fear..." - this is the essence of the tragedy: a kind of "shock therapy". Plato in his "Laws" writes about the orgy-chaotic principle hidden in the human soul and inherent in it from birth, which manifests itself outwardly as destructive, therefore, an external control influence is necessary so that this beginning, easily and joyfully released, enters into the harmony of the world order. This can be done by a tragedian who controls the play life of the viewer; this should be done by a politician. In general, this is the way of establishing a new game and. management, which we discussed above.

“The Saiyan now proudly wears my flawless shield.

Willy-nilly I had to throw it to me in the bushes.

I myself, however, avoided death. And let it disappear

My shield. I can get a new one just as good."

One of the “Homeric” hymns (“To Hermes.”) is an open mockery of the gods:

"A cunning climber, a bull thief, a dream counselor, a robber,

There is a spy at the door, a night spy, who will soon

Many glorious deeds were to be revealed among the gods.

In the morning, just before light, he was born, by noon he was playing the lyre,

By evening I stole cows from the arrow thrower Apollo."

The creative heritage of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides . They are considered the greatest poet-playwrights of mankind, whose tragedies are staged on the world stage today.

Sophocles (496-406 BC), like Aeschylus, took the plots of his tragedies from mythology, but endowed the ancient heroes with the qualities and aspirations of his contemporaries. Based on the conviction of the enormous educational role of the tetra, wanting to teach the audience examples of true nobility and humanity, Sophocles, according to Aristotle, openly stated that “he himself portrays people as they should be.” Therefore, with amazing skill, he created a gallery of living characters - ideal, normative, artistically perfect, sculpturally integral and clear. Singing the greatness, nobility and reason of man, believing in the final triumph of justice, Sophocles still believed that man’s capabilities are limited by the power of fate, which no one can predict and prevent, that life and the very will of people are subject to the will of the gods, that “nothing is accomplished without Zeus" ("Ajax"). The will of the gods is manifested in the constant variability of human life, in the play of chance, either elevating a person to the heights of well-being and happiness, or throwing him into the abyss of misfortune ("Antigone").

Sophocles completed the reform of classical Greek tragedy begun by Aeschylus. Following the traditional method of developing a mythological plot in a coherent trilogy, Sophocles managed to give each part completeness and independence, significantly weakened the role of the chorus in the tragedy, introduced a third actor and achieved noticeable individualization of the characters. Each of his characters is endowed with contradictory character traits and complex emotional experiences. Among the most famous and perfect works of Sophocles are “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone”, written on the material of the popular Theban cycle myths. His creations had a significant influence on European literature of modern times, especially noticeable in the 18th - early 19th centuries. Goethe and Schiller admired the composition of Sophocles' tragedies.

Euripides(480-406 BC), who completed the development of classical ancient Greek tragedy, worked during the period of crisis and decline of Athenian democracy. Born on the island of Salamis, he received an excellent education for those times at the schools of the famous philosophers Anaxagoras and Protagoras. Unlike Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is a humanist and democrat; he ignored participation in public life, preferring solitude. He was forced to spend the end of his life in Macedonia and died there at the court of King Archelaus.

Euripides was a brave thinker, while myths about the gods for him are the fruit of idle imagination ("Hercules", "Iphigenia in Aulis"). Mythology retains a purely external meaning in the tragedies of Euripides, and his conflicts are almost always determined by the clash of harmful human passions. No wonder the ancients called him “a philosopher on stage” and “the most tragic of poets.” He depicted people “as they are” and wrote naturally and simply. As an artist, Euripides was primarily interested in the inner world of man, his emotional experiences, therefore he is the founder of the psychological trend in European literature.

Euripides is a reformer of classical ancient Greek tragedy and actually laid the foundations of the genre of European drama.

2. Works of Aeschylus

Aeschylus is the champion of an enlightened aristocracy who fights against the savagery and barbarism of old times in defense of individuals united in single state- policy. A moderately democratized aristocratic polis is for Aeschylus a constant subject of respect and protection. In religious and philosophical terms, Aeschylus also argues in the spirit of the cultural upsurge of his time, freeing his Zeus from all vices and shortcomings and interpreting him as the principle of world justice and constantly praising him.

However, Aeschylus' attitude to mythology is quite critical even without Prometheus. Fragment 70 says: “Zeus is the ether, Zeus is the earth, Zeus is the heavens, Zeus is everything and what is above this.” In the “Oresteia”, under the guise of Zeus and Dick, absolute cosmic moralism is preached, which is even higher than individual mythological names. Here is a frank criticism of anthropomorphism. The ardent patriotism of an emancipated aristocrat and an Athenian citizen forced Aeschylus to trace his socio-political and religious-philosophical ideas to the most distant antiquity, finding them there already in a developed form and thereby justifying them with the entire direction of human history.

To characterize the monumental-pathetic style of Aeschylus, not only variations of its two main elements taken separately - monumentality and pathos - are important, but also different forms of their joint functioning in the general style of tragedies. This style, based on the elemental foundations of life, which the religion of Dionysus spoke about, also demonstrates one or another of their design or crystallization in very clear images, which cannot otherwise be called plastic. The main forms of manifestation of Aeschylus’s main monumental-pathetic style did not go beyond the archaic style in general, since everything individual in him, despite the brightness of its design, was always determined not by itself, but by the higher and very harsh laws of life.

Analysis artistic style Aeschylus's tragedies reveal the enormous efforts of the great genius to depict wild violence dark forces hoary antiquity, but not just to depict, but to show their transformation and enlightenment, their new organization and plastic design. This occurs as a result of the development of the life of the emancipated polis. It is the polis that is the transformative and organizing force, thanks to which a person is freed from this primitive savagery. But this requires a strong and young, powerful and heroic policy of rising slavery, which, in turn, requires powerful heroes, endowed with the greatest heroic ability to fight the old and create the new. Only the polis, the ascending polis, explains to us in Aeschylus his new moralistic religion, his new civilized mythology, his new monumental-pathetic style and artistic design. poetics tragedy ancient Aeschylus

Aeschylus walked with his age along the path of ascending slave-owning democracy, which at first reflected the enormous power of the new class and its titanic efforts to create a new type of culture. Archaic mythology, monumental-pathetic style and titanism do not form an external appendage here, but are a single and inseparable whole with the socio-political life of a young rising democracy. The Titanism of Aeschylus is, undoubtedly, an expression of the powerful rise not only of his class, but of his entire great people.

In his tragedies, Aeschylus posed and solved the fundamental problems of the era: the fate of the clan in the context of the collapse of the clan system; development of historical forms of family and marriage; historical destinies of the state and humanity. Based on the idea of man’s complete dependence on the will of the gods, Aeschylus at the same time knew how to fill the conflicts of his tragedies with concrete historical life content. Aeschylus himself modestly claimed that his works were “crumbs from Homer’s feast,” but in fact he took an important step in the artistic development of mankind - he created the genre of monumental world-historical tragedy, in which the importance of the problematic and the height of the ideological content are combined with the solemn majesty of the form . Of the surviving tragedies of Aeschylus, the most interesting are The Persians, Prometheus Bound and the Oresteia trilogy. His work paved the way for the emergence of the classical tragedy of the future and had a powerful impact on European drama, poetry and prose.

References

1. Losev A.F.: Antique literature

2. "Ancient culture. Literature, theater, art, philosophy, science: Dictionary - reference book / Ed. V.N. Yarho. - M.: higher. school, 1995

3. Ancient literature. Edited by prof. A.Ataho-Godi. M.: Education, 1986

4.http://dramateshka.ru/index.php/methods/articles/foreign-theatre/6002-tvorchestvo-ehskhila?start=5#ixzz3Odefkhmq

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Ticket 35. Innovation of Sophocles. The theme of fate in the tragedy "OEDIPUS THE KING"

SOPHOCLES - Greek poet, playwright and public figure; lived and worked in Athens, was friends with Pericles and Phidias. In 443 S. was treasurer of the Athenian Maritime League, in 441-440. - strategist. The years of S.'s maturity date back to the heyday of Athenian slave-owning democracy. At first he sided with the leader of the aristocratic party, Cimon, but, having become close to Pericles, he began to share his views.

S. was attributed to over a hundred dramatic works, however, only seven have been completely preserved: “Electra”, “Oedipus the King”, “Oedipus at Colonus”, “Antigone”, “Philoctetes”, “The Trachinian Women” and “Ajax”; In addition, a large fragment of the drama “The Pathfinders” has survived to this day. The tragedy “Oedipus the King” was and is especially famous. The features of polis ideology were reflected in S.'s work: patriotism, consciousness of public duty, faith in the strength of man. After the death of the playwright, he was honored on a par with Homer and Aeschylus; forty years later, the Athenian orator Lycurgus passed a law for the construction of a bronze statue of Sophocles and for the storage of verified texts of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides in a public place.

Sophocles was an innovator: he did not always follow the classical trilogy form and introduced a third actor onto the stage. Sophocles' skill was manifested both in his ability to organize the dialogue of characters and in the choice storyline. Sophocles is known for his peculiar dramatic irony - the character, according to the author's plan, himself does not realize the true - hidden - meaning of the words he speaks, while the audience understands him perfectly. Because of this skillful “inconsistency”, psychological tension arises - the beginning of catharsis. This effect is especially pronounced in the tragedy "Oedipus the King". Sophocles is admired by Aristotle in the Poetics and says that his characters are very similar to real people, only better than them. According to Aristotle, Sophocles depicts people as they should be, while Euripides depicts them as they really are.

Sophocles is the great Greek playwright who gave us one of the most delightful works of human civilization - the tragedy “Oedipus the King”. At the center of the plot is a person, defining the theme of the tragedy - the theme of moral self-determination of the individual.

Sophocles reveals to us a question of universal scale: who decides the fate of man - the gods, or he himself? Looking for an answer to this eternal question the hero of the tragedy Oedipus left his hometown, practically dooming himself to certain death. The gods foretold him to kill his father and marry his mother. He found, as it seemed to him, the right solution: to leave his home. But Oedipus, alas, did not understand the most important thing: the gods determine only the general appearance of a person’s fate, its direction, one of the possible hypothetical versions of future reality. Everything else depends only on the person himself, on his personality, on what is hidden in him.

With their prophecy, the gods of Olympus indicated to Oedipus that he was capable of killing his father and marrying his mother, and that is why he must be constantly on alert, not allowing those truly terrible abilities that lie within him to escape. But he took everything literally and did not see that truth. And only at the very last moment, at the moment of spiritual insight, he realizes how blind he was then, and as a sign of this he gouges out his eyes. Thus he expresses main idea tragedy: it is not the gods who decide the fate of man, but he himself. Fate and inevitability are nothing compared to a person who understands and is aware of his moral and spiritual essence.