Motyw winy Heleny w tradycji epickiej i w dyskursie

The paper takes up the issue of Helen’s guilt for the outbreak of the Trojan war present in the Iliad and in the oral epic tradition. It puts forward a thesis that in order to blame others or to free themselves from blame epic heroes employ the typical in oral culture technique of conducting disputes. Like other characters in the Iliad, Helen, is also under constant social pressure which seeks to find her guilty and, in effect, to activate a mechanism of making a scapegoat of her. To defend herself, she risks self-accusations in order to make it impossible for other people to bring a charge against her. Helen cares about her good opinion in the Trojan society and particularly in the circle of women.

STORYTELLER AND COLLECTOR OF EPIC

В данной статье на примерах рукописных текстов героических сказаний и самозаписей кайчи рассматривается собирательская деятельность фольклориста и исполнение эпоса в домашней обстановке. Исполнение сказания у себя дома — ситуация для кайчи прямо противоположная общепринятой традиции, когда следовало почетное приглашение и исполнение алыптыг ныбак в кругу друзей и односельчан, которые великолепно знали эпическую традицию кая. Сказителям была важна настоящая аудитория, эпическая среда, поддерживающая его в пути за алыпом. В случае одного собирателя-слушателя-гостя, кайчи больше как гостеприимный хозяин лично его благодарил, благословлял и одаривал удачей алыпа. Некоторые сказители (А. П. Напазаков) в присутствии одного собирателя или в самозаписях (В. Е. Таннагашев), вовсе упускали обращение к слушателям. В своем помещении сказители, отвыкнув от исполнения кая, чувствовали себя стесненным, долго настраивались и были вынуждены исполнять один эпос с утра до обеда, иногда до вечера, если они никуда не спешили. Однако, благодаря доверительному общению со сказителями в домашней обстановке, нам удалось прояснить некоторые темные места текстов, выяснить значение архаичных слов и выражений. Иногда собиратель мог вносить изменения в названия эпических произведений, а сказители, стараясь не обидеть в своем доме гостя, соглашались с мнением записывающего о переименовании сказания. Исполняя алыптыг ныбак для одного слушателя-собирателя в дневное время, сказители по разным причинам (настроение, спешка, приезд гостей и т. д.) сокращали исполнение, что, несомненно, сказывалось и на качестве содержания эпоса. В. Е. Таннагашев неоднократно сообщал, что из-за ограниченного времени он вынужден сокращать сказания, либо сказывать устным речитативом. Исполняя сказания в искусственной обстановке, специально для собирателя, кайчи оказавшись вне эпической среды, не чувствовали себя в единении со своими слушателями, что сказывалось на ремарках сказителей, на традиционной поэтике сказаний. In this article, using examples of handwritten texts of heroic legends and self-recordings by Shor storyteller (kaichi), the collecting activity of the folklorist and the performance of the epic at home are considered. Performing a legend at home is a situation for kaichi that is directly opposite to the generally accepted tradition, when an honorary invitation followed and the performance of alyptyg nybak in a circle of friends and fellow villagers, who perfectly knew the epic tradition of kai The storytellers needed a real audience, an epic environment that would support him on his way beyond the alyp. In the case of one collector-listener-guest, the kaichi, more like a hospitable host, personally thanked him, blessed and bestowed good luck on the alyp. Some storytellers (A. P. Napazakov), in the presence of one collector or in self-recordings (V. E. Tannagashev), completely missed the appeal to the audience. In their room, the storytellers, having lost the habit of performing kai, felt constrained, tuned in for a long time and were forced to perform one epic from morning to dinner, sometimes until evening, if they were in no hurry to go anywhere. However, thanks to confidential communication with storytellers at home, we managed to clarify some “dark places” of the texts, to find out the meaning of archaic words and expressions. Sometimes the collector could make changes to the names of epic works, and the storytellers, trying not to offend the guest in their home, agreed with the opinion of the person who wrote down about the renaming of the legend. Performing alyptyg nybak for one listener-collector in the daytime, the storytellers, for various reasons (mood, haste, arrival of guests, etc.), reduced the performance, which undoubtedly affected the quality of the content of the epic. V. E. Tannagashev has repeatedly reported that due to the limited time, he is forced to shorten the legends, or say it by recitative. Performing legends in an unusual situation, especially for the collector, the kaichi, finding themselves outside the epic environment, did not feel in unity with their listeners, which affected the narrators' remarks and the traditional poetics of legends.

The Aeneid with Rabbits: Children's Fantasy as Modern Epic

<p>Despite their apparent dissimilarity, children's literature and the epic tradition are often intertwined. This is seen perhaps most clearly in the frequent retelling and repackaging of epics such as Beowulf and the Odyssey as children's books. If there is potential for epic to become children's stories, however, there is also potential for children's stories to become epic, and a number of important works of children's fantasy have been discussed as epics in their own right. In this thesis, I examine the extent to which writers of children's fantasy can be viewed as working in an epic tradition, drawing on and adapting epic texts for the modern age as Virgil and Milton did for their own times. Looking specifically at key works of British fantasy written post-WWI, I argue that children's literature and epic serve similar social and cultural functions, including the ability to mythologise communal experience and explore codes of heroism that are absorbed by their intended audience. Rosemary Sutcliff's retellings of epic texts for children suggest the ways in which epic can be reworked to create new heroic codes that are a combination of their source material, the values of their new cultural context, and the author's own personal worldview. This potential is further explored through Richard Adams's Watership Down, an animal story that functions in part as a retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid with rabbits. J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit uses the tension between epic and children's fairy-tale to examine the codes at the heart of Norse and Anglo-Saxon epic, and suggest an alternative that nonetheless allows for the glory of an epic worldview. Both T.H. White and Sutcliff engage with the Arthurian myth and the Matter of Britain in ways that use children's literature as a starting point for national epic. Finally, C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman each make use of Milton's Paradise Lost (and, in Pullman's case, of Lewis's earlier work) to produce very different fantasies that each look ahead to the end of epic. Cumulatively, these books illustrate the manner in which children's texts provide a home for the epic in a postmodern age in which many critics suggest the epic in its pure form can no longer survive. The rise of scientific empiricism, combined with national disillusionment following WWI, has been argued to have left epic's traditional worldview of myth, religion and the supernatural impossible to be used without irony. Children's fantasy, ostensibly addressed to “an audience that is still innocent” (Gillian Adams 109), allows authors to eschew irony in favour of story-telling, and explore ideas such as courage, honour and transcendence that lie at the heart of epic.</p>

The Aeneid with Rabbits: Children's Fantasy as Modern Epic

<p>Despite their apparent dissimilarity, children's literature and the epic tradition are often intertwined. This is seen perhaps most clearly in the frequent retelling and repackaging of epics such as Beowulf and the Odyssey as children's books. If there is potential for epic to become children's stories, however, there is also potential for children's stories to become epic, and a number of important works of children's fantasy have been discussed as epics in their own right. In this thesis, I examine the extent to which writers of children's fantasy can be viewed as working in an epic tradition, drawing on and adapting epic texts for the modern age as Virgil and Milton did for their own times. Looking specifically at key works of British fantasy written post-WWI, I argue that children's literature and epic serve similar social and cultural functions, including the ability to mythologise communal experience and explore codes of heroism that are absorbed by their intended audience. Rosemary Sutcliff's retellings of epic texts for children suggest the ways in which epic can be reworked to create new heroic codes that are a combination of their source material, the values of their new cultural context, and the author's own personal worldview. This potential is further explored through Richard Adams's Watership Down, an animal story that functions in part as a retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid with rabbits. J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit uses the tension between epic and children's fairy-tale to examine the codes at the heart of Norse and Anglo-Saxon epic, and suggest an alternative that nonetheless allows for the glory of an epic worldview. Both T.H. White and Sutcliff engage with the Arthurian myth and the Matter of Britain in ways that use children's literature as a starting point for national epic. Finally, C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman each make use of Milton's Paradise Lost (and, in Pullman's case, of Lewis's earlier work) to produce very different fantasies that each look ahead to the end of epic. Cumulatively, these books illustrate the manner in which children's texts provide a home for the epic in a postmodern age in which many critics suggest the epic in its pure form can no longer survive. The rise of scientific empiricism, combined with national disillusionment following WWI, has been argued to have left epic's traditional worldview of myth, religion and the supernatural impossible to be used without irony. Children's fantasy, ostensibly addressed to “an audience that is still innocent” (Gillian Adams 109), allows authors to eschew irony in favour of story-telling, and explore ideas such as courage, honour and transcendence that lie at the heart of epic.</p>

Epic Tradition and Sophistic Innovation in the ‘Shame Culture’ of Thucydides’ Dialogue of the Melii and the Athenians

This paper aims at adding new pieces to the complex patchwork of knowledge on ‘shame’ in the ancient Greek world by analysing the meanings and the cultural framework of the terms αἰσχύνη and αἰσχρός in the Dialogue of the Melians of Thucydides. The contribution sheds light on the role played by the traditional concept of shame, mostly witnessed by the Homeric poems, in the elaboration of the concept made by the Athenians in accordance with the sophistic cultural climate of the second half of the fifth century BCE.

Пролог эпического репертуара джангарчи Давы Шавалиева

Introduction. The article deals with the prologue to the cycle of songs recorded from jangarchi Dava Shavaliev. In 1939, the famous Mongolist A. Burdukov visited Kalmykia and recorded the epic repertoire of Dava Shavaliev that consisted of a prologue and four songs. The songs of Dava Shavaliev recorded by the scholar were not published during the latter’s lifetime. His daughter, Mongolist T. Burdukova, made a copy of her father’s manuscript (March-April 1977). Goals. The work aims to study the prologue as an important compositional part of Dava Shavaliev’s epic repertoire. Results. The latter is yet another confirmation that Kalmyk rhapsodes — when reciting the Jangar — made use of a special expositional part called the prologue (Kalm. orshl). Being a traditional epic formation characteristic of the cyclical heroic epic of Jangar, the prologue to Dava Shavaliev’s epic cycle consists of constant themes. Proceeding from his knowledge of the epic composition principles, the jangarchi builds his narratives on a certain basis comprising structural and compositional elements, such as a description of the palace; magtal (Kalm. ‘glorification’) to Lord Jangar; magtal to Queen Shavdal; ones to the warhorse and Khongor; and a description of the palace feast. The jangarchi makes extensive use of the traditional and standardized set of poetic formulas, stylistic and compositional techniques. The observance of the established tradition kept the rhapsode in a clearly delineated tunnel of an epic narrative, without hindering the emergence of individual features. The epic repertoire of jangarchi Dava Shavaliev attests to that the Jangar epic was then a living cultural phenomenon, an important link in the epic tradition developed by many generations of rhapsodes whose talents and performing skills made the heroic epic a greatest monument of the Kalmyk people’s spiritual heritage.

Spenser’s Youth

Epics modeled on the Odyssey typically include a version of Homer’s Circe episode. Edmund Spenser’s variant, the Bower of Bliss, is unusual for ending in physical violence so pronounced that many readers have taken against its putative hero, Sir Guyon. This essay reviews the role of magic in similar episodes to show the enormity of Spenser’s seemingly conservative storytelling. It also defends Spenser’s hero from charges of intemperance and immaturity. The question of intemperance stems from misunderstanding Aristotle. That of immaturity is more complicated. In the economy of justice, youth counteracts complacency. One of Guyon’s prototypes, the biblical king Josiah, is an example. Spenser pictures all his heroes as young, and growing up is part of his design for the epic as a whole. His attitude, though, is not condescending. The danger of sexual indulgence, which Guyon’s critics sometimes dismiss, is one that the epic tradition took seriously and that Spenser himself connected with the recent downfall of public figures.

The Epic Tradition

Epic occupied a prominent position as the highest test of poetic genius, yet any poet imprudent enough to attempt an epic would be faced with a daunting challenge. For a Victorian poet the attempt to rival Homer or Virgil involved complex considerations of form, theme, and history. The genre was traditionally associated with heroism and masculine strength, mythology, and the shaping of national identity, religion, and war, and with the poet’s own desire to compete with and surpass his predecessors much as epic heroes seek to prove their own supremacy. The reception of ancient epic was an ongoing concern in the period, since Homer in particular was cited as a model in literature, politics, and morality. Matthew Arnold’s prescriptions for translating Homer conveyed a sense of the responsibility involved in disseminating classical texts to a new readership. The Iliad was appropriated in debates on divorce, masculinity, authorship, and the historical criticism of the Bible. The Odyssey offered an alternative, novelistic version of Homeric epic, one which prioritized domesticity and highlighted the poem’s female characters. Some of the most influential creative responses to the epic tradition were not poems in twelve or twenty-four books but verse novels, dramatic monologues, or theatrical burlesques. Others took up the challenge of writing at epic length and addressing national concerns. For aspiring epic poets, there were many choices to be made: should poetry inhabit a mythological world, whether Arthurian (Tennyson’s Idylls of the King or Swinburne’s Tristram of Lyonesse) or Norse (William Morris’s Sigurd the Volsung), or a contemporary domain like that of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh? Might the epic be used to intervene in religious controversies or political conflicts such as Chartism? Could a modern poet be the Virgil of the British Empire? Facing strong competition from the novel, ambitious Victorian poets chose to approach such questions and an astonishing range of themes in a form which evoked vast expanses of time and space, extraordinary physical and intellectual achievement, and literary renown. Yet to achieve recognition as an epic poet remains an unusual distinction. Despite recent critical attention to the proliferation of Victorian poems with epic aspirations, a small number of poems by Tennyson, Barrett Browning, and William Morris have continued to dominate accounts of the genre.