Mythological characters in the Latin poetry of the Ukrainian baroque

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Taras Shevchenko national university of Kyiv

Mythological characters in the Latin poetry of the Ukrainian baroque

Valentyna Myronova,

PhD in philology, associate professor

PhD in philology

The article examines the peculiarities of mythological characters in the Latin poetry of the baroque period in Ukraine. This period contributed a lot to intercultural relations between Ukraine and Western Europe and gave a birth to the phenomenon of the baroque Ukrainian poetry, written in Latin language. In the present paper much research has been devoted to the poetic works of Theophan Prokopovych, Grygoriy Vyshnevsky and Ilarion Yaroshevytsky; their poetic texts are found in printed editions C'Elegia paraenetica», «Epinikion», «Elegia Alexii», «Comparatio vitae monasticae», «Descriptiuncula Kijowiae», «Possesoris horum librorum luctuosum vale») and manuscripts («Iter laureatum», «Cupido seu amor alatus»). The study analyzes the poetry in various genres, such as panegyric, elegy, epigram, lyrical poem. Addressing to the ancient legacy was defined as the sufficient and necessary feature of the baroque style. The article suggests the idea that a poet gives a preference to one or another mythological character in his individual author's interpretation. The analysis of the poetic texts reveals the most productive mythological characters, which can be classified into the following categories: 1) art (Apollo with the Muses, the winged horse Pegasus); 2) martial arts (Mars); 3) celebrations (Bacchus, Hymenaeus); 4) love (Venus, Cupid, Cypride); 5) natural phenomena (Aurora, Lucifer, Phosphorus, Titan, Zephyrus, Thetis). The research has demonstrated that contamination of the two worldviews was natural for the baroque poet. This contamination was embodied in the bizarre combination of Christian and ancient elements in their literary works. It was traced that Latin poets of the Ukrainian baroque completely followed the literary traditions of the classical theory of poetry, what was marked in the form of the poetic work and its content.

Keywords: Ukrainian baroque, panegyric, epigram, elegy, mythological character.

Анотація

Міфологічні образи в латинськомовній поезії українського бароко

Валентина Миронова, канд. філол. наук, доц.

Марія Ластовець, канд. філол. наук Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка, Київ, Україна

Розглянуто особливості використання міфологічних образів у латинськомовній поезії епохи бароко в Україні. Цей період був позначений міжкультурними зв'язками України та Західної Європи й розвитком української барокової поезії, написаної латинською мовою. Приділено увагу дослідженню поетичних творів Феофана Прокоповича, Григорія Вишневського та іларіона Ярошевицького, які зберігаються у друкованих виданнях f'Eiegia paraenetica», «Epinikion», «Elegia Alexii», «Comparatio vitae monasticae», «Descriptiuncula Kijowiae», «Possesoris horum iibrorum iuctuosum vale») і рукописах f'iter iaureatum», «Cupido seu amor aiatus»). Проаналізовано різножанрові поетичні твор: панегірик, елегія, епіграма, лірична поема. Звернення до античної спадщини визначено як суттєву й необхідну рису, притаманну бароковому стилю. Висловлено думку про те, що поет віддає перевагу тому чи іншому міфологічному образу у власній авторській інтерпретації. Аналіз поетичних текстів виявив, що найбільш продуктивними з художнього погляду авторів були міфологічні образи, що відповідають за: 1) мистецтво (Аполлон із музами, крилатий кінь Пегас); 2) військове мистецтво (Марс); 3) святкування (Вакх, Гіменей); 4) кохання (Венера, Купідон, Кіприда); 5) природні явища (Аврора, Люцифер, Фосфор, Титан, Зефір, Фетіда). Досліджено, що для українських поетів епохи бароко було характерне явище контамінації двох світоглядних систем, яке втілювалося в химерному поєднанні християнського й античного елементів у літературному творі. Було встановлено, що латинськомовні українські поети повністю наслідували літературні традиції класичної теорії віршування, які стосувалися форми твору та його сюжетного наповнення.

Ключові слова: українське бароко, панегірик, епіграма, елегія, міфологічний образ.

Main part

Introduction. Latin poetry of the seventeenth to the eighteenth century Ukraine was developing under the slogans of the baroque. This aesthetic system absorbed medieval ideas and Renaissance traditions with its focus on antiquity. Therefore, in relation to the Ukrainian baroque, it is more relevant to write about the contamination of the two worldview systems: antiquity and Christianity. The man of the baroque borrowed the Renaissance idea about similarity of heavenly and earthly pleasures. The criterion of morality was not the rejection of all earthly and corporeal, but a conscious restriction on it, that is, it was «the right of every Christian to choose between hedonism and asceticism as between two ethical systems, each based on its worldview. According to baroque, the beauty luxury of the material world reflects the beauty and perfection of paradise, so the afterlife did not mean the loss of everything, what makes us happy and attracts us to the all secular things, but the fullest joy and consolation» [2, p. 23].

Based on these two worldviews, the baroque created the ideal man of that time - «an ascetic philosopher, for whom the ancient feeling of love for all living and secular is close, and whose soul is filled with the thirst for eternal and imperishable heaven» [2, p. 23]. Another common feature of the Renaissance and baroque was the use of ancient mythological motifs, but in a Christian context. Baroque «mythologizes reality, framing it in mythological scenes, sometimes with all the naturalism» [1, p. 87]. The purpose of the article was to study the mythological world of characters, represented in poems, and this defined the object and subject of the paper. We focused on the baroque period of the Ukrainian Latin poetry referring to some texts which have remained unexplored. The method of linguo-poetic analysis was applied to reveal the author's individual poetic means in the description of mythological characters.

As mentioned in the introduction above, the dense contamination of the ancient and Christian worldview was the marked trait of the Ukrainian baroque literature. The deep awareness of Ukrainian poets with Roman and Greek literary subjects was reflected in that fact that none of their works was complete without reference to antiquity. Sometimes it is hard to believe that this or that poetry was written by a clerical person, it is so rich in mythological images and plots. Addressing to the ancient themes has become a kind of literary tradition and a feature of sophisticated style in writing.

The use of a mythonym was unambiguously determined by the author's own preferences. For instance, Theophan Prokopovych often refers to mythological images in the description of nature in his poetry. Among his favourite mythonyms was the name of Thetis, the sea goddess, which is referred to the Dnipro river: «Fusa est speciemque referre/Aequoris et Ponti fieri Thetis aemula gaudet» [5, p. 64].

Grygoriy Vyshnevsky in the Latin panegyric «Iter laureatum» also settles Thetis in the waters of Boristhen, calling on the muse: «Musa salutares mea pergito ad usque Triones / Atque Borysthenem Thethydis usque lares» [6, p. 148].

In another poem, Theophan Prokopovych addresses Thetis to describe the surface of the sea: «O me felicem! Mitis mare permeat aura./Summaque censetur ludere sponte Thethys» [5, p. 34].

Similarly, Theophan Prokopovych mentions the name of Thetis, depicting the sea surface in his epigram «Urbs Roma hinc montibus inde mari cingitur», which provides a brief description of the city of Rome, surrounded by mountains on the one side and by the sea on the other. This epigram can be considered as a sketch of the «Descriptiuncula Kijowiae», which develops a similar idea: «Continuat panso marmore septa Phetis» [4, p. 24].

The mentioned poetry of Theophan Prokopovych «Descriptiuncula Kjowiae» is rich in mythological images. Since the work presents a description of Kyiv only from the western and eastern parts (and this idea is repeated in forty lines), the poet decided to diversify the usual tokens «west» and «east» with mythological images already familiar to poetry. The text of this work suggests that dawn and its colours are the most attractive time for poets, because he used the larger number of mythonyms, describing namely the eastern part of the city: Lucifer/Phosphorus (Latin and Greek equivalents for the morning star); Aurora (goddess of the morning star in Roman mythology); Titan (one of the names of Helios) and the adjective «Eous» (derived from the name of the Greek goddess of dawn Eos). The author uses only two tokens to depict the western part of the city:

Hesperus (the name of the evening star in Greek mythology) and the adjective «hesperius», derived from this form.

Among the common mythonyms for the description of nature, was Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, which began to blow in the spring and gained its full strength in the summer. In poetic works it is always a light and warm breeze. In «Elegy about Alexei» by Theophan's Prokopovych we read: «Incubuit placidis Zephyrus lenissimus undis» [5, p. 14].

In another poem by Prokopovych, «Comparatio vitae monasticae», the author compares a worldly man to a ship, sailing on uncertain waves, while the path of a monk is compared to the way of a ship, guided by Zephyrus: «Hic currit Zephyro morigerante ratis» [5, p. 54].

It is worth focusing on mythological images in the poems of Theophan Prokopovych that are associated with certain ceremonial holidays. Thus, in the poem «Elegia paraenetica», devoted to the preservation of purity of life, the poet warns the student against the excess in wine, mentioning the name of Bacchus - the Greek god of the vine, who was also known as Dionysus. The name of this god was associated with the most famous folk celebrations in Greece, which were followed by the excessive drinking of wine: «Immodicus qui jam, quae fert incendia Bacchus /Nesciat? et largi grata venata meri?» [4, p. 17].

In his «Elegy» Theophan Prokopovych mentions Dionysus's son Hymeneus, the patron of marriage and married life, which seems very unusual for the subject of the poem. After all, according to the plot, the elegy is a poetic account of one of the episodes in the life of Blessed Alexei, who leaves his family and flees to Syria to devote himself to the salvation of the soul. After the words about love for Christ, the next mention of Hymenaeus is found in the memories of his own wedding. This testifies that he, being a Christian, did not completely break with the pagan ideas: «Quocunque adspiceres, plausus citharaeque sonabant, Hymenaee, fuit» [4, p. 14].

The other authors, who employed mythological plots in their poems, were Ilarion Yaroshevytsky (a poem «Cupido seu amor alatus» is a dialogue between Cupid and Joseph, who represent the antiquity and Christianity) and Grygoriy Vyshnevsky (a panegyric «Iter laureatum»).

Upon closer inspection, it becomes noticeable that the poets give equal preference to both Greek and Roman deities. It testifies that they are more interested in the properties of these deities and their poetic function in literature, rather than their origin. One of the first mythological characters found in the poem «Cupido seu amor alatus» is Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting, as well as flora and fauna. When Cupid points out to Joseph that man needs to live in the city, and animals need to live in the woods, he answers: «Et salebris nemoris et scatebris delector aquarum/ Sauciat hic solas Artemis una feras» [3, p. 24]

Another striking character in the poetry is the Medusa. Cupid addresses to this image, comparing Joseph to a stone, laughing at the Gorgon, which turns everything into stone: «ut visa Gorgone tote rides».

It is worth mentioning the names of Daedalus and Icarus in the plot of the poem. Joseph says that he will flee from Cupid by sea and he will not be able to catch him, because he cannot swim. To this Cupid replies that he has wings and will fly across the sea as Daedalus did. Then Joseph recollects Icarus and says that Cupid will also drown in the waters: «Ille quidem enarrit pueri sed flebile bustum / Pontus ab Icaris nomine nomen habet» [3, p. 97].

However, Cupid does not retreat so easily and reminds Joseph that he is the son of Venus, who arose from the sea: «Cognata est mihi lympha maris nam mater amor / Esse Cytheres ad filia fertur aquas. / nil salis illa salo./Illa sales multos, multos habet illa lepores / Et tot habet veneres, nemo sed una Venus» [3, p. 28].

The last four lines are based on the cognate Latin nouns for salt (sal, salis m) and sea (salum, i, n), as well as the Latin noun v(V) enus (eris f), which denotes both the common name of «charms» and the proper name of the goddess of love. Venus is mentioned for the second time in a rather ironic context, when Joseph tells Cupid that his mother will die where she came from (allusion to the Christian formula: man is soil to the soil he will return), and he replies that she will rise again from the sea in a turtle. To this Joseph jokes ironically, calling the goddess of love Cypride, the epithet of Aphrodite, which comes from the name of the island of Crete: «Naufraga virginitas heu non tam saepe periet / Mersa sub aequoreis si Cypris esset aquis» [3, p. 45].

For the third time, Cupid himself speaks ironically about the goddess of love, who does not seem to understand why Joseph is not wearing clothes. In these lines, the author uses the epithet Venus Erycina, which comes from the name of the city of Eriks, where the cult of the goddess has long been revered: «Et sylvas Erycina potens si possidet urbes / Cur puero vestes non emit illa suo» [3, p. 45].

The image of Mars, to which almost all the poets addressed in their works, will need a single comment. As we know, Mars is the god of war, whom the Romans identified with the Greek Ares, but at first Mars took care of fertility, vegetation and wildlife. Perhaps because of the original component of the essence of Mars, the open aggression of this deity of war is leveled and his image is preferred over Ares. In «Epinikion» by Theophan Prokopovych, which is the poem about military events, the mention of Mars is quite natural. In the context of the poem, Mars appears in two guises: 1) as a certain abstraction, which accumulates everything related to war and military affairs; 2) as an antonomasia to denote the military features of Peter I: 1) «tibi quas Mavortius ardor / Accidit vires, exantlavitque labores» [5, p. 28]; 2) «Cuncti Rossiacum martem irritare timent» [5, p. 32].

In the poem «Cupido seu amor alatus» Mars also embodies the war, which, according to Joseph, brings only misfortune: «Ductor inops inopes ab inertse Marte remittis / Nam qui cumque venit dives egenus abit» [3, p. 29].

In the next passage, Cupid says that the desire to love is stronger than the desire to fight and uses the epithet «Gradivus» to describe Mars: «Miles ab armiferi monet inclyta bella Gradivi / Si potest in castris aera merere meis» [3, p. 28].

The mythonyms, which belong to the sphere of poetic art are of particular note. It is natural that Apollo and the Muses take a significant place among all the ancient deities. And it is no exaggeration to say that they are probably the only characters, to whom the poets give their reverence and respect, they will always thank the patron of the arts for the laurels of their work. A greater number of addresses to Apollo is found in panegyric «Iter laureatum» by Grygoriy Vyshnevsky. 1) «Et non inani gloria Te Pater / Effert jugali quem merita tegit / Apollo lauru, quemque Pallas / Liligera redimire vitta / Gaudet» [6, sh. 143]; 2) «His tu perennes celsus adoreis / Duces triumphos, quos tibi dedicat / Cliens Apollo» [6, sh.148].

The next piece of poetry describes the arrival of Apollo with the Muses, drawing a particular attention to Polymnia. It is notable that the Pierides were not exactly muses, but daughters of the Macedonian king Pierus. According to the existing legend, they decided to compete with the muses in singing and failed, for what they were later punished and turned into magpies. However, in poetry they were often associated with the muses: «Nunc de Phoceidum colle bivertice / Pergant Pierides aligero gradu, / Nunc Delphus properans plenus Apolline / Laudum naviget aequora. / De strato roseo furge Polymnia» [6, sh. 145]

One of the most traditional personifications of poetic art is the image of Pegasus, a charming winged horse. It should be added that he was originally associated with the goddess Eos. Later, according to the other myths, he brought thunder and lightning to Zeus. Pegasus became a horse of poets much later, and we owe this to the Alexandrian authors. In the third century B.C. they created a legend about the muses, who sang so beautifully, that Helicon mount began to grow up to the sky. The Olympians did not like it very much, and then they ordered Pegasus to strike with his hoof so that the mountain would return to its size back. At that place, where Pegasus struck, a spring appeared, whose water inspired the poets: «Aliquando Aonides Pindaricus calor / Cyrrha Paegaseo detulit alueo / Et per nocti vagae pegmata Triviae / Jussit currere cyllaris» [6, sh. 157].

Conclusion. Thus, we observe that the representation of the ancient world in the poetry of Latin authors of the Ukrainian baroque is primarily due to excessive use of mythological vocabulary, which is significantly present at almost all their poems. The mythological vocabulary, employed in the poems, was to bring the realities of the ancient world on ethnic ground. The transfer of the story to the mythological world creates the effect of historicity and fabulosity of the event or personality, which is in favor of poetic pathos.

References

1. Cedrus Apollinis pharetrali Rossiaco Orpheo ob bicornem exstruendam cytharam bino poeseos et rhetorices stylo instructam ad concessum pennis gloriae mentibus ac montibus instans in bicolli Kijovo-Mohyleano Parnasso erecta et ad fluvium Borysthenem pegaseis fontibus irrigata anno 1702 // The Department of Manuscripts: National Library of Ukraine Named after Vernadsky. (In Lat.).

2. Makarov А. (1994). The Light of the Ukrainian Baroque. Kyiv: Art. (In Ukr.).

3. Procopowic Th. (1744). Illustrissimi ac reverendissimi Theopani Procopowic Miscellanea sacra, variis temporibus edita, nunc primum collata publicoque edita. Vratislaviae. (In Lat.)

4. Procopowic Th. (1743). Lucubrationes illustrissimi ac reverendissimi Theophani Procopowic quae (praeter unam narrationem) iam poлmata, lam epistolas, iam orationes in se comprehendunt. Nunc primum in unum corpus collatae et in publicam lucern editae. Vratislaviae. (In Lat.)

5. WiЯniowski G. (1604). Iter laureatum: [Panegyric to Joseph Krokowsky]. The Deaprtment of the Rare Editions: National Library of Ukraine Named after Vernadsky. (In Lat.)

6. Wцlfflin H. (2004). Renaissance and Baroque. [trans. By Lundberg E.]. Saint Petersburgh: Azbuka-classica. (In Rus.)

Список використаних джерел

1. Вельфлин Г. Ренессанс и барокко; пер. Е.Г. Лундберга / Г. Вель - флин. - СПб.: Азбука-классика, 2004.

2. Макаров А.М. Світло українського бароко / А.М. Макаров. - К.: Мистецтво, 1994.

3. Cedrus Apollinis pharetrali Rossiaco Orpheo ob bicornem exstruendam cytharam bino poeseos et rhetorices stylo instructam ad concessum pennis gloriae mentibus ac montibus instans in bicolli Kijovo-Mohyleano Parnasso erecta et ad fluvium Borysthenem pegaseis fontibus irrigata anno 1702: рукопис // Відділ рукописів НБУВ. - ДС/П 241. - 209 арк.

4. Procopowic Th. Illustrissimi ac reverendissimi Theopani Procopowic Miscellanea sacra, variis temporibus edita, nunc primum collata publicoque edita / Procopowic Th. - Vratislaviae, 1744.

5. Procopowic Th. Lucubrationes illustrissimi ac reverendissimi Theophani Procopowic quae (praeter unam narrationem) iam poлmata, lam epistolas, iam orationes in se comprehendunt. Nunc primum in unum corpus collatae et in publicam lucern editae / Procopowic Th. - Vratislaviae, 1743.

6. WiЯniowski Gregorius. Iter laureatum: [Панеґірик Йоасафові Кроковському] // Відділ рідкісної книги НБУВ, 1604. - Арк. 141-159 зв.

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