The concept of folklore, types and classification. Why did folklorists call this play-game a satirical drama World and Man in the Renaissance

Master. Kupchinushka, do you have a horse to sell?

Farmer. Yes, yes.

Lead Horse. Master drives Horse around the hut, watches him run, looks him in the teeth, pokes him in the sides, makes him jump over a stick and decides to buy him.

Master. How much do you want for a horse?

Farmer.

One hundred rubles in money Forty Solyonykh magpies………Forty anbars Ice cream cockroaches, Arshine of butter, Three skeins of sour milk,Michalka Tamitsyna nose,Our Kozharikha's tail.

Master.

I’ll find a hundred rubles in my pocket,And forty forty Salty………Forty anbars Dry cockroaches Will you, laymen?

All. We will exact, we will exact.

The master gives the money and takes the Horse.

The whole company leaves for another party, of which three or four go around in the evening.

Questions and tasks

1. Why did folklorists call this play-game a satirical drama?

2. Describe the main characters of the show, their appearance, characters.

3. Try to get involved in the game: act as “fofans” and come up with comic accusations against one of the participants in the game. It can be any student in your class: after all, the point of the game is to include familiar participants with problems familiar to everyone.

1. Decide whether this play is more of a stage performance or a game.

Children's folklore

From an early age you get acquainted with works of children's folklore. These are counting rhymes, teasers, fables, horror stories, family stories and much more.

Children's folklore is works of oral folk art created by children and for children.

From children's family stories

Origin of the surname

Our family keeps old documents. Among them there is a document from which we know that at the beginning of the nineteenth century my ancestors lived in the Smolensk province in a village called Rakity and were peasants. The village was called so because it was located in a place where there were many small rivers and ponds, along the banks of which grew a lot of beautiful trees, which were called brooms. These trees have branches that bend down to the water, forming a thick green wall. All residents of the village had the same surname - Rakitins - after the name of the village. Therefore, they did not call each other by their last names, but only by their first names. Lazy people were called only by name - Proshka, Afonka, etc., but hardworking people and old people were called respectfully by name and patronymic. And everyone always knew who they were talking about.

Children's tricks

Previously, there were almost no buttons, and those that were sold were very expensive. Grandma took nickels, covered them with fabric, and sewed them on instead of buttons. And my mother and her sister tore off these “buttons,” took out the patches and went to the movies with them.

Questions and tasks

1. Why did the mother tell her daughter about this way of getting money for movie tickets?

2. Think about funny experiences involving grandparents in your family.

Early in the morning, in the evening,At noon, at dawnBaba rode on horseback in a painted carriage.

Folk art, which originated in ancient times, is the historical basis of the entire world artistic culture, the source of national artistic traditions, and an exponent of national self-awareness. Some researchers also classify all types of non-professional art (amateur art, including folk theaters) as folk art.

Term Folklore was first introduced into scientific use in the year by the English scientist William Toms.

Literally translated folklore means: folk wisdom, folk knowledge. This term at first denoted only the subject of science itself, but sometimes it began to be used to refer to the scientific discipline that studies this material; however, then the latter began to be called folkloristics. In addition to the term “folklore”, other terms are found in scientific use in different countries: German - Volkskunde, in a narrower sense of the word - Volksdichtung; French - Traditions populaires. In the 19th century In Russia, the somewhat broadly interpreted term “folk literature” or “folk poetry” prevailed.

The artistic and historical significance of folklore was deeply revealed by A. M. Gorky, whose statements are of guiding importance in the development of the main problems of folklore studies. In his report at the First Congress of Soviet Writers, Gorky said:

« I again draw your attention, comrades, to the fact that the most profound and vibrant, artistically perfect types of heroes were created by folklore, the oral creativity of the working people. The perfection of such images as Hercules, Prometheus, Mikula Selyaninovich, Svyatogor, then Doctor Faust, Vasilisa the Wise, the ironic successor Ivan the Fool and, finally, Petrushka defeating the doctor, the priest, the policeman, the devil and even death - all these are images , in the creation of which rationality and intuition, thought and feeling were harmoniously combined. Such a combination is possible only with the direct participation of the creator in the work of creating reality, in the struggle for the renewal of life"(M. Gorky, Soviet literature, report at the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers, M., 1935, p. 12).

Folklore is poetic creativity that grows on the basis of the labor activity of mankind, reflecting the experience of thousands of years. Folklore, being older than written literature and passed on from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, is the most valuable source for knowledge of the history of every nation, no matter what stage of social development it stands at.

Poetic folklore cannot be considered in isolation from other manifestations of spiritual culture. Oral folk poetry is closely connected with the areas of folk stage art (facial expressions, gestures, dramatic action - in the performance of not only the so-called “folk drama” and dramatized rituals - weddings, funerals, agricultural, round dances and games, but also in the telling of epics, fairy tales, when performing songs), choreographic art (folk dances, dances, round dances), musical and vocal art. Consequently, folklore studies includes some sections of such disciplines as theater studies, choreography, musicology (a section of it called “musical ethnography” or “musical folklore”). At the same time, folklore cannot be studied without the help of linguistics, without studying the dialect in which these oral poetic works are created. However, folkloristics is, first of all, a part of literary criticism, and folklore is a part of verbal art. Folklore, like written fiction, is verbal and figurative knowledge, a reflection of social reality. But the creation of folklore by the masses, the conditions under which folklore existed, the nature of artistic creativity in the pre-capitalist era, when a significant part of the old folklore that has come down to us was formed, determined certain features of folklore in comparison with written fiction. The collective principle in folklore, the anonymity of most folklore monuments, the significant role of tradition in folklore - all this leaves its mark on folklore and determines certain features of its study.

Folklore in the USSR

Folklore quickly fills any niche left by printed publications. In particular, in the USSR, due to censorship, short ditties and anecdotes with sharp political and/or sexual content and/or profanity were especially refined. Nowadays, jokes have become available in written form; this could lead to a slight decrease in their severity and the loss of some elements of folklore.

Folklore in the Russian Revolution

Notes

see also

information sources

• http://www.awd.ru/mat.htm (Russian mat)

Links to scientific literature

• Berezkin Yu. E. Areal distribution of folklore and mythological motifs// History and mathematics: Analysis and modeling of socio-historical processes / Ed. Malkov S.Yu., Grinin L.E. , Korotaev A.V. M.: “KomKniga”, 2007. pp. 205-232.
• Borev Yu.B. History of the Soviet state in legends and anecdotes M., "Ripol", 1995 ISBN 5-87907-056-5
• Zhirmunsky V. M. Folklore of the West and East. Comparative historical essays Publisher: "Editorial URSS" 2006, 464 pp. ISBN 5-8360-0136-7 ISBN 5-8360-0536-2
• Kostina A.V. Youth culture and folklore // Electronic journal "

Literature test Folk drama Barin. Children's folklore for grade 7 with answers. The test includes 2 options. Each option has 3 parts. Part A contains 4 tasks. Part B contains 2 tasks. Part C contains 1 task.

1 option

A1. What does Barin ask the laity after the greeting?

1) why did everyone gather?
2) do those gathered have any requests?
3) is the horse for sale?
4) is the bull for sale?

A2. What was the name of the girl who loved two young men?

1) Malanya
2) Thekla
3) Paraskovya
4) Broadsword

A3. What did Barin do after considering all the requests?

1) left
2) bought a Horse
3) treated everyone
4) sang a song

A4. What was the wolf trying to swim across in the fable “Early in the morning, in the evening...”?

1) river
2) trough
3) shark pond
4) a bowl of pies

IN 1. Who were called Fofans?

AT 2. Who was the first to run into the house where the party was taking place?

C1. Why is the trial of the villagers presented in a satirical form?

Option 2

A1. What color shirt is Barin wearing?

1) red
2) blue
3) white
4) yellow

A2. What is the name of the Petitioner who complains about the girl?

1) Kozma Egorov
2) Egor Ivanov
3) Peter Kozlov
4) Vladimir Voronin

A3. What does the Farmer do with a girl who loved two?

1) lets go
2) punishes with a whip
3) drives out of the village
4) sent to a monastery

A4. What part of speech is mentioned in a comic work of school folklore?

That part of speech
Which fell from the stove.

1) noun
2) adjective
3) pronoun
4) verb

IN 1. How much money did they ask the Master for the Horse?

AT 2. Who does the Master buy after the Horse?

C1. Why is the satirical drama “The Master” called both a play and a game at the same time?

Answers to the literature test Folk drama Barin. Children's folklore for 7th grade
1 option
A1-2
A2-3
A3-2
A4-4
IN 1. Mummers
AT 2. Horse
Option 2
A1-1
A2-4
A3-2
A4-4
IN 1. One hundred rubles
AT 2. Bull and amazing people

Characters:

Barin, in a red shirt and jacket; straw epaulets on the shoulders; on the head there is a straw hat with cut out paper figures; in his hands is a cane decorated with paper figures. The gentleman has a big belly and his jacket is not buttoned.
He's wearing a cap, an overcoat on his shoulders, a shoulder strap in his hands, and an ordinary hat on his head.
Panya, kumachnik - red sundress, white shirt and white apron, double-row silk belt; on the head there is a “bandage” with ribbons, in the hands there is a “root” - a fan and a scarf.
A horse, a man, with a tail made of straw.
Amazing people: half a dozen or seven boys, twelve years old; faces covered in soot.
The bull doesn’t dress especially, but slips it out of the fofants.
Askers, usually Fofans from the public.

In Tamitsa, the players who play “Barin” are usually taken from different “quarters” of the village (the village is divided into four “ends”, which have special names): Barin, for example, from Zarechye, Tax Taxer even from the Upper Reaches, Panyu, let’s say, from Serechye, Horse, let's say from Nizu. This is done so that no end of the village is offended.
The game begins like this: the players approach the house where, for example, a party is taking place. They open the door, and the horse is the first to run into the hut and whip the audience with a prod; everyone in the hut stands on benches, some climb onto the floors, and thus the hut becomes free for action. The whole company enters the hut behind the Horse and goes singing to the front corner; A lantern is carried in front of them. In the front corner, the Master stands facing the people, next to him is Panya on one hand, and the Tax Taxer on the other. People and Fofans (mummers) from the street come in behind the players and stand all over the hut.

Viceroy, viceroy,
Good fellows,
Red girls
Hello!

V s e (answer). Hello, hello, Mr. Master, hello!

B a r i n. Master, hostess,
Viceroy, viceroy,
Good fellows,
Red girls
Do you have any requests between yourselves?

In s e. Yes, there is.

B a r i n. Come, come!

One of the Fofans comes up, pretending to be a petitioner.

P r o s i t e l . Mister master, accept my request.

B a r i n. Who are you?

Petitioner (referred to as a fictitious name - the name of some guy in the village). Vladimir Voronin.

B a r i n. What are you asking for?

P r o s i t e l . To Paraskovya I ask: in the summer Parashka loves me, and in the winter another guy loves Vasily.

B a r i n. Come here, Paraskovya. Why do you love two people at once?

Paraskovya is also the real name of some girl in the village. Instead, one of the Fofans comes up to the Barin’s call and begins to argue and swear with the petitioner. They say whatever they want; The one who swears more powerfully and wittily has greater success with the public. The Barin and the Farmer consult out loud which of those on trial is guilty and who should be punished: the guy or the girl; For example, a girl is found guilty. The master says: “Come on, Paraskovya, lean against your back!” Paraskovya obeys the court's decision and turns her back. The farmer punishes her with a whip. After the first petitioner, another comes and puts out some other request about the neighbor, about the wife, and so on. The basis for the requests is usually some fact that actually exists in the village, which, of course, is exaggerated, brought to the point of ridiculousness, to the point of absurdity, and thus the trial is a satire on local life and morals, sometimes very evil, sometimes cruel. When there are no more petitioners and all requests have been considered, court decisions have been made and sentences have been executed, the sale of the horse begins.

B a r i n. Kupchinushka, do you have a horse to sell?

O t k u p s h i k. Yes, yes.

They bring the Horse. The master leads the Horse around the hut, watches him run, looks him in the teeth, pokes him in the sides, makes him jump over a stick and decides to buy him.

B a r i n. How much do you want for a horse?

O t k u p s h i k. One hundred rubles in money,
Forty magpies
Salty.........
Forty anbars
Ice cream cockroaches,
Arshin of butter,
Three skeins of sour milk,
Michalka Tamitsyna nose,
Our Kozharikha's tail.

B a r i n. I’ll find a hundred rubles in my pocket,
And forty forty
Salty.....
Forty anbars
Dry cockroaches

Will you, laymen, demand it?

In s e. We will exact, we will exact.

The master gives the money and takes the Horse.

B a r i n. Well, merchant, don’t you have a bull to sell for meat?

O t k u p s h i k. Like no, there is, there is.

B a r i n. How much do you want for a bull?

O t k u p s h i k. One hundred rubles in money.
Forty magpies
Salty.....
Forty anbars
Dry cockroaches...

As before, bargaining continues until the end. When the bargaining is over, the Bull - a man in an inside-out fur coat and with a jar on his head - is brought in, and the Master hits him on the head with a log, the jar breaks, the Bull falls; The Fofans attack him and crush his sides; release blood.

B a r i n. And what, merchant, don’t you have any Amazing people to sell?

O t k u p s h i k. Yes, yes. Hey Amazing people, come out!

Amazing people jump out, make faces, dance, spit in all directions, then leave.

B a r i n. Hey, kid, give me some scarlet vodka.

One of the Fofans goes and carries a bottle of water. They start singing the song “In the Pockets,” and Barin and Panya walk through the hut several times, arm in arm. Leaving the hut for another party, they say goodbye.

B a r i n. Master, hostess,
Viceroy, viceroy,
Good fellows,
Red girls
Farewell!

V s. Goodbye. Farewell!

The whole company leaves for another party, of which three or four go around in the evening.

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Literature. 7th grade. Textbook-reader. In two parts. Part I
(Author-compiler T. F. Kurdyumova)

The art of words and their forms. Types and genres of fiction

The art of distant antiquity was syncretic 1
Syncretic - holistic (undivided), compare with synthetic - holistic (united).

It combined and merged movement (dance), words (singing), sound (music), color (pictures). Time passed, and independent types of human creative activity arose: literature, ballet and opera, theater, painting and architecture.

The art of words – literature – occupies a major role among all arts. The world of fiction is very diverse. Many types of artistic works are familiar to you. This is a fairy tale and a story, a song and a riddle, a story and a fable...

In art, there is a special term “genre” to designate different types of artistic works. Genre is a specific type of work of art in literature, fine arts, and music.

Each of us, even knowing nothing about genres, will never mistake a poem for a play. It is probably clear to everyone what distinguishes, for example, a fairy tale from a proverb. This is both the size of the work and a way to reflect the life around us: in a fairy tale - events and heroes, and in a proverb - an aphoristic judgment. You can name other features of these genres. In literature, over the centuries, signs have developed that make it possible to distinguish works of one genre from another.

Genres of literature are combined into three large groups, which are called genera of literature. The main types of fiction are epic, lyric and drama. We classify each work of art into one of these three categories.

Works that narrate events are called epic. The genres of epic works are the familiar story, tale, novel, fairy tale.

Works that reflect life, conveying the feelings and thoughts of the author, are called lyrical. The genres of lyrical works are extremely numerous: message, song, romance, epigram, elegy, madrigal, epitaph, etc.

Works that are intended to be staged are called dramatic works. Among these genres are the familiar comedy, as well as tragedy and drama.

There are genres that combine the characteristics of both epic and lyrical works. We call such works lyroepic.

Lyric epic works contain both a description of events and an expression of the author’s feelings. These include a poem, a ballad, and sometimes a fable.

The fate of genres in the history of literature is different. Some live for a very long time, others have just appeared, and the age of some genres has already ended. In this academic year, you will not only get acquainted with the features of long-familiar genres, but also meet some new genres and follow the history of genres that managed to live a long life in literature.

Questions and tasks

1. Try to explain what unites the works placed in each column.

2. Name the types of literature and describe them.

3. How can we explain the abundance of genres of each type of literature? Why do some genres appear while others disappear?

In the appropriate columns of the previous assignment, enter the following concepts: legend, idyll, legend, romance, thought, essay, hymn, ode, anecdote, canzone. Find explanations of unknown terms in the dictionary of literary terms.

Folklore

Bylina. Folk drama. Children's folklore.

Genres of folklore

Oral folk art preceded written literature. All works of folklore existed only in oral transmission, and this largely determined the genre features of folklore works, their composition, and performance techniques.

The origins of epics and tales, legends and fairy tales go back to the distant past. For a long time there have been no storytellers or bahari 2
Bahar is a teller of fables, stories, fairy tales in Ancient Rus'.

More than a century has passed since folklorists began recording oral works. These records are carefully stored in scientific publications, and in processed form they are familiar to you from collections of legends, epics, fairy tales, riddles, proverbs and other works of folk art.

You are now reading folklore texts that were passed down orally from one storyteller to another centuries ago.

Folklore is often perceived as a memory of the past, as something long gone from our lives. Of course, the antiquity of its appearance is indisputable. But it is also indisputable that oral folk art is alive, and proof of this is the emergence of new genres. You probably don’t need to think long about which genre of folklore - epic or ditty - was born earlier. Even the first reading convinces us that these are works from different eras. Indeed, the ditty appeared relatively recently, finally taking shape at the end of the 19th century. This means that it must be said that folklore, having emerged as an art phenomenon in ancient times, lived and was enriched by new works and new genres at different times.

The modern reader (and not just the listener!) chooses a fairy tale from the entire wealth of works of folklore, uses a rich set of proverbs and sayings, has fun with riddles, uses the song genre, actively responds to ditties and anecdotes...

Folk drama

Folk drama has been revived again in puppet theaters, and its techniques for depicting the lives of heroes are successfully used in animation. In addition to funny puppet shows with a mischievous hero, the folk theater knew heroic and historical plays, as well as satirical dramas.

Get acquainted with the satirical drama "The Master", recorded in the village of Tamitsa, Onega district, Arkhangelsk province in 1905. As you read the text, think about whether this work can be considered both a play and a game at the same time.

Characters

Master, in a red shirt and jacket; straw epaulets on the shoulders; on the head there is a straw hat with cut out paper figures; in his hands is a cane decorated with paper figures. The gentleman has a big belly and his jacket is not buttoned.

Farmer, an overcoat on his shoulders, a shoulder strap in his hands, a hat on his head.

Panya, kumachnik - red sundress, white shirt and white apron, double-row silk belt; on the head there is a “bandage” with ribbons, in the hands there is a fan and a scarf.

Horse, a man, has a tail made of straw attached to him.

Amazing people: half a dozen or seven boys, twelve years old; faces covered in soot.

Bull, doesn’t particularly dress up, but sneaks in from the Fofans (masked participants in the game).

Petitioners, usually Fofans from the public.

The game begins like this: the players approach the house where, for example, a party is taking place. They open the door and the first one runs into the hut Horse and whips the audience with a chase; everyone in the hut stands on benches, some climb onto the floors, and thus the hut becomes free for action. The whole company enters the hut behind the Horse and goes singing to the front corner; A lantern is carried in front of them. In the front corner Master stands facing the people, with one hand next to them Panya, on the other hand - Farmer. People and Fofans (mummers) from the street come in behind the players and stand all over the hut.

Master.

Master, hostess,
Viceroy, viceroy,
Good fellows,
Red girls
Hello!

All (answer). Hello, hello, Mr. Master, hello!

Master.

Master, hostess,
Viceroy, viceroy,
Good fellows,
Red girls
Do you have any requests between yourselves?

All. Yes, yes.

Master. Come, come!

One of the Fofans comes up, pretending to be a petitioner.

Petitioner. Mister master, accept my request.

Master. Who are you?

Petitioner (called a fictitious name, the name of some guy in the village). Vladimir Voronin.

Master. What are you asking for?

Petitioner. To Paraskovya I ask: in the summer Parashka loves me, and in the winter another guy loves Vasily.

Master. Come here, Paraskovya. Why do you love two people at once?

Paraskovya- also the real name of some girl in the village. Instead, one of the Fofans comes up to the Barin’s call and begins to argue and swear with the petitioner. They say whoever wants to do what... The Master and the Tax-Taker consult out loud which of those on trial is guilty and who should be punished: the guy or the girl; For example, a girl is found guilty. The master says: “Come on, Paraskovya, lean against your back!” Paraskovya obeys the court's decision and turns her back. The farmer punishes her with a whip. After the first petitioner, another comes and puts out some other request about the neighbor, about the wife, and so on. The basis for the requests is usually some fact that actually exists in the village, which, of course, is exaggerated, brought to the point of ridiculousness, to the point of absurdity, and thus the trial is a satire on local life and morals, sometimes very evil, sometimes cruel. When there are no more petitioners and all requests have been considered, court decisions have been made and sentences have been executed, the sale of the Horse begins.

Master. Kupchinushka, do you have a horse to sell?

Farmer. Yes, yes.

Lead Horse. The master leads the Horse around the hut, watches him run, looks him in the teeth, pokes him in the sides, makes him jump over a stick and decides to buy him.

Master. How much do you want for a horse?

Farmer.

One hundred rubles in money
Forty magpies
Salty………
Forty anbars
Ice cream cockroaches,
Arshine of butter,
Three skeins of sour milk,
Michalka Tamitsyna nose,
Our Kozharikha's tail.

Master.

I’ll find a hundred rubles in my pocket,
And forty forty
Salty frogs,
Forty anbars
Dry cockroaches
Will you, laymen?

All. We will exact, we will exact.

The master gives the money and takes the Horse.

The whole company leaves for another party, of which three or four go around in the evening.

Questions and tasks

1. Why did folklorists call this play-game a satirical drama?

2. Describe the main characters of the show, their appearance, characters.

1. Try to get involved in the game: act as Fofans and come up with comic accusations against one of the participants in the game. It can be any student in your class: after all, the point of the game is to include familiar participants with problems familiar to everyone.

2. Decide whether this play is more of a stage performance or a game.

Children's folklore

From an early age you get acquainted with works of children's folklore. These are counting rhymes, teasers, fables, horror stories, family stories and much more.

Children's folklore is works of oral folk art created by children and for children.

Origin of the surname

Our family keeps old documents. Among them there is a document from which we know that at the beginning of the nineteenth century my ancestors lived in the Smolensk province in a village called Rakity and were peasants. The village was called so because it was located in a place where there were many small rivers and ponds, along the banks of which grew a lot of beautiful trees, which were called brooms. These trees have branches that bend down to the water, forming a thick green wall. All residents of the village had the same surname - Rakitins - after the name of the village. Therefore, they did not call each other by their last names, but only by their first names. Lazy people were called only by name - Proshka, Afonka, etc., but hardworking people and old people were called respectfully by name and patronymic. And everyone always knew who they were talking about.

Questions and tasks

1. Write a story about the origin of your last name.

2. Give an explanation of the origin of the last name of one of your friends.

Children's tricks

Previously, there were almost no buttons, and those that were sold were very expensive. Grandmother took nickels, covered them with fabric and sewed them on instead of buttons. And my mother and her sister tore off these “buttons,” took out the patches and went to the movies with them.

Questions and tasks

1. Why did the mother tell her daughter about this way of getting money for movie tickets?

2. Think about funny experiences involving grandparents in your family.

* * *

Early in the morning, in the evening,
At noon, at dawn
Baba rode on horseback in a painted carriage.

And behind her at full speed,
With quiet steps,
The wolf tried to swim across
A bowl of pies.

This fable was first recorded in the 19th century, in 1863. But even now the guys create similar works.

* * *

That part of speech
which fell from the stove,
Hit the floor -
It's called a "verb".

* * *

Given: Sasha climbs out the window.
Let's say we won't let him in.
You need to prove how he will get out.

The short comic works that we reminded you of are part of the school folklore that your peers create.

Questions and tasks

1. How do you explain the appearance of such fables? Why were they called fables?

2. What class could the one who composed these tales be in?

3. Have you come across or created similar jokes yourself?

Remember the genres of children's folklore you know.

Give examples.

Hold a children's folklore competition in the classroom - works created by the students themselves.

Final questions and assignments

1. What types of literature do you think works of folklore gravitate towards most? Why?

2. Are there any works of folklore that you are familiar with that you learned not from a book, but through oral speech? Name them.

1. What artistic features of folklore do you think are the most characteristic?

2. What genres of folklore do you use in your own speech?

1. What genres of folklore still live today in people’s oral speech?

2. Is it possible for new genres of folklore to emerge today? What is your opinion? Prove you're right.

Ancient literature

Homer
(c. VIII century BC)

Ancient literature spans several centuries. Its beginning is the 18th century BC. Homeric period of ancient literature – XVIII–VIII centuries. BC.

Homer is a legendary ancient Greek poet. Seven Greek cities argued among themselves for the right to be considered the birthplace of this blind creator of the Iliad and Odyssey: Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Pylos, Argos, Athens. Rome, Babylon and Mycenae claimed their rights to the place of his birth, without even considering it necessary to enter into a dispute on this issue.

The evidence of his life is unique. Even the usual indication that Homer was blind is questioned: in his poems there are too many visible signs of time - they are saturated with the bright colors of living life and this is evidenced at least by the abundance of epithets that a blind man would not use... There is an assumption that about Blind Homer began to be talked about after a monument was erected in Alexandria on which he was depicted as blind, since this emphasized his wisdom and insight.

There is a story about how he competed with Hesiod: his poetry and performance were impeccable, but he praised war, while Hesiod sang about peaceful labor. The listeners wanted peace, and therefore the singer of a peaceful theme won the competition.

Homer, who lost, retired to the island of Chios. If during the competition Hesiod asked him difficult questions and received poetic answers (the Greeks thought that Homer always spoke only in verse), then here he received a joke question from the fishermen and, unable to solve it, died of chagrin.

His grave is still shown on the island of Chios.

Dante called him "the king of poets." The Russian translator of the Iliad, N. I. Gnedich, considered it “the most excellent encyclopedia of antiquity.”

The meter used in the Iliad and Odyssey is hexameter.

Hexameter - in ancient versification - six-foot dactyl. Dactyl is a three-syllable meter with stress on the 1st syllable. In this case, a caesura is used - it usually cuts the 3rd foot.

This is how it looks in the poem: “Wrath, goddess, sing / to Achilles, son of Peleus...”

The translation of these poems has long lived in Russian literature. The Iliad was translated into Russian by N. I. Gnedich; “The Odyssey” - V. A. Zhukovsky. Gnedich's friend, the fabulist Krylov, studied Greek in order to be a useful assistant in this important matter.

The heroes of the poems are endowed with individual traits: Achilles is quick-tempered, but he is characterized by many other qualities - the author finds 46 epithets for them. Most often he is “swift-footed”...

When describing characters and events in poems, comparison and hyperbole are also actively used. Since the heroes of the poems are heroes, even the strongman Patroclus cannot lift the spear of Achilles; neither Telemachus nor Penelope's suitors can string the bow of Odysseus.

Both poems - “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” - reproduce Ancient Greece, depicting in detail the life and customs of a distant era. But if the Odyssey talks more about “peace”, then the Iliad talks more about “war”.

The plot of the Iliad is based on a description of the tenth year of the Trojan War. It is called the “Iliad” after another name for Troy - Ilion. The plot reproduces only a small part of the events of the many years of war, but the descriptions of places and circumstances turned out to be so accurate and detailed that, following these instructions, the archaeologist G. Schliemann succeeded - many centuries later! – find the location of historical Troy.

Let us recall the plot of the Iliad, which you know from history lessons. The commander of the Greek troops, Agamemnon, and the most glorious fighter of his army, Achilles, are in a quarrel. Therefore, Achilles does not participate in the battles and the Trojans are close to victory. To help out his army, Achilles’ friend Patroclus goes into battle, wearing Achilles’ armor to intimidate his opponents. In a duel with Hector he dies. Achilles, deprived of armor, cannot enter the battle. The goddess Thetis, his mother, turns to Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, who forges new armor for Achilles. In a duel with Hector, he wins and, after the requests of the unfortunate father, gives him his son’s body. The poem ends with Hector's burial.

Questions and tasks

1. What scenes of the living life of that time are depicted especially vividly by the lines of the Iliad? Name them and read the fragments with these descriptions from the text.

2. When does the reader first meet the main character of the Iliad, Achilles? Read these lines.

1. The poem contains 46 epithets that characterize Achilles. Name a few that you think are most important for assessing it.

2. What role does the image of Achilles' shield play in the description of the events of the poem?

3. How is the technique of hyperbole used to describe the shield of Achilles?

1. Describe Achilles as a victorious warrior and as a hero.

2. What important principles of human behavior are affirmed by the poem?

3. How to explain why the poem was used for many years as the main textbook for the younger generation?

Renaissance Literature

Tragedy.

The World and Man in the Renaissance

The Renaissance, or Renaissance (Italian name), in the cultural history of European countries covers the 14th – early 17th centuries. This is the era of transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age, the turning point of which is the affirmation of the beauty and harmony of the universe, faith in the creative capabilities of man and the power of his mind.

Boundless faith in the intrinsic value of the individual was the basis of the teachings of Renaissance thinkers, so they began to be called humanists (from the Latin homo - man). They realized that every person is endowed not only with reason, but also with feelings (passions). This explains their desire for a multifaceted knowledge of man and the world.

The Renaissance gave the world a huge number of titans of thought: scientists, artists, writers. Among them, a special place belongs to W. Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare
(1564–1616)

The great English playwright and poet, who appeared at the end of the Renaissance, is still one of the most famous writers. He is the author of tragedies, historical chronicles, comedies and lyrical works (sonnets). The world created by this author is huge: in it the duration and course of human life are measured by the clock of historical time, historical events are closely connected with the fate of man.

There is extremely little documented evidence of the life of William Shakespeare. The writer’s biography is still a mystery to scientists. The scarcity of reliable facts about Shakespeare has given rise to many biographical legends. The man who defined the face of his time, who wrote a gallery of contemporary human types, himself remained in the shadows. Literary researchers offer us, the readers, no less than thirty names of those who can be considered the creators of Shakespeare's plays. But these scrupulous long-term searches are another confirmation of the significance of his work.

Readers and viewers of many generations have become devoted fans of this author's talent. However, Europe discovered Shakespeare only in the 18th century: in the 30s, Voltaire recognized him and made him famous in France, and in the early 70s in Germany, Goethe discovered him for himself and for the subsequent romantic era. Thus, Shakespeare enters European culture, embodying the ideals of the “universal genius,” making possible a new look at history, which in his plays appears for the first time as the world history of mankind.

If Hamlet and Othello, King Lear and Macbeth are the heroes of Shakespeare’s later tragedies, then Romeo and Juliet are the young heroes of the very first tragedy he wrote. The confrontation between two families and the love of children from warring houses came together in the play named after them - “Romeo and Juliet”. In the finale, they die, defeating enmity with love, because they did not betray either her or themselves.

A tragedy is a play in which there is a sharp clash of personality with other people or circumstances, leading to the death of the hero.