In this comedy, the main thing is not the plot, but the hero, the "boastful warrior." In the old days, there were no professional warriors in Greece, there were militias. And then, when war became a profession, dashing mercenaries appeared who went to serve anyone, at least to the ends of the world, for the most part died, and those who did not die returned to their homeland rich and loudly boasted of the miracles that he saw , and the feats that he allegedly accomplished. Such a boastful, rude warrior who suddenly became rich became a regular character in comedies.
Plautus calls him by the pompous name Pirgopolinik, which means "Conqueror of the Tower". He sits in front of his house and watches how the servants clean his armor - "so that the sun is brighter!". With him - a hanger-on named Khlebogryz, together they count how many enemies Pyrgopolinik laid down in his campaigns: some in Scythia, some in Persia, only seven thousand, and all in one day! And then even in India, he interrupted the elephant's arm with one left, that is, the leg, and then hitting only half-heartedly! And in general, what a hero he is - and a hero, and a brave man, and a handsome man, and how women love him!
In fact, he is a swindler, a coward and a lecher. This is reported to the public by his slave named Palestrion. Palestrion served in Athens with one young man, and he loved one girl. When the young man was away, this same Pirgopolinik kidnapped this girl by deceit and took her here, to the city of Ephesus. Palestrion rushed to warn the master, but on the way he was seized by pirates and sold into slavery to the same Pyrgopolinik. However, he managed to send the message to the former owner; he came to Ephesus, settled in the neighborhood of a warrior with a kind old man and secretly sees his beloved. Here on the stage is the house of a warrior, and here is the house of an old man, they are nearby, and between them a clever slave easily built a secret passage.
Everything would be fine, but another servant of the warrior spied on the meeting of the lovers, and the old neighbor is very alarmed: the warrior would not have arranged a pogrom for him. “Okay,” says Palestrion, “let’s imagine that his girlfriend had a twin sister in Athens, so she settled with her lover with you, old man.” As for the witness, he can be confused and intimidated: after all, the demand is from him if he overlooked it. In fact, while the spy is in a hurry with a denunciation, the girl, having made her way through the secret passage, is already at home and falls upon the ill-fated informer as a slanderer; and then, having again moved to a neighbor, she already shows herself openly and, under the guise of her own sister, has mercy on the young man, and the stupid slave's head is completely spinning.
The old neighbor is not opposed to such a prank, so that the Athenian youth is even uncomfortable: there is so much trouble because of him! “In such cases, I am glad to help,” the old man answers, “I myself am still greedy for beauties, and they are up to me: educated, witty, amiable - a real Ephesian!” “But why is he still single?” - the young man is surprised. "Freedom Above All!" - the old man proudly declares. "What's true is true!" - confirms the worker. “But what about without children? - the young man is surprised. "Who's taking care of you?" - "What you! - the old man waves off, - not a single son will be as attentive and courteous as distant relatives, hoping for my inheritance: they carry me in their arms! “And it’s for the best that you are not married,” says the slave. -
Find a hetaera, beautiful and greedy, and marry her off as your wife ... "-" Why is this? - the old man is surprised. “Let her pretend that she is head over heels in love with Pyrgopolinik and that she gave me this ring of yours for him ...” - the young man suggests. “I don’t understand anything, but I believe you: take it, do whatever you want,” the old man decides.
Heroes easily negotiate with hetero; the slave comes to Pyrgopolinik, gives him the ring, praises the neighbor, paints her love. A warrior, of course, believes: how not to fall in love with him? Now, then, it is only necessary to get rid of the Athenian kidnapped by him, so that the new beauty is not jealous. Perhaps it’s even good that her sister appeared here in the neighborhood: the warrior decides to hand her his mistress from hand to hand, and even generously bestow on her to keep quiet, and give the slave Palestrion freedom for her services and send them as escorts, A young man appears, betraying himself for the confidant of the mother of both girls; the warrior gives him his Athenian, she depicts great grief: oh, how hard it is for her to part with such a handsome and hero! A young man with a girlfriend, a slave and gifts safely sail away to Athens.
Virtue has triumphed, but vice has not yet been punished. However, this will not be long. The hetaera acts and plays, as planned, the old man's wife, in love with Pyrgopolinik. He obediently goes on a date with her to a neighbor's house. There, an old master with strong slaves pounces on him: “How dare you, accursed one, drive up to my wife?” They grab him, beat him, sharpen a knife in order to emasculate him on the spot; with loud cries, the warrior pays off the reprisal with large sums of money and, “limp from the beatings,” flees in disgrace, “I have been deceived, I have been punished - but, alas, deservedly so! All the libertines would be that way: there would be fewer of them. Well now home! and you, the audience, give us a clap!” This is the moral of the comedy.
Plautus
boastful warrior
In this comedy, the main thing is not the plot, but the hero, the "boastful warrior." In the old days, there were no professional warriors in Greece, there were militias. And then, when war became a profession, dashing mercenaries appeared who went to the service of anyone, even to the ends of the world, for the most part died, and those who did not die returned home rich and loudly boasted of the miracles that he saw , and the feats that he allegedly accomplished. Such a boastful, rude warrior who suddenly became rich became a regular character in comedies.
Plautus calls him by the pompous name Pirgopolinik, which means "Conqueror of the Tower". He sits in front of his house and watches how the servants clean his armor - "so that the sun is brighter!". Under him is a hanger-on named Khlebogryz, together they count how many enemies Pyrgopolinik laid down in his campaigns: some in Scythia, some in Persia, only seven thousand, and all in one day! And then back in India, with one left, he broke an elephant’s arm, that is, a leg, and then hitting only half-heartedly! And in general, what a hero he is - and a hero, and a brave man, and a handsome man, and how women love him!
In fact, he is a swindler, a coward and a lecher. This is reported to the public by his slave named Palestrion. Palestrion served in Athens with one young man, and he loved one girl. When the young man was away, this very Pyrgopolinik kidnapped this girl by deceit and took her here, to the city of Ephesus. Palestrion rushed to warn the master, but on the way he was seized by pirates and sold into slavery to the same Pyrgopolinik. However, he managed to send the message to the former owner; he came to Ephesus, settled in the neighborhood of a warrior with a kind old man and secretly sees his beloved. Here on the stage is the house of a warrior, and here is the house of an old man, they are nearby, and between them a clever slave easily built a secret passage.
Everything would be fine, but another slave of the warrior spied on the meeting of the lovers, and the old neighbor is very alarmed: the warrior would not have arranged a pogrom for him. “Okay,” says Palestrion, “let’s imagine that his girlfriend had a twin sister in Athens, so she settled with her lover with you, old man.” As for the witness, he can be confused and intimidated: after all, the demand is from him if he overlooked it. In fact, while the spy is in a hurry with a denunciation, the girl, having made her way through the secret passage, is already at home and falls upon the ill-fated informer as a slanderer; and then, having again moved to a neighbor, she already shows herself openly and, under the guise of her own sister, has mercy on the young man, and the stupid slave's head is completely spinning.
The old neighbor is not opposed to such a prank, so that the Athenian youth is even uncomfortable: there is so much trouble because of him! “In such matters I am glad to help,” the old man replies, “I myself am still greedy for beauties, and they are up to me: educated, witty, amiable - a real Ephesian!” “But why is he still single?” - the young man is surprised. "Freedom Above All!" - the old man proudly declares. "What's true is true!" - confirms the worker. “But what about without children? - the young man is surprised. "Who's taking care of you?" - "What you! - the old man waves away, - not a single son will be as attentive and courteous as distant relatives, hoping for my inheritance: they carry me in their arms! “And it’s for the best that you are not married,” says the slave. -
Find a hetaera, beautiful and greedy, and marry her off as your wife ... "-" Why is this? - the old man is surprised. “Let her pretend that she is head over heels in love with Pyrgopolinik and that she gave me this ring of yours for him ...” - the young man suggests. “I don’t understand anything, but I believe you: take it, do whatever you want,” the old man decides.
Heroes easily negotiate with hetero; the slave comes to Pyrgopolinik, gives him the ring, praises his neighbor, paints her love. A warrior, of course, believes: how not to fall in love with him? Now, then, it is only necessary to get rid of the Athenian kidnapped by him, so that the new beauty is not jealous. Perhaps it’s even good that her sister appeared here in the neighborhood: the warrior decides to hand her his mistress from hand to hand, and even generously bestow on her to keep quiet, and give the slave Palestrion freedom for her services and send them as escorts, A young man appears, betraying himself for the confidant of the mother of both girls; the warrior gives him his Athenian, she depicts great grief: oh, how hard it is for her to part with such a handsome and hero! A young man with a girlfriend, a slave and gifts safely sail away to Athens.
Virtue has triumphed, but vice has not yet been punished. However, this will not be long. Hetera comes forward and plays, as planned, the old man's wife, in love with Pyrgopolinik. He obediently goes on a date with her to a neighbor's house. There, an old master with strong slaves pounces on him: “How dare you, accursed one, drive up to my wife?” They grab him, beat him, sharpen a knife in order to emasculate him on the spot; with loud cries, the warrior pays off the reprisal with large sums of money and, “limp from the beatings,” flees in disgrace, “I have been deceived, I have been punished - but, alas, deservedly so! All the libertines would be that way: there would be fewer of them. Well now home! and you, the audience, give us a clap!” This is the moral of the comedy.
Abstract: Plautus' comedy "The Boastful Warrior"
"The Boastful Warrior" is one of the main plays of Plautus. The time of its writing is determined by a remark about one poet who sits with his head propped on his hand, and at which there is a guard of two people. This is a clear reference to the poet Naevius, imprisoned for violent attacks against representatives of the conservative groups of the patriciate. These lines could have been written before the death of Nevius, i.e. until 204 BC e. - probably around 205. The then existing customs and foundations of Roman society were brilliantly reflected in the literature of that time (Plavt, Terence, Quintus Ennius, Gnaeus Nevius, Livius Andronicus, etc.).
A short digression into the history of that time allows you to find out that by the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. Rome was a polis, a city-state, typical of antiquity. In the second half of the III century. The Romans subjugated the entire middle part of Italy, and then the territory of Southern Italy and the island of Sicily. This territory was called Magna Graecia and was a rich Greek colony.
The expansion of Rome enriched the privileged part of its society. The influence of money-usurious groups of the so-called estate of horsemen increased. The elite of the unprivileged - the plebs - also enriched itself. She achieved the right to occupy the highest government positions and formed, together with the patricians, the Roman nobility - the nobility.
Victorious wars brought crowds of slaves to Rome, and slave labor is gradually replacing the labor of small free owners - peasants and artisans.
The conquest of Magna Graecia made it possible for the Romans to come into direct contact with high Greek culture. The continued commercial and military expansion in the Mediterranean region pushed Rome, first of all, with the commercial aristocratic republic in northern Africa, Carthage, the master of the entire Mediterranean Sea. The 1st Punic (Carthaginian) War (264-241) delivered Sicily to the Romans; further they occupied Corsica, Sardinia, and even part of Illyria in Greece; The 2nd Punic War (218-201) gave Spain and the entire Carthaginian fleet to the Romans. The 3rd Punic War (149-146) led to the burning of Carthage itself by Scipio Aemilianus. Macedonia (148) and Greece (146) were immediately annexed to Rome, and thus by the middle of the 2nd century. Rome became the ruler of the entire Mediterranean Sea.
One of the most important social results of all the conquests mentioned above and the emergence of a wealthy intelligentsia associated with this is the Hellenization of Rome, which radically transformed the entire spiritual life of the country and people. In place of the old ascetic ideals of frugality, labor, homeland defense, and life within the confines of a small urban community, a desire for luxury, refined culture, and easy-to-get riches is now being developed.
The main character of the comedy is Pyrgopolinik, a military leader, a boaster who boasts of his exploits on the battlefield and victories over women's hearts, although in reality he is a coward in battles, and hates women.
Pirgopolinik is in the service of King Seleucus, but the Roman audience in his image saw a satire on those Roman military leaders who, during the Punic Wars, did not shine with exploits, but in a peaceful atmosphere they boasted of their victories. Plautus even gave the name to this hero as a mockery: Pirgopolinik, translated into Russian, sounds loudly - "winner of cities and towers"; and the viewer understands that such a name should be put in quotation marks as it does not correspond to the essence of this character.
The boasting of Pyrgopolinik is supported by his parasit Artotrog (Bread-biter). He says that he remembers how Pyrgopolinik "blew the legions with his breath, like the wind blowing leaves or straw from the roofs."
Then he adds:
And then you're in India
With one blow, he broke the arm of the elephant
Pyrgopolynic
How is the hand?
Artotrog
That is, the thigh, I wanted to say (26-29).
Pyrgopolynic
Do you remember...
Artotrog
I remember. Hundred and a half
In Cilicia, yes, a hundred in Scytholatronia,
Fifty Macedonians, thirty in Sardis - yes,
That's what you killed the people in a single day.
Pyrgopolynic
What about in total?
Artotrog
Seven thousand in total.
Pyrgopolynic
There must be so many. You are counting correctly.
...........
Artotrog
How are you in Cappadocia? I'd kill right away
Five hundred and one blow: sorry, the sword was dull!
Pyrgopolynic
That trash was infantry! A! Let them live!
Artotrog
And yet, what am I! The whole world knows about it!
Pyrgopolynic! You are the only one in the world
And valor, and marvelous beauty,
And in exploits you will not find an equal!
All women love you - and rightly so,
You are so beautiful!.. (42-60).
In fact, this braggart, unfortunate warrior did not accomplish any feats of war, did not defeat a single woman's heart. Slave Palestrion says of him thus:
My Lord...
Boastful warrior, nasty and unscrupulous.
Full of deceit and debauchery.
Believe him - they are chasing him
By the good will of a woman, in fact, he
For everyone, wherever it turns, a laughingstock (89-93).
Pyrgopolinik, through a bawd, deceived the Athenian girl Philokomasia to Ephesus and made her his mistress. Philokomasia loved the young man Pleusicles, but he was not there at the time when Pirgopolinik forcibly took the girl to his ship. The faithful slave of this young man, Palestrion, hurried to go to his master to report the abduction of Philokomasia, but the ship on which he was traveling was captured by robbers, and the poor slave was captured, and then was presented to Pyrgopolinik by one of the robbers. He brought him to his house, where Palestrion met Philokomasia. She gave him a sign to keep quiet, and then, left alone with him, "the poor thing cried for her fate":
I want to run away to Athens, away from here, -
That I love, the former
Athenian lover, as a warrior to me
Disgusting, hated like no other (127-129).
Palestrion nevertheless managed to inform his young master about the trouble his beloved girl was in. The young man secretly came to Ephesus and settled in a house adjacent to the house of Pyrgopolinik, with the old man Periplektomen, a friend of his father. The cunning Palestrion broke through the wall in the room where Philokomasia lived, arranged a secret passage and made it possible for the lovers to meet. The slave Skeledra, who was assigned to guard Philokomasia, noticed how she met and kissed some young man in a neighboring house, but he was convinced that this was Philokomasia's sister Dikaya, very similar to her, who settled in a neighboring house with to your beloved.
Periplectomenos, in whose residence Pleusicles, beloved of Philokomasia, is presented by Plautus as a positive hero. He is smart, courteous, energetic, kind and always ready to help people in trouble, and, despite the fact that he is already in his sixties, he is still full of a thirst for life, ready to marry again, if only to find a good wife, not grumpy and not a reel. The clever slave Palestrion suits the fate of his master Pleusicles and leads the braggart Pirgopolinik by the nose. On his advice, one of the clients of Periplectomenos was dressed up in a rich dress and passed off as the wife of this respectable man. On her behalf, the maid gives Pyrgopolinik a ring and asks him to come on a date with a woman in love with him. Pyrgopolinik is delighted, but he needs to somehow get rid of his mistress Philokomasia. Then the clever Palestrion advises him to send the woman home - to Athens, especially since, they say, her mother and sister came to Ephesus. Pyrgopolinik gladly sends Philokomasia out, giving her even all the jewels and dresses and giving her the slave Palestrion. For Philokomasia comes her dear Pleusicles, dressed as a sailor, as if to accompany her to the ship to her mother. Pyrgopolinik goes on a date and falls into an ambush arranged according to the plan of Palestrion. He is captured by the slaves of Periplektomen, beaten half to death because "the loafer dared to drive up to someone else's wife."
The comedy depicts and ridicules a Greek military leader, but the Roman audience undoubtedly associated this image with their own modernity, with those warriors of the Punic Wars who not only fought, but trudged in the supply trains of the commissaries, and in a peaceful setting boasted of their victories both in battles and in the sphere of love. relations. Pyrgopolinik constantly gets into trouble, he surprises with his stupidity and mediocrity. He invariably again and again becomes the object of manipulation from the outside among the people around him. Carelessness, narcissism, narrow-mindedness, vanity, depravity, cowardice, meanness, reasoning, unscrupulousness - these are other components of the character of the "glorious" warriors. The author enhances the image of the protagonist by comparing with other acting characters, bringing bright colors with vulgarism and hyperbole.
The composition of this comedy also emphasizes this. She is not distinguished by proper harmony. So, the motif with a secret passage and with the image of Philokomasia running from one house to another does not help the development of the plot and is even superfluous, because if the mistress of Pirgopolinik, thanks to the secret passage, could meet her beloved, then, therefore, she had every opportunity to run away with he, therefore, did not need an intrigue with the dummy wife of Periplectomenos. This circumstance leads scientists to the conclusion that Plautus in the comedy "The Boastful Warrior" used the plots of some two Greek everyday comedies (contamination).
Indeed, the play turned out to be stretched, roughness and inconsistencies are found in it. But even if the author combined two Greek plays for greater saturation of the action, he achieved his main goal: he got an extremely lively comedy with comic qui pro quo, disguise and tricks of a dodgy slave.
And the images in it are alive: a smart, energetic slave, devoted to his young master; boasted of a military leader, rightfully punished for his "exploits"; dexterous maids helping their masters. The most interesting image of the comedy is the image of Palestrion, inexhaustible in his inventions, making plans for how to fool Pyrgopolinicus, leading the battle for the implementation of this plan. No wonder Plautus so often uses military vocabulary in this comedy. So, Periplektomen tells the audience about how Palestrion is considering his plan, how he would better spend Pirgopolynik:
Look! How worth it! He frowned, worried, thinking.
Snapped his fingers. Difficult. Not worth the poor.
Shakes his head. Bad idea. But somehow
Will not give what is not ready. Will give that deliciously fried (202-209).
Come up with a plan quickly.
Gather troops and forces. Alive! No time to delay.
Somehow warn them, circle the army.
Lure the enemies into an ambush, prepare protection for us.
Cut their message, strengthen your ways,
So that supplies and supplies reach you and your troops
Safely reached (220-226).
From the monologue of Periplectomenos, we learn that the Roman actors, who, in contrast to the Greek ones, were without masks, played a large role in facial expressions and gestures, and that the acting technique in this situation was sufficiently developed.
The language of the characters is expressive. This should be especially said about the speech of the slave Palestrion and the old man Periplectomenos.
The image of the boastful warrior turned out to be extremely tenacious in subsequent dramatic literature. He is reborn in the comedy dell "arte of the 16th-17th centuries in the form of an adventurer and braggart "Captain".
The last scene of the comedy may have influenced the ending of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Of the proper names of this comedy, the following are characteristic: the name of the warrior - Pyrgopolinik - "winning fortresses and cities", his and Pleusikles beloved - Philokomasia - "loving feasts", the slave - Palestrion - "skilled wrestler" (palestra - a platform for fighting), parasita - Artotrog - "bread-biter", the patron of Pleusicles - Periplektomen - "hugging", i.e. dear, Karion - "originating from Kariya" (in Asia Minor). The names Skeledra, Pleusicles, Milphidippa, Akroteleutia, Lurcion are not etymologically clear.
Thus, despite the inconsistency of this work in terms ofsome serious ideas, which it carries, it is safe to say that at least the theme of ridicule of the Roman military aristocracy in the comedy is presented and brought to its logical conclusion.
Bibliography
boastful warrior float
1. Losev, A.F. Antique literature / A.F. Losev. - M: CheRo, 2005. - 350 p.
2. Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. Ed. prof. Gorkina A.P.; Moscow: Rosman; 2006.
3. Literary encyclopedia. In 11 tons; M.: 1929-1939
4. M. Pokrovsky, Collected works in 3 volumes. T. 1. M .: "Terra", 1997
5. Frendenberg O. M. Poetics of plot and genre / O. M. Frendenberg. - M: Labyrinth, 1997. - 448 p. 6. [Electronic resource] http://www. portal-slovo. en /Answer option 1:
Theater quickly took root in Rome. Plautus (died c. 184). I limited myself to comedy. Raiotal in the field of "palliata", comedies with a Greek plot, reworking Greek plays for the Roman stage, mainly neo-Attic comedies - Menander, Philemon and Diphilus. Plautus, like Nevius, is a poet with a democratic orientation. Based on the new comedy, the Roman playwright weakens its serious side, strengthens the elements of buffoonery and brings his plays closer to more primitive forms of comic play. Prologues. "The Boastful Warrior" (ca. 204). The title mask received a classic incarnation in it. The warrior is limited and swaggering, he listens with pleasure to caricature-exaggerated fables composed for him by the parasitic Artotrog (also a typical figure). One of the sources for Shakespeare's Falstaff.
Philkomasia - the slave of Pyrgopolinik, clean, caught in a binder; Loves the Athenian Pleusicles.2 intrigues. But there is also a reasoner - the neighbor war Periplektomen, a cheerful and sociable old man who patronizes young people in love. The novelty of the image.
"Treasure". More serious comedy. Old Euclion, who found the treasure and trembled for it; Honest but unlucky Lyconides, who raped the old man's daughter, but loves her and wants to marry. comic dialogue. But the end of the comedy has not survived the prototype of "The Miserly" by Moliere and "The Miserly Knight".
Types: bright and thick colors. In wealthy images, as a rule, there is no positive characteristic: an old man, a young man, a braggart warrior, a pimp, a usurer, a greedy hetera, a grumpy wife. The favorite figure of Plautus is a slave, not only the bearer of intrigue, but also the focus of the buffoonery element. Buffoonery and parody, but energy and resourcefulness. Plautus' goal is to make everyone laugh. Combination of the "new" comedy with folk jester's theatre, the dialogue is full of witticisms, puns, hyperbole, rude jokes - sometimes.
Answer option 2:
no, comrades, excuse me, there’s no more time for a biography.
lived from about 225 to 184. BC.
P. worked in the field of palliata - comedy from Greek. plot, reworking for Rome. Greek scenes. plays, mainly produced by the masters of the "new" comedy - Menander, Philemon .. However, P.'s plays are very different from the "new" room. P. - playwright with democrat. direction Removes complex philosophy moments, strength buffoonery moment, =>
"Treasure" ("Kubyshka")
The basis for the creation of psychol. developed the image became folk. representative about the harm that can bring a person unexpectedly fell on him wealth. Poor, honest old man Euclion finds a treasure of gold, and the find brings him out of his souls. balance: does not sleep at night, does not leave the house, etc. God is wooing his daughter. merchant Megador; he is afraid of his wife's extravagance, he is a philosopher in the spirit of antich. utopians, they say, marriages between God. and poor. conducive to family strength and softened. societies. contradictions. Because of the wedding, there will be strangers in the house, \u003d\u003e
Favorite figure P. - slave - pres. is the most dynamic comedy mask, the least constrained in actions, words, gestures. He is not only the carrier of intrigue, but also the focus of the buffoon e-ta.
P. worked in the field of palliata - comedy from Greek. plot, reworking for Rome. Greek scenes. plays, mainly produced by the masters of the "new" comedy - Menander, Philemon .. However, P.'s plays are very different from the "new" room. P. - playwright with democrat. direction Removes complex philosophy moments, strength moment of buffoonery, => primitives. Clear division into white and black. “Inverted” plots are frequent: the slave is the engine of the plot. The characters of Plautus know no limits (Corny's formulation)). Dialogue + recitative, no chorus. In one com. - several stories. Com. created in the tradition of comedy. folk theatre. Almost no satire.
The Boastful Warrior (c. 205) is a comedy against_heroic_persons.
The main thing in it is not the plot, but the hero, “boastful. warrior". In the old times in Greece prof. There were no warriors, there were militias. Later, when war became a profession, dashing mercenaries appeared, who went to serve anyone, even to the ends of the world, for the most part died, and those who did not die returned to their homeland rich and boasted loudly .. So rich at once a boastful warrior-rude became a post in comedies. character.
In Plautus, this hero is Pirgopolinik (“Victorious Tower City”). He sits in front of his house and watches how the servants clean his armor - “so that the sun is brighter!”. With him - a hanger-on named Khlebogryz; Together they count how many enemies Pirg-k laid down in campaigns: some in Scythia, some in Persia, only 7 thousand, and all in one day! And then even in India, he interrupted the elephant's arm with one left, that is, the leg, and then hitting only half-heartedly! And in general, what a hero he is - and a hero, and a brave man, and a handsome man, and how women love him!
In fact, he is a swindler, a coward and a debauchee, - message. to the public his slave Palestrion. Pal-n served in Athens with a young man, Pleusicles, who loved one girl, Philokomasia. When the young man was away, this very Pir-k kidnapped this girl by deceit and took her here, to the city of Ephesus. Pal-n rushed to warn the master, but on the way he was seized by pirates and sold into slavery to the same Pirg-ku. But he managed to send the message to the former owner; he came to Ephesus, settled in the neighborhood of a warrior with a kind old man and secretly sees his beloved. On the stage is the house of a warrior and the house of an old man; between them is a smart slave structure. secret. move.
Everything would be fine, but another servant of the warrior spied on the meeting of lovers, and the old neighbor is very alarmed: the warrior would not have arranged a pogrom for him. “Okay,” says Palestrion, “let’s imagine that his girlfriend had a twin sister in Athens, so she settled with her lover with you, old man.” (The motive of an imaginary double!) A witness can be confused and intimidated: after all, the demand is from him if he overlooked it. While the spy is in a hurry with a denunciation, the girl, having made her way through a secret passage, finds herself at home and falls upon the scammer as if she were a slanderer; and then, having again moved to a neighbor, he already shows himself openly and, under the guise of his sister, has mercy on the young man; stupid slave - o_0.
The old neighbor is not opposed to such a prank, so that the Athenian youth is even uncomfortable: there is so much trouble because of him! “In such matters I am glad to help,” the old man replies, “I myself am still greedy for beauties, and they are up to me: educated, witty, amiable - a real Ephesian!” “But why is he still single?” - the young man is surprised. "Freedom Above All!" - the old man proudly declares. "What's true is true!" - confirms the worker. “But what about without children? - the young man is surprised. "Who's taking care of you?" - "What you! - the old man waves away, - not a single son will be as attentive and courteous as distant relatives, hoping for my inheritance: they carry me in their arms! - “And it's for the best that you are not married, - gov. slave. - Find a hetaera, handsome. and greedy, and marry her off as your wife..." - "Why is that?" - the old man is surprised. “Let her pretend that she is head over heels in love with Pirg-ka and that she gave me this ring of yours for him ...” - the young man suggests. “I don’t understand anything, but I believe you: take it, do whatever you want,” the old man decides.
Heroes easily negotiate with hetero; the slave comes to Pirg-ku, gives him the ring, raskhv. neighbor, paints her love. A warrior believes: how not to fall in love with her? It is only necessary to get rid of the Athenian kidnapped by him, so that the new beauty is not jealous. Perhaps it’s even good that her sister appeared here in the neighborhood: the warrior decides to hand her his mistress from hand to hand, and even generously give her to keep quiet, and to give slave Pal-nu freedom for her services and send her escort with them, Appear- this young man, posing as a confidant of the mother of both girls; the warrior gives up his Athenian, she depicts great grief: oh, how hard it is for her to part with such a handsome and hero! A young man with a girlfriend, a slave and gifts safely sail away to Athens.
Virtue has triumphed, but vice has not yet been punished. However, this will not be long. Hetera comes forward and plays, as planned, the old man's wife, in love with Pirg-ka. He obediently goes on a date with her to a neighbor's house. There, an old master with strong slaves pounces on him: “How dare you, accursed one, drive up to my wife?” They grab him, beat him, sharpen a knife ..; with loud cries, the warrior pays off the reprisal with large sums of money and, “limp from the beatings,” flees in disgrace, “I have been deceived, I have been punished - but, alas, deservedly so! All the libertines would be that way: there would be fewer of them. Well now home! and you, the audience, clap!” Such morality zak-Xia com.
The image of Pyrg-ka entered the world. lit-ru. From the 16th century he is not alone. Heb. writing (Shakespeare).
An old neighbor who avoids family. fetters and cover for the tricks of youth, - the bearer of the Hellenistic. views on the lawsuit in life,) For rims. public such a figure - a novelty.
"Treasure" ("Kubyshka")- Naib. serious com. P. The image of a miser.
The basis for the creation of psychol. developed the image became folk. representative about the harm that can bring a person unexpectedly fell on him wealth. Poor, honest old man Euclion finds a treasure of gold, and the find brings him out of his souls. balance: does not sleep at night, does not leave the house, etc. God is wooing his daughter. merchant Megador; he is afraid of his wife's extravagance, he is a philosopher in the spirit of antich. utopians, they say, marriages between God. and poor. conducive to family strength and softened. societies. contradictions. Because of the wedding, there will be outsiders in the house, => Eucl. hurry hide the treasure outside the house. Track him down. a slave belonging to the tribe of Megador Likonid, and steals the treasure. Eucl. does not know that the daughter is about to give birth: during the night. holiday someone dishonored her. This was done by Lyconides; he knows the victim and provides. uncle's marriage. Eucl. rushing around the stage in search of the kidnapper, Likonides comes with a confession. Comic. dialogue: Lik. interpretation shocked Euc condition. as a result of his act; Evk. thinks Lik. confesses to stealing. “It’s not yours, you knew after all: you shouldn’t touch it.” - “Once, however, touched, it’s better to let it stay with me.”)))
End of com. not in the manuscripts: a break on the stage, in which Lik. discovered the slave's gourd.
But there is antique. retelling. Face. marries his daughter, the old man, having received the capsule back, gives it to the newlyweds, thus. freeing myself from the burden: "I had no rest either at night or during the day - now I will sleep."
I note that stinginess in the "Treasure" is not a trait of har-ra, but something transient, a kind of psychosis%).
Greek comedic poets tried to vary their type, the opposite of the position. a variant of a typical mask to its negative carriers. P. prefers bright and thick colors. In the depiction of representatives of wealthy circles (stingy / amorous "old man", mischievous "young man", "warrior"-bouncer), e-you put. characteristics are almost absent. There is no false idealization of poverty either. Traditional masks, including "greedy" hetaerae and "grumpy" wives, were comically sharper and ideologically closer to rims. democratic viewer than the "touching" versions of these masks in plays with a humane tendency.
"The Boastful Warrior" is one of the main plays of Plautus. The time of its writing is determined by a remark about one poet who sits with his head propped on his hand, and at which there is a guard of two people. This is a clear reference to the poet Naevius, imprisoned for violent attacks against representatives of the conservative groups of the patriciate. These lines could have been written before the death of Nevius, i.e. until 204 BC e. - probably around 205. The then existing customs and foundations of Roman society were brilliantly reflected in the literature of that time (Plavt, Terence, Quintus Ennius, Gnaeus Nevius, Livius Andronicus, etc.).
A short digression into the history of that time allows you to find out that by the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. Rome was a polis, a city-state, typical of antiquity. In the second half of the III century. The Romans subjugated the entire middle part of Italy, and then the territory of Southern Italy and the island of Sicily. This territory was called Magna Graecia and was a rich Greek colony.
The expansion of Rome enriched the privileged part of its society. The influence of money-usurious groups of the so-called estate of horsemen increased. The elite of the unprivileged - the plebs - also enriched itself. She achieved the right to occupy the highest government positions and formed, together with the patricians, the Roman nobility - the nobility.
Victorious wars brought crowds of slaves to Rome, and slave labor is gradually replacing the labor of small free owners - peasants and artisans.
The conquest of Magna Graecia made it possible for the Romans to come into direct contact with high Greek culture. The continued commercial and military expansion in the Mediterranean region pushed Rome, first of all, with the commercial aristocratic republic in northern Africa, Carthage, the master of the entire Mediterranean Sea. The 1st Punic (Carthaginian) War (264-241) delivered Sicily to the Romans; further they occupied Corsica, Sardinia, and even part of Illyria in Greece; The 2nd Punic War (218-201) gave Spain and the entire Carthaginian fleet to the Romans. The 3rd Punic War (149-146) led to the burning of Carthage itself by Scipio Aemilianus. Macedonia (148) and Greece (146) were immediately annexed to Rome, and thus by the middle of the 2nd century. Rome became the ruler of the entire Mediterranean Sea.
One of the most important social results of all the conquests mentioned above and the emergence of a wealthy intelligentsia associated with this is the Hellenization of Rome, which radically transformed the entire spiritual life of the country and people. In place of the old ascetic ideals of frugality, labor, homeland defense, and life within the confines of a small urban community, a desire for luxury, refined culture, and easy-to-get riches is now being developed.
The main character of the comedy is Pyrgopolinik, a military leader, a boaster who boasts of his exploits on the battlefield and victories over women's hearts, although in reality he is a coward in battles, and hates women.
Pirgopolinik is in the service of King Seleucus, but the Roman audience in his image saw a satire on those Roman military leaders who, during the Punic Wars, did not shine with exploits, but in a peaceful atmosphere they boasted of their victories. Plautus even gave the name to this hero as a mockery: Pirgopolinik, translated into Russian, sounds loudly - "winner of cities and towers"; and the viewer understands that such a name should be put in quotation marks as it does not correspond to the essence of this character.
The boasting of Pyrgopolinik is supported by his parasit Artotrog (Bread-biter). He says that he remembers how Pyrgopolinik "blew the legions with his breath, like the wind blowing leaves or straw from the roofs."
Then he adds:
And then you're in India
With one blow, he broke the arm of the elephant
Pyrgopolynic
How is the hand?
Artotrog
That is, the thigh, I wanted to say (26-29).
Pyrgopolynic
Do you remember...
Artotrog
I remember. Hundred and a half
In Cilicia, yes, a hundred in Scytholatronia,
Fifty Macedonians, thirty in Sardis - yes,
That's what you killed the people in a single day.
Pyrgopolynic
What about in total?
Artotrog
Seven thousand in total.
Pyrgopolynic
There must be so many. You are counting correctly.
Artotrog
How are you in Cappadocia? I'd kill right away
Five hundred and one blow: sorry, the sword was dull!
Pyrgopolynic
That trash was infantry! A! Let them live!
Artotrog
And yet, what am I! The whole world knows about it!
Pyrgopolynic! You are the only one in the world
And valor, and marvelous beauty,
And in exploits you will not find an equal!
All women love you - and rightly so,
You are so beautiful!.. (42-60).
In fact, this braggart, unfortunate warrior did not accomplish any feats of war, did not defeat a single woman's heart. Slave Palestrion says of him thus:
My Lord...
Boastful warrior, nasty and unscrupulous.
Full of deceit and debauchery.
Believe him - they are chasing him
By the good will of a woman, in fact, he
For everyone, wherever it turns, a laughingstock (89-93).
Pyrgopolinik, through a bawd, deceived the Athenian girl Philokomasia to Ephesus and made her his mistress. Philokomasia loved the young man Pleusicles, but he was not there at the time when Pirgopolinik forcibly took the girl to his ship. The faithful slave of this young man, Palestrion, hurried to go to his master to report the abduction of Philokomasia, but the ship on which he was traveling was captured by robbers, and the poor slave was captured, and then was presented to Pyrgopolinik by one of the robbers. He brought him to his house, where Palestrion met Philokomasia. She gave him a sign to keep quiet, and then, left alone with him, "the poor thing cried for her fate":
I want to run away to Athens, away from here, -
That I love, the former
Athenian lover, as a warrior to me
Disgusting, hated like no other (127-129).
Palestrion nevertheless managed to inform his young master about the trouble his beloved girl was in. The young man secretly came to Ephesus and settled in a house adjacent to the house of Pyrgopolinik, with the old man Periplektomen, a friend of his father. The cunning Palestrion broke through the wall in the room where Philokomasia lived, arranged a secret passage and made it possible for the lovers to meet. The slave Skeledra, who was assigned to guard Philokomasia, noticed how she met and kissed some young man in a neighboring house, but he was convinced that this was Philokomasia's sister Dikaya, very similar to her, who settled in a neighboring house with to your beloved.
Periplectomenos, in whose residence Pleusicles, beloved of Philokomasia, is presented by Plautus as a positive hero. He is smart, courteous, energetic, kind and always ready to help people in trouble, and, despite the fact that he is already in his sixties, he is still full of a thirst for life, ready to marry again, if only to find a good wife, not grumpy and not a reel. The clever slave Palestrion suits the fate of his master Pleusicles and leads the braggart Pirgopolinik by the nose. On his advice, one of the clients of Periplectomenos was dressed up in a rich dress and passed off as the wife of this respectable man. On her behalf, the maid gives Pyrgopolinik a ring and asks him to come on a date with a woman in love with him. Pyrgopolinik is delighted, but he needs to somehow get rid of his mistress Philokomasia. Then the clever Palestrion advises him to send the woman home - to Athens, especially since, they say, her mother and sister came to Ephesus. Pyrgopolinik gladly sends Philokomasia out, giving her even all the jewels and dresses and giving her the slave Palestrion. For Philokomasia comes her dear Pleusicles, dressed as a sailor, as if to accompany her to the ship to her mother. Pyrgopolinik goes on a date and falls into an ambush arranged according to the plan of Palestrion. He is captured by the slaves of Periplektomen, beaten half to death because "the loafer dared to drive up to someone else's wife."
The comedy depicts and ridicules a Greek military leader, but the Roman audience undoubtedly associated this image with their own modernity, with those warriors of the Punic Wars who not only fought, but trudged in the supply trains of the commissaries, and in a peaceful setting boasted of their victories both in battles and in the sphere of love. relations. Pyrgopolinik constantly gets into trouble, he surprises with his stupidity and mediocrity. He invariably again and again becomes the object of manipulation from the outside among the people around him. Carelessness, narcissism, narrow-mindedness, vanity, depravity, cowardice, meanness, reasoning, unscrupulousness - these are other components of the character of the "glorious" warriors. The author enhances the image of the protagonist by comparing with other acting characters, bringing bright colors with vulgarism and hyperbole.
The composition of this comedy also emphasizes this. She is not distinguished by proper harmony. So, the motif with a secret passage and with the image of Philokomasia running from one house to another does not help the development of the plot and is even superfluous, because if the mistress of Pirgopolinik, thanks to the secret passage, could meet her beloved, then, therefore, she had every opportunity to run away with he, therefore, did not need an intrigue with the dummy wife of Periplectomenos. This circumstance leads scientists to the conclusion that Plautus in the comedy "The Boastful Warrior" used the plots of some two Greek everyday comedies (contamination).
Indeed, the play turned out to be stretched, roughness and inconsistencies are found in it. But even if the author combined two Greek plays for greater saturation of the action, he achieved his main goal: he got an extremely lively comedy with comic qui pro quo, disguise and tricks of a dodgy slave.
And the images in it are alive: a smart, energetic slave, devoted to his young master; boasted of a military leader, rightfully punished for his "exploits"; dexterous maids helping their masters. The most interesting image of the comedy is the image of Palestrion, inexhaustible in his inventions, making plans for how to fool Pyrgopolinicus, leading the battle for the implementation of this plan. No wonder Plautus so often uses military vocabulary in this comedy. So, Periplektomen tells the audience about how Palestrion is considering his plan, how he would better spend Pirgopolynik:
Look! How worth it! He frowned, worried, thinking.
Snapped his fingers. Difficult. Not worth the poor.
Shakes his head. Bad idea. But somehow
Will not give what is not ready. Will give that deliciously fried (202-209).
Come up with a plan quickly.
Gather troops and forces. Alive! No time to delay.
Somehow warn them, circle the army.
Lure the enemies into an ambush, prepare protection for us.
Cut their message, strengthen your ways,
So that supplies and supplies reach you and your troops
Safely reached (220-226).
From the monologue of Periplectomenos, we learn that the Roman actors, who, in contrast to the Greek ones, were without masks, played a large role in facial expressions and gestures, and that the acting technique in this situation was sufficiently developed.
The language of the characters is expressive. This should be especially said about the speech of the slave Palestrion and the old man Periplectomenos.
The image of the boastful warrior turned out to be extremely tenacious in subsequent dramatic literature. He is reborn in the comedy dell "arte of the 16th-17th centuries in the form of an adventurer and braggart "Captain".
The last scene of the comedy may have influenced the ending of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Of the proper names of this comedy, the following are characteristic: the name of the warrior - Pyrgopolinik - "winning fortresses and cities", his and Pleusikles beloved - Philokomasia - "loving feasts", the slave - Palestrion - "skilled wrestler" (palestra - a platform for fighting), parasita - Artotrog - "bread-biter", the patron of Pleusicles - Periplektomen - "hugging", i.e. dear, Karion - "originating from Kariya" (in Asia Minor). The names Skeledra, Pleusicles, Milphidippa, Akroteleutia, Lurcion are not etymologically clear.
Thus, despite the inconsistency of this work in terms of some serious ideas that it carries, we can say with full confidence that at least the theme of ridiculing the Roman military aristocracy in the comedy is presented and brought to its logical conclusion.
Bibliography
boastful warrior float
1. Losev, A.F. Antique literature / A.F. Losev. - M: CheRo, 2005. - 350 p.
2. Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. Ed. prof. Gorkina A.P.; Moscow: Rosman; 2006.
3. Literary encyclopedia. In 11 tons; M.: 1929-1939
4. M. Pokrovsky, Collected works in 3 volumes. T. 1. M .: "Terra", 1997
5. Frendenberg O. M. Poetics of plot and genre / O. M. Frendenberg. - M: Labyrinth, 1997. - 448 p.
6. [Electronic resource] http://www.portal-slovo.ru/
Turning comedy into a jumble of hilarious episodes. The most famous adaptation of the Menechmes is Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. Boastful warrior (about 204 g), one of the most famous plot comedies of Plautus. In its center is the warrior Pyrgopolinik, boasting of his military exploits and confident that he is completely irresistible to women. The plot uses two rather ingenious complications. In-...
saw, and the feats that he allegedly performed. Such a boastful, rude warrior who suddenly became rich became a regular character in comedies. Plautus calls him by the pompous name Pirgopolinik, which means "Conqueror of the Tower". He sits in front of his house and watches how the servants clean his armor - "so that the sun is brighter!". With him - a hanger-on named Breadbiter, the two of them count how many enemies they killed ...
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