Euripides short biography. Biography of euripides Euripides ancient greek playwright biography

Name: Euripides

Date of Birth: 480 BC NS.

Age: 74 years old

Date of death: 406 BC NS.

Activity: playwright

Family status: was divorced

Euripides: biography

Euripides (Euripides) - the great ancient Greek playwright, younger contemporary of I. His biography would be a godsend for the modern yellow press: intrigue and rivalry with other poets, 2 who fell apart due to marriage betrayal, departure from his homeland and a mysterious death, presumably as a result of a court conspiracy.

Childhood and youth

Little information about the early years of Euripides has survived, and even they often contradict each other. The Greek comedian Aristophanes wrote that his mother Kleito traded herbs and vegetables in the market, but later sources denied this. Euripides clearly came from a wealthy family, since he received a versatile education - according to the Roman writer Aulus Gellius, he studied with the philosophers Protagoras and Anaxagoras.

As for the year of his birth, in many sources the date is September 23, 480 BC. NS. - on this day, the Greek army defeated the Persians in a naval battle at Salamis. However, other written evidence includes mentioning that Clayto conceived Euripides when King Xerxes invaded Europe, which happened 5 months before the Salamis victory.

Most likely, the future playwright was born later on September 23, just then his biographers "pulled" the date in order to "embellish" - then such techniques were often used in biographies.

Also found 2 more sources, indicating different information about the time of birth of Euripides: according to the inscription on the Parian marble, this happened in 486 BC. e., and according to other testimonies of contemporaries - in 481.

As a child, the future playwright was fond of sports and made great strides in gymnastics, winning competitions among boys of the same age. He dreamed of getting to the Olympic Games, but he was not taken because of his young age. Euripides was also engaged in drawing, but he did not succeed in this field.

Dramaturgy

In his youth, Euripides fell in love with reading and began collecting books, and over time he began to try his hand at writing plays. His debut work "Peliad" came out in 455 BC. e, and in 441 he received the first award for her. It is believed that the playwright was the owner of an extensive library, but it has not survived. Only 17 of his tragedies have come down to us, although at least 90 were written. Of the works of other genres, only the drama "Cyclops" has survived completely.

Although his contemporaries called him a philosopher on stage, Euripides never built an integral philosophical system for himself. His worldview was formed from other people's concepts, primarily from sophism. He treated religion in general and gods in particular with irony, and used myths and beliefs only for background.

The gods in the works of Euripides appear as ruthless and vengeful creatures (this was especially clearly manifested in the tragedy "Ion"), but he cannot be called an atheist - he nevertheless recognized the presence of a supreme essence that controls the world. At that time, such views were original and advanced, so Euripides often did not find understanding among the audience. Some of his works, such as "Hippolytus", caused a storm of public outrage and were declared immoral.

The playwright's work is divided into 2 categories: tragedies proper, where gods often appear, and social and everyday dramas, in which ordinary people act. The political events of that time were also reflected in the works of Euripides. He wrote tragedies in the era of the Peloponnesian wars, against which he expressed an ardent protest. In his work, the image of peace-loving Athens, created by him, has been preserved, which the playwright opposed to the aggressive oligarchic Sparta.

Euripides is known for being the first to start working on female images in literature - predecessors preferred to describe men. , Electra, Andromeda and other heroines of his tragedies - life, complete, believable images. The playwright was sincerely interested in the themes of female love and devotion, cruelty and deceit, therefore his heroines often even surpass the heroes with willpower and vivid feelings.

In his work, he often mentioned slaves, while he brought them out not as soulless extras, but as full-fledged characters with difficult characters. As for the unity and completeness of the action, only a few of his works satisfy this requirement. Euripides' strength lies in the subtlety and psychologism of scenes and monologues, but he was not strong in spectacular endings.

According to some reports, the man himself wrote music for his tragedies. The researchers made such a conclusion when they found quotations from "Orestes" on an old papyrus, in which the preserved musical signs are clearly visible above the text. If this is in fact the work of Euripides, then he appears before his descendants in a completely different capacity - a composer-innovator, a skillful master of harmony.

In 408 BC. NS. Euripides left Athens and settled in Macedonia. The reasons for his decision to leave the city are not exactly known: it is possible that the vulnerable and sensitive poet took offense at his fellow countrymen, who did not appreciate his work at its true worth (out of 95 of his plays during the life of the author, only 4 received the award).

Personal life

In his personal life, the playwright was unlucky. The first time he married a woman named Chloirina, who gave birth to three children, but the marriage was dissolved due to her infidelity. After that, the disappointed Euripides wrote the play "Hippolytus", where he ridiculed the love relationship. With his second wife Melitta, the story repeated itself, after which the playwright was finally offended by the entire female family and was known as a misogynist, which Aristophanes later laughed at in his comedies.

He mentioned the playwright's passion for young men, in particular about his romance with Craterus, the young lover of the Macedonian king Archelaus.

According to ancient descriptions, Euripides preferred silence and loneliness and could not stand the noise of the crowd. On Salamis, he often spent whole days in solitude in a sea grotto, admiring the sea and reflecting on the plot moves of new works.

Death

The last years of the playwright's life and his death are also covered with legends. According to one version, he died in 406 BC. as a result of a conspiracy of rivals, the poets Arridaeus and Crateus: they bribed the courtier Lysimachus, who unleashed the king's hounds on Euripides. Other sources claim that the cause of death of the playwright was not dogs, but women who killed him in a personal conflict, but this version looks more like a crude joke, since a similar episode is mentioned in the play "Bacchae".

Modern historians are inclined towards a simpler option - most likely, Euripides, who had already lived to a venerable age, simply could not stand the harsh Macedonian winter and died of an illness. The Athenians, former compatriots of the playwright, offered to take the body of Euripides for burial, but by order of Archelaus he was buried in the capital of Macedonia - Pella.

When he learned of his death, he ordered the actors to play another play with their heads uncovered as a sign of grief. According to legend, shortly after the funeral, lightning struck Euripides' grave - this was a sign of divine choice, which until then was awarded only to Lycurgus.

Bibliography

• 438 BC e., - "Alkesta"
• 431 BC NS. - "Medea"
• 430 BC NS. - "Heraclides"
• 428 BC NS. - "Hippolyte"
• 425 BC NS. - "Andromache"
• 424 BC NS. - "Hecuba"
• 423 BC NS. - "The Petitioners"
• 413 BC NS. - "Electra"
• 416 BC NS. - "Hercules"
• 415 BC NS. - "Trojans"
• 414 BC NS. - "Iphigenia in Taurida"
• 414 BC NS. - "And he"

(Εύριπίδης, 480 - 406 BC)

Origin of Euripides

The third great Athenian tragedian, Euripides, was born on the island of Salamis in 480 BC (Ol. 75, 1), according to legend, on the same day when the Athenians defeated the Persian fleet at Salamis - 20 voedromion or 5 October. The poet's parents, like most of the Athenians, with the invasion of the hordes of Xerxes, fled from Attica and sought refuge in Salamis. Euripides' father was called Mnesarch (or Mnesarchides), mother - Clito. There are wonderful, contradictory news about them, which, perhaps, partly owe their origin to the mocking Attic comedy. Euripides' mother, as Aristophanes often reproached him, was, they say, a trader and sold vegetables and herbs; the father is said to have been also a merchant or innkeeper (κάπηγοσ); it is said that, for some unknown reason, he fled with his wife to Boeotia and then settled again in Attica. In Stobei we read that Mnesarchus was in Boeotia and there he was subjected to an original punishment for the debts: the insolvent debtor was brought to the market, there they were planted and covered with a basket. By this he was dishonored and therefore left Boeotia for Attica. The comedians do not say anything about this story, although they used everything they could, just to ridicule Euripides.

Euripides with an actor's mask. The statue

From all that has been reported, it seems possible to conclude that Euripides' parents were poor people, from the lower class. But Philochorus, the famous collector of Attic antiquities who lived in the days of the Diadochi, in his work on Euripides, on the contrary, reports that Euripides' mother came from a very noble family; Theofrastus (c. 312 BC) also speaks of the nobility of the poet's parents childbirth. A similar meaning has the remark of one biographer that Euripides was the torchbearer (πύρθορος) of Apollo Zosterius. Therefore, we must assume that Euripides came from a noble Athenian family. He was numbered in the Flia District (Φλΰα).

Youth and education of Euripides

If Euripides' father was not rich, he nevertheless gave his son a good upbringing, which fully corresponded to his origin. The father especially tried to train his son in athletics and gymnastics, precisely because legend says that at the birth of a boy, the father received from the oracle or from passers-by Chaldeans a prediction that his son would win victories in sacred competitions. When the boy's powers were already sufficiently developed, his father took him to Olympia to play; but Euripides was not allowed to the games because of his youth. But later he is said to have received an award for an athletic competition in Athens. In his youth, Euripides was also engaged in painting; later in Megara were still his paintings. In adulthood, he zealously pursued philosophy and rhetoric. He was a student and friend of Anaxagoras of Klazomensky, who at the time of Pericles first began to teach philosophy in Athens; Euripides was on friendly terms with Pericles, and with other remarkable people of that time, as, for example, with the historian Thucydides. The tragedies of Euripides show the deep influence that the great philosopher (Anaxagoras) had on the poet. His tragedies are also sufficient evidence of his knowledge of rhetoric. In rhetoric, he took advantage of the lessons of the famous sophists Protagoras Abdera and Prodicus of Keos, who for a long time lived and taught in Athens and were on good terms with the most remarkable people in this city, which then became the gathering point of all outstanding scientists and artists. In ancient biographies, Socrates is also mentioned among the teachers of Euripides; but this is just a chronological error. Socrates was a friend of Euripides, who was 11 years older than him; they had common views and common aspirations. Although Socrates rarely went to the theater, he did come there whenever a new drama of Euripides was being played. "He loved this man, says Elian, for his wisdom and for the moral tone of his writing." This mutual sympathy between the poet and the philosopher was the reason that the comedians, ridiculing Euripides, assured that Socrates was helping him write tragedies.

The dramatic activity of Euripides and the attitude of his contemporaries to it

What prompted Euripides to abandon his studies of philosophy and turn to tragic poetry is not known for certain. Apparently, he took up poetry not out of inner motivation, but out of deliberate choice, wishing to popularize philosophical ideas in poetic form. He first performed a drama in the 25th year of his life, in 456 BC (Ol. 81.1), in the year of Aeschylus's death. Then he received only the third award. How many dramas Euripides wrote was not known in ancient times; most writers attributed 92 plays to him, including 8 satirical dramas. He won his first victory in 444 BC, the second in 428. In general, during all his long-term poetic activity, he received the first award only four times, he received it for the fifth time after his death, for the didascal put on the stage on his behalf by his son or nephew, also named Euripides.

Euripides. Project Encyclopedia. Video

From this insignificant number of victories, it is clear that the works of Euripides did not enjoy special attention among his fellow citizens. However, during the life of Sophocles, who, being the favorite of the Athenian people, until his death, indivisibly reigned on the stage, it was difficult for someone else to achieve fame. In addition, the reason for the insignificant successes of Euripides was mainly in the peculiarities of his poetry, which, having left the firm ground of ancient Hellenic life, tried to acquaint the people with philosophical speculation and sophistry, therefore, took a new direction, which did not like the generation brought up on old customs. ... But Euripides, in spite of the opposition of the public, stubbornly continued to follow the same path, and in the consciousness of his own dignity sometimes directly contradicted the public if she expressed her displeasure with some of his bold thought, the moral meaning of some place in his works. So, for example, they say that once the people demanded that Euripides delete some place from his tragedy; the poet took the stage and declared that he was used to teaching the people, and not learning from the people. Another time, when, during the performance of Bellerophon, the whole people, having heard the misanthropist Bellerophon praise money above everything else in the world, got up in anger and wanted to drive the actors from the stage and stop the performance, Euripides again appeared on the stage and demanded that the audience waited for the end of the play and saw what awaits the fan of money. The following story is similar to this. In the tragedy of Euripides "Ixion" her hero, the villain, raises injustice into a principle and, with daring sophistry, destroys all concepts of virtue and duty, so that this tragedy was condemned as godless and immoral. The poet objected, and only then removed his drama from the repertoire when he was forced to do so.

Euripides did not pay much attention to the verdict of his contemporaries, in the confidence that his works would be appreciated later. Once, in a conversation with the tragedian Akestor, he complained that in the last three days, despite all his efforts, he had managed to write only three verses; Akestor boasted that at this time he could easily write a hundred verses; Euripides remarked: "But there is a difference between us: your poems are written only for three days, and mine forever." Euripides was not disappointed in his expectations; as a proponent of progress, more and more attracting the younger generation, Euripides from the time of the Peloponnesian war began to meet little by little more and more approval, and soon his tragedies became the common property of the Attic educated public. Brilliant tirades from his tragedies, pleasant songs and thoughtful maxims were on everyone's lips and were highly valued throughout Greece. Plutarch, in his biography of Nikias, says that after the unfortunate outcome of the Sicilian expedition, many of the Athenians who escaped captivity in Syracuse and fell into slavery or in poverty in another part of the island owed their salvation to Euripides. “Of the non-Athenian Greeks, the greatest admirers of Euripides' muse were the Sicilian Greeks; they memorized excerpts from his works and gladly communicated them to one another. At least many of those who returned home from there, joyfully greeted Euripides and told him, some - how they freed themselves from slavery, having learned their master what they knew by heart from Euripides' tragedies, others - how they, singing his songs, received their food, when after the battle they had to wander without shelter. " In this regard, Plutarch tells how one day a ship, pursued by pirates, sought salvation in the bay of the city of Kavnos (in Caria): the inhabitants of this city at first did not let the ship into the bay; but then, asking the shipbuilders if they knew anything from Euripides and receiving an affirmative answer, they allowed them to hide from their pursuers. The comedian Aristophanes, a representative of the "good old days", an enemy of all innovations, attacks Euripides especially strongly and very often laughs at excerpts from his tragedies; this proves what meaning Euripides used among his fellow citizens during the Peloponnesian War and how his poems were known.

The personal character of Euripides

The discontent with which Euripides was greeted by his fellow citizens for a long time is partly due to his personal character and way of life. Euripides was a completely moral man, which is already evident from the fact that Aristophanes never cites a single immoral incident from his life; but by nature he was serious, gloomy and uncommunicative; like his teacher and friend Anaxagoras, whom no one had ever seen laughing or smiling, he hated all carefree enjoyment of life. And he was not seen laughing either; he avoided intercourse with people and never left a concentrated, pensive state. With such an isolation, he spent time with only a few friends and with his books; Euripides was one of the few people of that time who had their own library, and, moreover, a rather significant one. The poet Alexander Etolsky says about him: “The disciple of the strict Anaxagoras was grumpy and uncommunicative; the enemy of laughter, he did not know how to have fun and joke over wine; but everything he wrote was full of pleasantness and attractiveness. " He retired from political life and never held public office. Of course, with such a lifestyle, he could not claim to be popular; like Socrates, he must have seemed to the Athenians useless and idle; they considered him an eccentric "who, buried in his books and philosophizing with Socrates in his corner, thinks to remake Hellenic life." This is how Aristophanes presents him, of course, for the amusement of the Athenians, in his comedy "Aharnians": Euripides sits at home and hovers in the higher spheres, philosophizes and composes poetry, and does not want to go downstairs to talk with Dikeopolis, since he has no time; only yielding to the latter's urgent requests, he orders, for the sake of great convenience, to push himself out of the room. Paying some attention to the judgments of the crowd, Euripides in his "" advises smart people not to give their children an extensive education, "since a wise man, even because he loves leisure and solitude, incites self-hatred among his fellow citizens, and if he invents something good, the fools consider it a daring innovation. " But even if Euripides retired from public life, however, as is evident from his poetry, he had a patriotic heart; he tried to arouse in his fellow citizens a love for the fatherland, he vividly felt the failures of his hometown, rebelled against the intrigues of the shameless leaders of the rabble, and even gave the people sound advice in political matters.

On the island of Salamis, they showed a lonely shady cave with an entrance from the sea, which Euripides made for himself in order to retire there from the noisy light for poetry studies. In all likelihood, the gloomy and melancholy character of this cave, reminiscent of the personal characteristics of Euripides, prompted the Salamians to name this cave after the poet who was born on the island. On one stone, of which Welker speaks (Alte Denkmäler, I, 488), there is an image referring to this Euripides cave. Euripides, a stout old man with a large beard, stands next to the muse, who holds a scroll in her hand and brings it to a woman sitting on a rock. This woman, according to Welker, is “a nymph living in this coastal rock, a nymph of this cave, friendly to Euripides; the construction of a cave here for solitary engagement in wise poetry is indicated by Hermes standing behind the nymph ”.

The theme of women in Euripides

The gloomy and unsociable character of Euripides explains the hatred of women, for which the Athenians, and especially Aristophanes, reproached him in their comedy Women at the Feast of Thesmophorius. The women, irritated by Euripides' bad comments about them, want to take revenge on him and, having gathered for the feast of Thesmophoria, where complete harmony reigns between them, they decide to arrange a trial over the poet and sentence him to death. Euripides, in fear for his fate, is looking for someone from the men who would agree to dress in a woman's dress, to take part in a meeting of women and there to defend the poet. Since the pampered, effeminate poet Agathon, whom Euripides asks to provide this service, does not want to be in danger, Mnesiloch, Euripides' father-in-law, who has completely mastered the philosophical and oratory methods of his son-in-law, takes on this role and, dressed in a woman's dress, delivered by Agathon , goes to the temple of Thesmophorius. Here is a trial in which the female orators violently attack the son of a merchant, who vilifies their sex; Mnesilokh fervently defends his son-in-law, but he is soon recognized and, by order of the pritan summoned to the temple, is tied to a pillar, so that he can then be tried for a criminal invasion of female society. Euripides, running to the temple, tries in vain, with the help of various tricks, to free his father-in-law; finally, he manages to free him when he promises women never to scold them in the future, and distracts, with the assistance of a flute player, the attention of a Scythian standing guard. against Euripides and wanted to kill him, but he escaped, giving them a promise that he would never say anything bad about them; Talking about this, the biographer cites several verses from Euripides' drama Melanippe, in which it is said: “The abuse uttered by men against women does not hit the mark; I assure you that women are better than men. " According to another biographer, the women attacked Euripides in the Salamis cave; they broke in there, says the biographer, and wanted to kill him while he was writing the tragedy. As the poet reassured them, it is not said about it; of course with the aforementioned promise.

Seated Euripides. Roman statue

Euripides paid special attention to the female sex and brought women onto the stage much more often than other poets. The passions of a woman's heart, especially love and its clash with moral feelings, were often the subject of his tragedies; thus, in his tragedies, such situations could easily appear in which the bad and dark sides of a woman's heart were sharply outlined. Thus, it is not uncommon for a woman to appear in a bad light in whole plays and in many individual scenes, although it cannot be said that the poet's firm conviction is expressed in these scenes. The Athenians could be offended both by the fact that the poet generally portrayed a woman on stage with all her innermost feelings and motives, and by the fact that women's delusions and depravity of character were depicted in such vivid colors, and moreover at a time when Attic women really stood morally not particularly high. This is the reason why Euripides acquired a reputation among the Athenians as a hater of women; we must admit that his attitude toward women does him at least as much honor as it does shame. In his dramas, we meet many noble women, distinguished by high love and self-sacrifice, courage and willpower, while men often appear next to them in a pitiful and secondary role.

Family relations of Euripides

If Euripides' harsh judgments about women in most cases are explained by the nature of the dramatic plot, then some of the judgments of this kind, apparently, were expressed by him quite sincerely. In his family life, the poet had to endure difficult trials. According to the testimony of biographers, Euripides had two wives; the first was Khirila, the daughter of the aforementioned Mnesilokh, from whom Euripides had three sons: Mnesarchides, who later became a merchant, Mnesilokh, who became an actor, and Euripides the Younger, a tragedian. Since this wife was unfaithful to Euripides, he divorced her and took another wife, Melito, who, however, turned out to be no better than the first and left her husband herself. This Melito is called by some the first wife of Euripides, and Khirila (or Khirina) - the second; Gellius even says that Euripides had two wives at the same time, which, of course, is not true, since bigamy was not allowed in Athens. Khirila is said to have had an affair with some Kefisophon, an actor who is considered to be Euripides' young slave and whom comedians say he helped Euripides write dramas. Hirila's infidelity prompted Euripides to write the drama Hippolytus, in which he especially attacks women; having experienced the same trouble from his second wife, the poet began to condemn women even more. Under such circumstances, he, of course, could quite sincerely put such strange thoughts into the mouth of Hippolytus:

“Oh Zeus! you have darkened the happiness of people by giving birth to a woman! If you wanted to support the human race, you would have to arrange so that we do not owe women our lives. We mortals could bring copper or iron or precious gold to your temples, and in return receive children from the hands of a deity, each according to his own offering; and these children would grow up freely in their father's house, never seeing me without knowing women; for it is clear that woman is the greatest calamity. "

Departure of Euripides from Athens to Macedonia

In the last years of his life, Euripides left his hometown. This was shortly after the presentation of Orestes (408 BC). What prompted him to do this, we do not know; maybe troubles in the family, or the constant fierce attacks of comedians, or the turbulent situation in Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian war, or maybe all this together made his stay in his homeland unpleasant for him. He went first to Thessalian Magnesia, the citizens of which received him very hospitably and honored him with gifts. There, however, he did not stay long and went to Pella, to the court of the Macedonian king Archelaus. This sovereign was not distinguished by moral qualities; he made his way to the throne by a triple murder; but he was very zealous about introducing Greek culture and customs in his country, especially about making his court more splendid, attracting Greek poets and artists. At his court lived, among others, the tragedian Agathon of Athens, the epic Hyril of Samos, the famous painter Zeuxis from Heraclea (in Magna Graecia), the musician and author of praises Timothy of Miletus. At the court of the hospitable and generous king, Euripides enjoyed pleasant leisure and, in honor of the Macedonian royal house, wrote the drama Archelaus, which depicts the founding of the Macedonian kingdom by the descendant of Hercules, Archelaus, the son of Temen. In Macedonia, however, Euripides wrote the drama The Bacchae, as can be seen from the hints of local circumstances in this play. These plays were presented in Dion, in Pieria, near Olympus, where the cult of Bacchus existed and where King Archelaus arranged dramatic competitions in honor of Zeus and the muses.

Probably, the poet Agathon also took part in these competitions, who left Athens and arrived in Pella almost at the same time as Euripides. Jokingly, a story was invented that the handsome Agathon in his youth was the lover of Euripides, who was then about 32 years old, and that Euripides wrote his "Chrysippus" to please him. Just as little faith deserves the story of how the old man Euripides once, having drunk at dinner at Archelaus, kissed the 40-year-old Agathon, and when the king asked if he still considers Agathon his lover, he answered: “Of course, I swear by Zeus ; after all, handsome men are given not only a beautiful spring, but also a beautiful autumn ”.

Legends about the death of Euripides

Euripides did not live long at the court of Archelaus. He died in 406 BC (Ol. 93, 3), 75 years old. There are various stories about his death, which, however, deserve little likelihood. The most common news was that he was torn to pieces by dogs. The biographer tells the following: In Macedonia there was a village inhabited by Thracians. One day the Molossian dog Archelaus ran there, and the villagers, according to their custom, sacrificed it and ate it. For this, the king fined them one talent; but Euripides, at the request of the Thracians, begged the king to forgive them for this act. A long time later, Euripides once walked in a grove near the city, in which the king was hunting at the same time. The dogs, having escaped from the hunters, rushed at the elder and tore him to pieces. These were the puppies of the very dog ​​that the Thracians ate; hence the proverb "dog's revenge" appeared among the Macedonians. Another biographer says that two poets, the Macedonian Arideus and the Thessalian Kratev, out of envy of Euripides, bribed the king's slave Lysimachus for 10 minutes to let the dogs down on Euripides, which tore him to pieces. According to other reports, not dogs, but women attacked him at night on the road and tore him to pieces.

The news of the death of Euripides was received in Athens with deep sorrow. It is said that Sophocles, having received this news, put on mourning clothes, and during a performance in the theater, he brought the actors onto the stage without wreaths; the people were crying. Archelaus erected a respectable monument to the great poet in a romantic area between Aretuza and Vormisk, near two springs. The Athenians, having learned about the death of the poet, sent an embassy to Macedonia, with a request to hand over the body of Euripides for burial in his hometown; but since Archelaus did not agree to this request, they erected a cenotaph in honor of the poet on the way to Piraeus, where Pausanius later saw him. According to legend, the grave of Euripides, like the grave of Lycurgus, was destroyed by a lightning strike, which was considered a sign of the special attention of the gods to mortals, since the place where the lightning struck was declared sacred and inviolable. The historian Thucydides or the musician Timothy is said to have adorned its cenotaph with the following inscription:

“All Greece serves as the grave of Euripides, but his body is in Macedonia, where he was destined to end his life. His fatherland is Athens and all Hellas; he enjoyed the love of the muses and thus gained praise from everyone. "

Bergk believes that this inscription was not written by the historian Thucydides, but by another Athenian of the same name from the house of Acherd, who was a poet and apparently also lived at the court of Archelaus. Perhaps this inscription was assigned to the monument to Euripides in Macedonia.

Here we will mention one more circumstance. Soon after the death of Euripides, the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius, who gained dominion in the same year, bought from his heirs, for one talent, a string instrument, a board and a slate, which belonged to the poet, and donated these things, in memory of Euripides, to the temple of the muses in Syracuse.

From antiquity to our time, many busts of Euripides have survived, representing him either separately or together with Sophocles. A colossal bust of the poet in Parian marble is in the Chiaramonti Vatican Museum; it is probably a copy from a statue that was placed, by order of Lycurgus, in the theater, next to the statues of Aeschylus and Sophocles. “In the features of Euripides one can see that seriousness, gloom and coldness, in which the comedians reproached him, that dislike for fun and laughter, with which his love for solitude, for the remote Salamis cave, is so consistent. Together with seriousness, benevolence and modesty are expressed in his figure - the properties of a true philosopher. Instead of sophistic self-righteousness and pride, there is something honest and sincere in the face of Euripides. " (Welker).

Euripides. Bust from the Vatican Museum

Euripides and sophistry

Read more in the article "Sophistic Philosophy" (section "Influence of Sophistic Philosophy on Euripides")

Euripides is a complete representative of the time when the Athenians fell in love with sophistry and began to flaunt sensitivity. His penchant for mental pursuits distracted him early from social activities, and he lived with philosophers. He went deep into the skeptical ideas of Anaxagoras, he liked the seductive teachings of the Sophists. He did not have the cheerful energy of Sophocles diligently fulfilling his civic duties; he shunned state affairs, shunned the life of society, the customs of which he portrayed, lived in a closed circle. His tragedies were liked by his contemporaries; but his ambition was not satisfied - perhaps that is why he left Athens in old age, where comic poets constantly laughed at his works.

The tragedy of The Petitioner is probably close to her in tendency, in content, and in time. Its content is a legend that the Thebans did not allow the burial of the Argos heroes killed during the Campaign of the Seven against Thebes, but Theseus forced them to do so. There are also clear hints of contemporary political relations. The Thebans also did not want to allow the Athenians to bury the soldiers killed in the battle of Delia (in 424). At the end of the play, the Argos king makes an alliance with the Athenians; it also made political sense: shortly after the battle of Delia, the Athenians made an alliance with Argos. The choir of the "Petitioners" is composed of the mothers of the slain heroes of Argos and their maids; then the sons of these heroes join them; the choir songs are excellent. Probably, the scenery was beautiful, representing the Eleusinian temple of Demeter, at the altars of which "supplicants" sit - the mothers of the killed heroes. Probably good were the scenes of the burning of those heroes, a procession of boys carrying urns with the ashes of the dead, the voluntary death of Capaneus' wife, who went to the fire to her husband's body. At the end of the drama, Euripides, through deus ex machina, brings to the stage the goddess Athena, who demands that the Argos swear never to fight the Athenians. This was followed by the formation of the Athenian-Argos alliance, for the sake of the renewal of which in modern times the "Petitioners" were written.

Euripides - "Hecuba" (summary)

Some of the tragedies of Euripides that have come down to us have episodes from the Trojan War, in particular from the terrible events of the death of Troy; they depict strong excitement of passions with great energy. For example, in "Hecuba" the grief of the mother is first depicted, from whose embrace the daughter, Polyxena, - the bride of Achilles, is pulled out. Having stopped after the destruction of Troy on the Thracian bank of the Hellespont, the Greeks decided to sacrifice Polyxenus on the tombstone of Achilles; she willingly goes to her death. At this moment, the maid, who went to fetch water, brings Hecuba the body of Polydor, her son, who was killed by the traitor Polymestor, under whose protection Polydor was sent, found on the shore. This new misfortune makes Hecuba's victim an avenger, the thirst for revenge on the murderer of her son merges in her soul with despair from the death of her daughter. With the consent of the chief leader of the Greek army, Agamemnon, Hecuba lures Polymestor into a tent and, with the help of slaves, blinds him. In the performance of his revenge, Hecuba shows great intelligence and extraordinary courage. In Medea, Euripides depicts jealousy, in Hecuba, revenge is depicted with the most energetic features. Blinded by Polymestor, Hecuba predicts her future fate.

Euripides - "Andromache" (summary)

Passion of a completely different kind is the content of Euripides' tragedy "Andromache". Andromache, the unfortunate widow of Hector, at the end of the Trojan War, becomes a slave to the son of Achilles, Neoptolemus. Neoptolem's wife, Hermione, is jealous of her. Jealousy is all the stronger because Hermione has no children, and Andromache gives birth to a son, Molossus, from Neoptolemus. Hermione and her father, the Spartan king Menelaus, brutally persecute Andromache, even threatening her with death; but Neoptolemus' grandfather, Peleus, delivers her from their persecution. Hermione, fearing revenge from her husband, wants to kill herself. But Menelaus's nephew, Orestes, who was formerly Hermione's fiancé, takes her to Sparta, and the Delphians, excited by his intrigues, kill Neoptolemus. At the end of the play, the goddess Thetis appears (deus ex machina) and foreshadows the happy future of Andromache and Molossus; this artificial denouement is intended to produce a soothing impression on the audience.

The whole tragedy is imbued with hostility to Sparta; this feeling is instilled in Euripides by contemporary relations; Sparta and Athens were then at war with each other. "Andromache" was staged on the stage probably in 421, somewhat before the conclusion of Nikiev's peace. Euripides with obvious pleasure depicts in Menelaus the severity and cunning of the Spartans, in Hermione the immorality of Spartan women.

Euripides - "Trojans" (summary)

The tragedy of The Trojan Woman was written by Euripides around 415. Its action takes place on the second day after the capture of Troy in the camp of the victorious Hellenic army. The captives taken in Three are distributed among the leaders of the victorious Greeks. Euripides depicts how Hecuba, the wife of the murdered Trojan king Priam, and the wife of Hector, Andromache, are preparing for the slave fate. The son of Hector and Andromache, the infant Astianax, was thrown by the Greeks from the fortress wall. One daughter of Priam and Hecuba, the Trojan prophetess Cassandra, becomes the concubine of the leader of the Greeks, Agamemnon, and in ecstatic madness makes predictions about the terrible fate that will soon befall most of the destroyers of Troy. Another daughter of Hecuba, Polyxene, is to be sacrificed at the grave of Achilles.

The role of the chorus in this drama of Euripides is played by Trojan women captured by the Greeks. The ending of the "Trojans" is the scene of the burning of Troy by the Hellenes.

As in the case of "The Supplicants", "Andromache" and "Heraclides", the plot of the "Trojans" has a close connection with the events of that time. In 415 BC, the Athenians, on the advice of the ambitious adventurer Alcibiades, decided to sharply change the course of the Peloponnesian War and achieve general Greek hegemony through a military expedition to Sicily. This rash plan was condemned by many prominent people in Athens. Aristophanes wrote the comedy "Birds" for this purpose, and Euripides wrote "The Trojan Women", where he vividly depicted the bloody calamities of war and expressed sympathy for the suffering captives. The idea that even with a successful completion of the campaign, its further consequences will be tragic for the victors who have transgressed justice, was carried out by Euripides in the "Trojans" very clearly.

"The Trojans", one of the best dramas of Euripides, was not successful when first staged - around the time of the beginning of the Sicilian expedition. The "anti-war" meaning of the "Trojan Women" did not appeal to the people excited by the demagogues. But when in the fall of 413 the entire Athenian army perished in Sicily, the sentient fellow citizens recognized the correctness of Euripides and instructed him to write a poetic epitaph on the tomb of fellow countrymen who fell in Sicily.

Euripides - "Elena" (summary)

The content of the tragedy "Elena" is borrowed from the legend that the Trojan War was fought because of a ghost: in Troy there was only the ghost of Elena, and Elena herself was carried away by the gods to Egypt. The young king of Egypt, Theoclemenus, persecutes Helen with his love; she runs away from him to the tomb of King Proteus. There, her husband, Menelaus, who was brought to Egypt by storms after the capture of Troy, finds her, who appears in beggarly clothes, since all his ships are destroyed by a hurricane. To deceive Theoclemenus, Helen informs him that Menelaus allegedly died at Troy, and she, now a free woman, is ready to marry the king. Elena asks only to allow her to go out on a boat to the sea to perform the last memorial rites for her ex-husband. On this boat, Elena leaves with Menelaus, in disguise. They are assisted by the priestess girl Theonoya, the only noble face of the play. Theoclemenus, revealing the deception, sends a pursuit for the fugitives, but she is stopped by those who play the role of deus ex machina of Dioscuri: they announce that everything that happened by the will of the gods. Elena is one of the weakest tragedies of Euripides both in content and in form.

Euripides - "Iphigenia in Aulis" (summary)

Euripides also took themes for his tragedies from the legends about the Atrids - the descendants of the hero Atreus, among whom were the leaders of the Trojan War Agamemnon and Menelaus. Beautiful, but distorted by later additions, the drama "Iphigenia in Aulis", the content of which is the legend of the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter, Iphigenia.

Before sailing to Troy, the Greek army gathers in the harbor of Aulis. But the goddess Artemis stops the favorable winds, as she was angered by the supreme leader of the Hellenes, Agamemnon. The famous soothsayer Kalhant announces that Artemis' anger can be mitigated by sacrificing Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia to her. Agamemnon sends his wife Clytemnestra a letter with a request to send Iphigenia to Aulis, since Achilles, allegedly, makes it a condition of his participation in Troy's campaign to receive Iphigenia as a wife. Iphigenia arrives in Aulis with her mother. Achilles, learning that Agamemnon used his name for deceitful purposes, is terribly indignant and declares that he will not allow Iphigenia to be sacrificed, even if for this he will have to fight with other Greek leaders. Iphigenia, in response, says that she does not want to become the cause of a fight between compatriots and will gladly give her life for the good of Hellas. Iphigenia voluntarily goes to the sacrificial altar, but the messenger who appears at the end of the tragedy of Euripides reports that at the time of the sacrifice the girl disappeared and instead of her there was a doe under the knife.

The plot of "Iphigenia in Aulis" was borrowed by Euripides from the legends about the Trojan War, but he gives the legend such a form that a moral conclusion is drawn from it. In the confusion of the events of human life, agitated by passions, the only true path is the one along which leads a pure heart capable of heroic self-sacrifice. Euripides' Iphigenia selflessly offers to be sacrificed; by its free decision, the reconciliation of the heroes arguing among themselves is accomplished. Thus, this tragedy is free from an artificial way to arrange a denouement by the intervention of a deity, although here, too, this method is somewhat reminiscent of the appearance at the end of the action of the Messenger.

Euripides - "Iphigenia in Tauris" (summary)

"Iphigenia in Taurida" also has a high artistic merit; her plan is good, her characters are noble and beautifully outlined. The content is borrowed from the legend that Iphigenia, who escaped the sacrifice in Aulis, then became a priestess in Taurida (Crimea), but then fled from there, taking with her the image of the goddess she served.

Artemis, who saved Iphigenia in Aulis, took her from there to Taurida on a wonderful cloud and made her her priestess there. The barbarians of Taurida sacrifice to their Artemis all the strangers who fell into their hands, and Iphigenia is instructed to perform a preliminary ritual of purification over these unfortunates. Meanwhile, the Trojan War ended, and Iphigenia's father, Agamemnon, who returned to his homeland, was killed by his own wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. In revenge for his father, Iphigenia's brother, Orestes, kills his mother Clytemnestra and then undergoes terrible torments of repentance sent by the goddesses Erinyes. Apollo announces to Orestes that he will get rid of torment if he goes to Taurida and brings back the idol of Artemis, captured by the barbarians. Orestes arrives in Taurida with his friend Pilad, but the local savages capture them and condemn them to sacrifice. They are brought to the priestess Iphigenia, sister of Orestes. Euripides describes a disturbing scene in which Iphigenia recognizes her brother. Under the pretext of performing a cleansing rite, Iphigenia takes Orestes and Pilada to the seashore and flees with them to Greece, taking away the image of Artemis. The barbarians of Taurida rush in pursuit, but the goddess Athena (deus ex machina) makes her stop.

Euripides' Iphigenia is not such an ideal face as Goethe's, but nevertheless she is a pious girl, faithful to her duties, ardently loving her homeland, so noble that even barbarians respect her; she instills in them humane concepts. Although the barbarians sacrifice people to the goddess she serves, Iphigenia herself does not shed blood. The scene is dramatic in which Orestes and Pylades want each to be sacrificed in order to save their friend from death. Euripides managed to give touching to this dispute of friends, without resorting to excessive sentimentality.

Euripides - "Orestes" (summary)

In both tragedies, which have the name of Iphigenia, the characters are energetic and noble, but about the tragedy "Orestes" already one of the ancient scholiasts said that in it all the characters are bad with the exception of one Pilade. Indeed, both in content and in form, this is one of the weakest works of Euripides.

By decision of the Argos court, Orestes should be stoned for the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra, although she herself had almost killed him before, along with her father, Agamemnon. Infant Orestes was then rescued by his sister, Electra. Now Electra is being tried along with Orestes, for she participated in the murder of their common mother. Orestes and Electra hope for the support of their brother, who was killed by Clytemnestra, the Spartan king Menelaus, who arrived in Argos during the trial. However, he, out of cowardice and selfishness, does not want to save them. When the popular assembly awards Orestes to smpEuripides - "Heraclides" (summary) of erti, he, together with his faithful friend Pilad, takes hostage the wife of Menelaus, the culprit of the Trojan War, Elena. But divine power carries her through the air. Orestes wants to kill Elena's daughter, Hermione. At the decisive moment, the Deus ex machina appears - this role is played here by Apollo - and tells everyone to be reconciled. Orestes marries Hermione, whom he recently wanted to kill, Pilad on Elektra.

The characters of the characters in this drama of Euripides are devoid of any mythical grandeur; they are ordinary people, without tragic dignity.

Euripides - "Electra" (summary)

The same shortcoming, but even more of Orestes, suffers from Electra, in which the sublime legend is reworked so that it becomes like a parody.

Clytemnestra, in order to get rid of the constant reminders of the murder of her husband, passes off her daughter, Electra, for a simple peasant. Elektra lives in poverty, she herself is engaged in black housework. Orestes Clytemnestra for the same purposes is expelled as a baby from the capital of Agamemnon, Mycenae. Having matured in a foreign land, Orestes returns to his homeland and comes to his sister. Elektra recognizes him by the scar left by him from a bruise he received as a child. In agreement with Electra, Orestes kills the lover of their common mother and the main culprit in the death of their father, Aegisthus, outside the city. Electra then lures Clytemnestra into her poor hut on the pretext. as if she had given birth to a child. In this hut, Orestes kills his mother. This terrible denouement plunges Electra and Orestes into insanity, but the miraculously appeared Dioscuri excuse them that they acted at the behest of Apollo. Electra marries Orestes' friend, Pilad. Orestes Dioscuri himself is sent to Athens, where he will be justified and cleansed from sin by the council of elders - the Areopagus.

Euripides - "Hercules" (summary)

Hercules (or The Madness of Hercules), a play designed for effects, has several impressive scenes. It combines two different actions. When Hercules leaves for the underworld, the cruel Theban king Lycus wants to kill his wife, children and old father, Amphitryon, who remained in Thebes. Hercules, who unexpectedly returned, frees his relatives and kills Lika. But then he himself subjects them to the fate from which he saved. Hera deprives Hercules of his mind. He kills his wife and children, pretending that they are the wife and children of Eurystheus. He is tied to a fragment of a column. Athena gives him back his sanity. Hercules feels bitter remorse, wants to kill himself, but Theseus appears and keeps him from this, taking him to Athens. There Hercules is cleansed from sin by sacred rites.

Euripides - "Ion" (summary)

“Ion” is a wonderful play in terms of the entertaining content and the distinct characteristics of the faces, full of patriotism. There is neither the greatness of the passions nor the greatness of the characters in it; the action is based on intrigue.

Ion, the son of Apollo and Creusa, the daughter of the Athenian king, was thrown into the Delphic temple by his mother, who was ashamed of an accidental relationship, as a baby. He is brought up there, destined to be a servant of Apollo. Jonah's mother, Creusa, marries Xufus, chosen by the Athenian king for heroism in the war. But they have no children. Xuf comes to Delphi to pray to Apollo for the birth of a descendant and receives an answer from the oracle that the first person he meets at the exit from the temple is his son. Xuf meets Jonah first, and greets him like a son. Meanwhile, Creusa comes secretly from Xuf to Delphi. Hearing how Xuf calls Jonah and her son, she decides that Ion is a bastard offspring of her husband. Not wanting to accept a stranger into his family, Creusa sends a slave with a poisoned cup to Jonah. But Apollo keeps her from doing villainy. He also restrains Jonah, who, upon learning of the insidious plot against him, wants to kill Creusa, not knowing that she is his mother. The priestess who raised Jonah comes out of the Delphic temple, with a basket and swaddling clothes in which he was found. Creusa recognizes them. Apollo's son Ion becomes heir to the Athenian throne. Euripides' play ends with Athena confirming the truth of the story of the divine origin of Jonah and promises power to his descendants - the Ionians. For the pride of the Athenians, the legend was pleasant that the ancestor of the Ionians came from a clan of ancient Achaean kings and was not the son of an alien alien, the Aeolian Ksuf. The young priest Ion portrayed by Euripides, sweet and innocent - an attractive face.

Euripides - "The Phoenicians" (summary)

Later, "Jonah" was written by Euripides for the drama "The Phoenicians", and in which there are many beautiful passages. The name of the play comes from the fact that its choir is composed of captive citizens of Phoenician Tire, who were sent to Delphi, but on the way are delayed in Thebes.

The content of The Phoenicians is borrowed from the myth of the Theban king Oedipus, and the drama is replete with many different episodes from this cycle of legends. The alteration of the myth in Euripides is limited to the fact that Oedipus and his mother and wife Jocasta are still alive during the campaign of the Seven against Thebes, when their sons Eteocles and Polynices kill each other. Jocasta, who, together with her daughter Antigone, tried in vain to prevent the two sons from fighting, kills herself in a camp over their dead bodies. Blind Oedipus, expelled from Thebes by Creon, Antigone leads to Colon. The son of Creon, Menekeus, in fulfillment of the prophecy given by Tiresias of Thebes, throws himself from the Theban wall, sacrificing himself to reconcile the gods with Thebes.

Euripides - "Bacchae" (summary)

Probably, the tragedy of the "Bacchae" belongs to a later time. It appears to have been written by Euripides in Macedonia. In Athens, "Bacchae" was probably staged by the author's son or nephew, Euripides the Younger, who also staged "Iphigenia at Aulis" and the tragedy of Euripides "Alcmeon" that has not come down to us.

The content of the "Bacchantes" is the legend about the Theban king Penfey, who did not want to recognize his cousin Bacchus Dionysus, who returned from Asia to Thebes, as a god. Pentheus saw in the ecstatic cult of Dionysus only deceit and debauchery and began to strictly persecute his servants, the Bacchantes, contrary to the opinion of his grandfather, the hero Cadmus, and the famous soothsayer Tiresias of Thebes. For this, Pentheus was torn to pieces by his mother Agave (sister of Dionysus's mother, Semele) and the accompanying maenads (bacchantes). Dionysus infuriated all Theban women, and they, led by Agave, fled to the mountains to indulge in bacchanalia in reindeer skins, with thyrsus (wands) and tympanum (tambourines) in their hands. Dionysus told Penfey with a mad desire to see the Bacchantes and their ministry. Dressed in a woman's dress, he went to Kiferon, where it was performed. But Agabe and the other Bacchantes, at the suggestion of Dionysus, mistook Pentheus for a lion and tore him to pieces. Agave triumphantly carried the bloody head of her own son to the palace, imagining that it was the head of a lion. Having sober up, she was healed of madness and was struck with remorse. The end of Euripides' "Bacchae" was poorly preserved, but, as far as can be understood, Agave was condemned to exile.

This tragedy is one of the best in Euripides, although the verses in it are often careless. Its plan is excellent, in it the unity of action is strictly observed, consistently developing from one basic given, the scenes follow one after another in a harmonious order, the excitement of passions is depicted very vividly. The tragedy is imbued with a deep religious feeling and, in particular, the songs of the choir breathe it. Euripides, hitherto a very free-thinking man, in his old age, seems to have come to the conviction that it is necessary to respect religious traditions, that it is better to maintain piety among the people and not take away their respect for ancient beliefs with ridicule, that skepticism deprives a lot of the happiness that she finds in religious feeling.

Euripides - "Cyclops" (summary)

In addition to these 18 tragedies, Euripides' satirical drama Cyclops, the only surviving work of this branch of dramatic poetry, has come down to us. The content of "Cyclops" is an episode borrowed from the Odyssey about the blinding of Polyphemus. The tone of this play by Euripides is cheerful and playful. The choir is composed of satyrs with their leader, Silenus. Cyclops Polyphemus in the course of the play embarks on confused, but bloodthirsty in the meaning of reasoning, praising extreme amoralism and selfishness in the spirit of the theories of the sophists. Satyrs subordinate to Polyphemus are eager to get rid of him, but out of cowardice they are afraid to help Odysseus, who is threatened with death by the Cyclops. At the end of this play by Euripides, Odysseus defeats the Cyclops from without anyone else's assistance. Then Silenus and the satyrs in a comic tone ascribe the merit of Odysseus to themselves and loudly glorify their "courage".

Euripides' political views

Evaluation of the work of Euripides by descendants

Euripides was the last great Greek tragedian, although he is lower than Aeschylus and Sophocles. The generation that followed him was very pleased with the properties of his poetry and loved him more than his predecessors. The tragedians who followed him zealously studied his works, why they can be considered the "school" of Euripides. The poets of the newest comedy also studied and highly respected Euripides. Philemon, the oldest representative of the new comedy, who lived around 330 BC, loved Euripides so much that in one of his comedies he said: “If the dead really live behind the coffin, as some people claim, then I would hang myself if only only to see Euripides. " Until the last centuries of antiquity, the works of Euripides, thanks to the lightness of form and the abundance of practical maxims, were constantly read by educated people, as a result of which so many of his tragedies have come down to us.

Euripides. World of passions

Translations of Euripides into Russian

Euripides was translated into Russian: Merzlyakov, Shestakov, P. Basistov, H. Kotelov, V. I. Vodovozov, V. Alekseev, D. S. Merezhkovsky.

Theater of Euripides. Per. I. F. Annensky. (Series "Monuments of World Literature"). M .: Sabashnikovs.

Euripides. Petitioners. Trojans. Per. S. V. Shervinsky. M .: Hood. lit. 1969.

Euripides. Petitioners. Trojans. Per. S. Apta. (Series "Antique Drama"). Moscow: Art. 1980.

Euripides. Tragedies. Per. Inn. Annensky. (Series "Literary Monuments"). In 2 volumes. M .: Ladomir-Science. 1999

Articles and books about Euripides

Orbinsky R.V. Euripides and its significance in the history of Greek tragedy. SPb., 1853

Belyaev D.F. To the question of the worldview of Euripides. Kazan, 1878

Belyaev D.F.

Descharm. Euripides and the spirit of his theater. Paris, 1893

Kotelov N. P. Euripides and the significance of his "drama" in the history of literature. SPb., 1894

Gavrilov A.K. Theater of Euripides and the Athenian Enlightenment. SPb., 1995.

Gavrilov A. K. Signs and action - mantica in "Iphigenia of Tauride" by Euripides

After some dates before the birth of Christ, our article also indicates the dating according to the ancient Greek Olympiads. For example: Ol. 75, 1 - means the first year of the 75th Olympiad

ru.wikipedia.org

Biography

The great playwright was born on Salamis, on the day of the famous victory of the Greeks over the Persians in a naval battle, September 23, 480 BC. e., from Mnesarch and Kleito. Parents found themselves on Salamis along with other Athenians who fled from the army of the Persian king Xerxes. The exact connection of Euripides' birthday to victory is an embellishment that is often found in the stories of ancient authors about the greats. So in the Court it is reported that the mother of Euripides conceived him at the time when Xerxes invaded Europe (May, 480 BC), from which it follows that in September he could not be born in any way. The Parian marble inscription identifies the playwright's birth year as 486 BC. e., and in this chronicle of Greek life, the name of the playwright is mentioned 3 times - more often than the name of any king. According to other evidence, the date of birth can be attributed to 481 BC. NS.

Euripides' father was a respected and apparently wealthy man, Kleito's mother was a vegetable dealer. As a child, Euripides was seriously involved in gymnastics, even won competitions among boys and wanted to get to the Olympic Games, but was rejected because of his youth. Then he was engaged in drawing, however, without much success. Then he began to take lessons in oratory and literature from Prodic and Anaxagoras and philosophy lessons from Socrates. Euripides collected books in the library, and soon began to write himself. The first play, Peliad, took the stage in 455 BC. e., but then the author did not win because of a quarrel with the judges. Euripides won the first prize for skill in 441 BC. NS. and from then until his death he created his creations. The playwright's social activity was manifested in the fact that he participated in the embassy in Syracuse in Sicily, apparently supporting the goals of the embassy with the authority of a writer recognized by all of Greece.

Euripides' family life was unsuccessful. From his first wife, Chloirina, he had 3 sons, but divorced her because of her adultery, writing the play "Hippolytus", where he ridiculed sexual relations. The second wife, Melitta, was no better than the first. Euripides gained fame as a misogynist, which gave the comedy master Aristophanes a reason to joke about him. In 408 BC. NS. the great playwright decided to leave Athens, accepting the invitation of the Macedonian king Archelaus. It is not known exactly what influenced Euripides' decision. Historians are inclined to think that the main reason was, if not persecution, then the offense of a vulnerable creative personality against fellow citizens for non-recognition of merits. The fact is that out of 92 plays (75 according to another source), only 4 were awarded prizes at theatrical competitions during the life of the author, and one play was posthumous. The popularity of the playwright among the people is evidenced by Plutarch's story about the terrible defeat of the Athenians in Sicily in 413 BC. NS.:

“They [the Athenians] were sold into slavery and branded with a horse on their foreheads. Yes, there were those who, in addition to captivity, had to endure this too. But even in such an extreme, they benefited from self-esteem and self-control. The owners either set them free or appreciated them. And some were saved by Euripides. The fact is that the Sicilians, probably more than all the Greeks living outside Attica, honored the talent of Euripides. When the visitors brought them small excerpts from his works, the Sicilians enjoyed verifying them by heart and repeated to each other. They say that at that time many of those who returned home safely greeted Euripides and told him how they received freedom by teaching the master what remained in the memory of his poems, or how, wandering after the battle, they earned themselves food and water by singing songs from his tragedies. "

Archelaus showed honor and demonstrative respect to the famous guest to such an extent that signs of affection were the cause of the death of the king himself. Aristotle in his work "Politics" reports about a certain Dekumnich, who was given out to scourge Euripides for the offense inflicted on him, and this Dekumnich, in revenge, organized a conspiracy, as a result of which Archelaus died. This happened already after the death of Euripides himself in 406 BC. NS. The death of such a remarkable person gave rise to the legends set forth in the Court:

“Euripides ended his life as a result of a conspiracy between Arridaeus of Macedonia and Crateus of Thessaly, poets jealous of the glory of Euripides. In 10 minutes they bribed a courtier named Lysimachus to unleash the king's hounds, whom he followed, from the leash on Euripides. Others say that Euripides was torn apart, not by dogs, but by women, as he hurried at night to meet Craterus, Archelaus's young lover. Still others claim that he was going to meet with Nicodica, Aref's wife. "

The version about women is a rude joke with a hint of Euripides' play "The Bacchae", where maddened women tore the king to pieces. Plutarch tells about the love of the aged writer for young men in "Quotes". The modern version is more mundane - the body of 75-year-old Euripides simply could not stand the harsh winter in Macedonia.

The Athenians asked permission to bury the playwright in his hometown, but Archelaus wished to leave the grave of Euripides in his capital, Pella. Sophocles, upon learning of the playwright's death, forced the actors to play the play with their heads uncovered. Athens erected a statue of Euripides in the theater, honoring him after death. Plutarch transmitted a legend: lightning struck the tomb of Euripides, a great sign that only Lycurgus of the famous people was awarded.

Tragedies of Euripides

Of the 92 plays attributed to Euripides in antiquity, 80 can be recovered. Of these, 18 tragedies have survived, of which Res is believed to have been written by a later poet, and the satirical drama Cyclops is the only surviving example of this genre. Euripides' best dramas are lost to us; of the survivors, only Hippolytus was crowned. Among the surviving plays, the earliest is "Alkesta", and the later ones include "Iphigenia at Aulis" and "Bacchae".

The preferred elaboration of female roles in tragedy was an innovation of Euripides. Hecuba, Polyxena, Cassandra, Andromache, Macarius, Iphigenia, Elena, Electra, Medea, Phaedra, Creusa, Andromeda, Agave and many other heroines of the legends of Hellas are complete and vital types. The motives of conjugal and maternal love, tender devotion, violent passion, feminine revenge combined with cunning, cunning and cruelty occupy a very prominent place in Euripides' dramas. The women of Euripides surpass his men by willpower and brightness of feelings. Also, the slaves and slaves in his plays are not soulless extras, but have characters, human traits and show feelings like free citizens, forcing the audience to empathize. Few of the surviving tragedies satisfy the requirement of completeness and unity of action. The author's strength lies primarily in his psychologism and deep elaboration of individual scenes and monologues. The painstaking portrayal of mental states, usually tense to the extreme, is the main interest of Euripides' tragedies.

List of fully extant plays by Euripides:

Alcesta (438 BC, 2nd place) text New translation (2008) by Vlanes: or
Medea (431 BC, 3rd place) text New translation (2009) by Vlanes: or
Heraclides (430 BC) text
Hippolytus (428 BC, 1st place) text
Andromache (425 BC) text
Hecuba (424 BC) text
The Petitioners (423 BC) text
Electra (420 BC) text
Hercules (416 BC) text
The Trojans (415 BC, 2nd place) text
Iphigenia in Tauris (414 BC) text
Ion (414 BC) text
Helena (412 BC) text
Phoenicians (410 BC) text
Cyclops (408 BC, satirical drama) text
Orestes (408 BC) text
Bacchae (407 BC, 1st place posthumously with "Iphigenia in Aulis") text
Iphigenia at Aulis (407 BC) text
Res (attributed to Euripides, with which some literary scholars disagree) text

Biography

Origin

According to legend, Euripides was born on September 27, 480 BC. - on the day of the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in the decisive naval battle of the Greco-Persian Wars near the island of Salamis, where his parents, like other Athenians, found refuge for themselves. However, such a dating raises doubts, because it indicates the intention of ancient critics to connect all 3 tragedians with the Salamis victory. The more likely date of birth of Euripides is 485 BC: this is the year that is noted in the more trustworthy Parian Chronicle (Marmor Parium). From the ancient biography of Euripides, it is known that his parents were Mnesarchus, or Mnesarchides, and Clito, who was selling herbs on the market. But this tradition also inspires doubts, since it relies on "facts" from the comedies of Aristophanes, the Athenian comedian who parodied and ridiculed Euripides. It is known from other ancient evidence that Euripides served for some time at the temple of Apollo Zosterius, and therefore belonged to a noble and wealthy Athenian family.

Education and drama

Euripides received an excellent education, attending the lectures of Anaxagoras and Protagoras, possessed a rich library, and was a friend of famous philosophers - Socrates, Archelaus, and Prodicus. Euripides did not take any visible participation in the social and political life of Athens, which, however, did not prevent him from responding to the most pressing issues of our time: most of the playwright's plays were written during the most difficult Peloponnesian war (431 BC - 404 BC). NS.). However, initially Euripides was preparing to become a professional athlete, was engaged in drawing for some time, but at the age of 25 he devoted himself to drama, staging the tragedy of Peliada (455 BC) at a festival dedicated to Dionysus. Until the end of his life, Euripides wrote about 90 plays: 18 have come down to us in full, the rest have survived in fragments. The earliest of his reliably dated tragedies, Alcesta, dates back to 438 BC. The remaining 17 plays were written between 431 BC. and 406 BC: "Medea" - 431 BC, "Heraclides" - about 430 BC, "Hippolytus" - 428 BC, "Cyclops", "Hecuba", "Hercules", "The Petitioners" - between 424 BC. and 418 BC, "Trojans" - 415 BC, "Electra" - about 413 BC, "Ion", "Iphigenia in Taurida", "Elena" - about 412 BC. BC, "Andromache" and "Phoenicians" - about 411 BC, "Orestes" - 408 BC, "Iphigenia in Aulis" - 407 BC, "Bacchae" - 406 BC e .. The plots of the dramas are taken from different mythological cycles, 9 of which are associated with the history of the Trojan War. During his life, Euripides took part in poetry competitions 5 times, but only 3 times received the first award during his lifetime, and 2 times after his death ("Bacchae", "Iphigenia in Aulis").

Last years

The unfavorable situation for Euripides in Athens forced the playwright to leave his hometown in 408 BC. and after a short stay in Thessalian Magnesia, he accepted the invitation of the Macedonian king Archelaus. In Pella, Euripides wrote 2 tragedies - "Archelaus" in honor of the legendary Temen, the mythical ancestor of his patron, the founder of the Temenid dynasty and the first Macedonian capital Aegus, and also - "Bacchantes". In Macedonia, Euripides died at the age of 74 in 406 BC. In the same year, Sophocles, shortly before his death, honored the memory of Euripides in the proagonist before the feast of Dionysius in Athens. The Athenians honored the memory of Euripides by placing him an empty tomb (cenotaph).

Political and moral aspects of the work of Euripides

Euripides' writings reflect the conflicting public sentiments in Athens during the Peloponnesian War. In several tragedies of the playwright, rather sharp attacks are made in relation to the opponents of Athens. So, in "Andromache" the king of Sparta Menelaus and his wife Elena with her daughter Hermione, who, treacherously breaking their word, do not stop before killing Andromache's child, born by her from the son of Achilles Neoptolemus, are exposed in the most unattractive light. The speeches of Andromache, sending curses on the heads of the Spartans, undoubtedly expressed the negative attitude of the author himself and his contemporaries towards Sparta. Everyone knew the cruelty of the Spartans to the captives and to the enslaved helots. In Orestes, the Spartans are also depicted as cruel and treacherous people. So, Clytemnestra's father Tindar demands the execution of Orestes for killing his mother, although it is known that Orestes committed this crime at the behest of the god Apollo. Menelaus is disgusting in his meanness and cowardice. When Orestes reminds him of the help of his father Agamemnon in the war against Troy and asks for support, Menelaus replies that he does not have the strength to fight the inhabitants of Argos and can only act by cunning. In "The Petitioners", Iolaus's statement on behalf of the Heraclides that they should never take up arms against the Athenians as their saviors, the accusations of the actions of Sparta and Argos in the early years of the Peloponnesian War are also evidently traced. The same play depicts the relatives of the soldiers who fell under the walls of Thebes during the fratricidal war between Eteocles and Polynicus. The Thebans do not allow the families of those killed to take the corpses for burial, and then the relatives turn to Athens for help. This is a direct allusion to the events after the Battle of Delia in 424 BC, when, after the victory over the Athenians, the Thebans refused to hand over the corpses of the killed soldiers for burial. For Euripides, this act is a violation of the generally recognized moral law.

In the era of incessant wars, Euripides examined the issues of war and peace through the prism of mythological subjects. The tragedy of "Hecuba" is permeated with anti-war sentiments, it depicts the immense suffering of defeated, innocent wives, mothers and children. After the capture of Troy, the Achaeans take the relatives of King Priam into captivity, and Euripides admires the greatness of the spirit of the Trojans. The proud daughter of Hecuba, Polyxena, prefers to die than live in slavery. The Trojans are also dedicated to the war of the Greeks with the Trojans, but the traditional mythological interpretation was changed by the author and instead of praising the exploits of the Achaeans, they are depicted as cruel people who inhumanely treat the captured Trojans. The messenger informs the family of Priam that the wife of King Hecubus will become a slave to Odysseus, her eldest daughter Cassandra - the concubine of Agamemnon, the youngest daughter Polyxena will be sacrificed at the grave of Achilles, Hector's wife Andromache will be given as concubines to Achilles' son Neoptolemus. The victors also kill Andromache's son, although the child is not guilty of anything before the Greeks. Euripides condemns the war of conquest, believing that the truth is on the side of the Trojans who defended their homeland, while the Greeks went to war against Troy because of the depraved Helen, who, carried away by the beauty and fabulous riches of Paris, herself threw herself into his arms. It is quite possible that the tragedy of the "Trojan Woman", presented to the people of Athens in 415 BC, was a warning against Alcibiades' campaign to Sicily, which turned into 413 BC. a monstrous disaster, when most of the Athenians were captured and sold into slavery, and the strategists Nikias and Demosthenes were executed.

Euripides admitted war only as a means of defense and defense of justice. In The Petitioners, Theseus, the spokesman for the poet's views, wages a war against the Thebans only until he defeats them, but stops his army when it could already break into the defeated city. And in "Heraclides" the Athenians insist on the release of the captured Eurystheus, in contrast to Alcmene, who personifies Spartan cruelty. You need to know, says the poet, that victory does not bring lasting happiness. "Mad is the one of mortals who ravages cities, temples and graves, shrines of the dead: having betrayed them to devastation, he himself will later perish," - such a warning makes Poseidon at the beginning of the "Trojan Women".

Athens patriot Euripides praised the self-sacrifice of citizens for the salvation of his hometown. Thus, in the tragedy "Heraclides", the daughter of Hercules, young Macarius, sacrifices herself to save her hometown and her brothers and sisters. In "The Phoenicians" Menekeus, the son of Creon, having learned that for the victory of his homeland over the enemies, it is required to sacrifice him, without hesitation, secretly from his father, gives his life. Self-sacrifice is the main motive of the tragedy "Iphigenia in Aulis", where the heroine voluntarily sacrifices herself for the good of Greece. In the tragedy "Erechtheus" that did not reach us, the mother sacrificed her daughter to save Athens.

In some tragedies, Euripides, under the guise of events of the mythological past, showed the noble deeds of the Athenian state, always ready to defend the trampled justice. So, once Athens stood up for the children of Hercules ("Heraclides"), achieved the repayment of funeral honors to the dead participants in the campaign of seven against Thebes ("The Petitioner").

The ideal state structure for Euripides is democracy, as evidenced by one of the scenes in "The Petitioners", where Theseus takes under his protection the wives and mothers of soldiers who fell near Thebes. When an ambassador from this city to Athens comes to Athens for negotiations, the playwright introduces a dispute on the topic of the best state structure into the play. The Theban ambassador proves the inadequacy of democracy in view of the fact that power belongs to a crowd ruled by clever demagogues. Theseus, in response to this, exposes the vileness of tyranny, glorifies the freedom and equality that reign in a democratic state.

Euripides considered the middle social strata of small owners and artisans to be the basis of Athenian democracy. The type of such a citizen, living by the fruits of his labor, is shown in the form of a peasant, Electra's fictitious husband. Electra herself notes his high nobility, and Orestes, having met him, reflects on the discrepancy that is observed in the natures of people. The son of a noble father turns out to be worthless, and a person from a poor and insignificant family turns out to be noble. Therefore, above it is necessary to value not the origin, but the moral properties of people ("Electra", 367-398). The external situation will not change the moral qualities: the unfit will always remain unfit, but no misfortune will ever seduce the noble. Upbringing also plays a significant role in this (Hecuba, 595-602).

At the same time, Euripides understood the danger of demagogy influencing the Athenian society, considering it fertile ground for the emergence of tyranny. In "Orestes" the image of an orator is written out - an impudent screamer, which, as the ancient critics already believed, was copied from someone of the demagogues contemporary to Euripides, perhaps from Cleophon. The playwright has repeatedly represented Odysseus as a similar demagogue (Hecuba, 130-131, 254-257; The Trojans, 277-291; Iphigenia in Aulis, 525-527).

National and world significance of Euripides

When the ridicule of comedians lost their relevance over time, and the dramas of Aeschylus and Sophocles lost their novelty, the tragedies of Euripides in their spirit turned out to be surprisingly modern to the Greeks already IV BC, firmly entering the golden fund of classical Greek literature. Since the Hellenistic era, the work of Euripides gained even more popularity and spread widely throughout the ancient world. Understanding of the human soul, the originality of the plot, an interesting vision of intrigue, the simplicity of language and the elegance of colloquial speech, were close and understandable to both connoisseurs of high art and ordinary people. The plays touched the audience so much that even the tyrant Alexander Fersky, who calmly buried his enemies alive in the ground, burst into tears at the play "The Trojans", and the inhabitants of Abder, according to Lucian's story, after the production of "Andromeda" came to such a feverish state that they literally became obsessed with the tragedy ... They were all pale and thin, and uttered iambics and shouted loudly, most often performing monologues from Euripides' Andromeda. This state continued with them for a long time, until winter began and the onset of severe cold stopped their delirium.

For the critics and grammarians of Alexandria, the simplicity of Euripides' language was not so interesting, but they enthusiastically studied the variations of the plots of famous myths and tried to rid the texts of the plays of later interpolations. The Athenian scholar Philochorus, known for his essay on the history of Attica, wrote one of the first biographies of Euripides, and Dicaearchus and Callimachus systematized the corpus of the tragedian's writings. Euripides also became known quite early in Rome: already the first Roman enlightener Livy Andronicus, who translated Greek poetry into Latin, first of all sought to acquaint the Roman public with the tragedies of Euripides. Prominent Roman poets - Ennius, Ovid, Seneca - creatively reworked the dramas of Euripides.

After a break in the Middle Ages, interest in Euripides re-emerged during the Renaissance and Classicism. The tragedies of Euripides influenced Corneille, Racine and Voltaire. The ancient playwright was highly regarded by Goethe and Schiller. Fond of Euripides and romantics Tick, Byron, Shelley, Tennyson. In Russia, the dramas of Euripides were imitated (for example, "Andromache" by Peter Katenin), and some of his works were also translated. The main merit in the translation of Euripides' dramas into Russian belongs to Innokenty Annensky

Euripides is an ancient Greek philosopher and tragedian, the youngest in the triad of famous ancient Greek playwrights after Aeschylus and Sophocles.

His homeland was Salamis, where he was born around 480 BC. NS. Some ancient sources indicate the exact date of his birth - September 23, 480 BC. e., however, most likely, to make it more significant, it is simply tied to the day when the famous naval battle took place, in which the Greeks defeated the Persians. 486 BC is also mentioned as the year of birth. NS. and 481 BC. NS. It is believed that his parents were well-to-do, but not noble people by origin, but this thesis is also questioned by a number of researchers, since there is evidence of his excellent education, as well as participation in some celebrations, where the road was closed to commoners.

In childhood, Euripides' dream was the Olympic Games (he was known as a capable gymnast), but too young age prevented him from taking part in them. Soon he began to study literature, philosophy, oratory, and his works eloquently testify that he succeeded in this occupation. His worldview was largely formed under the influence of the teachings of Protagoras, Anaxagoras, Prodicus. Euripides collected books in his personal library, and one day the moment came when he decided to write himself.

Euripides began to try himself in creativity at the age of 18, but the first competition in dramatic art, in which he decided to take part with the play "Peliad", dates back to 455 BC. NS. And only in 440 BC. NS. he was awarded the highest honor for the first time. Creative activity has always remained a priority for him, he stayed away from the social and political life of the country and the city, but was not completely indifferent to it. There is also such a fact from his biography as a special attitude to the fair sex: the unhappy experience of two marriages made Euripides a real misogynist in the eyes of those around him.

It is known that Euripides composed until his death; in antiquity, according to various sources, from 75 to 92 plays were attributed to him, and up to our time, 17 dramatic works have been entirely preserved, including "Electra", "Medea", "Iphigenia in Taurida", etc. In the performance of Euripides, the ancient tragedy was transformed: it began to pay more attention to the everyday, private life of people, their mental suffering; in the works you can see the reflection of the philosophical thoughts of that time. Innovation, the merits of his creative manner were not properly appreciated by his contemporaries. Of all his many plays in theater competitions, only four received awards. It is this circumstance that is called the main reason that in 408 BC. NS. the playwright accepted the invitation of Archelaus, the Macedonian king, and left Athens for good. This ruler treated the famous guest extremely respectfully, showed him great honors.

In 406 BC. NS. Euripides died, and the circumstances of his death were called different - for example, a conspiracy of envious people who bribed the courtier in charge of the royal kennel: he allegedly launched a pack of hounds on Euripides. It was also said that the playwright, who went on a date to his mistress (or to his lover), was torn apart not by dogs, but by maddened women. Modern researchers tend to believe that the tragedian, who was already over seventy, was killed by the harsh Macedonian winter. In the capital of this country, Euripides was buried, although the Athenians turned to Archelaus with a request to hand over the body of a fellow countryman for burial. Faced with rejection, they paid their respects by erecting a statue of the playwright within the walls of the theater.

It was after his death that Euripides' work gained the greatest popularity, received a worthy assessment. He was considered the most popular and famous ancient playwright until the 5th century. BC NS. The works of the youngest of the great triad had a noticeable influence on Roman tragedy, later European literature, in particular, the work of Voltaire, Goethe and other famous masters of the pen.

CHAPTER
VIII

EURIPID

• Biography of Euripides (485 / 4-406 BC).
• General characteristics of the drama of Euripides.
• "Alkesta".
• "Medea".
• "Hippolytus".
• "Hercules".
• "Pleading".
• "And he".
• "Iphigenia in Taurida".
• Electra.
• "Orest".
• "Iphigenia in Aulis".
• The satire drama "Cyclops".
• The significance of the dramatic activities of Euripides

BIOGRAPHY OF EURIPIS (485 4-406 BC)

Euripides was the youngest of the three glorious Greek tragedians of the 5th century. BC BC: according to the "Paros Chronicle" 1, he was born in 485/4 BC. NS. (According to other sources - in 480 BC.) His father, Mnesarchides, was a small trader, and his mother, Kleito, was a seller of greenery and that, therefore, Euripides did not belong to the noble and wealthy strata of the population. However, some scholars consider this information to be a fiction of comedy poets, referring to the good education received by Euripides, and to his participation in some of the festivities available only to people of noble birth. Euripides reveals in his tragedies an excellent knowledge of Greek literature and philosophy; he was well acquainted with the teachings of the philosophers Anaxagoras, Prodicus and Protagoras and, apparently, was on friendly terms with Socrates. According to information dating back to antiquity, Euripides also knew painting well, but he did not write music for his plays, entrusting the musician Timokrat of Argos to do it, and, in contrast to Aeschylus and Sophocles, did not perform on stage.
Without taking a direct part in the social and political life of his state, Euripides preferred to indulge in solitude in poetry. But this deviation from social and political activity did not mean that the playwright was not interested in the affairs of the Athenian state. His tragedies are full of political reasoning and allusions; the theater was a real political tribune for Euripides. At twenty-five, he took part in a tragic competition, but received only the third award. According to evidence coming from antiquity, in his entire life Euripides won the first five victories (one of them posthumously), while from seventy-five to ninety-eight dramatic works were attributed to him.
In 408, Euripides moved to the court of the Macedonian king Archelaus and lived here, surrounded by honor, until his death, which followed in 406 (a few months before the death of Sophocles).

1 "Paros Chronicle" - a marble slab found at the beginning of the 18th century. on the island of Paros, which contains 93 incomplete lines. The Chronicle cites facts from the political and cultural history of Ancient Greece. So, it contains data on competitions, holidays, and poets.

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC OF THE DRAMATURGY OF EURIPIS

Seventeen tragedies and one satire drama have come down to us from Euripides. Almost all of the surviving plays were written by Euripides during the Peloponnesian War. During this period of strong social upheaval, belief in the old gods is wavering, new trends in philosophy appear, and a number of new questions are raised and discussed. Euripides very vividly reflected in his work this turning point in Greek history. All the burning questions of our time are touched upon by the playwright in his tragedies. But first of all, it must be said that Euripides' tragedy itself became different from that of Aeschylus and Sophocles. Euripides brought his heroes closer to real life. According to Aristotle, Euripides portrayed people as they are in reality. The Athenians did not like this desire of Euripides for a realistic portrayal of characters, it seemed to them a violation of the traditional nature of the tragedy and was one of the reasons for Euripides' failures in dramatic competitions. But there were also other reasons. The Athenians were confused by the free attitude of Euripides to myths. Taking some old myth, Euripides changed it not only in details, but also in essential features. In addition, in a number of tragedies Euripides is given

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criticism of old religious beliefs. The gods turn out to be more cruel, insidious and vengeful than humans. Even where there is no direct criticism, the poet's skeptical attitude to ancient beliefs is often discerned. This is due to the fact that the philosophy of the Sophists had a strong influence on the work of Euripides. The thoughts of the sophists on various issues of public life, their criticism of old religious beliefs are reflected in the tragedies of Euripides, and therefore some researchers call him a "philosopher from the stage." And one more feature passed in the tragedy of Euripides from the sophists: his heroes for the most part reason a lot and subtly and turn out to be very skillful in the methods of sophistic proof.
In his political views, Euripides was a supporter of a moderate democracy. He disapproves of the extreme democracy of his time, portraying it as crowd dominance and calling it a "terrible scourge." On the other hand, he does not like the aristocracy, which boasts of its noble birth and wealth. In his eyes, the "middle" estate is the most solid foundation of the state. And above all, it is a farmer who cultivates the land "with his own hands." In the tragedy "Elektra", a simple farmer who showed hospitality to Orestes and showed himself generous is called noble, for, according to Orestes, true nobility lies in the nobility of the soul.
In a number of his tragedies, Euripides expresses ardent patriotic feelings, glorifying Athens, their gods and heroes, their nature, respect for guests and supplicants, justice and generosity. In the plays of Euripides, there are constantly hints of political events contemporary to the playwright. The latter even become a direct impetus to the creation of drama. In connection with the Peloponnesian War, questions about treaties, about allies are raised, a feeling of hostility towards the Spartans is expressed more than once, and at the same time, the misery and suffering caused by the war, and especially the suffering of women, are depicted. In his tragedies, Euripides touches on the question of the position of women, which was very worried in Athenian society at that time, and puts, for example, in the lips of the heroine of the tragedy "Medea" a number of deep thoughts about the female share.
Euripides' attitude towards slaves is characteristic. They do not occupy a humiliated position in his plays and often act as confidants of their masters. Euripides' slaves acquire the same importance that servants have on the new European scene. In the tragedy "Elena" (Art. 727 and following), a radical idea for that time is directly expressed that a good, pure-hearted slave is the same person as a free one.
Euripides' dramatic skill is characterized by the following features. He not only confronts his heroes in acute dramatic conflicts (Aeschylus and Sophocles had done this before him), but also forces the audience to be present at the subtlest emotional experiences of their heroes. He knows how to choose and vividly depict the amazing moments of each situation and at the same time give an in-depth psychological description of his characters.
The severity of dramatic conflicts, which usually leads to the death of the hero or his loved ones, in combination with this profound psychological characterization makes Euripides “the most tragic

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of poets ". This is exactly what Aristotle 1 calls him, pointing out that many of Euripides' tragedies end in misfortune, although he also reproaches him for the composition of some of the plays. Indeed, the straightforward development of the action in Euripides is sometimes hindered by a number of side episodes that hinder the movement of the drama. Therefore, with regard to the unity of action, Euripides is inferior to Aeschylus and Sophocles.
When staging his tragedies, Euripides, like Sophocles, used three actors. However, he also has plays with two actors. The choir in Euripides no longer has such a close connection with the development of the action as in Sophocles. At times, he is only a passive contemplator of the events taking place. Sometimes the chorus either expresses sympathy for the heroes in the suffering they endure, or tries to reconcile the warring parties, or simply expresses its opinion about the events taking place. At times, in the choral parts, Euripides expresses, without even trying to hide it, his own favorite views and thoughts. In addition to the songs of the chorus, there are also monodes in Euripides' tragedies. They are already found in Sophocles, but only Euripides began to use them widely. We must think that these monody made a great impression on the viewer and listener 2, but it is difficult for us to judge their musical merit: we do not know the melody underlying them, as well as the plastic play of the actors associated with them.
It is necessary to make a few more remarks about the prologues and interchanges of Euripides. They have a peculiar character for him. Sometimes in the prologues Euripides not only gives the beginning of the tragedy, but also tells in advance its entire content. It is quite obvious that such a construction of the prologue is less grateful in a purely artistic sense than that of Aeschylus or Sophocles. But Euripides is so free about myths, removing from them what is known to everyone and, on the contrary, adding his own, that without such an introduction, sometimes even revealing the content of the tragedy, much for the viewer would simply remain unclear.
When studying the prologues of Euripides, the following can be noted. Having exposed a position in the prologue, in the course of the tragedy, he repeatedly returns to it, clotheing it with more and more new evidence and making it more and more convincing through logical reasoning and purely artistic means.
Differ in features and solutions of the tragedies of Euripides. They are not always skillfully constructed, and therefore it is necessary to untie the tangled tangle of events with the help of the deity appearing on the eoreme ("the god from the machine"). Resorting to such denouements, Euripides probably wanted to devote a certain share of attention to the deities in his tragedies, since in the development of the action of the tragedy itself, he did not always give them a place.

1 Aristotle, On the Art of Poetry, M., Goslitizdat, 1957, p. 89.
2 We know that monody aryans from the tragedies of Euripides were also performed in the Hellenistic era.

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"ALKESTA"

In "Alkeste" Euripides paints the image of a devoted wife who decided to give her life for the life of her husband. As a reward for the piety of the Thessalian king Admet, Apollo obtained special mercy for him from the maidens of fate Moir: when the day of his death comes, he can stay alive if someone close to him agrees to die in his place. This day has come, but none of Admet's relatives wanted to give his life for him, and only his faithful wife Alkesta voluntarily goes to death for the sake of her husband's life. Apollo tells about this in the prologue, referring to the palace of Admet, in front of which the action of the play is played out. Apollo is about to leave his dear shelter so that he will not be touched by the filth of death. The subsequent appearance of the demon of death in black clothes and with a sword in hand and the dispute about the life of Alcesta between him and Apollo reinforce the drama of the prologue. When Apollo departs, the death demon enters the palace to take his sacrifice. The character of the heroine and her emotional experiences are vividly depicted in the scene of farewell to loved ones, and her death occurs in this play, contrary to generally accepted dramatic rules, in front of the audience. Admet takes his wife out of the palace, supporting her in his arms. They are accompanied by a crowd of servants and maids. Alkesta's children, a boy and a girl, are also here. Alcesta's monody follows; she addresses the sky, daylight, the clouds running in the sky, the roof of the palace, and the maiden bed of her native Iolka. Then she speaks with horror about the vision that has presented itself to her, it seems to her that the carrier to the realm of the dead Charon hurries her to quickly set off with him. Alcesta, at her request, is lowered onto the bed. She turns to Admet with the expression of her last will. She says that she considers his life more worthy than her own, and therefore decided to die for him.1 But she could still enjoy the gifts of youth, marry after the death of Admet for one of the Thessalians and continue to live happily in her palace. But she does not want to taste happiness in separation from him. In retaliation for her sacrifice, Admet should not introduce a new wife into the house, so as not to give the children a stepmother. The last will is expressed, forces gradually leave Alcesta, and she dies. Admet gives orders for the funeral, everyone must put on mourning clothes. Alkesta's body is taken to the palace.
After some time, a new character appears on the orchestra - Hercules, who entered Fera 2 on his way to Thrace. He will be the culprit of the happy ending of the drama, which Apollo had already hinted at in the prologue. Hercules sees signs of mourning, but Admet hides the truth from his friend, telling him that a stranger, although close to the family, has died. From the point of view of the ancient Greek, this was a godly lie, since the duty of hospitality was considered one of the ancient Hellenic institutions. Hercules wants to leave to find another hearth for himself, but Admetus convinces him to stay. At the order of Admet, the servant introduces Hercules through a side door into the guest chamber of the palace.

1 The life of a man, as a father of a family and a warrior, was considered more valuable than a woman's life. 2 Fera is an ancient city in Thessaly.

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Conventionally, during the period of time during which Hercules was received in this chamber, in another part of the palace preparations were underway to take out the body. A little time after the funeral procession leaves the palace and goes along with the choir of the Elders of Feria to the burial place of Alcesta, Hercules appears in the orchestra with a wreath on his head and a cup of wine in his hands. First of all, he expresses dissatisfaction with the gloomy appearance of the servant who disposed of his food, and then preaches a kind of philosophy of life: one must rejoice in one's life, sing, live for today, leaving the rest to fate, and honor the most pleasant of all goddesses - Aphrodite. For tragedy, as the Greeks understood it, this scene is undeniably diminished. The unevenness of the speech of a tipsy person falling into an instructive tone is well conveyed. But how Hercules changes, finally learning from the servant that it was not a stranger who died, but Alkesta! No trace of intoxication remains. When the servant leaves, Hercules utters a short monologue in which he turns to his heart, which has experienced a lot. In gratitude for the hospitality, he must return Admet to his wife. And Hercules tells about his plan: he will go to the grave of Alcesta, lash out there from an ambush on the demon of death, squeeze him in his mighty embrace and force him to return Alcesta.
The last part of the play is devoted to a happy ending. She was to be perceived with particular great interest by the audience, since before that a deep despair was shown, which seizes Admet, who returned from the funeral at the sight of an empty palace. This is followed by the mystification of Admet by Hercules, who appears in the orchestra, leading a woman, wrapped in a long veil. Having reproached Admet for deceit, Hercules asks him to take this woman into the house before his return; it went to him as a reward at the social games. Admet does not agree to fulfill this request, since after the funeral of his wife he would not like to see women in his palace, besides, the stranger with her figure surprisingly reminds him of Alkesta. After the stubborn insistence of Hercules, Admett finally, with disgust, takes the woman by the hand to lead her into the palace. At this moment, Hercules pulls off the veil from her - and Admet sees Alcesta in front of him. At first, he does not believe his eyes and thinks that there is a ghost in front of him. But Hercules assures his friend that this is his real wife, and tells how he recaptured her at the grave of the demon of death.
This play occupies a special place not only in the surviving heritage of Euripides, but in general in ancient drama, which was noted already in antiquity. It is known that in the tetralogy it was in fourth place, that is, it was supposed to play the role of a satire drama. However, there is no satyr chorus in it, and it is very far from that easy and unbridled fun that this chorus brought with it to the stage. Yet one feature is characteristic of "Alkeste" to a much greater extent than other plays by Euripides: this is a deliberate combination of tragic and comedic style. The scene between Hercules and the servant is on the verge of tragedy and comedy, especially at the beginning. The hoax of Hercules at the end of the play also has something of a comedy. However, in general, the dramatic situation between Alcesta and Admet, Admet and Hercules is interpreted with great

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seriousness and extreme pathos. This especially applies to the scene of the death of Alkesta and to the scene of Admet's return after the funeral of his wife, when, in the apt expression of IF Annensky, “Admet understood by suffering that there is a life that is worse than death”.
Euripides touches upon a motive in the play, which will be repeatedly touched upon in his other dramas. Feminine devotion and self-sacrifice in the play is clearly contrasted with the unconscious selfishness and love of life of Admet. In the scene of farewell to Alcesta, he begs his wife not to leave him, forgetting that he himself agreed to accept her sacrifice. The unconscious egoism of Admet appears even more clearly in the scene of his dispute at the body of Alkesta with his father Feret. Admetus does not allow his father, who came with funeral gifts, to the body of Alcesta. A sharp explanation takes place between the son and the father. Admet considers his parents, who did not want to die for him, to be the true culprits of Alcesta's death.
Feret is also an egoist, but an egoist, perfectly aware of his love of life. He finds it quite natural - after all, the old man has so little to live. And everyone is cheerful, says Feret. The best example of this is Admet himself, who bought his life at the price of his wife's death.
"Alkesta" is one of the best plays by Euripides, both for its fascinating plot structure, which develops a motive characteristic of the folklore of many peoples (the return to life of a deceased person), and for the charming image of a tender and loving wife sacrificing herself for the life of her husband. And the purely spectacular side of the tragedy, closely connected with the development of the plot and the characters depicted in it, already provides a number of such means of theatrical expressiveness, which Euripides later uses in other dramas. These include the scene of the death of the heroine in front of the audience, the mourning ceremony, the showing of children on the stage, the performance of monody in the most pathetic places.

"MEDEA"

In this tragedy, staged on stage in 431 BC. e., Euripides paints a different female image, very different from the image of Alcesta. Alkesta is a devoted wife and tender mother. Her self-sacrifice testifies to her strong will, aimed at saving the life of the head of the family, to give him the opportunity to raise their children. Medea is not only strong-willed, but also passionate, endowed with a stormy temperament and unable to forgive the offense inflicted on her. Falling in love with the Argonaut Jason, she helps him get the golden fleece and runs with him to Greece. But when, after a few
years, Jason decides to marry the daughter of the Corinthian king and abandons Medea, and the king of Corinth, Creon, also wants to expel her with her children from the city, Medea takes cruel revenge on her traitorous husband, and Creon, and his daughter. With the help of magical gifts, she first destroys the princess and her father, and then, wishing to take revenge on Jason more painfully, she kills her children, born of him, and flies away with their bodies in a chariot drawn by winged dragons.
The scene depicts the home of Jason and Medea in Corinth. In the prologue, the nurse speaks of the misfortune that befell Medea, whom he left

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Jason. Refusing food, Medea sheds tears day and night on her bed and shouts that her husband has treacherously broken his oath. Even children became hateful to her. Knowing Medea's character, the nurse expresses fear for the future. Her anxiety increases even more when she learns from a teacher who appears in the orchestra with two boys, the sons of Medea, that a new misfortune has also fallen upon her mistress: Creon expels her with her children from Corinth. Behind the stage, the screams of Medea are heard, calling for death. The nurse advises the children to hide and not to appear in the eyes of the mother, seized by anger and rage. Screams are heard from behind the stage again. Medea curses both the children and the father who gave birth to them. A choir of Corinthian women appears on Medea's voice. They came to comfort Medea in her grief. Thus, Euripides very skillfully prepares the performance of the choir - the parod in the prologue. Backstage Medea's screams continue after the crowd. When, at the request of the choir, Medea leaves the house, the outburst of rage has already passed and she more calmly talks about the misfortune that befell her. With bitterness Medea tells the chorus about the plight of a woman who should be a weak-willed slave of her husband and look into his eyes even when he flatters his heart with love on the side. Medea: after all, she is in a foreign land, she has no home, no relatives, no friends. Medea asks the choir for only one thing: let him not interfere with her if she finds any means to take revenge on her husband. From this moment on, all actions and deeds of Medea are determined by the desire to carry out her revenge. She asks Creon to allow her to stay in Corinth for at least one day in order to figure out where to go with the children and how to arrange them. When Creon gives this permission, Medea, referring to the choir, says that she needs one day of reprieve for her revenge.
In the following explanation between Medea and Jason, the characters of both main characters are well revealed. The meeting between a husband and his wife, rejected by him, is one of the most powerful scenes of the tragedy. Iason very cleverly bypasses the basic question of the reasons for Medea's hatred. He begins his speech with an attack. For her malice, for her loose language, Medea receives, in Jason's opinion, too little punishment: for such crimes even exile is a blessing. Calling himself a loyal friend, Jason offers Medea help so that she and the children do not remain in a foreign land without funds. In a strong and vivid speech, Medea accuses Jason of shamelessness. Having caused so much harm to his loved ones, he can still look them in the eyes. Medea remembers everything she did for Iason. She talks about her crimes committed out of love for him. And what? As a reward for all this, he forgot about his vows and betrayed her. She puts the question to Jason point-blank, where should she go with the children.
Opposing Medea, Jason resorts to the most shameless sophisms. In vain does Medea extol her services; he himself believes that he owes everything to Cypride, who sparked love for him in Medea. Moreover, he has been

1 In these arguments of Medea one can feel the echo of the public disputes of that time; the patriarchal family collapsed, and, perhaps, for the first time in history, a woman's question arose before Athenian society.

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and more than paid his debt to his wife. Medea now lives not among the barbarians, but in Greece and enjoys fame. As for marriage, he entered into a new marriage in order to arrange himself and strengthen the position of his children through their brothers, who will be born to him from a new wife. What greater happiness could have fallen to the lot of an exile than an alliance with a princess? Medea refutes Jason's last argument - an honest man would first persuade his loved ones and only then marry, while Jason married first. Medea indignantly refuses any help that Jason offers her.
After the song of the choir about the terrible power of the Erots and about the destruction that they brought to Medea's life, a stranger, the Athenian king Aegeus, enters the orchestra. At first glance, the scene with Aegeus seems to have little to do with the development of the plot of the play. In fact, this is the last impetus helping to finally determine the plan for Medea's revenge. And the point is not only that Medea now gets a place where she can flee from Corinth. Aegeus is childless, which is why he was in Delphi and asked God to give him offspring. From the point of view of the ancient Greek, childlessness seemed to be the greatest misfortune. And it was here, in a conversation with Aegeus, that Medea had the idea of ​​inflicting this greatest misfortune on Jason and depriving him of his offspring by killing his children. After Aegeus leaves, the triumphant Medea tells the choir about her plan of revenge. She will call Jason back and pretend to agree with Creon's verdict. She will ask Jason to leave their children in Corinth. What about children
help her kill the princess. She will send gifts with them: poisoned ash of wondrous work and a diadem. As soon as the princess puts them on, she will be engulfed in flames and perish in torment; the one who touches her will also perish. After that, Medea will have to kill the children - she will uproot Jason's house. The chorus tries to dissuade Medea from her decision. The coryphaeus of the choir asks if she really dares to kill her children. Medea answers this with a question:

How can I hurt more than Iason? 1

In the scene of the second explanation of Jason and Medea, on the one hand, the imaginary meekness of Medea, as if only now understood what her good is, and the complacency of Jason, frankly rejoicing that the unpleasant business is coming to a happy ending, is well shown.
The audience learned about what happened behind the scenes from the story of the messenger, who reported on the terrible death of the princess and her father from the gifts of Medea. After the messenger's story, Medea decides to kill the children immediately. However, this decision is followed by agonizing hesitation. Caressing the children on the stage, Medea sometimes abandons her terrible plan, then returns to it again. But finally, the decision has been made. Addressing herself, Medea says:

Today you
Not their mother, no, but tomorrow the heart is crying
Satisfy you. You kill them
And you love. Oh, how unhappy I am, wives! -

Medea speaks the last words to the chorus, who during this whole scene reveals an amazing passivity. Medea takes the children backstage, from where

1 Euripides, Plays, M., "Art", 1960, p. 69.
2 Ibid., P. 84.

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after a few moments, their cries, crying and words are heard:

Rather, for God's sake, they will kill us! ..
The iron ones will now squeeze our nets

Jason quickly enters the orchestra, who asks the choir where the villainess Medea is. However, Iason now thinks not so much about her - she still cannot escape punishment - but about his children. He fears that Creon's relatives will take revenge on them for their mother's crime. Chorus informs Jason that Medea killed the children. Jason orders his servants to break open the doors of the palace, but at this moment Medea appears in the air on a chariot drawn by winged dragons, with the bodies of the slain boys. To Jason's curses, Medea replies that, having taken revenge on him, she touched his heart painfully, and her own pain is easy for her, if now he cannot laugh at her. Jason cursing the killer

1 Euripides, Plays, p. 86.

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begs to give him the children for burial. Medea denies him this: she herself will bury the children in the sacred grove of the goddess Hera. Jason begs in vain for Medea to at least let him hug the bodies of the children. The air chariot flies away.
The significance of this tragedy for the history of the Greek scene was well defined by the famous French scientist of the last century A. Patin. Calling the performance a terrible and heartbreaking one, he regards it as a revolution in the Greek theater, changing the face of the Greek stage, since in Medea the predestination of passion took the place of the old predestination of fate. Indeed, the real basis of action in this tragedy is the passions that dominate Medea's soul. They are not inspired from above, and there is no divine intervention in the very course of events, which could create a situation favorable for the manifestation of human passion or, conversely, preventing this manifestation. The heroine is completely responsible for her actions, bearing, as she herself is well aware of this, the complete collapse of her own life.
Developing a mythological plot, Euripides, naturally, retains a number of such traits in the character of Medea and her actions that were given to him by myths: she is a sorceress, she puts the dragon to sleep, commits terrible crimes - she kills her brother while fleeing from Colchis, and then Pelias destroys in Iolka. All this, however, takes place before the start of the play, but in the play itself, she exercises her revenge against the princess with the help of magic. At the same time, there is something in Medea's passionate and unrestrained character that reminds her that she is a foreigner, born and raised among the barbarians. However, this is not what the playwright brings to the fore when painting the image of Medea. Already in the first episode, when Medea goes to the choir, she is not the sorceress of Colchis, but an abandoned and completely desperate woman, a contemporary of the playwright, and the audience is, in essence, present at a terrible family drama. The sufferings of Medea, in whose soul there is a struggle between motherly love and the thirst for revenge, are depicted with great pathos and psychological persuasiveness. Eventually, the desire for revenge suppresses all other human feelings, and the crime is committed. However, the viewer, before whose eyes all the vicissitudes of the collision of the main characters of the tragedy passed, feels compassion for Medea and begins to understand how she could reach her terrible crime.
This is all the more remarkable because, from the point of view of an ordinary Greek, Jason acted quite consistently and correctly. He decided to strengthen the position of both his own and his children, and in this case (and indeed in all others) had every right not to reckon with the feelings of the woman he was leaving. Jason is presented in the tragedy as a selfish and self-righteous person who cares partly about himself, partly about the interests of the family and is not at all interested in what is happening in Medea's soul. And only in the last scene, where he is shown completely overwhelmed by Medea's terrible revenge, does the viewer feel compassion towards him.
Medea contains a number of political allusions. So, in the words of the first stasim “the sanctity of oaths has disappeared ...” (Art. 412-413), some researchers see an indication of the political situation on the eve of the Peloponnesian War.

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It was a time of mutual hostility and mistrust, violation of treaties and feverish preparations for war. The tragedy won the third prize. The reasons for this assessment are unclear to us. But at a later time "Medea" was recognized as one of the best plays of Euripides.

"HOPOLIT"

This tragedy took place on the Athenian scene in March 428 BC. NS. She was part of the first prize-winning tetralogy. The play is based on the myth of Hippolytus, the bastard son of the Athenian king Theseus from the Amazon, Antiope, and the unhappy love of his stepmother Phaedra for him. The very date of the production of "Hippolytus" indicates that after "Medea" the playwright was carried away by the idea of ​​depicting a strong human passion - this time love, leading to the death of both the passionate Phaedrus and the one she loves. Comparison of the plot of both plays makes it possible to establish some similarities between them. Medea's ardent love for Jason gives rise to in her after Iason's betrayal a feeling of passionate indignation, and then a thirst for revenge. In Medea, vindictiveness and the experiences associated with its implementation come to the fore, while love for Jason is not disclosed in detail, although it is mentioned several times in the drama. In Hippolytus, on the contrary, Euripides depicts Phaedra's passion for love, a feeling of boundless despair associated with rejected love, and finally, the fear of exposure and imminent shame. But Phaedra's desire to take revenge on Hippolytus and drag him into inevitable death is motivated and portrayed very briefly.
The myth of Hippolytus became widespread in Greece in the 5th century. BC NS. solely thanks to the Athenian theater, since it left almost no traces in the previous literature. Lyric poetry does not seem to know him. It is only known that in the picture of the underworld, made for the Delphic temple (between 480 and 476), Polygnot depicted Phaedra among criminal women - obviously, as the culprit in the death of Hippolytus. On the contrary, in the next century, the legend of Hippolytus and Phaedrus became the subject of numerous images. The Attic tragedy introduced her to literature and art and immortalized her in the form in which we now know her from the tragedy of Euripides.
The myth of Hippolytus was localized in the Peloponnesian city of Tresene. The author of the Description of Hellas, the Greek traveler Pausanias (2nd century AD) saw in Trezena a temple in honor of Artemis, erected, according to legend, by Hippolytus. A beautiful corner with a temple and a statue was dedicated to Hippolytus in Trezen. The priest appointed for life was in charge of the cult of Hippolytus, in whose honor the annual sacrifices were performed. Local custom demanded, in addition, that young girls devote a lock of their hair to him before marriage. The memory of Hippolytus remained closely related to the memory of Phaedra. There was Phaedra's tomb in Trezen, not far from the tomb of Hippolytus. There was also a temple to Aphrodite in Trezen, from where Phaedra seemed to look at the young man when he was doing physical exercises in the stadium that bears his name and is located

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not far from the temple. Pausanias testifies to the existence of the grave of Hippolytus near the Acropolis, located in front of the temple of Themis.
The tragedy takes place in the city of Trezen, where Theseus had to retire for a year of exile for shedding the blood of his relatives. The scene depicted a palace belonging to Theseus; in front of the palace there were two statues - Artemis and Aphrodite. In the prologue, which contains not only the plot of the drama, but also sets out its plot in the main lines, Aphrodite appears. In identifying herself, she speaks of the glory of her name both in heaven and on earth. Everywhere she elevates those who bow before her power and punishes her enemies. Among these enemies is Hippolytus. Only he alone in Trezen calls her the worst of all goddesses, honoring above all immortals the daughter of Zeus - the virgin Artemis. Hippolytus sinned against Aphrodite and must now be punished. The goddess has already managed to inspire her stepmother Hippolyta Phaedra with a passion for her stepson. This love will destroy Hippolytus, as well as Phaedra. Hippolytus will die from the curse of Theseus when he learns of his shame.
A hymn in honor of Artemis is heard offstage. Hippolyte returns from the hunt with his companions. Leaving the stage, Aphrodite once again speaks of the inevitable death of Hippolytus. Hippolytus goes out with his companions. Here we have - as far as we can judge from the surviving tragedies - the only case of the performance even in the prologue of the second, side chorus, consisting of hunters, comrades of Hippolytus. The choir sings a hymn in honor of Artemis. Hippolyte approaches the statue of the goddess and asks to accept a wreath from him. He tore it off in a reserved meadow, which can only be entered by naturally pure people. The old slave asks Hippolytus to pay tribute to Aphrodite. Hippolytus's answer sounds insulting to a goddess:

From afar, as pure, I honor her.

Offensive and following his words:

God, worshiped only in darkness, is not pleasant to me 1.

The caretaker Hippolyta asks the goddess to forgive the young man for these impudent words:

We are not for you, gods, and wiser 2.

The slave does not even suspect what bitter irony his words sound - the death of Hippolytus has already been predetermined by Aphrodite.
Parod cleverly connects with the prologue. A chorus of women from Trezens appears, to whom the news of the queen's suffering has reached; the third day she does not eat food, languishing in unknown torment. But then the door of the palace opens. Phaedra appears, supported by a nurse. The maids set up a couch near the door, on which they lay the queen. In her delirium of love, Phaedra asks to take her to the mountains,

Where is the predatory pack of spotted deer
chases greedily 3.

She would like to throw a Thessalian javelin or drive four Venetian horses. But little by little Phaedra comes to her senses, and she becomes ashamed of her words. Nurse tries to find out the causes of suffering

1 Euripides, Plays, p. 101.
2 Ibid., P. 102.
3 Ibid., P. 102.

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Phaedra. But all in vain - Phaedra is silent. However, in the end, after the persistent entreaty of the nurse, Phaedra reveals to her the secret of her illness: she loves Hippolytus. The nurse, hearing this confession, falls into despair and wishes herself death. Addressing the choir, Phaedra says that for a long time she tried to fight her passion, but in vain. All that remains for her now is to die, otherwise she will cover her husband and children with shame.
There comes a wonderful scene of the temptation of Phaedra by the nurse, who wishes to save her mistress.
Phaedra speaks of honor and pride - the nurse, with the confidence of an experienced sophist, speaks of prudence, which ordered not to fight with passion, of the flow of Aphrodite, which cannot be stopped. Everywhere, she insinuatingly assures, love reigns, to which everything in the world owes life; both people and gods love. And Phaedra does not need to resist love, but a successful outcome should be found. It is necessary to quickly find out how Hippolytus relates to her feelings, and therefore it is necessary to tell him everything directly. This is the course of the nurse's rhetorically constructed reasoning. Phaedra strongly objected, calling them shameful; She also rejects the offer of the nurse to reveal her feelings to Hippolytus. But then, little by little, she gives up, especially when the nurse announces that she has an effective harmless remedy that will heal Phaedra without hurting her honor. The text at this point (vv. 509-524) allows us to conclude that Phaedra is thinking of a potion that would heal her from a pernicious passion, while the nurse's plan is to tell Hippolytus about everything. The nurse leaves, and the choir sings a song about the omnipotence and cruelty of Eros. Some voices can be heard from the palace with the last words of the song. Phaedra listens and then tells the choir that she clearly heard Hippolytus call the wet-nurse. The secret of her love is revealed, and Phaedra sees inevitable death before her. Excited Hippolyte enters the orchestra, the nurse runs behind, clinging to his clothes. She pleads with Hippolytus not to divulge the secrets, as he vowed not to tell her what he would hear. This is followed by Hippolytus's answer:

The lips swore, but the mind is not bound by an oath

Hippolytus is outraged by the act of Phaedra and the nurse, who dared to offer his son the sacred bed of his father. He delivers a passionate denunciation against women in general. After the departure of Hippolytus, Phaedra's monody follows, in which she sings about her bitter female share and that there is no way out for her. Phaedra decides to die. She goes to the palace, and after a few minutes, filled with the singing of the choir, the cries of the nurse are heard from the palace that Phaedra has hanged herself.
Theseus returns from the pilgrimage, accompanied by his retinue, and learns from the choir about Phaedra's suicide. He orders the slaves to knock down the locks at the door. The locks were knocked down and the doors were finally opened. Inside the palace, Phaedra's corpse is visible on the couch. Servants are standing by her. Mourning for his wife, Theseus notices a letter in her hand. In it, Phaedra calls Hippolytus the culprit for his death, allegedly

1 Euripides, Plays, p. 122. This chiseled formula, opposing the spirit of ethics to its letter, enjoyed great fame in antiquity, provoking the wrath of traditionalists like Aristophanes.

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who dishonored her. The indignant Theseus curses his son. He turns to Poseidon, who once promised Theseus to fulfill his three wishes, with a plea to destroy Hippolytus. Hippolytus, who came to the cry of his father, justifies himself in vain, Theseus does not believe him. He accuses Hippolytus of hypocrisy, that under the guise of purity, he hid his sensuality. But now he is no longer a mystery to anyone. Theseus orders Hippolytus to leave the Athenian land immediately. Refuting the words of his father, Hippolytus makes a long defensive speech, but, bound by his oath, does not say anything about Phaedra's love for him. After that, Hippolytus retires into exile. How he died when the horses carried the chariot, frightened by the monstrous bull thrown out by the sea, the audience learned from the story of the messenger.
Theseus orders to bring his son to him, although his anger has not subsided yet. The choir sings the second song about the power of Aphrodite. Exod follows. Artemis appears above. Addressing Theseus, the goddess says that his son is innocent, and tells him the whole truth about Phaedra's love for Hippolytus. Hippolytus, wounded and tortured, is brought on a stretcher. Suffering unbearably, he begs to bring him a sword in order to quickly lose his life. Artemis consoles her dying friend. Hippolytus realizes that he, Phaedra and his father are the victims of Aphrodite. He regrets his father more than himself In her last word, Artemis threatens to recall Aphrodite's cruel anger, saying that the day will come - and the one whom Aphrodite loves most will die at her hand, Artemis 1. She promises Hippolyte to honor him on eternal times in Trezen: before the wedding, brides will devote part of their hair to him. Artemis disappears. Hippolytus dies, forgiving his father before his death.
The tragedy "Hippolytus" was supposed to interest the Athenian audience primarily with its plot, since for the first time the voice of unbridled passion sounded in it, hitherto unknown to the Attic scene. True, in the denouement of Sophocles' Antigone, love comes into its own, and Gemon commits suicide because of love for Antigone, but in all the preceding parts of the play she plays almost no role. And the jealousy of Deianira, so well portrayed in "Trakhineyanka". is the jealousy of a legal spouse who stands up for her rights rather than a woman in love. In any case, if the Greek tragedy was about love, then it was talked about it in very restrained terms. True, the lyrics at one time violated this peculiar prohibition, and Sappho, for example, vividly portrayed love experiences. But showing them directly on stage still shocked the Greek audience and seemed indecent to him.
A bold innovation of Euripides was the portrayal on stage among other emotional experiences and feelings of love. Apparently, he sometimes managed to overcome the prejudices of his contemporaries in this respect, as is evident from the fact that the trilogy, which included "Hippolytus," received the first award by the judges' verdict.

1 These words hint at the impending death of Adonis. According to the myth, this was a beautiful young man whom Aphrodite fell in love with and whom she mourned when he died hunting from the fangs of a boar.

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although the tragedy depicted criminal love.
The central figure of this tragedy is not Phaedra, but Hippolytus. The fact that he was the son of Theseus from the Amazon Antiope left a special imprint on him, in the eyes of the ancient Greek. Like his mother, he is distinguished by some severity, trying to get closer to nature and spend all the time in the forests and fields, in the circle of a few select peers. Hippolytus's greatest aspiration is to be virtuous, but his virtue is very different from the usual Greek idea of ​​a person who could be called καλός κ "αγαθός 1. He sees her in absolute chastity. This ideal of severe asceticism appears in Hippolytus as a form of his piety. The deity to whom he dedicates himself, because it meets his ideas of perfect purity, is the virgin goddess Artemis. In the solitude of the forests, he delightedly hears the voice of the goddess and enjoys communion with her, which is not given to other mortals. This asceticism of Hippolytus was alien to the vast majority. the Greeks of that time, who considered it quite natural to use in moderation all the joys of life, including the gifts of Aphrodite. Aphrodite punishes Hippolytus precisely because he refused to recognize her power, which extends to all living interests, and in particular from politics. Meanwhile, for the hero of the tragedy, the only The only form of communication with society is participation in pan-Hellenic competitions.
However, this desire to leave society and become closer to nature is a reflection of the public sentiment of that era. In the scene where Hippolytus justifies himself to his father, he asks him the following question: maybe he needed a rapprochement with Phaedra in order to take over the kingdom? But, according to Hippolytus, a madman is one who is seduced by a higher power. His dream is different - to be the first in Hellenic competitions. He would like to live among his chosen friends, he does not need the anxious authority of the king. This desire to escape from the surrounding life was an indicator of the approaching crisis of the ancient slave society.
However, Hippolytus is not a calm contemplator of nature, in which there are only some traits of severity. He reacts passionately to everything that seems dishonorable to him, and in his indignation is capable of reaching injustice and cruelty. Outraged by the confession of the nurse, Hippolytus attacks all women in general with all his sarcasm and insulting words. All of them turn out to be worthless creatures, and better than others among them is she who is endowed with a lesser intelligence by nature; at least there will be less guile from her. All this Hippolytus says, as if outwardly addressing the nurse. But Phaedra is also at this time on the orchestra, and it is quite obvious that these words are addressed primarily to her. Phaedra is silent when Hippolytus heaps insults at her, and her silence is one of the most expressive silent scenes in Greek drama. In his unbridled indignation, he does not want to hear at least

1 καλός κ "αγαθός literally - beautiful and virtuous, that is, in all respects, a perfect person, in whom excellent physical qualities and beautiful appearance are combined with inner nobility and valor.

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something from Phaedra herself and moves away, cursing all the women.
At the same time, Hippolytus is convinced that he alone possesses the truth and in his virtue stands above other people. In response to his father's accusations, he responds not only with excuses for the offense attributed to him, but also with an arrogant assertion of his own perfection.

Take a look around to the ground where he steps
Your foot, in the sun, what's hers
Lives, and you will not find a single soul
More sinless than mine, at least you
And he argued, king 1.

The presence of such flaws in the character of Hippolytus lowers this image from ideal heights and makes it more original and vital.
Before writing her suicide letter, Phaedra appears to be a woman not only with a strong, but also a noble character. Dominated by the passion generated by Aphrodite, she strives to remain pure for Theseus and her children. And this is not only because of the fear of exposure. Her honor is based on proud recognition of her purity; she looks at her involuntary passion as a shame deserving punishment. The knowledge of her fall would have been unbearable for her. She rejects all secret love and sends a curse to those women who give their beloved a criminal embrace. With all the forces of her soul, she resists the passion that gripped her. Exhausted in the struggle she had to wage with herself. Phaedra sees the only way out in death. But then, in the form of a demon-tempter, a nurse appears - and Phaedra succumbs to her, not even fully understanding what will be the salutary means of her consoler. But how, then, to reconcile with such a character of Phaedra her dying cruelty towards Hippolytus, whom she lowly slanders? Some researchers in this regard directly speak of the incongruity made by Euripides and that he forces a woman with a noble character and refined feelings to commit a low act. But they usually forget that Phaedra writes a letter in a fit of despair, a few minutes before her death, seized at the same time by an irresistible desire to take revenge on Hippolyta for the terrible insult he inflicted on her in the scene of an explanation with the nurse, enrolling her in the category of hypocritical women who find happiness in stolen love. Feeling unspeakable shame at the thought that Hippolytus knows her passion, and distraught with undeserved cruel insults, she rushes into the palace, writes a letter in which she falsely accuses Hippolytus, and then immediately kills herself, leaving not a single moment for calm reflection.
The gods in this tragedy appear unattractive. Of course. Hippolytus sinned against Aphrodite, but the punishment was immeasurably cruel. Aphrodite is not only harsh, but also avenger devoid of any compassion. In essence, Artemis is also negatively characterized, who, although rehabilitating her devoted servant before death, does not prevent his death, for among the gods there is a custom not to go against each other. Artemis, however, is shown somewhat more human than Aphrodite, but in the last scene she is going to take revenge on Afro-

1 Euripides, Plays, M., "Art", 1960, p. 137.

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go and strike with your arrow the one who will be the loveliest of this goddess.
It is necessary to dwell briefly on the question of rock in Euripides' "Hippolytus". Phaedra says that she dies a victim of fate. And several more times in the tragedy there is a mention of rock, only in the sense of a fatal passion. True, this passion for Hippolytus originates in Phaedra Aphrodite, however, in the very course of the tragedy, the playwright so vividly depicts the experiences of a woman in love that the question of the divine origin of passion is somehow relegated to the background. Phaedra's strong human passion comes to the fore. It is this passion that destroys both heroes of the drama - Hippolytus and Phaedrus, and in this sense it can be called fatal. Thus, fate in this tragedy of Euripides seems to descend to earth, humanize and destroy its victims through the passion that gripped the soul of the heroine.
How was the appearance of Artemis arranged in the stage in this tragedy? By analogy with the denouements of other plays by Euripides, it can be concluded that Artemis appeared in the heights - probably on a special dais on the roof of the skene. She could not appear below in the orchestra, where other characters play, since her appearance and the first words addressed to Theseus are completely unexpected for him. In addition, if Artemis was below, she could approach Hippolytus, but he does not even see her. And, finally, at the end of the play, Artemis announces the future to Theseus, and in such cases the gods usually spoke to people from the height of the skene.
Euripides processed the myth of Hippolytus twice. From the first version, only nineteen passages have come down to us, making up a total of 50 verses. Overwhelmed by her passion, Phaedra herself confessed her to Hippolytus. This version of the tragedy about Hippolytus in ancient times was called "Hippolytus Closing", no doubt, because during the love explanation of Phaedra, he covered his head with a cloak in shame. In contrast to this first version, the tragedy that has come down to us was called "Hippolytus Crowned" (in the prologue Hippolytus appears with a wreath on his head). In the summary of the content of the play that has come down to us, it is said that the playwright eliminated in the second drama everything that was obscene and gave rise to backbiting. Probably, such moments that angered the audience in the first drama were Phaedra's direct appeal to Hippolytus, her words that her ruler is Eros, an invincible god who teaches insolence, etc.
The second "Hippolytus" enjoyed tremendous success in antiquity. Monuments of fine art willingly reproduce individual episodes of the drama. Alexandrian critics considered the second "Hippolytus" one of the best tragedies of Euripides. However, the Roman playwright of the 1st century. n. NS. Seneca in his tragedy "Phaedra" used the first version of "Hippolytus" by Euripides: in Seneca, Phaedra herself confesses her love to Hippolytus. The popularity of the myth of Hippolytus and Phaedrus in imperial Rome is evidenced by the numerous images on sarcophagi and the performance of pantomimes on this subject. But they are all based on the second version of Euripides's "Hippolytus". Numerous borrowings from "Hippolytus" are found in the Byzantine drama for reading the 12th century. "Christ the Passion-Bearer".
The plot of "Hippolytus" was borrowed by Racine for the tragedy "Phaedra" (1677).

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As the title itself shows, Racine's protagonist was not Hippolytus, but Phaedra. In the preface to Phaedra, he talks about the changes that he made to the plot of the play and to the characters of the characters. He considered it impossible to put slander in the mouth of a queen, who in other respects showed such noble feelings. This baseness seemed to him more suitable for a wet nurse, who could have a slavish inclinations and resort to false accusations only with the aim of saving the life and honor of her mistress. Like Seneca, in Racine, Phaedra herself reveals her passion to Hippolytus. But she makes this confession after she received the news (which later turned out to be false) about the death of Theseus.
While the ancient authors accused Hippolytus of committing violence against his stepmother, Racine, softening this detail, speaks only of an attempt to commit violence. In Racine, Hippolytus is not represented as such a decisive enemy of Aphrodite as in Euripides: he loves the Athenian princess Aricia, the daughter of Theseus' mortal enemy. Phaedra's feelings, the struggle in her soul between passion and duty are complicated by jealousy of Arisia. After the death of Hippolytus, Phaedra commits suicide at Racine, taking poison and revealing the whole truth to Theseus before death.

"HERCULES"

In this tragedy, staged on stage, in all likelihood, approx. 423 BC e., is being developed - albeit with significant changes - the old myth about the killing of his children by Hercules in a fit of madness sent down by the Hero. Thus, like Hippolytus and Phaedra, Hercules is also represented as a sacrifice to the gods. The playwright has set himself a difficult task. He shows the hero at the pinnacle of glory, after he accomplished the last feat, the descent into Hades, but at this very moment he is struck by madness. A sick mind kindles to burning hatred a feeling of resentment against the insignificant Eurystheus, whom Hercules had to serve all his life, and, thinking that he is dealing with the enemy's family, the hero kills his children and his wife. After an explosion of madness, sobering sets in and Hercules begins to torment her. In the tragedy, with even greater force than before, the playwright's skill in portraying the emotional experiences of a person appears.
Perhaps the newest writer would have nothing to add to the depiction of the state of insanity: the playwright gives a vivid and accurate picture of mental pathology. The moral torments of Hercules after a seizure are also described with the greatest psychological convincingness. But in "Hercules" there is something else that allows us to talk about a new moment in the work of Euripides. The tragedy adjoins a number of heroic-patriotic plays begun by the Heraclides. But in comparison with the last tragedy, the patriotic theme in "Hercules" receives a more intense and vivid reflection. The changes that Euripides made to the myth were due to the playwright's desire to create a patriotic play, while at the same time strengthening its drama and purely scenic

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possibilities. The most significant of these changes is the introduction to the drama of Theseus. When Hercules, to whom reason returns, learns that he is the murderer of his family, and as retribution for this terrible act wants to kill himself, the Athenian king Theseus appears, who out of gratitude and in the name of humanity saves the life of Hercules and takes him away with him. to Athens. Another change in the myth was the introduction into the play of the image of the evil insolent Face, which was absent in the old mythology. The playwright makes Lycus an Euboean, which is explained by the hostile relations between Athens and Euboea, which developed in 424 BC. NS.
It is worth dwelling on one more change made by Euripides to the plot of the play. Old myths attributed the killing of children to the time before the service with Eurystheus, and the service itself was seen as an atonement for this sin. After completing his twelve labors, Hercules came out of the power of Hera, who fed him anger because he was the illegitimate son of Zeus. For Euripides, the murder of children occurs after the completion of all twelve deeds and is the last act of Hera's evil revenge. Returning to his homeland in a halo of glory, saving his family and rescuing Thebes from the usurper, Hercules, apparently, could count on that.

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that now he will be able to enjoy the happiness he deserves. But almost immediately, the hero experiences such a mental collapse, from which, apparently, there is no way out. This is the clearest example of tragic irony.
The tragedy takes place in Thebes in front of the palace of Hercules. On the steps of the altar of Zeus, the father of Hercules Amphitrion, the wife of Hercules Megara and the three young sons of the hero are located. From the prologue, in which Amphitrion and Megara performed, the audience learned about the state of affairs. Taking advantage of the absence of Hercules, who was performing his last feat at this time, the Eubian Lik seized power.
Fleeing from his pursuit, Amphitrion, Megara and the children of Hercules seek refuge at the altar of Zeus. The choir of the tragedy consists of the Theban elders. They express their sincere sympathy for Amphitrion and Megara, but due to their age they cannot fight the warriors of Lik, who wants to kill Megara and the sons of Hercules. Lik feels his complete impunity, as he believes that Hercules is no longer alive. The tyrant orders the warriors to light a fire around the altar so that Hercules' family suffocates in the smoke. Megara declares to Liku that she is ready to die, but asks for one favor: let her be allowed to put mourning clothes on the children before their death. Having received Lika's consent, Megara leaves with the children and with Amphitryon to the palace. The choir sings about the feats of Hercules, regretting that he did not return after his last feat - the descent to Hades.
Lik's victims return from the palace; the sons of Hercules wear mourning clothes (of course, this dressing was supposed to increase the excitement of the audience). Megara begins a plaintive song. But this is followed by a stage effect - suddenly Hercules appears, who was considered already dead. He frees his loved ones and wants to immediately deal with Lik. However, Amphitryon advises him to wait for the return of the usurper, who must now appear to carry out the execution, and Hercules obeys his father. He tells him about the descent into the underworld and that he brought Theseus out of there, now returning to Athens. Hercules tenderly consoles his children, who cuddle up to him and do not want to let him go. Everyone except Amphitryon withdraws to the palace. Lik comes to claim his sacrifices. Since Amphitryon does not want to take on the heavy duty of leading the wife and children of Hercules out of the palace for execution, Lik himself enters the palace, from where his death cries are soon heard. The choir sings a song of praise in honor of Hercules, considering the death of Likus deserved. But now there is a turning point in the development of action. The messenger of the gods Irida and the goddess of madness Lissa appear in the air above the palace. The latter has the appearance of a Gorgon: she has snakes in her hair. The spectators learned from the goddesses that Hera, feeding anger against Hercules, as the son of Zeus and Alcmene, would make the hero shed the blood of his loved ones. Lissa. considering Hera's decision unjust, but powerless to resist, speaks of the inevitable drama that will play out in the palace as soon as she gets there.
And indeed, soon the cry of Amphitryon is heard from the palace, and the tragedy reaches its extreme tension. The chorus responds to the cries of an old man defending children against

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their father. Pallas Athena 1 appears in the air for a moment.
A messenger comes and tells about what happened in the palace. Hercules was preparing to cleanse his palace from the shed blood of the tyrant with a sacrifice at the Zeus altar. Suddenly he stopped and fell silent. His eyes were bloodshot, and thick foam began to drip from his lips onto his beard. Then he laughed terribly and began to say crazy words that he would get the head of Eurystheus and then wash off the spilled blood from his hands. He began to demand from the slaves to be given a bow with arrows and a club. Then the madman began to depict him riding in a chariot. In his delirium, he enumerated the places that he supposedly was passing through, and finally it seemed to him that he was already in Mycenae and now must begin reprisals against the enemies. So in madness, Hercules kills his children. Megara also died saving children from her husband. Only Amphitryon survived. He was saved by Pallas, throwing a huge stone into the chest of Hercules and then plunging him into a deep sleep. Then the servants in the palace rushed to the aid of Amphitryon and tied Hercules to the column of the palace so that he could not, when he woke up, commit new troubles.
The doors of the palace open, one can see Hercules sleeping among the ruins, tied to a column of the palace. Near him lie the corpses of his sons and Megara. When the hero wakes up, he does not immediately remember everything that happened. At that moment, when he finally realizes what he had done and mourns his crime, the Athenian king Theseus appears. Rumors reached him that Lik was pressing the family of Hercules, and he came to the aid of his friend. Amphitryon tells about everything to Theseus. Hercules sits at this time to the side, covering his head with shame. Theseus consoles his friend and dissuades him from committing suicide. He calls him with him to Athens, promising to give him a part of the Athenian land. Hercules recalls how Hera haunted him all his life. What country would now want to accept him after an unheard-of crime? In the end, he agrees with Theseus' persuasions, not wanting anyone to think that he is a cowardly fleeing from moral suffering. In a lengthy speech, Hercules says goodbye to the killed, calling them, like himself, the victims of Hera. He then hugs Amphitryon, asking him to take care of the burial of the dead, and leaves with Theseus.
Some researchers noted the lack of unity of action in this tragedy and pointed out that it breaks up into two separate plays. The first play depicts the fate of the Hercules family, the second plot depicts the fate and suffering of the hero himself. However, this is not entirely fair. The tragedy "Hercules", as noted by some researchers, gives the unity of the "higher order". With the apparent dichotomy of the plot of the play, the first part of it is undoubtedly necessary for the second. If in the first part there were no these exhausted children who had been waiting for Hercules for so long, dreamed of him so much, and then, having lost hope, prepared to die for the honor of their father's name - his terrible reprisal against them in the second part of the play would not have produced such strong impression and they would not feel the full depth of despair that seized the hero, pushing

1 Her appearance was accompanied by some kind of stage effect, since the chorus says that a hurricane is shaking the house and the roof is crumbling.

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him even the thought of suicide. The main character connects both parts of the play.
The creation of the image of the heroic Hercules belongs to Euripides. Before him, he appears in the theater almost exclusively as a comic character - in a comedy or satire drama.
The playwright with great psychological persuasiveness showed in the messenger's story the moment of transition from innocent delirium to terrible madness and the subsequent crime. Equally expressive is the scene that takes place before the eyes of the audience - when the hero gradually comes to his senses. It is difficult to add anything to the excellent analysis of this scene by IF Annensky 1. First, the consciousness of life awakens in Hercules. Outwardly - the light of the sun - Hercules concludes that he is alive. The first thing he notices around him is a bow and arrows. In the corpses, he still does not distinguish between his victims, but when he sees them, he has the assumption that he is in Hades. Consciousness gradually returns to him, he begins to understand his surroundings, but the loss of memory turns his state into a real torture. The scene with the father begins. The atmosphere of sympathy from Amphitryon and the choir brings him back to reality. In a verse-mythical conversation with his father, he little by little elicits a terrible secret from him, until he finally finds out that he himself killed his children and his wife. Then the judge and the avenger awakens in him. His first decision is the willingness to die. The arrival of the Athenian king Theseus adds a new drop to the cup of Hercules' sufferings. The shame of the recent madness grows even more burning in the presence of the man he has just saved and is a recent witness of his glory. Dialogue with Theseus gradually leads him to a new idea. The thought of suicide fights in him with the desire to find the highest form of retribution for what he has done. He gradually becomes convinced that the most difficult feat is ahead of him - to preserve his life as a way of suffering atonement.
In this tragedy, Euripides used the "savior motive" who comes to the aid of someone in distress. Hercules saved Theseus (this is beyond the events of the tragedy), Theseus, in gratitude, saves Hercules not only from physical death, but also from the deepest mental crisis.
Attic humanity, friendship and hospitality, embodied in the image of Theseus, are depicted with great dramatic power and warmth. The more terrible and unbearable the calamities into which the deity of Hercules plunges, the brighter the human essence of Theseus appears. For the Athenian viewer, this motive of friendship and the salvation of a dying person sounded even stronger than for a modern reader or viewer. Indeed, from the point of view of the ancient Hellene, the very touch of a person who shed blood already threatened the one who touched it. Before his purification, the killer did not even have to address anyone with a word. Therefore, for the viewer of the 5th century. BC NS. such actions on the stage of Theseus, as the fact that he opens his face to a friend, gives him a hand, etc., were presented as a symbol of true Attic friendship. The highest manifestation of hospitality lies in the fact that Hercules not only finds refuge in Athens, but also a part of the Athenian land was promised to him as an inheritance.

1 "Theater of Euripides" in 3 volumes, vol. II, translation with introduction and afterwords by IF Annensky, ed. and with comments Φ. F. Zelinsky, M., 1916-1921, pp. 127-128.

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Moreover, Theseus speaks of the honor that will be given to Hercules after death: the entire Athenian land will honor the hero as an altar, and itself, in turn, will acquire glory in posterity for helping the famous husband in misfortune. At the same time, one must remember what a tremendous force of persuasiveness the argument had for the ancient Hellene that after death his memory would be honored.
The tragedy was written towards the end of the Archidamian War, which brought the greatest calamities to both belligerent sides. Nevertheless, Euripides paints in "Hercules" a mythical example of friendship between Attica and the Doric Peloponnese, exposing the Dorian in the same humanly attractive form as the Athenian. Despite the terrible catastrophe that struck Hercules and almost led him to death, the ending of the tragedy sounds enlightened, glorifying Attic humanity and friendship.

"PLEASING"

In this patriotic play, staged on stage, in all likelihood, after the conclusion of the Nikiev Peace in 420 BC. e., the main plot was the myth of the struggle of the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, for the Theban throne (the plot used by Aeschylus in "Seven against Thebes" - see above). Eteocles took possession of the throne and expelled Polynices from Thebes, but the latter found shelter with the Argos king Adrastus, who gave him his daughter. Then Polynices gathered six friends and, relying on the help of Adrastus, undertook a campaign against Thebes, which ended with the death of all seven leaders, and both sons of Oedipus fell in mortal combat with each other. However, these events lay outside the tragedy, and the tragedy itself begins with the prayer of the mothers of the fallen heroes, addressed to the mother of Theseus Efre.
The tragedy, unfolding in front of the temple of Demeter in Eleusis, begins with a very colorful scene. At the large altar, to which the steps lead, stands Ephra, the mother of Theseus, who came to the sacred enclosure of the temple to sacrifice before plowing the land. Efra also appears in the prologue, setting out the exposition of the drama. It turns out that seven leaders have already found death under the walls of Thebes. The mothers of the heroes wanted to bury the bodies of their sons, but the new Theban ruler Creon refused to give them the corpses. And so the women came to Eleusis to beg Theseus to get the Thebans to hand over the corpses. Spreading on the steps of the altar and groaning, the Argos mothers stretch out olive branches to Ephra, entwined with white bandages. Adrast also lies on the steps of the altar; beside him are the boys, the sons of the fallen heroes, who make up the side chorus.
Theseus enters. He is amazed at the sight that presented itself to him: the black clothes of women, their sobs, their hair cut off as a sign of mourning - all this is not suitable for a sacrifice in honor of Demeter. Ephra briefly informs Theseus about the request of the Argos mothers and then gives the floor to Adrast, who, rising and stopping the groaning, begins to speak. But Theseus coldly meets Adrast's request, reproaching him for recklessness and disregard for the will of the gods; he led the Argos

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a campaign, despite bad omens, carried away by a few young men greedy for fame and seeing in war only a means of achieving power and wealth. But then, convinced by the arguments of his mother, Theseus decides to help those who ask and achieve the extradition of the corpses, primarily through negotiations, and if this fails, then with the help of weapons. Since the Theban herald demands Theseus to drive Adrastus before sunset and refuse to bury the dead, the Athenian king orders, with the consent of the National Assembly, to prepare for war. Soon a messenger comes from the battlefield and tells of the brilliant victory of the Athenian army. A mourning procession appears on the orchestra, the Athenian warriors carry the funeral beds. Mothers and Adrastus cry for the dead. At the request of Theseus, Adrast tells about the fallen leaders, and his story turns into a real funeral praise. In the description of the seven leaders, one can clearly feel the latent polemic with Aeschylus and the influence of the then sophistry and rhetoric. In the tragedy "Seven Against Thebes", all the heroes, with the exception of the soothsayer Amphiaraus, are depicted as people filled with immense pride, in a kind of militant frenzy rushing to storm Thebes. We see quite differently in Euripides. Adrast begins with the characterization of Capaneus, defeated by the lightning of Zeus. For Aeschylus, this is a huge strong man with superhuman arrogance; he threatens to incinerate the city, and even Zeus's lightning does not frighten him. In The Beseeching Ones, according to Adrastus, Capaneus possessed immense wealth, but it did not make him either arrogant or proud. Capanei said that virtue lies in a simple life, modesty, in true friendship, in friendliness to people. Other leaders in the image of Adrast are also people endowed with various virtues.
The funeral procession to the sound of the choir's mournful song moves back behind the stage - conditionally to the place where the bodies of the fallen leaders will be burned. Suddenly, on the rock overlooking the temple and over the bonfire of Capaneus (of course, he was invisible to the audience), his wife Evadna appears in festive clothes, ready to throw herself into the fire, on which the body of her husband is burned. The tragedy of the situation is further intensified when Evadna's father, old Iphis, appears on the orchestra. There is double mourning in his family, as his son Eteocles (not to be confused with Eteocles - the son of Oedipus!) And his son-in-law Capaneus perished under the walls of Thebes. Being below, Iphis is powerless to prevent Evadne from fulfilling her intention. Rejoicing that the flame of the fire will unite her with her husband, Evadna throws herself off the cliff. Ifis mourns his cruel fate, the choir echoes it.
The play ends with a funeral ceremony. The orchestra includes Theseus, Adrast and the boys carrying urns with the ashes of their fathers. Addressing Adrastus and the women of Argos, who are going to go home in a funeral procession, Theseus urges them to remain forever grateful to Athens for the help they received. The goddess Athena appears above. However, its appearance does not serve the purpose of resolving the tragedy; it is, rather, a political conclusion. Athena instructs Theseus to demand from Adrast. so that he, on behalf of the Argians, swore an oath never to oppose Athens and to be grateful for the good deed rendered to them.

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Even in ancient times, scholarly critics believed that the tragedy "Beseeching" was a praise for Athens. This glorification of Athens is largely accomplished through the exaltation of the image of Theseus. Theseus is shown as the ideal ruler who gave the right to vote to the people. All affairs in the state are decided by the People's Assembly and elected officials, who are replaced by annual elections. There is complete unity between the king and the people, the king is the leader and advisor of his people. Theseus is an excellent warrior, and all Athenian citizens are ready to defend the fatherland. Along with this, his prudence and peacefulness are emphasized: the ruler, like his people, is inclined to solve affairs peacefully - but when it comes to defending a just cause, he is not afraid to go to war. Theseus is also endowed with eloquence - a quality necessary for a leader in a state where the most important matters are decided in the People's Assembly. He enters into a political dispute with the Theban herald about the best form of government and easily overpowers his opponent. Speaking against the Theban herald, who defends the sole form of government, Theseus points out that for the state there is nothing more hostile to tyranny. Under her, the law no longer protects citizens, one person disposes of everything at his own discretion, equality does not exist. In contrast, in a democracy, both the poor and the rich have the same rights. The people are free: when the citizens are asked which of them wants to offer something for the good of the state, everyone can take the floor. Whoever has nothing to say remains silent. Where else can such equality be found? Where the people rule themselves, they use the services of good citizens. On the contrary, the tyrant, trembling for his power, tries to destroy those whom he considers capable of thinking. Why amass wealth and earn bread for your children if you have to work only to enrich the tyrant? Why bring up a daughter in chastity in her mother's home if she is destined to serve the whims of a tyrant? Better to die than to see your daughters given up for abuse.
All these qualities of Theseus the ruler acquire special significance due to the fact that they are associated with his religious and moral views. Theseus is depicted in the tragedy as a bearer of ancient Attic religiosity and morality. At the same time, the Athenian king is also a champion of the religious and moral foundations of all Hellas. The general laws of the Greeks are what he stands for in defending the Argians. The tragedy emphasizes the deep religiosity of Theseus, who is convinced that a person needs divine guidance and must unconditionally obey him. But if the image of Theseus is interesting in the historical and cultural sense, then it is not very expressive from a purely dramatic side. Theseus are too flawless and somewhat cold. However, in his attitude towards Ephra, as well as towards the mothers of the fallen heroes, the playwright put some warmth.
Efra's role is the invention of Euripides himself. In the person of Efra, the playwright gives an example of female virtue. This is the heroic Athenian mother. She is filled with pity for the Argos mothers. But this is not the only thing that guides her when she begs Theseus to help those who ask. She appeals to a sense of honor, patriotism and the mind of Theseus. She emphasizes the greatness of the work that lies before him

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to accomplish and which surpasses in its religious and moral significance the previous exploits of Theseus. The role of Efra is of great importance in the development of the action of the tragedy and the character of Theseus himself. It is Ephra that influences Theseus, who was afraid to intercede for people who despised the divine omen, and leads him eventually to the realization of a higher role as a defender of human rights. When he takes this point of view, all his doubts disappear, and he only wants the decision ripened in him to be approved by the people.
Much of the composition of the play is reminiscent of the tragedy of Aeschylus. There is little action in the play; a significant place is occupied by lamentation for the dead and complaints from mothers and households. The herald's detailed account of the battle also resembles the features of Aeschylus's epic composition. The battle is drawn on the model of Homeric battles: chariots rush at each other, whirlwinds of dust rise to the sky, racing horses draw warriors entangled in reins, the earth is irrigated with streams of blood. Everywhere overturned or broken chariots, and those who were on them, thrown to the ground or perish under their debris. The dynamic development of the action is also hindered by the lengthy speeches of Theseus, Adrastus and the Theban herald. However, it must be remembered that the Athenian spectator of the 5th century. BC BC, accustomed to the skilful speeches of orators in the National Assembly, apparently followed with interest the verbal contests of the characters in the drama in the theater.
All researchers agree that the play reflects the defeat of the Athenians at Delius, a small town in Boeotia, by the troops of Thebans. The Athenians lost about a thousand heavily armed soldiers in the battle, but Delius still remained in their hands. After the battle, the Athenians sent a herald to Thebes with a request for the release of the corpses of the fallen soldiers and an armistice for their burial. Only on the seventeenth day did the Athenians manage to fulfill their demands, since Delius had fallen by that time. It is enough to re-read the story of Thucydides about the defeat of the Athenians at Delia to discover a great similarity between the facts he communicated and the situation of the "Pleading". Under the fresh impression of the bloody events under Delia, the Theban herald and in general all Thebans are depicted in a very unattractive light. They are portrayed in the drama as arrogant, intoxicated by their accidental victory, which they do not deserve at all, trampling on divine laws.

"AND HE"

Since the beginning of the 420s. BC NS. one feature can be noted in the work of Euripides: he begins to create plays with an intricate plot, which includes a conspiracy. Such a dramatic technique, obviously, pursued the goal of enhancing the stage impact of the tragedy on the audience. An example of such a play is Ion, staged, in all likelihood, in 418 BC. NS. This work of Euripides, in comparison with others, has a number of features. The main culprit in the dramatic events unfolding in "Iona" is Apollo, and the action takes place in front of the sanctuary of the god in Delphi. The play has to a large extent the features of everyday life.

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drama, in which there is violence against a girl, and a thrown child, and his identification when he has become an adult. Apollo, who does not go on stage himself and on whose behalf Hermes and Athena appear, was brought out in "Jonah" by a rapist who dishonored the daughter of the Athenian king Erechtheus, Creusa. Having given birth to a boy in the palace and fearing shame, the princess secretly took him to the same grotto where God took possession of her, and there she left him to certain death. Indeed, having come the next day to the cave, Creusa did not find a child in it, and from that time on she was firmly convinced that he had become the prey of predatory animals. In fact, Apollo asked his brother Hermes to take the boy to Delphi and put the basket in which he was lying on the threshold of the temple. Here the pythia found him and, taking pity, took him to her and raised him at the temple. When the boy became an adult, the Delphians made him a keeper of the treasures of God and a servant (neocor) at the temple. Creusa, meanwhile, married a foreigner Xufus, to whom she received as an honorary award for the victory he won during the war between the Athenians and the inhabitants of Euboea. All these years, Creusu was tormented by a double grief: her many years of marriage with Xuf remained childless and at the same time she was haunted by the thoughts of the lost child.
All these events that took place even before the start of the tragedy and which Hermes briefly talks about in the prologue are very reminiscent of the usual everyday drama that is very difficult for a woman. Hermes also reports on how the action will unfold further. It turns out that Xuf and Creusa are in Delphi to receive the Apollo oracle about the offspring. When Xuf enters the prophetic sanctuary, the god will give him his own son, but Xuf will be convinced that he is the father of the young man (in his youth, the king had a love affair in Delphi, and the time that has elapsed since then coincides with the age of the neocor). So, without revealing the secrets of his paternity, Apollo will give his son a glorious life. All Greece will call him Jon (that is, the Coming One).
When Creusa learns that Apollo has given Xufu a son, she is overwhelmed by despair. Under the influence of the misfortune that befell her, Creusa decides to reveal his secret to the chorus, consisting of her maids, and the old slave. She is ashamed of her shame, she still has some hesitation, but soon she leaves them. With whom can she now compete in virtue? With your husband? But he betrayed her, she has no home, no children, all her hopes, for the sake of which she hid a secret, disappeared. She will say everything and thus relieve her soul. Calling herself an unhappy victim of people and gods who act dishonestly and treacherously towards the women they loved, she blames Apollo in the face of heaven and then tells her sad story.
Creusa, with the full support of the choir, decides to poison Ion, considering him an enemy of her house and city, seeking to destroy her and illegally take possession of Athens. Passing the poison to an old devoted slave, Creusa orders him to go to a feast and there try to pour poison into the youth's goblet. However, this attempt ends in failure, and the authorities of the city sentenced Creusa to death for trying to kill the minister of the Delphic temple. She seeks salvation at the altar. Ion and his friends do not dare to grab Creusa, who clung to the altar. The appearance of the pythia in the last episode

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prepares the scene of recognition. The Oracle shows Jonah an old basket entwined with bandages, in which she once found him and which she kept at the suggestion of Apollo until this hour. The basket contained the child's linen and noticeable signs. Creusa is convinced that this is the same basket in which she once put her boy. With a swift movement, Creusa leaves his hideout and, running up to Jonah, hugs him like his son. An outraged Ion believes that Creusa is lying, and asks her questions about the contents of the basket. She lists all the items. The recognition built with such art is over. Ion is convinced that in front of him is his mother, and warmly embraces her.
At the end of the play, Athena appears in a chariot above, declaring that she hastily arrived in Delphi from Apollo. He himself did not want to appear for fear that he would be reproached in front of everyone for the past. He sent her to say that Ion was indeed his son by Creusa and that, giving him to Xufus, he did not pass Jonah over to another father, but wanted to introduce him into the most famous family. This is followed by divine broadcasting and predictions of future destiny. Creusa must go with Jonah to Athens and place him on the throne of the Athenian kings. He will be glorious throughout Hellas.
"Ion" is not only a tragedy about an abandoned woman and her abandoned son, whom she meets many years later, but also a patriotic, political play.
The fact is that, according to the mythical genealogy of the Greeks, Ion was considered the ancestor of the Ionian tribe, just as Achaeus was the ancestor of the Achaeans and Dor - Doryan. All Greeks thought so. However, Euripides gives a new family tree of the Greek tribes, which puts Jonah clearly above his maternal brothers - Achaea and Dora. Ion was born of Apollo, and Dor and Achaeus were born of Xuthus 1. At the same time, thanks to the double alliance, with God and mortal, the daughter of the Attic king Erechtheus Creus became the progenitor of all Greek tribes, and the play emphasizes the close unity of the Athenians with the Ionians and their predominant significance in comparison with other tribes: while the Ionians, descended from Apollo and Creusa, are people of pure Athenian origin, the Doryans and Achaeans are people of mixed blood, descended from the Aeolian-Achaean Xuf (Euripides makes Xuf the son of Aeolus) and the Athenian Creusa. This modification of the traditional genealogy of the Greek tribes, which found only weak support in some myths and did not have any impact on the further mythological tradition, was needed by Euripides in order to justify the claims of the Athenians to hegemony throughout the Greek world. Indeed, the position of the Athenians was greatly strengthened after the imprisonment in 420 BC. NS. union with Argos, Elis and Mantinea. Sparta seemed powerless, and the Athenians hoped to peacefully consolidate their supremacy throughout Greece. Not a single tragedy of Euripides emphasized so sharply the idea of ​​a privileged tribe, which should rule already by its very origin.
The main character of the drama Ion is one of the best characters created by

1 According to the old epic genealogy, Dor, Xuf, and Aeolus were brothers. From the marriage of Xuthus to Creusa, Ion and Achaea were born. Thus, Ion was considered the son of a mortal, not a god.

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by Euripides. He is full of piety, serving God with zeal and joy. The Delphic Temple became his home. The very conditions of his life contributed to the early formation of the character of a young man who did not know real childhood. When he tells Xufu about the difficulties that will inevitably arise in connection with his new position, a sober practical mind and a subtle understanding of the human soul are reflected in his reasoning. Observation, the ability to understand complex human relationships, a kind of everyday tact were the result of everyday communication of this kind of ancient "novice" with people who came from different places in Greece to the Delphic Temple of Apollo. Jonah developed a certain life ideal: this is service to God, a moderate life and free from torment and anxiety. He does not crave either power or wealth, since their owners do not know peace. His life in Delphi seems to him to be true happiness. He prayed to the gods and entered into communion with mortals, bringing joy, not sadness, to those whom he served. But the most essential thing he sees is that nature and law have come together to make him a virtuous servant of Apollo.
Common sense and well-known skepticism prevent Jonah from taking on faith whatever he hears. Therefore, he directly tells Creusa that the story of her friend (in fact, Creusa tells about himself) seems suspicious to him. These same properties of the mind do not allow him to close his eyes to the behavior of Apollo, and he almost amicably counts his god off for an unseemly act. The temple attendant casts an ironic remark about love affairs and other gods. In the person of Ion, Euripides brought to the stage an interesting human type of a representative of the contemplative life, in which a sincere religious feeling is combined with calmness and a clear mind, with an admixture of a certain amount of skepticism. At the same time, this servant of God possesses energy, resourcefulness, and the ability to act quickly and decisively. All these qualities are manifested at the moment of an attempt on his life and in the subsequent accusation and persecution of Creusa.
However, Ion has his own pain: these are the thoughts that he is an illegitimate thrown child, and longing for a mother's affection. However, in these experiences of the young man, no, no, and the egoistic thought penetrates that, perhaps, it is not necessary to strive for the search for the mother, as soon as she may turn out to be a slave.
The image of Creusa is very expressive. The poet with great persuasiveness paints the experiences of an abandoned mistress, an unhappy mother forced to abandon her child, and a lawful wife betrayed by her husband. True, the plan of revenge that she concocts with the chorus and the old slave cannot arouse any sympathy from the modern reader, but the Athenians of the 5th century. BC NS. were in this case more forgiving. Revenge of Creusa seemed to them an act of self-defense against the encroachment on the ancestral Athenian lands of a foreigner, moreover, a man of dark origin.
As for Ksuf, he is not at all endowed with a tragic character, but is a mud of an average person, at times almost an ordinary person.
The tragedy "Ion" occupies a special place in the drama of Euripides. Her everyday storyline based on motives

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violence, a thrown child and subsequent "recognition" directly anticipates the artistic practice of the so-called new Attic comedy, which is to emerge by the end of the 4th century. BC NS.

"IFIGENIA IN TAVRIDA"

The new dramatic technique is used by Euripides in Iphigenia in Taurida, Elektra and Oreste. The plot of "Iphigenia in Taurida" is borrowed from the myth of the sacrifice of Iphigenia. The exact date of the production is unknown, but, in all likelihood, the tragedy took place on the stage in 414.
The action takes place in Taurida (that is, in the Crimea) - a country that seemed wild and harsh to the Greeks. Skene depicted the temple of Artemis. In front of him was an altar covered in blood stains. Human skulls were attached to the frieze of the temple.The decoration itself, thus, indicated the cruel customs of the country and the human sacrifices performed here. The plot of the tragedy develops as follows.
Replacing the doe during the sacrifice to Iphigenia, Artemis transports the girl to Taurida and makes her a priestess in her temple. Here Iphigenia must perform a bloody ritual. The Tauride barbarians have long had such a custom: if a Greek appeared among them, he was sacrificed to Artemis. The responsibility to perform this sacrifice lay with Iphigenia, while the very sacrifice of the sacrifice inside the temple was performed by another person. Iphigenia herself tells about all this in the prologue, alarmed by a bad dream, which, as she is firmly convinced, gives her the news of her brother's death. But it is on this day that Orestes comes to Taurida, accompanied by his friend Pilad. Orestes arrived in Tauris after killing his mother, obeying the oracle of Apollo, who promised to save him from fits of madness if he kidnapped a statue of Artemis in Tauris and brought a statue of Artemis to Athens. On the seashore, Orestes and Pilada are noticed by shepherds. They see how Orestes begins a fit of madness. This madness is described in completely realistic and even naturalistic colors. Orestes begins to raise and lower his head, his hands tremble, he groans and then begins to scream furiously at invisible ghosts, like a hunter for dogs. It seems to him that snakes are crawling on him. In a fit of rage, he rushes to the herd and begins to beat him, thinking that he is fighting with monsters. Finally, he collapses to the ground, exhausted, and froths on his chin. All this takes place behind the scenes, and the audience will learn about it from the story of the messenger. The shepherds seize Orestes and Pilada and take them to the king of Taurida Foant. He sends them to the slaughter to Iphigenia. And now both young men stand in front of Iphigenia. A situation of extreme drama arises: the sister is ready to send her brother to death, without knowing it. The tragic tension gradually builds up, but the scene of recognition artfully recedes. When Iphigenia asked where he came from, Orestes replies that he is Argos, but does not say his name, calling himself "unfortunate." Upon learning that the stranger is from Argos, Iphigenia begins to ask him about the fate of Troy and the fate of her relatives. Orestes is reluctant to

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echoes her, Iphigenia learns that Agamemnon was killed by Clytemnestra and that he, in turn, killed her, avenging the death of his father, Orestes returned to his homeland. Finally, Iphigenia asks if the son of the murdered father, Orestes, is still alive. Orestes answers in the affirmative. Iphigenia expresses a desire to send a letter to Argos. He will be lucky by one of the captives, who will be given life as a reward for this. But the second prisoner will have to die. When Iphigenia leaves for the temple, the choir, consisting of young Greek slaves, mourns the fate of the one of the two young men who is destined to die. There is a competition between Pila-dom and Orestes in the noble readiness to accept death. Orestes proves that Pilad has no right to go to death, since he received his sister Electra as his wife; she will give birth to children for him, and the house of Agamemnon will not fade away. Iphigenia emerges from the temple. Before handing over the writing tablets to Pilad, she reads the contents of the letter aloud in case it gets lost. Addressing in this letter to Orestes, Iphigenia reports that she is alive, although in Greece they consider her dead: the goddess threw a doe in her place at the very moment when her father thrust his sharp knife into the victim. Iphigenia asks Orestes to save her from the bloody victims and return her to her homeland. She gives the letter to Pilad, and he gives it to his companion, calling him Orestes. But Iphigenia still doubts that she has a brother in front of her. And only when Orestes informs her about the family enmity of Atreus, the father of Agamemnon, with Fiestos, about the cloak she weaved and about the strands of her hair she presented to Clytemnestra, Iphigenia is finally convinced that she sees her brother - Orestes in front of her. This is how the scene of recognition unfolds in this tragedy. After the heartfelt outpourings caused by recognition, the pathos of the tragedy disappears, and the rest of it, which tells about the abduction of the statue of Artemis and the flight of Orestes, Pilad and Iphigenia from Taurida, approaches to some extent a comedy. Iphigenia comes up with a way to deceive the barbarian king Foant. She will tell Foant that it is impossible to sacrifice these Hellenes, since one prisoner carries the blood of his mother, and the other was his assistant. The victims must first be washed in the sea. In the same place it is necessary to wash the statue of the goddess, which they defiled with their touch. Having received the consent of Foant, they will go to the seashore, where the ship of Orestes is hidden, and will sail away on it from Taurida. This plan is almost being implemented. But as soon as the ship leaves the harbor into the open sea, it is carried back to the coast by the wind, since Poseidon, a hostile Atrida, decided to betray Orestes and Iphigenia into the hands of Foant. Foant sends his men to the seashore; they manage to capture both the ship and the fugitives. But at the top of the skene, the goddess Athena suddenly appears. She orders Foant to free the fugitives, saying that Orestes came to Taurida, obeying the behest of Apollo. For the sake of Athena, Poseidon decides not to fix any obstacles to a safe voyage. Foant must send the Greek captives home. Athena commands Orestes, who is already far away, but hears her voice, to found a temple in honor of Artemis Tavropolis1.

1 That is Artemis Bovine. However, the word "tauros" could mean not only a bull, but also a Tavrian: in this case, Artemis of Tavropol means Artemis of Tauride.

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Iphigenia is to become a priestess in the Attic house of Bravron. Foant obeys the order and leaves for the palace. The choir expresses its joy at the salvation of Iphigenia, Orestes and Pilad and the impending release from captivity.
The appearance at the end of the tragedy of the goddess Athena not only helps to formulate the denouement from a purely technical point of view, but also solves certain political problems. Euripides wanted to give the old Argos myth an Athenian character. And in this tragedy - as in others - he takes this opportunity to glorify Athens, its political institutions and their festivities.
The play, especially its second half, has a noticeable adventure character: this should have been vividly felt by the Greek spectator, who had a rather vague idea of ​​Taurida. The kingdom of Foanta seemed to him a wild country, full of all kinds of dangers. By the development of the plot, "Iphigenia in Taurida" reveals a close relationship with "Elena": both plays deal with the salvation of the Greeks from a barbarian country. Greek intelligence and ingenuity triumph over the primitive mind and naivete of the barbarians. Iphigenia is depicted as a stern priestess, such was made by her service to the goddess who requires human sacrifice. However, these priestly duties are difficult for her, and she treats with compassion the Greeks, whom she is forced to send to death. But on this day, it seems to her, the feeling of pity will leave her: Orestes is not alive, and her soul has hardened. When she sees before her captive Greeks, who, moreover, seem to her to be noble people, she is again seized with compassion for her victims. The playwright portrays the emotional experiences of the heroine with psychological persuasiveness and reliability. It is noteworthy that there is a protest here against the cruel cult to which she serves. Iphigenia says that she does not understand Artemis. If any of the people touches the blood, a corpse or even a woman in labor, he is considered unclean, he is forbidden to approach the altar of the goddess, and meanwhile she finds joy in human sacrifices. Iphigenia cannot imagine that Latona could give birth to such a monster from Zeus; she thinks that the bloody inhabitants of the country transferred their own cruelty to the goddess, since she does not allow any god to be evil. The inner essence of the conflict of tragedy boils down to the fact that the idol of Artemis that fell from the sky should be transferred to Athens, where he will be honored not according to the custom of the barbarians, but according to the custom of the Greeks, and the heroine herself, who kept the memory of her homeland all the time, must also return to Hellas, getting rid of participation in the bloody cult of the goddess in Taurida. In the implementation of these goals, the main role belongs to Orestes, who came to Taurida on the orders of Apollo. It is with the appearance of him and Pilada that the development of action begins. True, the plan of escape was not invented by him, but by Iphigenia, but Orestes has people and a ship to carry out this plan. And if in the future, in order for the ship to safely head to the shores of Greece, the intervention of a deity is still required, then this intervention corresponds to the plan conceived by people. The outer side of the clash of the three Hellenes and the king of barbarians is conveyed with great expressiveness both in the story of the messenger to Foantu and in the action itself, since the beginning of the implementation of the plan of flight takes place at

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zakh viewers. In the presence of Foant Iphigenia with a statue of Artemis in his hands, the bound prisoners, guards and servants of the king go to the seashore, where the ritual of purification was to take place. Everyday features are wedged into the messenger's story about what happened on the seashore.
It turns out that there was a real scuffle at the ship of Orestes, fists were fired, so some of Foant's people return with bruises.
"Iphigenia in Taurida" was very popular in ancient times. Aristotle, in his Poetics, praises her for her well-structured recognition. Numerous images of episodes from this tragedy have been preserved on sarcophagi, on vases, in paintings; taken together, they illustrate almost the entire play.

"ELECTRA"

The play was staged on stage, in all likelihood, in 413. For Electra, Euripides takes a plot that his great predecessors had already used. The way he develops it shows the difference in the creative approach of Euripides to this topic in comparison with Sophocles and Aeschylus. First of all, Euripides transfers the action from city to village. Proskenius depicts the front wall of a poor village hut. The action begins at dawn. The tragedy opens with the prologue of the farmer, Electra's husband, who tells about the events in the house of Agamemnon, about the fate of Orestes and Electra. It turns out that Electra lives in a remote village, on the border of Argos, married to a simple farmer by Aegisthus. With this marriage, Aegisthus wanted to humiliate Electra, and, in addition, the children from such a marriage could not challenge the power he had seized from him. But in fact, this marriage turns out to be fictitious. A noble farmer would consider it dishonorable to be Electra's husband just because chance gave her to him as his wife.
Leaving the hut, Elektra takes a jug and goes to fetch water. The farmer goes to work in the field. When Electra and the tiller are removed from the orchestra, Orestes appears on it with Pi-lad (a character without words) and several accompanying servants. Obeying the oracle of Apollo, Orestes, accompanied by Pilada, comes to Argos to punish his father's killers. He had already heard about his sister's marriage and now wants to find her in order to involve her in his plans. However, at first, Orestes does not call himself Electre, and the appearance of Electra with a jug of water on his shoulder forces Orestes and his companion to take cover. Monody of Electra, which Orestes hears from his hiding place, reveals to him who is in front of him.
The choir of Argos girls enters and invites Electra to take part in Hera's celebration. She refuses, referring to the fact that she is constantly grieving for her dead father and for her living brother, wandering like a beggar somewhere in a foreign land. She also points out that her clothes are in tatters and her hair is in disarray. Orestes emerges from his hiding place. The frightened girls are already ready to flee from an unknown stranger, but, turning to Elektra, Orestes pretends to be an ambassador from her brother. Hearing that his brother is alive, Electra in his

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the queue tells the imaginary messenger about his marriage and his life. A farmer who has appeared on the orchestra, having learned from Electra that the foreigners are messengers from her brother, cordially invites travelers to him, but he has no food at home, and Electra is embarrassed by this. She convinces her husband to go to Agamemnon's old uncle as soon as possible and borrow supplies from him. The old man himself brings a lamb and other food to Elektra and says that he had just been to the grave of Agamemnon and saw traces of a sacrifice there. He found a lock of golden hair on the grave. Was it not Orestes at the grave? The old man asks Electra to apply a lock of curl to her hair. The footprint of the sandals could also be compared. But Electra says that the hair of a man doing the exercises in the palestra cannot be as delicate as that of a girl. There are no traces left on the stone, and even if they were, there still cannot be the same size of the feet of a brother and sister. Here you can clearly feel the cry

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teak of Aeschylus's dramatic techniques. With Euripides, recognition happens differently: the old uncle recognizes Orestes by the scar under an eyebrow received by Orestes in childhood, when he fell, once chasing a heifer with his sister. Having recognized each other, the brother and sister decide to take revenge on Clytemnestra and Aegisthus with the assistance of their uncle. The first to perish, like Aeschylus, Aegisthus. Orestes amazes him during a sacrifice in a garden outside the city. The messenger describes this murder in agonizing and vile details. Electra rejoices at the news. When the corpse of Aegisthus is brought to the orchestra, she exposes the defeated enemy to mockery. Now it is the turn of Clytemnestra, whom Electra summoned to herself by deception, informing her that it was already the tenth day since she gave birth to her grandson. Orestes is horrified to hear about the approach of his mother. He does not know how he will raise the sword at her. It seems to him that some evil spirit, acting under the guise of Apollo, gave this terrible command. Electra encourages Orestes, and he retires to the hut.
A rich chariot with Clytemnestra enters the orchestra. But in "Elektra" this is not at all the woman-man-killer, stunning in her cruelty, which Aeschylus draws in "Agamemnon". In Aeschylus, Clytemnestra is not ashamed of his crime and herself informs the people of it. At Euripides, she is afraid to appear in the eyes of the citizens of Argos, because she knows that she is hated. According to her, she would be ready to forgive Agamemnon for the sacrifice he made to Iphigenia, if he was forced to do it for the sake of saving his homeland or his home and other children. But Iphigenia was sacrificed for the wicked Elena. In addition, on his return from Troy, Agamemnon brought a captive, Cassandra, and began to keep two wives. She killed her husband, turning to the help of his enemies, and thinks that he deserves to die. Electra gives his mother a sharp rebuke, accusing her of having killed the most famous person in all of Hellas. The pretext was a desire to take revenge on Agamemnon for the death of his daughter. But she, Elektra, knows her mother like no one else. Even before the sacrifice of Iphigenia, as soon as Agamemnon left the palace, his mother was already sitting in front of the mirror and styling her blond curls. Why would she display her beauty outside the palace if she did not strive for another? In addition, she was one of all Greek women who rejoiced at the successes of the Trojans and was saddened by their failures. Because of her passion for Aegisthus, she did not at all want the return of Agamemnon from under Troy. If the murder is to entail retribution and punishment for the murderer, then the children of Clytemnestra, in revenge for the death of their father, put her to death. Clytemnestra calmly responds to Electra's accusation. This calmness is explained by the fact that after the marriage of her daughter to a poor farmer and her removal from the palace, Clytemnestre has nothing to fear from Electra; a boy born of such a marriage cannot in any way become a contender for royal power. The argument ends, and Electra invites her mother to enter the hut. Soon, Clytemnestra screams from behind the stage, begging for mercy. Orestes and Electra come out of the hut, spattered with blood, and inform the chorus of how the murder itself happened. So did Aeschylus. Clytemnestra bares her breasts. But there are other details: Clytemnestra crawls on her knees in front of her son - and Orestes drops his sword. By raising

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him, he hides his face in the folds of his cloak and plunges the blade into his mother's chest. Elektra says that she and her brother raised his sword.
Above, Castor and Pollux appear - the divine twins of Dioscuri ("Zeus's youths"), brothers Clytemnestra and Elena. Interesting is their judgment about the revenge carried out by Orestes: Clytemnestra was worthy of punishment, but not from Orestes. Further, the Dioscuri twins express their judgment about Apollo:

About Apollo,
As about my king, I will keep silent,
Or cannot the wise transgress the mind? 1

Now Orestes needs to obey fate and Zeus. He must pass off Electra to Pilada. After the murder of his mother, he himself can no longer remain in Argos: he will be driven by the terrible Kera 2. Having come to Athens, he will have to fall to the sacred idol of Pallas. She will protect him from Erinius' persecution. Orestes will be acquitted by the Areopagus court and will then settle in Arcadia on the banks of the Alpheus. The choir asks the Dioscuri if it is possible to address them with a word. Orestes also asks about this. The Dioscuri allow the chorus and even Orestes, desecrated by murder, to ask them a question:

Apollo raises the blame
And blood and evil 3.

A truly insidious question follows:

You are gods and you were brothers
Murdered wife ...
Why didn't you save her from Ker? ..
- Heavy Mlat of Fate bound
Thin speech for prophetic lips 4 -

replies Castor.
After these words, Electra and Orestes say goodbye to each other, and the Dioscuri go to the Sicilian Sea; - to save sailors from the storm. The last words contain, probably, an allusion to the Sicilian expedition.
The tragedy, which begins in the atmosphere of a certain bucolic environment, ends, like in Aeschylus and Sophocles, with a terrible bloody revenge. In the implementation of it, like Sophocles, Electra plays the main role. She shows herself immeasurably more cruel and vindictive than Orestes. Euripides' Electra is a more potent character than either of his predecessors. And this is understandable, since Euripides has Orestes from the very beginning opposed to the order given to him by Apollo to kill his mother. Aeschylus in his "Oresteia" raises and decides the question of the struggle between the paternal and the perishing maternal right. Orestes is acquitted by the human judgment of the Areopagus after being persecuted and persecuted by the Erinias. Sophocles in his "Elektra" gives the tragedy of retribution committed by his son for the terrible crime of his mother, and does not even raise the question of Orestes's guilt: the latter did only the command of Phoebus. As for Euripides, in his tragedy he definitely wants to emphasize the enormity of the crime of Orestes and Electra. Describing the murder of Clytemnestra, Euripides even seems to deliberately exaggerate, using purely naturalistic methods of description to make the crime even more heinous. Orestes thinks

1 Euripides, Plays, p. 277.
2 Kera - the goddess of death, as well as the goddess of retribution.
3 Euripides, Plays, p. 278.
4 Ibid., Pp. 278-279.

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was it not an evil spirit, instead of Apollo, commanded him to accomplish this truly terrible deed? The Dioscuri are already directly criticizing Phoebus's command, calling it "unreasonable." Although Clytemnestra's punishment is just, it was not Orestes who should have judged her. This motive is later repeated in the tragedy "Orestes", where the father of Clytemnestra, Tindar, sharply condemns the massacre, at least for arbitrarily horrible crimes. Euripides reveals a kind of rationalism in his approach to the myth itself and shifts the center of gravity to the question of whether Orestes had the right to kill his mother - and, proceeding from the ethical norms of his time, gives a negative answer to this.

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In "Elektra" one can clearly feel the desire of the playwright to depict the old Argos in sympathetic lines. All the cute characters of the tragedy - the uncle of Agamemnon, the farmer, the girls of the choir (not to mention Electra and Orestes) - are all native Argos. Perhaps this reflects the poet's desire to emphasize the need for an agreement between Athens and Argos for the success of the Sicilian expedition.
True, in the "Trojans" Euripides expresses his negative attitude to this expedition, but since it nevertheless began and continued for about two years, he could not help but think about its successful completion.

"OREST"

The tragedy was staged on stage in 408. By its content, it is like a continuation of "Electra". The play takes place in Argos, in front of the palace of Menelaus, on the sixth day after the murder of Clytemnestra. From Elektra, who appears in the prologue, the audience learns that Orestes is experiencing terrible torment: he does not eat anything and does not refresh his body by washing. At times, madness attacks him. After seizures, Orestes usually falls asleep. So now - Orestes is asleep, and Electra is sitting at his head, afraid to wake up his brother. It is possible that a curtain was used in this play, which initially hid Electra and Orestes from the public. But then Orestes wakes up, and this time, in front of the public, he again begins a fit of madness. When he passes, Orestes reprimands Apollo for pushing him to do an ungodly act.
Meanwhile, it was on this day that the fate of Orestes and Electra in the National Assembly should be decided. Clytemnestra's father, Tindar, appears. He insists on the death penalty for both of them. However, Tindar also condemns Clytemnestra for the murder of her husband. Menelaus, represented in the play as a coward, does not want to interfere in this matter and help Orestes and Electra in any way. Pilad arrives, deciding to share the fate of his friends. He carries Orestes, who, due to weakness, cannot move, to the National Assembly. Orestes and Pilad return from the National Assembly, which sentenced brother and sister to death. A turning point occurs in the development of action. If until now the action of the play developed along the line of everyday drama, now the tragedy takes on the features of an adventurous play. Electra, Orestes and Pilades decide to take revenge on Elena for all the evil she has done to Greece. Orestes and Pilad will now have to enter the palace, hiding their swords in the folds of their cloak, and there kill Elena. After that, they will capture Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus and Elena, and, holding swords over her, will demand from Menelaus to take an oath not to pursue them for the murder of Elena. Orestes and Pilad manage to capture Hermione, but then the tragedy turns, in essence, into a tragicomedy. A Phrygian slave - a eunuch, frightened to death, runs out of the palace. From the story of this comic character, the audience learned what exactly happened in the palace. At the moment when Orestes and Pilad swung their swords at Elena, she mysteriously disappeared somewhere.
The last scene was probably very spectacular in a spectacular

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sheniya. On the roof of the palace, Orestes and Pylades hold swords over Hermione. Orestes demands from Menelaus, who is below, a guarantee that they will not be put to death. Their excited explanation is interrupted by Apollo, announcing that Helen has been taken to heaven and has become a new constellation. Menelaus must take another wife, and Orestes must go to Athens, where the gods will judge him on the hill of Ares. He will marry Hermione, and Pilad will marry Electra. Apollo ends his speech with an appeal to honor the goddess of Peace - the most beautiful of all goddesses.
In Orestes, Euripides is still a keen connoisseur of the human soul. The suffering of the matricide and the feelings of Electra caring for her brother are very vividly conveyed. But in some places this tragedy is reduced to the level of everyday drama. Here we have Elena, who asks Electra to perform a libation at the grave of Clytemnestra. She herself does not want to go there, fearing hostile attacks from the people.
But at first, she does not want to send her daughter there, as it is inconvenient to let the girl into the crowd. In "Orestes", in addition, there is a desire to introduce an adventurous element into the development of the action, and at times to give the tragedy some melodramatic features, for example, in the episode with the capture of Hermione. All these features will be found later in the new everyday comedy, which borrowed them just from the theatrical heritage of Euripides, which turned out to be very effective in the changed historical conditions.

"IFIGENIA IN AVLIDA"

The plot of this play is based on the well-known myth of Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia. Euripides made some changes to the traditional myth. He introduced the role of Achilles and strengthened, and perhaps introduced the role of Clytemnestra. But the most important change affected the image of the heroine. Both the epic poets and, in all likelihood, Aeschylus and Sophocles, represented the sacrifice of Iphigenia as a violent act. Euripides portrayed her voluntarily going to her death. The text of the tragedy has come down to us in a badly damaged form. Apparently, Euripides himself did not have time to finish it, and Iphigenia in Aulis was finalized and staged after the death of the playwright by his son, also Euripides. At a later time, this play underwent further changes. Despite the poor state of the text, there is no doubt that the basis of the play itself is purely Euripides' and that this tragedy should be considered one of his best works.
The action of the tragedy begins before dawn in Aulis, from where the Achaean army should sail to Troy, near the camping tent of Agamemnon. Unlike those prologues of Euripides, where the plot of the drama is given in a monologue by one of the characters, the prologue to Iphigenia in Aulis is dramatic. From the dialogue between Agamemnon and the old slave, the audience learned that some time ago the king wrote a letter to Clytemnestra with the order to bring Iphigenia to Aulis in order to marry her to Achilles. However, marriage was only a pretext. In fact, after

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guilty of the soothsayer Kalchant, Agamemnon must sacrifice Iphigenia to Artemis. But now he changed his mind and wrote a new letter in which he asks his wife not to come with her daughter to Aulis. Passing the letter to the old slave, Agamemnon tells him to hit the road as soon as possible and deliver the letter to Clytemnestra. A choir followed, consisting of women from Chalcis, who came to see the Greek camp. The first part of the parod gives a picture of the life of the Greek camp, the second contains a list of ships that went to Troy 2.
Meanwhile, Agamemnon's letter is intercepted behind the scenes by Menelaus. Between the brothers, already in front of the audience, a stormy explanation takes place, accompanied by mutual reproaches. At this time, a messenger appears and informs Agamemnon that Clytemnestra with Iphigenia and baby Orestes arrived at the camp. Agamemnon and Menelaus are overwhelmed by this message. Menelaus regrets the insulting words he just said. He proposes to disband the army and leave Aulis. Agamemnon's answer is tragic hopelessness. He praises the words of his brother, but says that the necessity compels him to commit a cruel murder of his daughter: the soothsayer Kalhant and Odysseus know about the promise to sacrifice Iphigenia, and through them the army learns about the divination, and it, having killed Agamemnon and Menelaus, will still bring Iphigenia to sacrifice.
After the song of the choir, glorifying those who moderately and chastely use the gifts of Aphrodite, and also recalling the insane passion of Paris and Helena, a chariot enters the orchestra. On it stands Clytemnestra, in her arms is Orestes sleeping (a face without speech), next to her is Iphigenia. Agamemnon, surrounded by soldiers, comes out of the tent to meet them. There is a scene strong in its truthfulness and theatrical expressiveness of the meeting of Agamemnon with his wife and daughter. Iphigenia's love for her father and the joy of meeting him are perfectly shown. On the contrary, Agamemnon is confused and depressed by this meeting. A number of remarks indicating his difficult state of mind, he submits to the side. Some of his words are ambiguous. So, he tells his daughter that separation awaits them, meaning her death; Iphigenia thinks that her father is preparing her marriage. Having sent his daughter to his tent, Agamemnon asks his wife to return to Argos and take care of his daughters; it is indecent for a woman to be in a camp, among the army; he himself will raise the marriage torch of Iphigenia. Clytemnestra replies with a firm refusal; she, according to custom, will attend her daughter's wedding. Clytemnestra goes into the tent. Agamemnon leaves in the direction of the camp, wanting to consult with the soothsayer Calhant. An extremely painful situation arises. What will Agamemnon do now, who failed to send his wife back to Argos? Will he be able to resist the demand of the army when the victim is already ready? How will the deceived Clytemnestra behave? What will Achilles, whose name has been so abused, do? Achilles and Clytemnestra simultaneously recognize

1 Chalcis is the most significant city of Euboea, near the Strait of Eurypus, opposite Amida. 2 This list of ships is considered a later interpolation, which is an imitation of the II song of the Iliad.

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about the deception of Agamemnon. It is given in a live scene, not devoid of some comedy touch. Achilles comes to find out from the king when finally the Greek army will move to Troy. His soldiers raise a murmur: they demand that Achilles either lead them to Troy, or let them go home. At the voice of Achilles comes out of the tent of Clytemnestra. She calls herself and, when Achilles wants to leave, warmly holds out her hand to him. But Achilles does not dare to touch her hand, decency does not allow him, since she is the wife of Agamemnon. “But you are wooing my daughter,” the queen objected with surprise. Achilles, amazed, says that he never wooed Iphigenia and the Atris never spoke to him about this marriage. Clytemnestra is startled by Achilles' answer. An old slave emerging from the side door of the tent reveals the whole truth to Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra pleads with Achilles to save Iphigenia. Achilles is indignant at Agamemnon for using his name for the sake of his deception, however, out of pity for Clytemnestra and her daughter, he promises her to save Iphigenia, but gives advice first to try to persuade Agamemnon not to sacrifice her daughter.
One of the most powerful and scenic moments comes. Clytemnestra comes out of the tent. From her words, viewers will learn that she has already told Iphigenia about everything. Agamemnon appears from the right wing. He still continues to lie and talk about the upcoming wedding of Iphigenia and Achilles. Then Clytemnestra summons her daughter from the tent. A crying Iphigenia, dressed in a wedding dress, comes out; she takes Orestes with her. Clytemnestra asks Agamemnon if he is thinking of killing his daughter. At first, Agamemnon tries to evade an answer, but then he is forced to confirm what is already known to his wife and daughter. Clytemnestra persuades Agamemnon to abandon his intention. Why kill your own daughter? For Menelaus to get Elena back? But how can a dissolute woman be redeemed at the cost of the lives of her own children? Clytemnestra's speech even contains a latent threat of revenge against Agamemnon (v. 1178 et seq.). Then comes the plea of ​​Iphigenia herself. This is one of the finest scenes in the entire tragic legacy of Euripides.
The magic lips of Orpheus 1 are not given, My Father, your daughter, so that the rocks Crowded around her and the hearts of the People's song would touch ... Then I would speak, but nature Judged me one art - tears, And I bring this gift to you ... 2.
Iphigenia recalls the time when she was still a baby. She was the first to tell him "father", and he told her "daughter". She lovingly climbed onto his lap. He wished to see her as a happy bride in the future. She remembers all the words of her father, but he forgot everything and wants to kill her. But Agamemnon does not answer her and does not even look at her. Iphigenia asks to look at her affectionately and kiss her, so that, dying, she can take with her the memory of this affection, if one cannot really heed her words. She turns to the help of Orestes, who silently begs her father. Both of them touch the face with their hands

1 Orpheus is a mythical singer who tamed wild animals with his singing and set trees and rocks in motion.
2 Euripides, Plays, pp. 420-421.

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Agamemnon. Her prayer ends with these words:

What else can I think of to say?
It is gratifying for a mortal to see the sun,
And it's so scary underground ... If anyone
He does not want to live - he is sick: the burden of life,
All torment is better than the glory of the dead. 1.

Showing his daughter all the ships and the army, Agamemnon replies to her that it is impossible for the Greeks to take Troy if Iphigenia is not sacrificed.

Not Changing Will
As a slave, I create ... Hellas tells me
To kill you ... she pleases your death,
Whether I want to or not, she doesn't care;
Oh, you and I are nothing before Hellas;
But if the blood, all our blood, child,
Her freedom needs to be a barbarian
In it did not reign and did not dishonor wives,
Atrid and Atrid's daughter will not refuse 2.

After these words, Agamemnon leaves.
The next episode shows Iphigenia at the moment of the highest heroic ascent, when the decision is ripe in her to give her life for the glory of her fatherland. Achilles appears at the head of a detachment of armed warriors. He informs Clytemnestra of a rebellion that began in the Greek army, which demands that Iphigenia be brought to the slaughter; he came to save Iphigenia, but he will have a fierce struggle. Hearing these words, Iphigenia intervenes in the conversation. She refuses the help of Achilles, saying that anyway he will die uselessly in the fight with his squad. She has already decided to die for the glory of Hellas, and her death will be a punishment for the Trojans. If Artemis is pleased with her death, then she should not argue with the goddess. Iphigenia's decision to sacrifice her life entails a complete change in Achilles' attitude towards her. Until this moment, defending Iphigenia, he was guided only by a feeling of pity and indignation at the unworthy game in his name, now, when he sees his soul mate in front of him, he feels an ardent desire to call Iphigenia his wife. He wants to help her and take her to his home. Iphigenia answers Achilles that she is determined to save Hellas. Achilles calls the decision of Iphigenia noble, her feelings testify to a courageous soul. He now leaves the thought of immediate protection of the girl from the Achaean army, since her will for self-sacrifice is irresistible, and leaves, however, saying that if there, at the altar, Iphigenia changes her mind and her heart trembles, then he and his people will help her.
Iphigenia asks her mother not to wear mourning for her. She is happy to save Hellas. She hugs Orestes for the last time and asks her mother not to hate her father for his act. This is followed by a scene of a tragic dance, which Iphigenia performs together with the choir. In this dance, as it were, the rite of the upcoming sacrifice is depicted. Iphigenia sings that she is the conqueror of Troy. Saying goodbye to life, she praises the goddess Artemis and asks her to safely deliver the army of the Greeks to the Trojan land. Having finished her ritual dance, Iphigenia leaves for the slaughter.
The surviving exod (the final part of the tragedy, the “exodus”) contains the story of a messenger who witnessed the sacrifice. The messenger tells about a miracle that happened at the very moment of the slaughter. In the meadow, near the alta-

1 Euripides, Plays, p. 422
2 Ibid., Pp. 422-423.

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rya, a doe lay, shuddering, from which blood was flowing, while Iphigenia miraculously disappeared. After the story of the messenger, Agamemnon comes, who tells Clytemnestra that Iphigenia now lives among the gods.
It is now generally accepted that this exodus could not have been written by Euripides himself: in addition to errors in language and versification in it, contrary to Art. 1337-1432, a very active role in the rite of sacrifice to Iphigenia is assigned to Achilles. The Exod was written by some learned Byzantine. Several verses preserved by Elian 1 indicate the existence of another exodus in antiquity, in which Artemis appeared and informed Agamemnon or Clytemnestra that during the sacrifice she replaced Iphigenia with a deer on the altar. However, it is not known whether this exod belonged to Euripides himself or was written later.
In this tragedy, Euripides gave a vivid, unforgettable image of a girl sacrificing herself for her homeland. And what is most remarkable, with amazing artistic persuasiveness, he showed the growth of heroism in Iphigenia. At first in front of the viewer - a gentle girl, almost a child. She only brought with her love for her father. She would like to always be with him and therefore naively asks to leave the war and return to Argos. And when she finds out that she will die, she just as touchingly and naively asks to spare her. It is so gratifying to see the sun and so terrifying to die. What does she care about Paris and Elena! But then, before the eyes of the audience, a true heroine grows out of a gentle girl begging for mercy. Refusing the help of Achilles, Iphigenia tells her mother that she has gone through a lot in her soul. All Hellas is looking at her. In her death - everything for the Greeks: both a tailwind and a victory over Troy. And the very war of the Greeks with the Trojans appears to her as a struggle between Greek freedom and Trojan slavery. Thus, the pathos of love for the father turns into the pathos of love for the motherland. And the playwright did not sin against the psychological truth: it is in young and pure natures like Iphigenia that such spiritual transitions are made swiftly and violently.
The rest of the characters in this play, in many traits of their character, resemble average people - contemporaries of Euripides. Such is Agamemnon with his constant spiritual hesitations, with his ambitious plans and very low diplomacy to achieve them, with his lies in relation to Clytemnestra and Iphigenia. In a dialogue with Menelaus, speaking about the inevitability of sacrifice, he points to a fatal coincidence: Iphigenia will be pulled out even from the walls of Argos. In the scene with her daughter, when she begs not to kill her, another motive sounds: Hellas demands the death of Iphigenia. and the father is obliged to comply with this requirement. In the mouth of Agamemnon, these words turn out to be somewhat unexpected and the transition to a new understanding of his duty to Hellas is not entirely motivated. The voluntary decision of Iphigenia, who performs not only a patriotic feat in the Panhellenic sense, but also a feat of daughter love, removes from her wavering father any responsibility for her death. In that negative characteristic that

1 Claudius Elian - writer of the 2nd century n. e., Italian by origin, who wrote in Greek.

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ruyu gives Agamemnon Menelaus, undoubtedly some features of contemporary playwright demagogues appear.
Menelaus is also an ordinary person, sometimes frankly selfish, sometimes repenting of his selfishness. He possesses outstanding eloquence and delivers a skillful indictment against Agamemnon, without saying, however, a word that he himself is an interested party and that his main aspirations are aimed at regaining Elena. The main dramatic function of the image of Menelaus is to emphasize more sharply the helplessness and spinelessness of Agamemnon. After the first episode, Menelaus disappears and no longer appears on the scene.
Clytemnestra is not in any way reminiscent of the superhuman image of the tragedies of Aeschylus in this play. In normal living conditions, she still retains a royal dignity. But when misfortune falls on her, all her pride disappears, and in front of the audience there is just a suffering woman who rushes at the feet of Achilles with a plea to save her daughter. Yet in the tragedy, hints of her future revenge on Agamemnon slip through.
We can agree with IF Annensky that “Achilles is the most pale of the faces of the play” 1. He reminds us little of the hero whom we know from the Iliad. In his speech, in which he consoles Clytemnestra, there is a lot of rhetoric, reasoning and some kind of everyday life experience. There is something cold in his nobility itself. He himself says about himself (v. 919 et seq.) That sorrows and joys moderately excite his soul and that his mentor is reason. But his teacher the centaur Chiron brought up in him a straightforward soul. He believes that untold suffering has been inflicted on Clytemnestra and her daughter, and is willing to fight to disgust him as far as he can. In this place (v. 933 and following) his speech sounds sincere, and his anger against Agamemnon and his oath to prevent the sacrifice of Iphigenia resemble in their passion the epic Achilles. In the dialogue with Iphigenia in the fourth episode, when she declares her readiness to die and refuses the help of Achilles, the cold nobility of the hero again comes to the fore. He praises Iphigenia for the fact that she reasoned sensibly, following her duty that he could not object to her decision, and retires, promising once again, in case of need, his help at the altar. In this whole scene, Achilles is presented rather pale. In the characterization of Achilles, the influence of sophistic philosophy is felt in this tragedy, his nobility is basically rationalistic and well in harmony with the desire of Achilles to develop peace of mind in himself. The stamp of the spirit of the times also lies on this character, from whom the epic once made the embodiment of heroic integrity.
In Iphigenia in Aulis, the playwright's attitude to the Trojan War is noticeably different than it was in Euripides' previous plays - Andromache, Hecube. "Trojans". It now becomes the first link in a long chain of clashes between Greeks and barbarians, turning into a large Panhellenic enterprise for the liberation of Greece and the overthrow of Trojan arrogance. The play expresses the idea of ​​the justice of the rule of the Greeks over the barbarians, since the Greeks -

1 "Theater of Euripides", vol. III, p. 18.

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free people, and barbarians are a people of slaves. In such a reassessment of the Trojan War, one should probably see the influence of contemporary political events. Perhaps, by the end of the Peloponnesian War, Euripides began to feel fears that the mutual exhaustion of Athens and Sparta would lead to the strengthening of Persia. The emphasis on the superiority of the Greeks over the barbarians conceals, perhaps, an indirect censure of both warring parties, each of which sought to win over the Persians, that is, to make judges in their affairs exactly the very barbarians with whom the Greeks once fought victoriously.
In ancient times, there were many works of art dedicated to the sacrifice of Iphigenia. Since the exodus of the tragedy has come down to us in a badly damaged form, it is difficult to say to what extent these works have as their source the play of Euripides. The drawing of one of the Pompeian frescoes, in all likelihood, dates back to the famous painting of Timanthus in antiquity (beginning of the 4th century BC). In this picture that has not come down to us, according to the testimony of the ancients, the sadness of Kalhant is perfectly shown, and Agamemnon is depicted with his head covered with a cloak, hiding his sorrow from prying eyes.
The tragedy of Euripides "Iphigenia at Aulis" was later imitated by the Roman playwright Ennius (see below). He came up with an original idea to replace the chorus of women with a chorus of warriors complaining about their aimless stay in Aulis.
In 1674 he wrote Iphigenia by Racine. In the preface to the play, he says that he could not end it with either the murder of a virtuous girl, or the appearance of a goddess in a car and a transformation, which they could have believed in ancient times, but which no one would believe today. Therefore, Racine introduced a new character: Erifil, Theseus 'daughter, Iphigenia's rival, seeking Achilles' love, and an intriguer. The oracle of Kalhant falls on her, and she herself commits suicide on the sacrificial altar.

SATIROV'S DRAMA "KIKLOP"

This is the only satire drama that has come down to us in full. Only on the basis of "Cyclops" and "Pathfinders" by Sophocles, significant fragments of which were preserved by the Oxyrinchus papyrus, found in 1912, can we get an idea of ​​this dramatic genre of Ancient Greece.
The date of the production of "Cyclops" is unknown to us. The opinions of scientists on this issue are very different, but some of them determine the date of setting approximately between 428 and 422. It is also not known which tetralogy this play was included in. The plot of "Cyclops" is borrowed from the IX song of the "Odyssey". However, Euripides slightly changes him in comparison with Homer. So, in the "Odyssey" the country of the Cyclops is not named by name and they live somewhere at the end of the world. Euripides transfers the action to Sicily. In addition, the Homeric Cyclops are very far from human appearance, and in Euripides they have a number of purely human features. Euripides, in addition, introduced a new character into his drama - the father of the satyrs, Silenus.
The drama takes place on the seashore at the foot of Etna, in front of the cave

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Cyclops. In the prologue, Silenus speaks about how he and his children, the satyrs, were captured by Cyclops. Learning that Dionysus has been kidnapped by Tyrrhenian pirates, Silenus and his sons go in search of God, but the storm brings them to Sicily and they are captured by Cyclops. In the parod on the orchestra, in front of the Cyclops cave, satyrs appear, driving the sheep and goats into the fence. The choir parody, which is a kind of working song, is distinguished by amazing lightness and grace. The singing was accompanied, apparently, by mimic movements, showing how the satyrs are trying to drive the herd into the cave. The long episode gives a contrast between the happy past, when satyrs served their master Dionysus, and the difficult present, when they are enslaved by Cyclops. Since the choir had to remain on the stage, the satyrs' work was finished, apparently, by an additional mute choir of servants, whom the satyrs ordered to drive the sheep under the vault of the rock (v. 83). Silenus suddenly sees that a ship is docked on the shore. Enter Odysseus with his companions. They are looking for food that they are completely running out of. Odysseus has a fur with wine hanging over his shoulders. He tells Silena his name, says that the opposite wind nailed him here on his return from Troy, and also asks about the inhabitants of the country and about their morals. Odysseus asks Silenus and the satyrs to sell them food. He gives Silenus a wineskin filled with fine wine, and he begins to drink greedily. The satyrs, in turn, ask Odysseus about the fate of the beautiful Elena, at the same time making several indecent remarks about her.
The food baskets are already being taken out of the cave, but Odysseus fails to take them, since at that moment the terrible owner of the cave himself returns. He takes Odysseus and his companions for robbers who wanted to steal goods from him. Silenus, out of cowardice, confirms Cyclops' conjecture. The satyrs themselves are outraged by their father's shameless lies. In full dignity of speech, Odysseus asks Cyclops to show hospitality to the unfortunate wanderers. At the same time, he refers to the fact that the gods themselves prescribed the law of hospitality to people. But to this funeral constructed speech follows the rude reply of Cyclops. He says that he has nothing to do with the gods, he himself does not consider himself weaker than Zeus, and for the wise there is only one god - wealth. Cyclops even develops a kind of everyday philosophy, the meaning of which boils down to the fact that you need to please your womb in every possible way. He forces Odysseus and his companions into the cave, intending to eat them. A little later, Odysseus runs out in horror and tells the chorus about the death of two of his companions. He informs the satyrs of his plan of revenge, which consists in gouging Cyclops' eye with a club burned in the fire, and convinces them to help him in this matter.
Cyclops appears from the cave. After tasting a hearty dinner, he was in a good mood. He asks Odysseus about his name and receives, like Homer's, "Nobody." A very lively comic scene follows. Cyclops all the time kisses himself on the cup of wine that Odysseus gave him, but Silenus does the same very deftly, taking advantage of Cyclops' sluggishness and intoxication. The completely intoxicated Cyclops finally leaves for the cave.

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and takes Silena with him, intending to play with him unnatural love. This kind of obscenity was, apparently, an integral part of satire dramas, as can be judged from the reviews of some ancient writers. Finally Cyclops falls asleep in his cave, and the hour of revenge comes. But the cowardly satires, with comic horror, renege on their promise. Odysseus has to carry out his plan himself. A short time later, Cyclops runs out of the cave with a bloody face. Without a doubt, the actor who played the role of Cyclops changed his mask before this scene. Odysseus reveals his real name to Cyclops. Satyrs congratulate each other on the fact that now they have no other master than Dionysus. Thus, the drama, which began with the name of Dionysus, returns again to him.
Euripides made a bright comic character out of the terrible Polyphemus. I had to rework the image created by Homer. Cyclops Euripides became somewhat humanized. Although he is still a terrible giant, piling up tree trunks on his fire and filling a huge crater of ten amphorae for his meal, he is no longer the wild hermit of the Odyssey. Cyclops Euripides is notable for his talkativeness, he knows something, for example, about the abduction of Elena and about the Trojan War; he is not even averse to philosophizing. One might think that the image of Cyclops is a caricature of degenerate representatives of sophistry and rhetoric, who, having drawn extreme conclusions from Protagoras' position on the relativity of human knowledge, began to assert that the individual himself establishes what is truth for him, the law and the norm of social behavior. From here there was one step to the preaching of naked self-will, which does not reckon with any social institution. It must be said that such views did not remain only in the sphere of abstract reasoning, but penetrated into politics, meeting sympathy among the supporters of the oligarchy. From this side, the play not only amused, but also acquired certain satirical and accusatory features.
The father of the satyrs, Silenus, is well depicted in the drama, a liar, a coward and a drunkard, ready to give up all the herds of Cyclops for a cup of wine. Cowardice is combined in Silenus with unbridled flattery and servility towards Cyclops, which find a lively comedic expression. When Cyclops says that he has already eaten enough meat from lions and deer, but has not eaten human meat for a long time, Silenus helpfully notes that the same dishes are boring every day and a new dish in this case is very pleasant. Odysseus retains all the virtues of a tragic hero: he remembers his services under Troy and considers it shameful to avoid dangers. His serious tone is perfectly contrasted by the ironic attitude towards the events of the Trojan War of Silenus, the satyrs and Cyclops, who calls the war over one woman shameful. The choir of satyrs takes an important part in the development of the play. He is very mobile and expressive even at the moment when he shies away from helping Odysseus, that is, from action: the chorevs begin to limp and rub their eyes, complaining that they have been covered with dust or ash that has come from somewhere.
Cyclops required three actors for its performance.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF EURIPIDUS'S DRAMATURGIC ACTIVITIES

Almost all the tragedies of Euripides that have come down to us were written during the Peloponnesian War. With its beginning that general crisis was revealed, in which all the contradictions of Hellenic life that had grown in the previous period emerged with full force: the uprisings of slaves, the exacerbation of the struggle between supporters of democracy and the oligarchy, clashes within democracy itself between its right and left wings, as well as complications relations between Athens and their allies. It is quite natural that this crisis manifested itself most strongly in the advanced Greek state - Athens. The social crisis is also reflected in the spiritual life of society. The usual views and concepts of society: religious, philosophical, legal, are destroyed or questioned. Belief in the old gods fluctuates, in philosophy many sophists defend the principle of subjectivism in morality, from which others draw extreme conclusions. The right of the strong was proclaimed as the basis for the activity of an individual. It is interesting that this principle was also often transferred to the field of politics; so, proceeding from it, the Athenians, as Thucydides repeatedly testifies to this, justified their domination over the allies. The prolonged war gave rise at times in Athenian society to a feeling of fatigue and a desire for peace. This feeling was especially gripped by the peasants, whose fields were systematically devastated by the Spartans. The war gave rise to strong bitterness of the fighting parties against each other. The movement among the Allies was suppressed by the Athenians with a cruelty not justified by considerations of state necessity. Thucydides repeatedly spoke about the dulling of feelings of pity and about the manifestations of extreme bitterness during the war.
Some of these contradictions in Euripides' contemporary life are directly reflected in his works. In a number of his tragedies, hostility towards Sparta is clearly expressed. All contemporaries were well aware that the "Trojans" portrayed the calamities caused by the war. Euripides was not afraid here to condemn the cruelty of the Athenians towards the allied island of Melos. In Beseeching, democracy is defended against tyranny with great skill. If we recall that during the Peloponnesian War - especially in the second half - a lively activity of aristocratic secret communities (hetheria) unfolded, it will be impossible not to recognize these disputes about the form of government as very relevant for that time, and, moreover, not only for Athens.
However, by the very nature of his talent, Euripides is more interested in the spiritual world of his heroes. The dramatic activity of Euripides is closely connected with a new direction in philosophy (the poet remained, however, free from the extremes of sophistry with its arbitrary game of concepts) and in general with the cultural life of Athens in the second half of the 5th century. Following this direction, Euripides seeks to transform the Athenian tragedy, to make it descend from ideal heights to the world of everyday life. The sound of the heroic theme in the tragedies of Euripides decreases, but at the same time attention to the psychological world of a person and the phenomena of life around him increases.

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Above, Aristotle's testimony was already cited that Sophocles himself, evaluating the drama of Euripides, said that the latter portrayed people as they are in life. In the comedy of Aristophanes "The Frogs", Euripides is told that he sets out to teach the audience about everyday matters; he gives in tragedies an image of the mundane and everyday, so that the audience can more easily judge their own affairs. Of course, Aristophanes expounds Euripides' views on the tasks of tragedy in a caricatured form, but the fact that Euripides set as his task the reproduction of everyday life is captured correctly.
Ancient Greek historian, writer and critic of the 1st century BC NS. Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his treatise "On Imitation" also attributes to Euripides the desire to reproduce life, which also captures its negative aspects. “Sophocles, when portraying passions, was distinguished by respect for the dignity of faces. Euripides, on the other hand, enjoyed only the truthful and appropriate to modern life, which is why he often bypassed the decent and elegant and did not correct, as Sophocles did, the characters and feelings of his characters in the direction of nobility and sublimity. There are traces of a very accurate depiction of an obscene, sluggish, cowardly "1.
Speaking about the depiction of the modern poet's life, it is necessary to make a reservation, applicable, however, to all Greek tragedians. Modern life is reflected in them through a mythological plot, which undoubtedly fetters the completeness of its depiction in the sense of the events themselves. Greater scope opened up in the depiction of the characters and the world of human emotional experiences, and I must say that Euripides achieves greater perfection here in comparison with Sophocles.
In accordance with the views on the tasks of his poetry, Sophocles gave heroic characters lifted above reality, while Euripides, in generalized images of his tragedies, showed people of his day with their thoughts, feelings, aspirations, sometimes contradictory in the same person, with their subtle emotional experiences ... For Euripides, the myth became only a material or a basis that made it possible for his contemporaries to express themselves. This ability of Euripides to give an in-depth psychological description of his contemporaries, which in many respects is of great interest to us, makes him more intelligible and understandable for the modern reader. And on the contrary, the closeness of Euripides' heroes to life angered some defenders of the old tragedy, as can be seen from the criticism of Aristophanes in The Frogs. However, it can be assumed that contemporaries were more confused by the playwright's skeptical attitude towards the old religion and myths. It is possible that considerations of a political nature also took place here: during the period of difficult military trials, the manifestation of free-thinking in relation to such foundations of the state as traditional religion and old myths could seem dangerous. When analyzing individual tragedies of Euripides, it was already indicated that the gods were deduced from him in a number of cases in a very unattractive form. In non-

1 Cit. on "History of Greek Literature", vol. I, under the editorship of SI Sobolevsky et al., M., Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1946, p. 416.

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To the play "Bellerophon" that has come down to us, the hero on a winged horse ascends to heaven to find out if there are gods there or not: whoever sees violence and evil on earth, notices Bellerophon, will understand that there are no gods and that everything told about them is an empty fairy tale (fragment 286). True, Bellerophon is punished, he falls to the ground and breaks, but the audience heard in the theater echoes of the same thoughts that were expressed by contemporary philosophy. Of course, Euripides was not an atheist in today's sense of the word, but there is no doubt about his skepticism towards old religious beliefs.
The variety of characters deduced by Euripides, about the stunning dramatic situations in which his heroes find themselves, about the depiction of their subtlest experiences, were discussed in the analysis of individual tragedies of the playwright. True to his desire to truthfully portray life, Euripides was not afraid to introduce characters into tragedies that were representatives of brute physical strength or personal selfish aspirations. Such is, for example, the Face in the tragedy "Hercules" or Eurystheus in the tragedy "Heraclides", cruelly persecuting his children after the death of Hercules, Menelaus, brought out by a low man in the tragedy "Orestes", and others.
It would be wrong, however, to equate tragedy in the form that it received in the hands of Euripides without reservations with everyday drama. Characters such as Iphigenia (Iphigenia in Aulis), Hercules in the tragedy of the same name, Hippolytus, Pentheus in The Bacchae and others are truly tragic characters. The reduction of the heroic theme in the work of Euripides does not at all mean the transformation of tragedy into everyday drama, although some of his plays very much resemble it.
The new character of Euripides' drama often demanded new means of theatrical expression, which before him were either not used at all, or were used much less frequently. First of all, Euripides began to use modes in theater music that had not been used before, such as the "mixed Lydian". The Lydian mood was generally perceived as mournful, mournful and intimate. From this mode, as well as from others, some derivative modes were also built. Unfortunately, we cannot - due to insufficient knowledge of ancient Greek music in general - appreciate the musical side of Euripides' tragedies. However, it apparently made a strong impression on his contemporaries, since new and more appropriate means of musical expression were used here. In the Hellenistic era, solo arias and duets of soloists and choir from the tragedies of Euripides were performed separately.
The new content of Euripides' tragedies demanded a new syllable. Indeed, this syllable in the dialogical parts and stories of the messengers is very close to the colloquial speech of that time. Aristotle in Rhetoric praises Euripides for composing his speeches from expressions taken from everyday life. The agons, in which Euripides so well confronts opposing opinions and aspirations, especially clearly reveal the influence of sophistry and rhetoric. To us, these speeches, however, sometimes seem dry, rationalistic, straying into "commonplaces." Some of Euripides' contemporaries, as far as can be judged from the attacks

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Aristophanes, they seemed woven from intricacies, with the help of which individual characters of the tragedy tried to justify their bad deeds, passed the false and immoral as true and moral. But, on the other hand, there is no doubt that such speeches were very popular with people who went to meet the new philosophical movement in the then Athens, sometimes perceiving the negative features of sophistry and rhetoric (for example, the belief in the possibility and permissibility of using formal arguments to prove the truth or the falsity of any position). Euripides also discovers great art in the use of the so-called verse-myth (a dialogue in which each replica occupies one verse). These poems achieve greater theatrical expressiveness than Sophocles. We are amazed in them by the extremely skillful display of various human experiences, the passionate tone, the ability to hit the enemy in the most painful place, the psychologically justified inconsistency of the thought of the given character, etc.
The spectacular side of Euripides' tragedies, as far as we can form an idea about it on the basis of the text of the plays themselves, was closely connected with the combination of events and with the characters depicted, took into account the requirements of the scene and helped to more fully reveal the main idea of ​​the work by specifically theatrical means. The spectacular part of Euripides' tragedies includes some scenes that, before him, were either not shown at all in the theater in front of the audience, or were shown much less often. These include, for example, scenes of death, depictions of illness, physical suffering, scenes of madness, mourning ceremonies, bringing children onto the stage, dressing up the actors, showing on the stage the feelings and experiences of a woman in love, resolving tragedies by using a car for flights or the appearance of gods, and much more.
During his lifetime, Euripides, as already mentioned, did not enjoy success. He was an innovator who strove, both in content and in form, to bring his dramas out of the tight framework inherited by tradition. This innovation was apparently unacceptable to many of his contemporaries. Indeed, during his lifetime, Euripides could not compare in glory with either Aeschylus or Sophocles. But as soon as he went down to the grave, he overshadowed the glory of both of them. Aeschylus for the next century becomes a majestic, but no longer fully understood giant of drama. Sophocles was always admired, but he was too Attic poet and entirely belonged to the age of Pericles. He gave ideal images that could not retain their significance in the Hellenistic era, which made completely different requirements for drama. Euripides, an artist in whose work realistic tendencies were found more vividly, was to win fame in all parts of the civilized Mediterranean world. Since the IV century. BC NS. and until the very fall of the ancient world, Euripides was more admired and studied more than any other playwright. However, even during his lifetime, Euripides found many imitators. He is eagerly imitated by Greek and later Roman tragedians, and he is quoted and commented on at a later time. Euripides had a great influence on the new Attic (everyday) comedy.

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Evidence dating back to antiquity directly speaks of this. The tragedies of Euripides were performed long after his death in the countries of the East. So, Plutarch ("Crassus", ch. 33) reports on the execution in 53 BC. NS. at the court of the Armenian king Artavazd II in Artashat, an excerpt from the tragedy of Euripides "Bacchae". In the XVII century. The playwrights of classicism take much from Euripides. In creating his tragedies Phaedrus, Iphigenia and Andromache, Racine was heavily influenced by the plays of Euripides. Euripides was highly appreciated by Goethe and Schiller. Byron, Shelley, Grillparzer, Leconte de Lille, Verhaarn and many other poets were also fond of him. A complete translation of the tragedies of Euripides (except "Pleading") and the satire drama "Cyclops" were given by the outstanding Russian poet I.F. ). A modern variation on the motives of Euripides' Medea is given by Medea by the contemporary French playwright J. Anouillet.