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The Odyssey by Homer, Greece, (c 700 BC) The Greeks attributed both the Iliad and the Odyssey to a single poet whom they named Homer. Nothing is known of his life, though received opinion dates him c. 700 BC and places him in Ionia, the Greek-inhabited coast and islands off central western Turkey. Most modern scholars place the composition of the Iliad in the second half of the eighth century BC. Robert Graves was born in 1895 in Wimbledon. He went from school to the First World War, where he became a captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Apart from a year as Professor of English Literature at Cairo University in 1926 he earned his living by writing, mostly historical novels which include I, Claudius and Claudius the God. He wrote his autobiography, Goodbye to All That in 1929 and it rapidly established itself as a modern classic. He translated Apuleius, Lucan and Suetonius for the Penguin Classics series, and compiled the first modern dictionary of Greek Mythology. He was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford in 1961, and made an Honorary Fellow of St John's College, Oxford, in 1971. He died on 7 December 1985 in Majorca, his home since 1929. == The Odyssey (Greek: Ὀδύσσεια, Odysseia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the first. It is believed to have been composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.[1] The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War.[2] In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: Μνηστῆρες) or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage. It continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe that the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read.[1] The details of the ancient oral performance, and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a poetic dialect of Greek—a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient Greek dialects—and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter.[3][4] Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices made by women and serfs, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage. The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer. It was usually attributed in Antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta, but in one source was said to have been stolen from Musaeus by Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene (see Cyclic poets). Synopsis Exposition The Odyssey begins ten years after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (that is the subject of the Iliad), and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war. Odysseus' son Telemachus is about 20 years old and is sharing his absent father’s house on the island of Ithaca with his mother Penelope and a crowd of 108 boisterous young men, "the Suitors", whose aim is to persuade Penelope to marry one of them, all the while enjoying the hospitality of Odysseus' household and eating up his wealth. Odysseus’ protectress, the goddess Athena, discusses his fate with Zeus, king of the gods, at a moment when Odysseus' enemy, the god of the sea Poseidon, is absent from Mount Olympus. Then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named Mentes (otherwise known as “Mentor”), she visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality; they observe the Suitors dining rowdily while the bard Phemius performs a narrative poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius' theme, the "Return from Troy",[5] because it reminds her of her missing husband, but Telemachus rebuts her objections. That night Athena, disguised as Telemachus, finds a ship and crew for the true Telemachus. The next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done with the suitors. Accompanied by Athena (still disguised as Mentor), he departs for the Greek mainland and the household of Nestor, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy, now at home in Pylos. From there, Telemachus rides overland, accompanied by Nestor's son, Peisistratus, to Sparta, where he finds Menelaus and Helen who are now reconciled. He is told that they returned to Sparta after a long voyage by way of Egypt. There, on the island of Pharos, Menelaus encountered the old sea-god Proteus, who told him that Odysseus was a captive of the nymph Calypso. Incidentally, Telemachus learns the fate of Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and leader of the Greeks at Troy: he was murdered on his return home by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. |
الأوديسة المحتوىباليونانية (ούνταξις)هي ملحمة شعرية وضعها هوميروس في القرن 8 قبل الميلاد. وتتكون من 24 جزئا. تبدأ الملحمة من منتصف القصة، ثم تروي ما حدث بالبداية وتنتهي بوصول البطل إلى الجزيرة. تبدأ قصة الأوديسة بعد نهاية ملحمة الإلياذة. وتروي قصة عودة أحد أبطال الإلياذة وهو أوديسيوس ملك إيثاكا الذي من المعروف عنه أنه صاحب فكرة حصان طروادة. كما تروي الملحمة قصة بينيلوبي زوجة أوديسيوس. القصةتبدأ الملحمة بنهاية حصار طروادة وبدء عودة المحاربين إلى بيوتهم، لكن بسبب غضب إله البحر بوصيدون على أوديسيوس، تمتلئ رحلته بالمشاكل التي يضعها في طريقه بوصيدون أو بسبب تهور بحارته. يبقى في رحلته مدة عشر سنوات يواجه خلالها الكثير من المخاطر، وطوال هذه الفترة تبقى زوجته بينيلوبي بانتظاره، ممتنعة عن الزواج، رغم العروض الكثيرة التي تتلقاها، خاصة بعد وصول أغلب المحاربين في حرب طروادة ما عدا زوجها. تنتهي الملحمة بوصوله إلى إيثاكا وقيامه بالانتقام من الذين اضطهدوا زوجته بتلك الفترة. خط الرحلةمر أوديسيوس بالمناطق التالية، وتم وضع ما يُظن أنها الأسماء الحالية:
الأحداث هنا مرتبة حسب الملحمة: جزيرة أوجيجياحيث تبدأ الملحمة يكون فيها أوديسيوس سجينا للحورية كاليبسو لمدة 7 سنوات. ثم يقرر زيوس، أنه آن أوان عودة أوديسيوس إلى زوجته بينيلوبي في إيثاكا. فيرسل هرمس الذي يحرر أوديسيوس. جزيرة كورفولوتوفاجي في هذه الجزيرة يقدم سكانها زهرة اللوتس لكن تكون من نوع خاص لأوديسيوس وبحارته، فهذه الزهرة تجعل آكليها ينسون كل شيء، ويتذكرون فقط أن هذه الجزيرة هي وطنهم. أراد بعض رجاله الذين أكلوا منها البقاء مع أكلة اللوتس. لكن أوديسيوس أجبرهم على الذهاب معه. كومايقع أوديسيوس ورجاله أسرى لدى بوليفميوس ابن بوسيدون، وهو عملاق بعين واحدة يطلق عليه اسم سيكلوب. وقد تمكنوا من الهرب بعد أن فقؤوا عين سيكلوب، وهذه الحادثة أدت إلى زيادة غضب بوسيدون عليهم. الساحرة تسيرسبعد عدة مغامرات، رست السفينة التي كانت تحمل أوديسيوس ورجاله في جزيرة الساحرة تسيرس. التي قامت بتحويل رجال أوديسيوس إلى خنازير وجعلت من أوديسيوس عشيقا لها. نجا أوديسيوس منها بمساعدة من هرمس مبعوث الأوليمب الذي قام بإعطائه عشبة خاصة لها زهرة بيضاء وجذور سوداء اسمها " مولي " تمنع تأثير السائل السحري الذي يحول من يتناوله إلى حيوان. مضيق مسينا
خسر أوديسيوس الكثير من رجاله عند هذا المضيق. جزيرة الأيوليينيقوم البحارة بفتح جرة كانت قد أعطيت لهم من قبل ملك هذه الجزيرة. وتحتوي هذه الهدية على الرياح التي قام زيوس بحبسها. وتدمر العديد من السفن بسبب هذه الرياح. جزيرة كابريحيث توجد السيرينات " عرائس البحر " ينشدن أغاني ساحرة للغاية بأصوات لا يمكن وصفها ومن يذهب اليهن يبقي بجوارهن مدي الحياة، قام أوديسيوس بالنجاة عن طريق وضع الشمع في أذان البحارة، وقام بربط نفسه إلى الصارية كي يسمع أصواتهن دون أن يذهب إليهن. صقليةكانت صقلية أو مدينة الشمس هي المكان الذي يحتفظ به أبولو (إله إغريقي) بقطعان أغنامه. حذر أوديسيوس بحارته من الاقتراب من الأغنام. لكنهم قاموا بذبح بعضها وأكله. كان عقاب أبولو شديدا، فقام بتحطيم السفن بعاصفة رعدية، وبعد هذا العاصفة وصل إلى جزيرة أوجيجا، حيث بداية الملحمة. العودةحذرت أثينا أوديسيوس من النبلاء الموجودين حول منزله، فعاد متنكرا إلى بيته. قام بعدها بوليمة لجميع النبلاء انتهت بمقتلهم جميعا بقوسه الذي لا يقدر على استعماله سواه. قصة بنلوبتروي الملحمة بشكل متقطع، قصة بنلوب زوجة أوديسيوس. قام بعض النبلاء بمحاصرة قصرها، ومطالبتها بالزواج من أحدهم ،وعرضوا الكثير عليها. قامت بإقناعهم بالانتظار حتى تنتهي من خياطة ثوب العرس. فكانت تقوم بحياكته في النهار أمامهم، أما في المساء فتقوم بحل ما حاكته. منتظرة عودة زوجها أوديسيوس. عندما عاد أوديسيوس، قامت بإعطائه قوسه، فقام بجمع النبلاء إلى وليمة وقتلهم. أبطال الأوديسة |
هوميروس حياة هوميروس(بالإغريقية: Ὅμηρος) شاعرٌ ملحمي إغريقي أسطوري يُعتقد أنه مؤلف الملحمتين الإغريقيتين الإلياذة والأوديسة. بشكلٍ عام، آمن الإغريق القدامى بأن هوميروس كان شخصية تاريخية، لكن الباحثين المحدثين يُشككون في هذا، ذلك أنه لا توجد ترجمات موثوقة لسيرته باقية من الحقبة الكلاسيكية (Classical Antiquity)،] كما أن الملاحم المأثورة عنه تمثل تراكماً لقرونٍ عديدة من الحكي الشفاهي وعروضاً شعرياً محكماً. ويرى مارتن وست أن هوميروس ليس اسماً لشاعرٍ تاريخية، بل اسماً مستعاراً.تواريخ حياة هوميروس كانت موضع جدلٍ في الحقبة الكلاسيكية واستمر هذا الجدل إلى الآن. قال هيرودوت إن هوميروس عاش قبل زمانه بأربعمائة سنة، مما قد يعني أنه عاش في 850 ق. م. تقريباً. بينما ترى مصادر قديمة أخرى أنه عاش في فترة قريبة من حرب طروادة المفترضة.[]. ويعتقد إيراتوسثينيس الذي جاهد لإثبات تقويم علمي لأحداث حرب طروادة أنها كانت بين 1184 و1194 ق. م. بالنسبة للباحثين المعاصرين، يعني "تاريخ هوميروس" تاريخ تأليف القصائد بالنسبة لحياة شخصٍ واحد، ويُجمعون على أن الإلياذة والأوديسة تعود إلى نهاية القرن التاسع قبل الميلاد، أو تبدأ من القرن الثامن، حيث تسبق الإلياذة الأوديسةبعقود.",ويسبق هذا التاريح هسيود مما يجعل الإلياذة أقدم نصٍ أدبي مكتوب في الأدب الغربي. في العقود القليلة الماضية، حاجج بعض الباحثين ليثبتوا تاريخاً يعود إلى القرن السابع قبل الميلاد. ويُعطي من يعتقدون أن القصائد الهوميروسية تطورت تدريجياً خلال حقبة زمنية طويلة نسبياً تاريخاً متأخراً لها، إذ يرى غريغوري ناجي أنها لم تصبح نصوصاً ثابتة إلا بحلول القرن السادس قبل الميلاد.يقول ألفرد هيوبك أن تأثير أعمال هوميروس الذي شكل تطور الثقافة الإغريقية وأثر فيها قد أقر به الإغريق الذين اعتبروه معلمهم. رغم أن "هوميروس" اسم إغريقي معروف في المناطق الناطقة بالأيولية،[9] فلا يُعرف شيء مؤكد بشأنه، ومع ذلك، فقد نشأت تقاليد غنية وُحفظت مُعطية تفاصيل معينة عن مكان ميلاده وخلفيته. وكثير من هذه الروايات خيالية: يجعل الهجاء لوشيان في عمله التاريخ الحقيقي منه بابلياً يُدعى تغرانِس، يُسمى نفسه هوميروس عندما يأخذه الإغريق رهينة (هوميروس).[10] سأل الإمبراطور هارديان معبد دلفي عمن كانه هوميروس حقاص، فأتاه الجواب بأنه كان من إيثاكا، وأبواه إبيكاسته وتليماخوس من الأوديسة.[11] جُمعت هذه الحكايات ورُتبت في عددٍ[12] من حيوات هوميروس جُمعت ابتداء من الحقبة الإسكندرية.[13] أكثر هذه الروايات ذيوعاً يرى أن هوميروس وُلد في إيونيا الواقعة في آسيا الصغرى، قرب سميرنا أو جزيرة خيوس، ومات في كيكلادس.وتظهر إشارة إلى سميرنا في الأسطورة التي تقول إن اسمه الأصلي "ميليسجنس" (مولود من نهر ميليس الذي يجري قرب المدينة)، وأنه ابن الحورية كريثيس. وتدل القصائد على هذه الصلة، فهوميروس كان يألف طبوغرافية آسيا الصغرى بشكلٍ يظهر في معرفته بالتضاريس وأسماء الأماكن بالتفاصيل، وفي تشبيهاته التي تأتي من المشاهد المحلية، حين يُصور في الإلياذة السهول المحيطة بنهر كايستر، وعواصف البحر الإيكاري.[15] كما في وصفه لمزج النساء العاج باللون القرمزي في ميونيا وكاريا.[16] يعود الارتباط بخيوس إلى سيمونايدس الأمورغي الذي اقتبس سطراً شهيراً من الإلياذة على أنه من نظم "رجل خيوسي". وتظهر نقابة شعرية من نوعٍ ما تحمل اسم الهوميروسيين أو "أبناء هوميروس" في الجزيرة.[17] يظهر أن الجماعة وجدت هُناك مقتفية أثر سلفٍ أسطوري,[18] أو مجتمعة لتتخصص في إلقاء الشعر الهوميروسي.[19] لنطق اسم الشاعر ذات طريقة نطق كلمة ὅμερος التي تعني "رهينة"، أو "المُرافق، المفروض عليه أن يتبع"، وفي بعض اللكنات: "الأعمى".[19] وقد ألهم هذا التماثل اللفظي العديد من الحكايات التي تجعل من هوميروس رهينة أو رجلاً أعمى. وبخصوص العمى، فإن التقليد الذي يرى أنه أعمى قد يكون ناشئاً عن التقليد الإيوني حيث كلمة "هوميروس" تعني: "قائد الأعمى"،[20] والتقليد الإيولي حيث تعني كلمة "هوميروس": "الأعمى".[21] ويرجع تشخيص هومر بوصفه شاعراً أعمى إلى بعض مقاطع قصيدة ديلوس "أغنية إلى أبولو"، ثالثة الأغاني الهوميروسية،[22] ودعمت مقاطع أخرى عند ثوكيديدس هذا الاعتقاد.[23] وكان للمؤرخ الكومي إفوروس رؤية مماثلة، فصارت هذه رؤية الحقبة الكلاسيكية المعتمدة مستمدة قوتها من تجذير خاطئ يشتق اسم اشاعر من هو مي هورون (ὁ μὴ ὁρών: "الذي لا يرى"). وقد اعتقد الباحثون لوقتٍ طويل بأن هوميروس قد أشار إلى نفسه في الأوديسة عندما وصف شاعراً أعمى في بلاطٍ ملكي يروي قصصاً عن طروادة للملك أوديسيوس الذي تحطمت سفينته. يميل كثيرٌ من الباحثين إلى أخذ اسم الشاعر بوصفه مؤشراً على وظيفة عامة. فيعتقد غريغوري ناجي أنه يعني "الشخص الذي يُنسق الأغنية".[26] كما يعني فعل ὁμηρέω (هوميرو) "يُقابل" و"يغني نغمات متسقة"،[27] ويرى البعض أن "هوميروس" كلمة قد تعني "مُلحن الأصوات".ويربط مارشيلو ديورانتي كلمة "هوميروس" بوصف زيوس "رب التجمعات"، ويُحاجج بأن الاسم يخفي استخداماً قديماً لكلمة "تجمع".صور كتاب الحيوات القديمة هوميروس بوصفه شاعراً متجولاً مثل ثاميريس[32] أو هسيود الذي مشى إلى خالكيذا ليُغني في مباريات جنازة أمفيداماس.[33] مما يُشكل صورة "مغنِ أعمى شحاذ يتجول في الطرقات مع العامة: الإسكافيين، الصيادين، الخزافين، البحارة، العجائز المجتمعين في المدن المطلة على موانئ.[34] وتدل القصائد نفسها على مغنين في بلاطات النبلاء، مما يقسم الباحثين بين من يعتقدون أنه كان متسولاً في الشارع، أم مغنياً في البلاط، ولا زال الجدل غير محسوم حول هوية هوميروس التاريخي.[35] |
Homer In the Western classical tradition, Homer (pron.: /ˈhoʊmər/; Greek: Ὅμηρος, Hómēros) is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature. When he lived is unknown. Herodotus estimates that Homer lived 400 years before Herodotus' own time, which would place him at around 850 BC,[1] while other ancient sources claim that he lived much nearer to the supposed time of the Trojan War, in the early 12th century BC.[2] Modern researchers appear to place Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. The formative influence played by the Homeric epics in shaping Greek culture was widely recognized, and Homer was described as the teacher of Greece.[3] Homer's works, which are about fifty percent speeches, provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds. Fragments of Homer account for nearly half of all identifiable Greek literary papyrus finds.[4] Period For modern scholars "the date of Homer" refers not to an individual, but to the period when the epics were created. The consensus is that "the Iliad and the Odyssey date from around the 8th century BC, the Iliad being composed before the Odyssey, perhaps by some decades,"[5] i.e. earlier than Hesiod,[6] the Iliad being the oldest work of Western literature. Over the past few decades, some scholars have argued for a 7th century BC date. Oliver Taplin believes that the conclusion of modern researchers is that Homer dates to between 750 to 650 BC.[7] Some of those who argue that the Homeric poems developed gradually over a long period of time give an even later date for the composition of the poems; according to Gregory Nagy for example, they only became fixed texts in the 6th century BC.[8] The question of the historicity of Homer the individual is known as the "Homeric question"; there is no reliable biographical information handed down from classical antiquity.[9] The poems are generally seen as the culmination of many generations of oral story-telling, in a tradition with a well-developed formulaic system of poetic composition. Some scholars, such as Martin West, claim that "Homer" is "not the name of a historical poet, but a fictitious or constructed name."[10] Life and legends "Homer" is a Greek name, attested in Aeolic-speaking areas,[11] and although nothing definite is known about him, traditions arose purporting to give details of his birthplace and background. The satirist Lucian, in his True History, describes him as a Babylonian called Tigranes, who assumed the name Homer when taken "hostage" (homeros) by the Greeks.[12] When the Emperor Hadrian asked the Oracle at Delphi about Homer, the Pythia proclaimed that he was Ithacan, the son of Epikaste and Telemachus, from the Odyssey.[13] These stories were incorporated into the various[14] Lives of Homer compiled from the Alexandrian period onwards.[15] Homer is most frequently said to be born in the Ionian region of Asia Minor, at Smyrna, or on the island of Chios, dying on the Cycladic island of Ios.[15][16] A connection with Smyrna seems to be alluded to in a legend that his original name was Melesigenes ("born of Meles", a river which flowed by that city), with his mother the nymph Kretheis. Internal evidence from the poems gives evidence of familiarity with the topography and place-names of this area of Asia Minor; for example, Homer refers to meadow birds at the mouth of the Caystros,[17] a storm in the Icarian sea,[18] and mentions that women in Maeonia and Caria stain ivory with scarlet.[19][20] The association with Chios dates back to at least Semonides of Amorgos, who cited a famous line in the Iliad (6.146) as by "the man of Chios".[21] An eponymousbardicguild, known as the Homeridae (sons of Homer), or Homeristae ('Homerizers')[22] appears to have existed there, tracing descent from an ancestor of that name,[23] or upholding their function as rhapsodes or "lay-stitchers" specialising in the recitation of Homeric poetry. Wilhelm Dörpfeld[24] suggests that Homer had visited many of the places and regions which he describes in his epics, such as Mycenae, Troy, the palace of Odysseus at Ithaca and more. According to Diodorus Siculus, Homer had even visited Egypt.[25] The poet's name is homophonous with ὅμηρος (hómēros), "hostage" (or "surety"), which is interpreted as meaning "he who accompanies; he who is forced to follow", or, in some dialects, "blind".[26] This led to many tales that he was a hostage or a blind man. Traditions which assert that he was blind may have arisen from the meaning of the word in both Ionic, where the verbal form ὁμηρεύω (homēreúō) has the specialized meaning of "guide the blind",[27] and the Aeolian dialect of Cyme, where ὅμηρος (hómēros) is synonymous with the standard Greek τυφλός (tuphlós), meaning 'blind'.[28] The characterization of Homer as a blind bard goes back to some verses in the Delian Hymn to Apollo, the third of the Homeric Hymns,[29] verses later cited to support this notion by Thucydides.[30] The Cymean historian Ephorus held the same view, and the idea gained support in antiquity on the strength of a false etymology which derived his name from ho mḕ horṓn (ὁ μὴ ὁρῶν: "he who does not see"). Critics have long taken as self-referential[31] a passage in the Odyssey describing a blind bard, Demodocus, in the court of the Phaeacian king, who recounts stories of Troy to the shipwrecked Odysseus.[32] Many scholars take the name of the poet to be indicative of a generic function. Gregory Nagy takes it to mean "he who fits (the Song) together".[33] ὁμηρέω (homēréō), another related verb, besides signifying "meet", can mean "(sing) in accord/tune".[34] Some argue that "Homer" may have meant "he who puts the voice in tune" with dancing.[35][36] Marcello Durante links "Homeros" to an epithet of Zeus as "god of the assemblies" and argues that behind the name lies the echo of an archaic word for "reunion", similar to the later Panegyris, denoting a formal assembly of competing minstrels.[37][38] Some Ancient Lives depict Homer as a wandering minstrel, like Thamyris[39] or Hesiod, who walked as far as Chalkis to sing at the funeral games of Amphidamas.[40] We are given the image of a "blind, begging singer who hangs around with little people: shoemakers, fisherman, potters, sailors, elderly men in the gathering places of harbour towns".[41] The poems, on the other hand, give us evidence of singers at the courts of the nobility. There is a strong aristocratic bias in the poems demonstrated by the lack of any major protagonists of non-aristocratic stock, and by episodes such as the beating down of the commoner Thersites by the king Odysseus for daring to criticize his superiors. In spite of this scholars are divided as to which category, if any, the court singer or the wandering minstrel, the historic "Homer" belonged.[42] For more details on this topic, see Ancient accounts of Homer, Life of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus). هناك من يعتقد بعدم وجوده اصلا وهناك من يعتقد انه كان شاعر كفيف ولكن لا يوجد معلومات حقيقية عنه ولذلك سنعتبره مجهول الطفولة. |
Sophocles, Greece, (496-406 BC) Oedipus the King (Ancient Greek: Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, Oidipous Tyrannos), also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE[1]It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. Oedipus Rex chronicles the story of Oedipus, a man who becomes the king of Thebes who was destined from birth to murder his father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta. The play is an example of a classic tragedy, noticeably containing an emphasis on how Oedipus's own faults contribute to the tragic hero's downfall, as opposed having fate be the sole cause. Over the centuries, Oedipus Rex has come to be regarded by many as the Greek tragedy par excellence.[2] Background As is the case in most climactic drama, much of what constitutes the myth of Oedipus takes place before the opening scene of the play. In his youth, Laius was a guest of King Pelops of Elis, and became the tutor of Chrysippus, youngest of the king's sons, in chariot racing. He then violated the sacred laws of hospitality by abducting and raping Chrysippus, who according to some versions killed himself in shame. This cast a doom over Laius and his descendants. The action of the playThe protagonist of the tragedy is the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. After Laius learns from an oracle that "he is doomed/To perish by the hand of his own son", he tightly binds the feet of the infant together with a pin and orders Jocasta to kill the infant. Hesitant to do so, she orders a servant to commit the act for her. Instead, the servant takes the baby to a mountain top to die from exposure. A shepherd rescues the infant and names him Oedipus (or "swollen feet"). The shepherd carries the baby with him to Corinth, where Oedipus is taken in and raised in the court of the childless King Polybus of Corinth as if he were his own. As a young man in Corinth, Oedipus hears a rumour that he is not the biological son of Polybus and his wife Merope. When Oedipus questions the King and Queen, they deny it, but, still suspicious, he asks the Delphic Oracle who his parents really are. The Oracle seems to ignore this question, telling him instead that he is destined to "Mate with [his] own mother, and shed/With [his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire". Desperate to avoid his foretold fate, Oedipus leaves Corinth in the belief that Polybus and Merope are indeed his true parents and that, once away from them, he will never harm them. On the road to Thebes, he meets Laius, his true father. Unaware of each other's identities, they quarrel over whose chariot has right-of-way. King Laius moves to strike the insolent youth with his sceptre, but Oedipus throws him down from the chariot and kills him, thus fulfilling part of the oracle's prophecy. He kills all but one of the other men. Shortly after, Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx, which has baffled many a diviner: "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?" To this Oedipus replies, "Man" (who crawls on all fours as an infant, walks upright later, and needs a walking stick in old age), and the distraught Sphinx throws herself off the cliffside. Oedipus' reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from her curse is the kingship and the hand of Queen Dowager Jocasta, his biological mother. The prophecy is thus fulfilled, although none of the main characters know it. A priest and the chorus of Thebans arrive at the palace to call upon their King, Oedipus, to aid them with the plague. Oedipus had sent his brother-in-law Creon to ask help of the oracle at Delphi, and he returns at that moment. Creon says the plague is the result of religious pollution, caused because the murderer of their former King, Laius, had never been caught. Oedipus vows to find the murderer and curses him for the plague that he has caused. Oedipus summons the blind prophet Tiresias for help. When Tiresias arrives he claims to know the answers to Oedipus's questions, but refuses to speak, instead telling Oedipus to abandon his search. Oedipus is enraged by Tiresias's refusal, and says the prophet must be complicit in the murder. Outraged, Tiresias tells the king that Oedipus himself is the murderer. Oedipus cannot see how this could be, and concludes that the prophet must have been paid off by Creon in an attempt to undermine him. The two argue vehemently and eventually Tiresias leaves, muttering darkly that when the murderer is discovered he shall be a native citizen of Thebes; brother and father to his own children; and son and husband to his own mother. Creon arrives to face Oedipus's accusations. The King demands that Creon be executed, however the chorus convince him to let Creon live. Jocasta enters and attempts to comfort Oedipus, telling him he should take no notice of prophets. Many years ago she and Laius received an oracle which never came true. It was said that Laius would be killed by his own son, but, as all Thebes knows, Laius was killed by bandits at a crossroads on the way to Delphi. The mention of this crossroads causes Oedipus to pause and ask for more details. He asks Jocasta what Laius looked like, and Oedipus suddenly becomes worried that Tiresias's accusations were true. Oedipus then sends for the one surviving witness of the attack to be brought to the palace from the fields where he now works as a shepherd. Jocasta, confused, asks Oedipus what the matter is, and he tells her. Many years ago, at a banquet in Corinth, a man drunkenly accused Oedipus of not being his father's son. Bothered by the comment Oedipus went to Delphi and asked the oracle about his parentage. Instead of answers he was given a prophecy that he would one day murder his father and sleep with his mother. Upon hearing this he resolved to leave Corinth and never return. While traveling he came to the very crossroads where Laius was killed, and encountered a carriage which attempted to drive him off the road. An argument ensued and Oedipus killed the travelers, including a man who matches Jocasta's description of Laius. Oedipus has hope, however, because the story is that Laius was murdered by several robbers. If the shepherd confirms that Laius was attacked by many men, then Oedipus is in the clear. A man arrives from Corinth with the message that Oedipus's father has died. Oedipus, to the surprise of the messenger, is made ecstatic by this news, for it proves one half of the prophecy false, for now he can never kill his father. However, he still fears that he may somehow commit incest with his mother. The messenger, eager to ease Oedipus's mind, tells him not to worry, because Merope was not in fact his real mother. It emerges that this messenger was formerly a shepherd on Mount Cithaeron, and that he was given a baby, which the childless Polybus then adopted. The baby, he says, was given to him by another shepherd from the Laius household, who had been told to get rid of the child. Oedipus asks the chorus if anyone knows who this man was, or where he might be now. They respond that he is the same shepherd who was witness to the murder of Laius, and whom Oedipus had already sent for. Jocasta, who has by now realized the truth, desperately begs Oedipus to stop asking questions, but he refuses and Jocasta runs into the palace. When the shepherd arrives Oedipus questions him, but he begs to be allowed to leave without answering further. However, Oedipus presses him, finally threatening him with torture or execution. It emerges that the child he gave away was Laius's own son, and that Jocasta had given the baby to the shepherd to secretly be exposed upon the mountainside. This was done in fear of the prophecy that Jocasta said had never come true: that the child would kill its father. Everything is at last revealed, and Oedipus curses himself and fate before leaving the stage. The chorus laments how even a great man can be felled by fate, and following this, a servant exits the palace to speak of what has happened inside. When Jocasta enters the house, she runs to the palace bedroom and hangs herself there. Shortly afterward, Oedipus enters in a fury, calling on his servants to bring him a sword so that he might kill himself. He then rages through the house, until he comes upon Jocasta's body. Giving a cry, Oedipus takes her down and removes the long gold pins that held her dress together, before plunging them into his own eyes in despair. A blind Oedipus now exits the palace and begs to be exiled as soon as possible. Creon enters, saying that Oedipus shall be taken into the house until oracles can be consulted regarding what is best to be done. Oedipus's two daughters (and half-sisters), Antigone and Ismene, are sent out, and Oedipus laments that they should be born to such a cursed family. He asks Creon to watch over them and Creon agrees, before sending Oedipus back into the palace. On an empty stage the chorus repeat the common Greek maxim, that no man should be considered fortunate until he is dead |
Sophocles LifeAncient Greek: Σοφοκλῆς, Sophoklēs, Greek pronunciation:. 497/6 BC – winter 406/5 BC)[1] is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides. According to the Suda, a 10th century encyclopedia, Sophocles wrote 123 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax, Antigone, The Women of Trachis, Oedipus the King, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus.[2] For almost 50 years, Sophocles was the most-fêted playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens that took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in around 30 competitions, won perhaps 24, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won 14 competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles, while Euripides won only 4 competitions.[3] The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays, although each play was actually a part of a different tetralogy, the other members of which are now lost. Sophocles influenced the development of the drama, most importantly by adding a third actor, thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation of the plot. He also developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus.[4] Sophocles, the son of Sophilus, was a wealthy member of the rural deme (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica, which was to become a setting for one of his plays, and he was probably born there.[1][5] He was born a few years before the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC: the exact year is unclear, although 497/6 is the most likely.[1][6] Sophocles' first artistic triumph was in 468 BC, when he took first prize in the Dionysia theatre competition over the reigning master of Athenian drama, Aeschylus.[1][7] According to Plutarch the victory came under unusual circumstances. Instead of following the usual custom of choosing judges by lot, the archon asked Cimon and the other strategoi present to decide the victor of the contest. Plutarch further contends that following this loss Aeschylus soon left for Sicily.[8] Although Plutarch says that this was Sophocles' first production, it is now thought that his first production was probably in 470 BC.[5] Triptolemus was probably one of the plays that Sophocles presented at this festival.[5] At the age of 16, Sophocles was chosen to lead the paean (a choral chant to a god), celebrating the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. He was elected as one of ten strategoi, high executive officials that commanded the armed forces, as a junior colleague of Pericles. Sophocles was born into a wealthy family (his father was an armour manufacturer) and was highly educated. Early in his career, the politician Cimon might have been one of his patrons, although if he was there was no ill will borne by Pericles, Cimon's rival, when Cimon was ostracized in 461 BC[1] In 443/2 he served as one of the Hellenotamiai, or treasurers of Athena, helping to manage the finances of the city during the political ascendancy of Pericles.[1] According to the Vita Sophoclis he served as a general in the Athenian campaign against Samos, which had revolted in 441 BC; he was supposed to have been elected to his post as the result of his production of Antigone.[9] In 420 BC he welcomed and set up an altar for the image of Asclepius at his house, when the deity was introduced to Athens. For this he was given the posthumous epithet Dexion (receiver) by the Athenians.[10] He was also elected, in 413 BC, one of the commissioners (probouloi) who responded to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War.[11] Sophocles died at the age of ninety or ninety-one in the winter of 406/5 BC, having seen within his lifetime both the Greek triumph in the Persian Wars and the bloodletting of the Peloponnesian War.[1] As with many famous men in classical antiquity, his death inspired a number of apocryphal stories. The most famous is the suggestion that he died from the strain of trying to recite a long sentence from his Antigone without pausing to take a breath. Another account suggests he choked while eating grapes at the Anthesteria festival in Athens. A third holds that he died of happiness after winning his final victory at the City Dionysia.[12] A few months later, a comic poet, in a play titled The Muses, wrote this eulogy: "Blessed is Sophocles, who had a long life, was a man both happy and talented, and the writer of many good tragedies; and he ended his life well without suffering any misfortune."[13] According to some accounts however his own sons tried to have him declared incompetent near the end of his life; he is said to have refuted their charge in court by reading from his as yet unproduced Oedipus at Colonus.[14] One of his sons, Iophon, and a grandson, also called Sophocles, also became playwrights.[15] |
سوفقليس أهم أعماله(Σοφοκλής باللغة اليونانية) (ولد حوالي سنة 496 ق.م. بأثينا وتوفي سنة 405 ق.م.) أحد أعظم ثلاثة كتاب تراجيديا إغريقية، مع ايسخسلوس ويوربيديس. وحسب سودا فقد كتب 123 مسرحية، في المسابقات المسرحية في مهرجان ديونيسيوس، حيث كل تقدمة من أي كاتب كان يجب أن تتضمن أربع مسرحيات، ثلاث تراجيديات بالإضافة إلى مسرحية ساخرة). وقد نال الجائزة الأولى (حوالي عشرين مرة) أكثر من أي كاتب آخر، وحصل على المركز الثاني في جميع المسابقات الأخرى. فقط سبعة من تراجيدياته بقت إلى يومنا هذا. مسرحيات طيبة (سلسلة أوديب) ΕΚ مسرحيات أخرىفيلوكتيتس |
سوفقليس
(Σοφοκλής باللغة اليونانية) (و. ح. 496 ق.م. بأثينا وت. 405 ق.م.) أحد أعظم ثلاثة كتاب تراجيديا إغريقية، مع إسخيلوس و يوريپيدس. وحسب سودا فقد كتب 123 مسرحية، في المسابقات المسرحية في مهرجان ديونيسوس، حيث كل تقدمة من أي كاتب كان يجب أن تتضمن أربع مسرحيات، ثلاث تراجيديات بالإضافة إلى مسرحية ساخرة). وقد نال الجائزة الأولى (حوالي عشرين مرة) أكثر من أي كاتب آخر، وحصل على المركز الثاني في جميع المسابقات الأخرى. فقط سبعة من تراجيدياته بقت إلى يومنا هذا. حياته في عام 468 انتزع الجائزة الأولى للمأساة من إسكلس قادم حديث في سن السابعة والعشرين يسمى سفكليز (سوفكل) أي العاقل المكرم. وكان سفكليز هذا أسعد الناس حظاً ويكاد أن يكون أشدهم تشاؤماً. وكان موطنه الأصلي ضاحية كولونس إحدى ضواحي أثينة، وكان ابن صانع سيوف، ومن أجل هذا فإن الحروب الفارسية والبلوبونيزية التي أفقرت الأثينيين كلهم تقريباً جاءت لهذا الكاتب المسرحي بثروة طائلة(57). وكان فضلاً عن ثرائه رجلاً عبقرياً وسيماً جيد الصحة، نال جائزتي المصارعة والموسيقى - فجمع بذلك بين كفايتين لو شهدهما أفلاطون لاغتبط أشد الاغتباط بوجودهما في رجل واحد. وقد أمكنته مهارته في لعب الكرة وفي العزف على القيثارة من أن يقيم حفلات عامة في الفنين، وكان هو الذي اختارته المدينة بعد واقعة سلاميس ليقود شبان أثينة العراة في رقصة النصر ونشيده(58). وقد ظل محتفظاً ببهاء طلعته إلى أواخر أيامه، ويظهره تمثاله المحفوظ في متحف لاتران Lateran شيخاً ملتحياً بديناً ولكنه قوي طويل القامة. وقد نشأ في أسعد عهود أثينة، وكان صديقاً لبركليز وشغل في عهده أعلى مناصب الدولة؛ فكان في عام 443 أمين بيت المال الإمبراطوري؛ وفي عام440 كان أحد القواد الذين تولوا قيادة قواد أثينة في الحملة التي سيرها بركليز على ساموس، وإن كان من واجبنا أن نضيف إلى هذا أن بركليز كان يعجب بشعره أكثر من إعجابه بخططه الحربية. وعين بعد الكارثة التي حلت بأثينة في سرقوصة عضواً في لجنة الأمن العام(59)، واقترع بحكم منصبه هذا على عودة الدستور الألجركي في عام 411. وكان الشعب يعجب بأخلاقه أكثر من إعجابه بسياسته، فقد كان ظريفاً، لبقاً، متواضعاً، محباً للهو، وهب من قوة الجاذبية ما يكفر عن جميع أخطائه. وكان يحب المال(60)والغلمان(61)، حتى إذا ما بلغ سن الشيخوخة تحول حبه هذا نحو السراري(62)؛ وكان شديد الصلاح، وقد شغل مراراً منصب الكاهن(63). وكتب سفكليز 113 مسرحية، لم يبق منها إلا سبع لا نعرف الترتيب الذي خرجت به. وقد نال الجائزة الأولى في الحفلات الديونيشية ثماني عشرة مرة، ونالها مرتين في الحفلات اللينيائية Lenaean، وحصل على أولى جوائزه في سن الخامسة والعشرين وعلى آخرها وهو في الخامسة والثمانين، وظل يسيطر على المسرح الأثيني ثلاثين عاماً، وكان له عليه من السلطان أكثر مما كان لمعاصره بركليز على الحكومة الأثينية. وهو الذي زاد عدد الممثلين إلى ثلاثة، وظل يقوم ببعض الأدوار حتى فقد صوته. وقد غير نظام المسرحية الثلاثية الذي كان يتبعه إسكلس وفضل أن يدخل المباريات بثلاث مسرحيات مستقلة كل منها عن الأخرى (وحذا حذوه يوربديز من بعده). وكان إسكلس مولعاً بالموضوعات الكونية التي تطغى على أشخاص مسرحياته، أما سفكليز فكان مولعاً بالأخلاق، ويكاد أن يكون حديث النزعة في إدراكه للآثار النفسانية. ومسرحية "المرأة التراقينية" في ظاهرها مسرحية غنائية عاطفية؛ وخلاصتها : أن ديانيرا Deianeira تتملكها الغيرة من حب زوجها هرقل لأيولا Iola فتبعث إليه على غير علم منها بثوب مسمم يقضي عليه فتقتل هي نفسها. وليس الذي يعني به سفكليز في هذه القصة هو العقاب الذي يحل بهرقل - أي العقاب الذي كان يبدو لإسكلس أنه أهم ما في المسرحية - وليس هو عاطفة الحب القوية نفسها - وهي التي كانت تبدو أهم ما فيها في نظر يوربديز - بل الذي يعني به هو سيكولوجية الغيرة. وفي مسرحية أجاكس لا يعني المؤلف بأعمال القوة التي يقوم بها بطل المسرحية، بل إن الذي يعني به هو دراسة رجل ذهب عقله. ولا نكاد نرى في فلكتيتس حادثة ما، بل الذي نراه هو تحليل سافر للسذاجة التي أوذيت وللخيانة الدبلوماسية. والقصة في مسرحية إلكترا قليلة الشأن قديمة، ولقد كان إسكلس يفتتن بما تثيره القصة من مشاكل أخلاقية، أما سفكليز فيكاد يغفل هذه المشاكل في حرصه على دراسة كراهية الفتاة لأمها دراسة تحليلية نفسانية لا أثر للعاطفة أو للشفقة فيها. وقد اشتق من اسم هذه المسرحية اسم لنوع من الاضطراب العصبي كان موضوع البحث في يوم من الأيام، كما اشتق من مسرحية أوديب الملك اسم لنوع آخر من هذا الاضطراب. وأشهر المسرحيات اليونانية بأجمعها مسرحية أوديب تيرانس. والفصل الأول من فصولها قوي الأثر: ترى فيه خليطاً من الرجال، والنساء، والغلمان، والبنات، والأطفال جالسين أمام قصر الملك في طيبة يحملون أغصان الغار والزيتون رمزاً لأنهم جاءوا راجين متوسلين. ذلك أن وباء قد اجتاح المدينة فاجتمع الشعب يطلب إلى الملك أوديب أن يقرب للآلهة قرباناً يسترضيها به. وتعلن إحدى النبوءات أن الطاعون سيذهب عن طيبة إذا خرج القاتل غير المعروف الذي اغتال ملكها السابق. ويعلن أوديب هذا القاتل أياً كان لعنة شديدة، لأن جريمته قد سببت هذا الشقاء كله للمدينة. وبداية المسرحية على هذا النحو خير مثل لتلك الطريقة التي يشير بها هوراس طريقة الاندفاع في وسط الأشياء In Medias Res أي مفاجأة النظارة بالمشكلة أولاً على أن يأتي شرحها فيما بعد. لكن النظارة في هذه المسرحية كانوا يعرفون مجرى الحوادث بطبيعة الحال لأن قصة ليوس Laius وأوديب وأبي الهول كانت جزءاً من القصص الشعبي اليوناني. وتقول الرواية المأثورة إن لعنة قد حلت بليوس وأبنائه لأنه أدخل إلى هلاس رذيلة غير طبيعية(64)، وكانت نتائج هذه الخطيئة التي أهلكت الناس جيلاً بعد جيل موضوعاً شائعاً للمآسي اليونانية. وقد قال الوحي إن ليوس وزوجته جكستا Jocasta سيرزقان ولداً يقتل أباه ويتزوج أمه. وكانت نتيجة هذه النبوءة أن وجد في العالم للمرة الأولى زوجان يريدان أن يكون أول أبنائهما بنتاً؛ ولكنهما رزقا ولداً، وأرادا ألا تتحقق النبوءة فعرضاه للموت على أحد التلال، حيث وجد راعٍ وسماه أوديب لتورم قدميه، وأهداه إلى ملك كورنثة وملكتها فتبنياه وربياه. ولما كبر أوديب عرف من مهبط الوحي أيضاً أنه قد كتب عليه أن يقتل أباه ويتزوج أمه. واعتقد أن ملك كورنثة وملكتها هما أبوه وأمه، ففر من المدينة واتخذ طريقه إلى طيبة. والتقى في الطريق بشيخ طاعن في السن فتشاجر معه وقتله وهو لا يعرف أن هذا الشيخ أبوه. ولما اقترب من طيبة التقى بأبي الهول، وهو مخلوق له وجه امرأة، وذنب أسد، وجناحا طائر. وقد سأل أبو الهول أوديب أن يجيب عن ذلك اللغز المشهور : "ما قولك في مخلوق ذي أربع أقدام، وثلاث أقدام، وقدمين؟". وكان أبو الهول يقتل كل من لا يعرف الجواب الصحيح عن هذا السؤال؛ واستولى الهلع على أهل طيبة واشتدت رغبتهم في تطهير طريق مدينتهم من هذا المخلوق المهول، فنذروا أن يكون ملكهم الثاني هو الرجل الذي يحل هذا اللغز، وذلك لأن أبا الهول قد قرر أن ينتحر إذا عرف إنسان الجواب الصحيح. وأجابه أوديب بقوله : "هو الإنسان؛ لأن الطفل الرضيع يحبو أولاً على أربع أقدام، فإذا كبر مشى على قدمين، وإذا هرم استعان بعصاً". وكانت إجابة عرجاء، ولكن أبا الهول رضي بها ووفى بوعده فقتل نفسه. ورحب الطيبيون بأوديب وعدوه منقذاً لهم، ولما لم يعد ليوس إلى المدينة اختاروا هذا القادم الجديد ملكاً عليهم. واتبع أوديب العادة المألوفة في المدينة فتزوج الملكة ورزق منها أربعة أبناء : أنتجوني، وبولينيسيز Polynices، وإتيكليز Eteocles وإزميني Ismene. طبعا كل الاحتمالات مفتوحة بخصوص حياة هذا الكاتب التراجيدي الكبير فقد عاش قبل الميلاد ويبدو انه عصره كان عصر الحروب والامراض التاكة مثل الطاعون الذي تحدث عنه في مسرحياته التراجيدية. لا بد ان حياته الشخصية كانت ترجيديا من نوع ما لكننا لا بد ان نعتبره مجهول الطفولة بسبب غياب اية معلومة حقيقية عنه. مجهول الطفولة. |
by Honore de Balzac, France, (1799-1850) Le Père Goriot (French pronunciation: [lə pɛʁ ɡɔʁjo], Old Goriot or Father Goriot) is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), included in the Scènes de la vie Parisienne section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine. Set in Paris in 1819, it follows the intertwined lives of three characters: the elderly doting Goriot; a mysterious criminal-in-hiding named Vautrin; and a naive law student named Eugène de Rastignac.Originally published in serial form during the winter of 1834/35, Le Père Goriot is widely considered Balzac's most important novel.[1] It marks the first serious use by the author of characters who had appeared in other books, a technique that distinguishes Balzac's fiction. The novel is also noted as an example of his realist style, using minute details to create character and subtext. The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought profound changes to French society; the struggle by individuals to secure a higher social status is a major theme in the book. The city of Paris also impresses itself on the characters – especially young Rastignac, who grew up in the provinces of southern France. Balzac analyzes, through Goriot and others, the nature of family and marriage, providing a pessimistic view of these institutions. The novel was released to mixed reviews. Some critics praised the author for his complex characters and attention to detail; others condemned him for his many depictions of corruption and greed. A favorite of Balzac's, the book quickly won widespread popularity and has often been adapted for film and the stage. It gave rise to the French expression "Rastignac", a social climber willing to use any means to better his situation. Le Père Goriot begins in June 1819, following Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, after the House of Bourbon had been restored to the throne of France. Tension was mounting between the aristocracy, which had returned with King Louis XVIII, and the bourgeoisie produced by the Industrial Revolution.[2] During this era, France saw a tightening of social structures, with a lower class steeped in overwhelming poverty. By one estimate, almost three-quarters of Parisians did not make the 500–600 francs a year required for a minimal standard of living.[3] At the same time, this upheaval made possible a social mobility unthinkable during the Ancien Régime of previous centuries. Individuals willing to adapt themselves to the rules of this new society could sometimes ascend into its upper echelons from modest backgrounds, much to the distaste of the established wealthy class.[4] Literary backgroundWhen Balzac began writing Le Père Goriot in 1834, he had written several dozen books, including a stream of pseudonymously published potboiler novels. In 1829 he published Les Chouans, the first novel to which he signed his own name; this was followed by Louis Lambert (1832), Le Colonel Chabert (1832), and La Peau de chagrin (1831).[5] Around this time, Balzac began organizing his work into a sequence of novels that he eventually called La Comédie humaine, divided into sections representing various aspects of life in France during the early 19th century.[6] Writing and publicationOne of these aspects which fascinated Balzac was the life of crime. In the winter of 1828–29, a French grifter-turned-policeman named Eugène François Vidocq published a pair of sensationalized memoirs recounting his criminal exploits. Balzac met Vidocq in April 1834, and used him as a model for a character named Vautrin he was planning for an upcoming novel.[7] In the summer of 1834 Balzac began to work on a tragic story about a father who is rejected by his daughters. His journal records several undated lines about the plot: "Subject of Old Goriot – A good man – middle-class lodging-house – 600 fr. income – having stripped himself bare for his daughters who both have 50,000 fr. income – dying like a dog."[8] He wrote the first draft of Le Père Goriot in forty autumn days; it was published as a serial in the Revue de Paris between December and February. It was released as a novel in March 1835 by the publishing house of Werdet, who also published the second edition in May. A much-revised third edition was published in 1839 by Charpentier.[9] As was his custom, Balzac made copious notes and changes on proofs he received from publishers, so that the later editions of his novels were often significantly different from the earliest. In the case of Le Père Goriot, he changed a number of the characters into persons from other novels he had written, and added new paragraphs filled with detail.[10] Plot summaryThe character Eugène de Rastignac had appeared as an old man in Balzac's earlier philosophical fantasy novel La Peau de chagrin. While writing the first draft of Le Père Goriot, Balzac named the character "Massiac", but he decided to use the same character from La Peau de chagrin. Other characters were changed in a similar fashion. It was his first structured use of recurring characters, a practice whose depth and rigor came to characterize his novels.[11] In 1843 Balzac placed Le Père Goriot in the section of La Comédie humaine entitled "Scènes de la vie parisienne" ("Scenes of life in Paris"). Quickly thereafter, he reclassified it – due to its intense focus on the private lives of its characters – as one of the "Scènes de la vie privée" ("Scenes of private life").[12] These categories and the novels in them were his attempt to create a body of work "depicting all society, sketching it in the immensity of its turmoil".[13] Although he had prepared only a small predecessor for La Comédie humaine, entitled Études de Mœurs, at this time, Balzac carefully considered each work's place in the project and frequently rearranged its structure.[14] The novel opens with an extended description of the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris' rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève covered with vines, owned by the widow Madame Vauquer. The residents include the law student Eugène de Rastignac, a mysterious agitator named Vautrin, and an elderly retired vermicelli-maker named Jean-Joachim Goriot. The old man is ridiculed frequently by the other boarders, who soon learn that he has bankrupted himself to support his two well-married daughters. Rastignac, who moved to Paris from the south of France, becomes attracted to the upper class. He has difficulty fitting in, but is tutored by his cousin, Madame de Beauséant, in the ways of high society. Rastignac endears himself to one of Goriot's daughters, Delphine, after extracting money from his own already-poor family. Vautrin, meanwhile, tries to convince Rastignac to pursue an unmarried woman named Victorine, whose family fortune is blocked only by her brother. He offers to clear the way for Rastignac by having the brother killed in a duel. Rastignac refuses to go along with the plot, balking at the idea of having someone killed to acquire their wealth, but he takes note of Vautrin's machinations. This is a lesson in the harsh realities of high society. Before long, the boarders learn that police are seeking Vautrin, revealed to be a master criminal nicknamed Trompe-la-Mort ("Cheater of Death"). Vautrin arranges for a friend to kill Victorine's brother, in the meantime, and is captured by the police. Goriot, supportive of Rastignac's interest in his daughter and furious with her husband's tyrannical control over her, finds himself unable to help. When his other daughter, Anastasie, informs him that she has been selling off her husband's family jewelry to pay her lover's debts, the old man is overcome with grief at his own impotence and suffers a stroke. Neither Delphine nor Anastasie will visit Goriot as he lies on his deathbed, and before dying he rages about their disrespect toward him. His funeral is attended only by Rastignac, a servant named Christophe, and two paid mourners. Goriot's daughters, rather than being present at the funeral, send their empty coaches, each bearing their families' respective coat of arms. After the short ceremony, Rastignac turns to face Paris as the lights of evening begin to appear. He sets out to dine with Delphine de Nucingen and declares to the city: "À nous deux, maintenant!" ("It's between the two of us now!") |
Honoré de Balzac Family(French pronunciation: [ɔ.nɔ.ʁe d(ə) bal.zak]; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon. Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multifaceted characters, who are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. His writing influenced many subsequent novelists such as Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gustave Flaubert, Benito Pérez Galdós, Marie Corelli, Henry James, William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, and Italo Calvino, and philosophers such as Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. Many of Balzac's works have been made into or have inspired films, and they are a continuing source of inspiration for writers, filmmakers and critics. An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac had trouble adapting to the teaching style of his grammar school. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. When he finished school, Balzac was an apprentice in a law office, but he turned his back on the study of law after wearying of its inhumanity and banal routine. Before and during his career as a writer, he attempted to be a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician; he failed in all of these efforts. La Comédie humaine reflects his real-life difficulties, and includes scenes from his own experience. Balzac suffered from health problems throughout his life, possibly due to his intense writing schedule. His relationship with his family was often strained by financial and personal difficulties, and he ended several friendships over critical reviews. In 1850 he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime love; he died five months later. Honoré Balzac was born into a family which had struggled nobly to achieve respectability. His father, born Bernard-François Balssa, was one of eleven children from a poor family in Tarn, a region in the south of France. In 1760 the elder Balzac set off for Paris with only a louis coin in his pocket, determined to improve his social standing; by 1776 he had become Secretary to the King's Council and a Freemason. (He had also changed his name to that of an ancient noble family, and added—without any official cause—the nobiliary particle de.)[1] After the Reign of Terror (1793–94), he was sent to Tours to coordinate supplies for the Army.[2] Early lifeBalzac's mother, born Anne-Charlotte-Laure Sallambier, came from a family of haberdashers in Paris. Her family's wealth was a considerable factor in the match: she was eighteen at the time of the wedding, and Bernard-François fifty.[3] As British writer and critic V. S. Pritchett explained, "She was certainly drily aware that she had been given to an old husband as a reward for his professional services to a friend of her family and that the capital was on her side. She was not in love with her husband."[4] Honoré (so named after Saint Honoré of Amiens, who is commemorated on 16 May, four days before Balzac's birthday) was actually the second child born to the Balzacs; exactly one year previous, Louis-Daniel had been born, but he lived for only a month. Honoré's sisters Laure and Laurence were born in 1800 and 1802, and his brother Henry-François in 1807.[5][6] As an infant Balzac was sent to a wet-nurse; the following year he was joined by his sister Laure and they spent four years away from home. First literary efforts(Although Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's influential book Émile convinced many mothers of the time to nurse their own children, sending babies to wet-nurses was still common among the middle and upper classes.) When the Balzac children returned home, they were kept at a frigid distance by their parents, which affected the author-to-be significantly. His 1835 novel Le Lys dans la Vallée features a cruel governess named Miss Caroline, modeled after his own caregiver.[8] At age eight Balzac was sent to the Oratorian grammar school in Vendôme, where he studied for seven years. His father, seeking to instill the same hardscrabble work ethic which had gained him the esteem of society, intentionally gave little spending money to the boy. This made him the object of ridicule among his much wealthier schoolmates.[ Balzac had difficulty adapting to the rote style of learning at the school. As a result, he was frequently sent to the "alcove," a punishment cell reserved for disobedient students. (The janitor at the school, when asked later if he remembered Honoré, replied: "Remember M. Balzac? I should think I do! I had the honour of escorting him to the dungeon more than a hundred times!")[12] Still, his time alone gave the boy ample freedom to read every book which came his way. Balzac worked these scenes from his boyhood—as he did many aspects of his life and the lives of those around him—into La Comédie Humaine. His time at Vendôme is reflected in Louis Lambert, his 1832 novel about a young boy studying at an Oratorian grammar school at Vendôme. The narrator says : "He devoured books of every kind, feeding indiscriminately on religious works, history and literature, philosophy and physics. He had told me that he found indescribable delight in reading dictionaries for lack of other books."[13] Although his mind was receiving nourishment, the same could not be said for Balzac's body. He often fell ill, finally causing the headmaster to contact his family with news of a "sort of a coma".[14] When he returned home, his grandmother said: "Voilà donc comme le collège nous renvoie les jolis que nous lui envoyons!" ("Look how the academy returns the pretty ones we send them!")[15] Balzac himself attributed his condition to "intellectual congestion", but his extended confinement in the "alcove" was surely a factor. (Meanwhile, his father had been writing a treatise on "the means of preventing thefts and murders, and of restoring the men who commit them to a useful role in society", in which he heaped disdain on prison as a form of crime prevention.)[16] - In 1814 the Balzac family moved to Paris, and Honoré was sent to private tutors and schools for the next two and a half years. This was an unhappy time in his life, during which he attempted suicide on a bridge over the Loire River.[17] In 1816 Balzac entered the Sorbonne, where he studied under three famous professors. François Guizot, who later became Prime Minister, was Professor of Modern History. Abel-François Villemain, a recent arrival from the Collège Charlemagne, lectured on French and classical literature. And—most influential of all—Victor Cousin's courses on philosophy encouraged his students to think independently.[18] Once his studies were completed, Balzac was persuaded by his father to follow him into the law; for three years he trained and worked at the office of Victor Passez, a family friend. During this time Balzac began to understand the vagaries of human nature. In his 1840 novel Le Notaire, he wrote that a young person in the legal profession sees "the oily wheels of every fortune, the hideous wrangling of heirs over corpses not yet cold, the human heart grappling with the Penal Code."[19] In 1819 Passez offered to make Balzac his successor, but his apprentice had had enough of the law. He despaired of being "a clerk, a machine, a riding-school hack, eating and drinking and sleeping at fixed hours. I should be like everyone else. And that's what they call living, that life at the grindstone, doing the same thing over and over again.... I am hungry and nothing is offered to appease my appetite."[20] He announced his intention to be a writer. The loss of this opportunity caused serious discord in the Balzac household, although Honoré was not turned away entirely. Instead, in April 1819 he was allowed to live in the French capital—as English critic George Saintsbury describes it—"in a garret furnished in the most Spartan fashion, with a starvation allowance and an old woman to look after him", while the rest of the family moved to a house twenty miles [32 km] outside Paris.[21] Balzac's first project was a libretto for a comic opera called Le Corsaire, based on Lord Byron's The Corsair. Realizing he would have trouble finding a composer, however, he turned to other pursuits. In 1820 Balzac completed the five-act verse tragedy Cromwell. Although it pales in comparison to later works, some critics consider it a quality text.[22][23] When he finished, Balzac went to Villeparisis and read the entire work to his family; they were unimpressed.[24] He followed this effort by starting (but never finishing) three novels: Sténie, Falthurne, and Corsino. In 1821 Balzac met the enterprising Auguste Lepoitevin, who convinced the author to write short stories, which Lepoitevin would then sell to publishers. Balzac quickly turned to longer works, and by 1826 he had written nine novels, all published under pseudonyms and often produced in collaboration with other writers.[25] For example, the scandalous novel Vicaire des Ardennes (1822)—banned for its depiction of nearly-incestuous relations and, more egregiously, of a married priest—attributed to a 'Horace de Saint-Aubin'.[26] These books were potboiler novels, designed to sell quickly and titillate audiences. In Saintsbury's view, "They are curiously, interestingly, almost enthrallingly bad."[27] Saintsbury indicates that Robert Louis Stevenson tried to dissuade him from reading these early works of Balzac.[28] American critic Samuel Rogers, however, notes that "without the training they gave Balzac, as he groped his way to his mature conception of the novel, and without the habit he formed as a young man of writing under pressure, one can hardly imagine his producing La Comédie Humaine."[29] Biographer Graham Robb suggests that as he discovered the Novel, Balzac discovered himself.[30] During this time Balzac wrote two pamphlets in support of primogeniture and the Society of Jesus. The latter, regarding the Jesuit order, illustrated his lifelong admiration for the Catholic Church. In the preface to La Comédie Humaine he wrote: "Christianity, and especially Catholicism, being a complete repression of man's depraved tendencies, is the greatest element in Social Order |
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