ORFEUS MELANCHOLIK? ANTICKÝ HUDEBNÍ MÝTUS V ARCHETYPÁLNÍ INTERPRETACI

• Authors: David Kozel

Title variants

EN

Melancholic Orpheus? The classical musical myths in archetypal interpretation

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The aim of this paper is to present the archetypal interpretation of Orpheus as a representative of the classical musical myth. The text tracks the relationship between myth and music as well as explores possible melancholic features of the mythological character. The methodological basis is primarily the theory of archetype by Carl Gustav Jung. The mythological image of Orpheus in ancient literature is confronted with the former understanding of melancholy, taking account of the broader archetypal symbolization. Orpheus is incorporated into the mythological framework of Apollo and Orphism. The basic motifs of the myth include musical expression of the character (playing the lyre, singing), his journey to the underworld to retrieve Eurydice and his tragic death. There is an archetypal manifestation of the hero, the Self, the anima, the animus, the wise old man. The central motif is that of Orpheus turning around to look at Eurydice on the way from the underworld, it is an expression of unintegrated mental contents of individuation and the death of anima. The consequence of the described phenomenon is the death of the character by ripping his body to pieces by the women. The melancholy elements of myth show by moving towards the death based on the deficit of anima, on the next level the melancholy is initiated by the underworld experience and connection with music. The ancient view of Orpheus´s melancholy is connected to exceptional artistic abilities. By combining the archetypal approach to the myth and the interpretation analysis of melancholy, the amplified image of Orpheus has been created, which can be applied to interpretations of works of art.

Keywords

EN

ORPHEUS; ARCHETYPE; MYTH; MUSIC

• Publisher: Institute of Slovak Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovenská literatúra (Slovak Literature)
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 303 – 311

Contributors

author

David Kozel

• Katedra hudební výchovy, Pedagogická fakulta Ostravské university, Fráni Šrámka 3, 709 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic