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Seneca and Synaesthesia. The sensory aspect of the tragedies

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Pypłacz J.

Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae

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2017

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vol. 27

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issue 1

69-82

PL

The present article discusses selected examples of the poetic means which Seneca uses in order to achieve the effect of synaesthesia in his tragedies. An analysis of these examples reveals that the poet makes the most of the Latin language’s semantic and musical potential and in doing so achieves quite spectacular sensory effects.

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Famae petitor. Lucan’s Portrayal of Pompey.

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Pypłacz J.

Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae

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2014

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vol. 24

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issue 2

97-118

PL

In spite of the fact that Lucan’s sympathies are apparently with the Republicans, his attitude to Pompey, which emerges from the Pharsalia, turns out to be rather critical. Moreover, this criticism actually comes very close to ridicule. Lucan depicts Pompey as a senile and narcissistic leader who dwells on his past success and lives in the world of his own fantasies. Trapped in the vicious circle of his delusions of grandeur, he is rather grotesque than majestic. The harder he tries to enhance his public image, the more pathetic he becomes both in the eyes of his friends and in those of his enemies. The effects of his efforts are, therefore, quite contrary to their purpose. On the one hand, the figure of the senile and deluded Pompey is the caricature of the decaying Roman Republic, whose degeneracy it obviously mirrors. On the other hand, however, Lucan’s grotesque anti-hero is the exact opposite of archetypal epic characters such as Virgil’s Aeneas. Willing yet unable to emulate his literary predecessors, he functions as the caricature of the literary paradigm of a standard epic hero.

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Cyntia żywa i Cyntia umarła. Literacka gra z odbiorcą w elegii 4.7 Propercjusza

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Pypłacz J.

Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae

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2016

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vol. 26

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issue 1

93-107

EN

In this article I analyse the theme of love and death as explored by Propertius in his Elegy 4.7. I also attemptto show that the problem of incongruence between this poem and the neighbouring Elegy 4.8 can be resolvedby means of an aesthetically oriented reading of both poems.

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El motín de la tierra. La « maquinaria divina » ctónica en la „Farsalia”

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Pypłacz J.

Collectanea Philologica

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2015

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vol. 18

EN

The present article discusses the presence and function of chthonic monsters in Lucan’s “Pharsalia”. While two of these, i.e. Antaeus and Medusa, belong to the mythical past and their function is only illustrative, Erichtho, whose name denotes “discord” and “earth”, plays the role of the representative goddess of the chaos and pointlessness of the Civil War. The Thessalian witch impersonates the wrath of the Earth caused by the mutatio solis, mentioned in the invocation, and strongly connected with the Senecan motif of fuga solis. This article has revealed that line 1.49, telluremque nihil mutato sole timentem, which has been the starting point of the whole analysis, anticipates the three chthonic episodes. It has also shown, quite unexpectedly, that this particular line, by equalling rhetorically the results of Nero’s apotheosis and the rise of Caesar, conveys the message that Nero is the moral successor of the same man whose actions Lucan depicts as being the trigger of the chaos described in the “Phrasalia”.

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Spectacula praedae. Historia Akteona i Nastagia degli Onesti

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Pypłacz J.

Terminus

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2010

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vol. 12

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issue 1(22)

PL

In the present article I have attempted to investigate the sources of inspiration for Boccaccio’s Nastagio degli Onesti, with its peculiar motif of an infernal hunt. It is precisely this motif that links the story with the ancient myth of Acthaeon, a theme much-loved in art and literature since the Metamorphoses of Ovid. It appears that this myth was the source of a mediaeval legend about an infernal hunt, which had been told by Helinandus Frigidi Montis and later translated into Italian by Jacopo Passavanti. As scholars have pointed out, this translation was in all probability Boccaccio’s primary source of inspiration. In my analysis, I have shown that – on the one hand – Boccaccio associated the motif of an infernal hunt in that story with Ovid’s version of the myth of Acthaeon and – on the other hand – he connected the motif of winning a lady’s heart by means of a terrible exemplum with the myth of Vortumnus and Pomona, which he also knew from the Metamorphoses. Moreover, it seems almost certain that the characteristic ring composition of Boccaccio’s novel was derived directly from this very story. Nastagio degli Onesti is therefore a highly intertextual novel in which Boccaccio merged three separate sources: two distinct myths told by Ovid in the Metamorphoses and Helinandus-Passavanti’s version of a mediaeval legend, which was probably a direct continuation of one of them.

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“Gothic” Elements in Seneca’s Tragedies

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Pypłacz J.

Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae

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2017

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vol. 27

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issue 3

EN

In the present article I discuss the remarkable fact that many of the motifs to be found in Seneca’s tragedies – such as a horrible death, a madman, an obsession or some supernatural agent – are also to be found in abundance in the work of “Gothic” authors such as Ann Radcliffe and Edgar Allan Poe. Indeed, these motifs are now commonly considered to be the hallmark of the Gothic genre. I also analyse some of the techniques which Seneca uses in order to arouse fear and stimulate the reader’s imagination, comparing them with those used by Poe and other Gothic writers.

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Kilka uwag na temat mitu Romulusa w Farsalii Lukana

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Pypłacz J.

Biuletyn Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej

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2013

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vol. 63

231-238

EN

Although scholars have noted the presence of the myth of Romulus in the Pharsalia, it would seem that its role in Lucan’s epic is much more significant than has hitherto been thought, for — firstly — the strong association of Caesar with Romulus unveils the dark side of the ancient legend, and — secondly – it links those scenes in which Caesar plays the part of a “Neo-Romulus”. The scene in the seventh book of the poem — in which the corpses of the Pompeian soldiers killed at Pharsalus are torn to pieces by wild animals and in which vultures bespatter Caesar with the battle gore that drops from their wings — possibly alludes to the apocryphal version of the myth of Romulus — mentioned by Livy (Liv. 1, 16, 4) — according to which the founder of Rome was himself eventually torn to pieces by furious senators. It is therefore quite probable that this scene functions as an oraculum mortis foreshadowing the Ides of March, which Lucan may well have planned to include in his Pharsalia.

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Ifigenia w Taurydzie Eurypidesa: poetyka traumy, estetyka horroru i katharsis na scenie

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Pypłacz J.

Biuletyn Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej

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2019-2020

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vol. 69-70

5-15

EN

Euripides’ tragedy Iphigenia in Tauris is an interesting combination of something that today’s theatre-goers would describe as being a classic horror play based on the motif of a childhood trauma (on the one hand) and – on the other hand – a cleverly designed metatheatrical study of how the mechanism of (Greek) tragedy really works. The terrifying, cruel and murder-obsessed Iphigenia is at one and the same time a wronged, unhappy child imprisoned in the body of a grown woman. She struggles with her pain by re-enacting her own unaccomplished murder in a sinister „theatre within a theatre”, i.e. in the temple of Arthemis, where – among macabre decorations made from remnants of the bodies of those Greek sailors that she has slain so far – she ritually kills any further newcomers from her homeland. An unexpected visit by her brother Orestes proves to be an effective remedy for Iphigenia’s distress. In this play, Euripides not only enables his audience to achieve catharsis, but also – through metatheatrical means – shows us exactly how a human mind is purged of dangerous emotions: as soon as Iphigenia stops concentrating on her own pain and starts to sympathize with Orestes, her mind is cured, and she is restored to a state of happiness. At the same time, the audience – who sympathize wih the characters – also feel a sense of relief. Iphigenia in Thauris is therefore a play within a play that shows us how a good tragedy works.

PL

Ifigenia w Taurydzie Eurypidesa w interesujący sposób łączy w sobie to, co dzisiejsi odbiorcy opisaliby jako klasyczną grozę opartą na motywie traumy z dzieciństwa (z jednej strony) oraz inteligentną, metateatralną analizę działania mechanizmu (greckiej) tragedii. Okrutna, mściwa bohaterka owej sztuki jest zarazem skrzywdzonym, nieszczęśliwym dzieckiem uwięzionym w ciele dorosłej kobiety. Walczy z dręczącymi ją wspomnieniami w specyficzny sposób, w nieskończoność inscenizując scenę własnej śmierci z rąk rodzonego ojca, Agamemnona. Świątynia w kraju Taurów służy jej jako osobliwy „teatr w teatrze”, gdzie – wśród makabrycznych dekoracji wykonanych ze szczątków ciał greckich żeglarzy – dręczona wspomnieniami dziewczyna rytualnie zabija kolejnych przybyszów ze swej ojczyzny. Nieoczekiwana wizyta brata, Orestesa, okazuje się skutecznym lekarstwem na owo niekończące się cierpienie Ifigenii. W sztuce tej Eurypides nie tylko umożliwia odbiorcom osiągnięcie katharsis, lecz także – za pomocą środków metateatralnych – pokazuje im dokładnie, na czym owa katharsis polega; w jaki sposób ludzki umysł oczyszcza się ze szkodliwych emocji. Gdy tylko Ifigenia przestaje koncentrować się na własnym cierpieniu i przenosi swą uwagę na podobnie jak ona sama udręczonego Orestesa, odzyskuje utraconą równowagę umysłu. Jednocześnie publiczność – która, naturalnie, solidaryzuje się z bohaterami – także odczuwa ulgę. Ifigenia w Taurydzie jest więc „sztuką w sztuce”, która pokazuje, jak funkcjonuje dobrze skonstruowana tragedia.

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Seneca and Synaesthesia. The sensory aspect of the tragedies

Famae petitor. Lucan’s Portrayal of Pompey.

Cyntia żywa i Cyntia umarła. Literacka gra z odbiorcą w elegii 4.7 Propercjusza

El motín de la tierra. La « maquinaria divina » ctónica en la „Farsalia”

Spectacula praedae. Historia Akteona i Nastagia degli Onesti

“Gothic” Elements in Seneca’s Tragedies

Kilka uwag na temat mitu Romulusa w Farsalii Lukana

Ifigenia w Taurydzie Eurypidesa: poetyka traumy, estetyka horroru i katharsis na scenie