Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svâto-Tihonovskogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta: Seriâ III. Filologiâ (Dec 2021)
The role of Fortune and the “Scene of life” topoi in forming the category of the tragic in the Middle ages
Abstract
This article focuses on those topoi which are characteristic of the category of the tragic in the Middle Ages. It gives a brief description of the concepts of “tragedy” and “the tragic” in the Middle Ages; the dramatic tragedy disappears as a genre in this period, and the term “tragedy” is adopted by the narrative genres, the content of which is associated with mournful stories about the fall of high-ranking people. Fortune and the “scene of life” become two important images on which the “tragic” narrative about the power of fate is built. The masterpiece that determined the key role of Fortune in the Middle Ages is Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, which places the ancient Roman goddess into the Christian context and examines her as an instrument of Providence. The term “tragedy” based on the Consolation of Philosophy is mentioned as an example of the ancient genre and as a rhetorical decoration. Boethius’ commentators (Guillaume de Conches, the anonymous commentator from Heiligenkreuz monastery) reveal the proximity of the image of Fortune to the mediaeval concept of the tragic. The image of the “scene of life” is also studied in connection with its role in the development of the tragic in the Middle Ages. The article describes the origin of this image and the changes that it underwent after its incorporation in a Christian context. This topos is given in the interpretation of John of Salisbury and Honorius Augustodunensis who raise the theme of the conjugation of human existence, theatrical performance and Divine Providence. Thus, due to the emergence of the new topoi, the category of the tragic expands in mediaeval literature.
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