Indo-European linguistics and classical philology
L. V. Bratukhina Pan in Crimea: the image of the Greek god in Nabokov’s poem (pp. 132–140)
Author
L. V. Bratukhina (Perm State University)
Pages\n 132–140
Summary\n
The article analyzes the image of Pan in the Nabokov’s poem Crimea. The appearance of the Greek god in this context can be explained by the tendency in the Russian literature to relate the cultural history of the peninsula with the Antiquity. For example, the works of Pushkin and Mandelshtam could influence the author of Crimea. The poem Crimea stands out among other Nabokov’s works (for example, Lilit, The Gift, Lolita) in which this mythological personage is also mentioned because of a "poetic initiation" associated with the image of Pan. The main Pan’s attribute (pipe or syrinx) is of particular importance for the author of Crimea by the association with the myth about Syrinx, whose name resembles Nabokov’s pseudonym Sirin. The metamorphosis plot in addition to the symbolic name assonance can be considered as an analogy of transformation from Nabokov to Sirin and back. In his interpretation of the image of Pan V. Nabokov is guided by different sources, both classical where we can see traditional features of this shepherd god, and modern (from Russian and European poetry). The most significant of classical authors whose works influence the images of Crimea are Theocritus and Vergilius, one of which is the creator of bucolic poetry, while the other, according to Nabokov, had an influence on the bucolic images in the European tradition. Literary reflections of the myth about Syrinx – the poem of the same name by Pseudo-Theocritus and Metamorphoses by Ovid – also play an important role in the perception of Nabokov’s poem. The Russian poetic tradition is represented by the names of Pushkin and Lermontov whose verses about Pan are the main source of the motif of a “poetic initiation” for Crimea. The other work analyzed in the article as related with Nabokov’s poem is L’Apres-midi d’un faune by Mallarme. This eclogue can explain some changes in the mythological plot, when Nabokov combines the images of Pan playing the pipe/syrinx and Pan resting at noon.
Keywords\n
Pan, Syrinx, Nabokov, the bucolic poetry, the Russian poetry, “poetic initiation”, mythology, the Antiquity.
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