THE CONCEPT OF «MAN AND FATE» IN S. WYSPIANSKI’S «ANCIENT» DRAMAS

Abstract

The given article deals with the concept of «man and fate» in the «ancient» dramas by Polish writer Stanisław Wyspianski, in particular, «Meleager», «Protesilas and Laodamia», «Achilles», and «The Return of Odysseus». One of the main images in the tragedy «Meleager» is time. The author emphasises that the attitude of man to time it is not so much important as the disclosure of the unity of man and time. The fate of a person is always changeable and depends not on him or her, but on the time that rules over him or her. The concept of «man and fate» in the drama «Protesilas and Laodamia» is expressed in the image of the protagonist, Laodamia, who lost her husband as it had been predicted. The heroine does not accept her fate and transfers her love to the statue of her deceased husband; she refuses to accept his death. Laodamia explains her actions not by her desire to go against the will of the gods, but by her love for her dead husband. This feeling, in the author’s perception, is not only a means of overcoming the «forbidden» for a person, but also a means of fighting the fatal passage of time. In the tragedy «Achilles», like in other «ancient» dramas, the idea of predestination, fate is a pervasive one. Its protagonist Achilles defies fate. Revenging the death of his beloved friend, he loses his own life. What is symbolic in the drama is that he sees Athena, whom others do not notice. That is, the gods still prevail in the confrontation with man. However, at the moment that can be defined as the defeat of the hero, he sees a vision that the waves of Scamander whispered to him, promising a new incarnation, a new Achilles. The defeat seems to imply victory – the reincarnation of Achilles. The scene of the protagonist’s death does not end the drama. The idea of returning home as a search for one’s own death and the sense of life simultaneously is crucial in the drama «The Return of Odysseus». The influence of fate is that when Odysseus returns to Ithaca, he does not find his family there. Despite his long journey, he has found his happiness. Odysseus wants to go against the will of the gods, and now his way will go in the reverse direction, in search of his lost happiness. A characteristic feature of S. Wyspianski’s «antique» dramas is that they are a rather complex combination of romantic and symbolic, fantastic and realistic plans, but in all of them the author does not deviate from the original source – the mythological plot.