Complete poetic translation into Russian of the Iliad. Artistic features of the Iliad and Odyssey

Time and place of creation of the Iliad and Odyssey

All this indicates the generic nature of Homeric society, which is on the verge of decay and transition to slave system. In the poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, property and social inequality, the division into “best” and “worst” are already evident; Slavery already exists, which, however, retains a patriarchal character: slaves are mainly shepherds and household servants, among whom there are privileged ones: such is Eurycleia, Odysseus’s nanny; such is the shepherd Eumaeus, who acts completely independently, rather as a friend of Odysseus than as his slave.

Trade already exists in the society of the Iliad and Odyssey, although it still occupies little of the author’s thoughts.

Consequently, the creator of the poems (personified by the legendary Homer) is a representative of Greek society in the 8th–7th centuries. BC e., on the verge of transition from tribal life to state life.

The material culture described in the Iliad and Odyssey convinces us of the same thing: the author is well acquainted with the use of iron, although, striving for archaization (especially in the Iliad), he points to the bronze weapons of warriors.

The poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are written mainly in the Ionian dialect, with an admixture of Aeolian forms. This means that the place of their creation was Ionia - the islands Aegean Sea or Asia Minor. The absence of references to the cities of Asia Minor in the poems testifies to the archaic aspirations of Homer, glorifying ancient Troy.

Composition of "Iliad" and "Odyssey"

In the poem “Iliad,” Homer sympathizes with the warriors of both warring sides, but the aggressiveness and predatory aspirations of the Greeks cause him condemnation. In Book II of the Iliad, the poet puts into the mouth of the warrior Thersites speeches condemning the greed of the military leaders. Although the description of Thersites’ appearance indicates Homer’s desire to express his condemnation of his speeches, these speeches are very convincing and essentially not refuted in the poem, which means we can assume that they are in tune with the poet’s thoughts. This is all the more likely since the reproaches hurled by Thersites to Agamemnon are almost similar to the grave accusations that Achilles brings against him (v. 121 ff.), and the fact that Homer sympathizes with the words of Achilles is beyond doubt.

The condemnation of war in the Iliad, as we have seen, sounds not only in the mouth of Thersites. The valiant Achilles himself, about to return to the army to avenge Patroclus, says:

“Oh, let the enmity perish from the gods and from mortals, and with it
Hateful anger, which drives even the wise into fury!”
(Ill., book XVIII, art. 107–108).

It is obvious that if the glorification of war and revenge had been Homer’s goal, then the action of the Iliad would have ended with the murder of Hector, as was the case in one of the “cyclical” poems. But for Homer, what is important is not the triumph of Achilles’ victory, but the moral resolution of his anger.

Life as depicted in the poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” is so attractive that Achilles, met by Odysseus in kingdom of the dead, says he would prefer hard life day laborer to reign over the souls of the dead in the underworld.

At the same time, when it is necessary to act in the name of the glory of the homeland or for the sake of loved ones, Homer’s heroes despise death. Realizing that he was wrong in avoiding participation in battles, Achilles says:

“Idle, I sit before the courts, the earth is a useless burden”
(Ill., book XVIII, art. 104).

Homer's humanism, compassion for human grief, admiration internal virtues man, courage, loyalty to patriotic duty and mutual affection people reaches its brightest expression in the scene of Hector’s farewell to Andromache (Il., book VI, art. 390–496).

Artistic features of the Iliad and Odyssey

Images Homeric heroes to some extent static, that is, their characters are illuminated somewhat one-sidedly and remain unchanged from the beginning to the end of the action of the poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, although each character has his own face, different from the others: in the Odyssey the resourcefulness of the mind is emphasized, in In Agamemnon - arrogance and lust for power, in Paris - delicacy, in Helen - beauty, in Penelope - the wisdom and constancy of a wife, in Hector - the courage of the defender of his city and the mood of doom, since he, his father, and his son must perish, and Troy itself.

The one-sidedness in the depiction of heroes is due to the fact that most of them appear before us in only one situation - in battle, where all the traits of their characters cannot appear. Some exception is Achilles, since he is shown in a relationship with a friend, and in a battle with an enemy, and in a quarrel with Agamemnon, and in a conversation with the elder Priam, and in other situations.

As for the development of character, it is not yet available to the Iliad and the Odyssey and, in general, to the literature of the pre-classical period of Ancient Greece. We find attempts at such images only at the end of the 5th century. BC e. in the tragedies of Euripides.

As for the depiction of the psychology of the heroes of the Iliad and Odyssey, their internal impulses, we learn about them from their behavior and from their words; In addition, to depict the movements of the soul, Homer uses a very unique technique: the intervention of the gods. For example, in Book I of the Iliad, when Achilles, unable to endure the insult, takes out his sword to attack Agamemnon, someone from behind suddenly grabs him by the hair. Looking back, he sees Athena, the patroness of the tracks, who does not allow murder.

The detail and detailed descriptions characteristic of the Iliad and Odyssey are especially manifested in such a frequently used poetic device as comparison: Homeric comparisons are sometimes so developed that they turn into independent stories, divorced from the main narrative. The material for comparison in poems is most often natural phenomena: animals and vegetable world, wind, rain, snow, etc.:

“He rushed like a city lion, hungry for a long time
Meat and blood, which, driven by a brave soul,
He wants to break into the fenced-in fold of sheep to kill them;
And, although he finds rural shepherds in front of the fence,
With vigorous dogs and spears guarding their flock,
He, having not experienced it before, does not think of escaping from the fence;
Hiding into the yard, he kidnaps a sheep, or is himself under attack
The first one falls, pierced by a spear from the mighty hand.
This is how the soul of Sarpedon, like a god, aspired"
(Ill., book XII, art. 299–307).

Sometimes epic comparisons of the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are intended to create the effect retardation, i.e., slowing down the narrative through artistic digression and diverting the attention of listeners from the main topic.

The Iliad and the Odyssey are related to folklore and hyperbole: in the XII book of the Iliad, Hector, attacking the gate, throws a stone at it that even the two strongest men would have difficulty lifting with levers. The voice of Achilles, running to rescue the body of Patroclus, sounds like a copper trumpet, etc.

The so-called epic repetitions also testify to the song-folk origin of Homer’s poems: individual verses are repeated in full or with slight deviations, and there are 9253 such verses in the Iliad and Odyssey; thus, they constitute a third part of the entire epic. Repetitions are widely used in oral folk art because they make it easier for the singer to improvise. At the same time, repetitions are moments of rest and relaxation for listeners. Repetitions also make it easier to hear what you hear. For example, a verse from the Odyssey:

“Young Eos with purple fingers rose from the darkness”
(translated by V. A. Zhukovsky).

switched the attention of the rhapsode audience to the events next day, meaning it is morning.

The often repeated picture in the Iliad of a warrior falling on the battlefield often results in the formula of a tree being felled with difficulty by woodcutters:

“He fell like an oak tree or a silver-leafed poplar falls.”
(translated by N. Gnedich).

Sometimes a verbal formula is intended to evoke the idea of ​​thunder, which occurs when a body dressed in metal armor falls:

“With a noise he fell to the ground, and the armor thundered on the dead man.”
(translated by N. Gnedich).

When the gods in Homer's poems argue among themselves, it happens that one says to the other:

“What kind of words flew out of your teeth!”
(translated by N. Gnedich).

The narrative is told in an epically dispassionate tone: there is no sign of Homer's personal interest; Thanks to this, the impression of objectivity in the presentation of events is created.

The abundance of everyday details in the Iliad and Odyssey creates the impression of realism in the pictures described, but this is the so-called spontaneous, primitive realism.

The above quotes from the poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” can give an idea of ​​​​the sound of hexameter - a poetic meter that gives a somewhat elevated, solemn style to the epic narrative.

Translations of the Iliad and Odyssey into Russian

In Russia, interest in Homer began to gradually manifest itself simultaneously with the assimilation of Byzantine culture and especially increased in the 18th century, during the era of Russian classicism.

The first translations of the Iliad and Odyssey into Russian appeared during the time of Catherine II: these were either prose translations or poetic translations, but not hexametric ones. In 1811, the first six books of the Iliad were published, translated by E. Kostrov in Alexandrian verse, which was considered mandatory form epic in the poetics of French classicism, which dominated Russian literature at that time.

A complete translation of the Iliad into Russian in original size was made by N. I. Gnedich (1829), and the Odyssey by V. A. Zhukovsky (1849).

Gnedich managed to convey and heroic character Homer's narratives, and some of his humor, but his translation is replete with Slavicisms, so by the end of the 19th century. it began to seem too archaic. Therefore, experiments in translating the Iliad were resumed; in 1896, a new translation of this poem was published, made by N. I. Minsky, based on a more modern Russian language, and in 1949, a translation by V. V. Veresaev, in an even more simplified language.

In anger, Achilles retires to the tent and asks his mother Thetis to beg Zeus so that the Greeks will continue to suffer defeats from the Trojans until Agamemnon gives him, Achilles, complete satisfaction. The nine-year siege is on the verge of collapse, but Odysseus corrects the situation.

In second song Homer describes the forces of the opposing sides. Under the leadership of Agamemnon, 1186 ships sailed to the walls of Troy, and the army itself numbered over 130 thousand soldiers. Various regions of Hellas sent their troops:

• Argos (under Diomedes),
• Arcadia (under Agapenor),
• Athens and Locris (under the leadership of Ajax the Great),
• Ithaca and Epirus (under Odysseus),
• Crete (under Idomeneo),
• Lacedaemon (Spartans of Menelaus),
• Mycenae, Rhodes (under Tlepolemus),
• Thessaly (Myrmidons of Achilles),
• Phocis, Euboea, Elis, Aetolia, etc.

Militia fought on the side of the Trojans under the leadership of Hector

• Dardans (under the leadership of Aeneas),
• Paphlagonians (under Pylemenes),

Since the Trojan War began with the abduction of Helen, then third song Her legal husband Menelaus and her actual husband, Paris, enter into single combat.

Menelaus wins the duel, but the goddess Aphrodite saves Paris from death and carries the wounded man away from the battlefield. Due to the fact that the fight did not end in the death of one of the opponents, it is considered invalid.

Agamemnon insists on fulfilling the concluded agreement, but the Trojan Pandarus breaks the truce by shooting an arrow at Menelaus, after which the first open battle ensues (fourth canto), Elephenor is killed by Agenor.

The war continues. However, neither the Achaeans nor the Trojans can gain the upper hand. Immortal gods help mortals. The Achaeans are patronized by Pallas Athena, Hera and Poseidon, the Trojans by Apollo, Ares and Aphrodite.

The fifth canto tells how, in a fierce battle, even the immortals Ares and Aphrodite are wounded by the Achaean Diomedes, led by Athena. Seeing the power of Pallas Athena, the leader of the Trojans, Hector, returns to Troy and demands rich sacrifices be made to the goddess. At the same time, Hector shames Paris, who has hidden in the rear, and encourages his wife Andromache.

Returning to the battlefield, Hector challenges the strongest of the Achaeans to a duel and challenges him to seventh song hosts Ajax the Great. The heroes fight until late at night, but none of them can gain the upper hand. Then they fraternize, exchange gifts and go their separate ways.

The desire to avenge his friend brings Achilles back into the game, who, in turn, kills Hector by hitting him in the neck with a spear. At the end of the Iliad, a lawsuit unfolds over the body of Hector, which Achilles initially refused to hand over to the father of the deceased for burial.

For the burial of Hector and Patroclus, an eleven-day truce is established, and funeral games are organized.

Heroes of the Iliad

The second song of the Iliad contains a list of Greek ships, which indicates the names of many Greeks who took part in the war, as well as the areas where they came from. There is also a list of Trojans, but it is much inferior to the list of Greeks; only some of the heroes of the Iliad are indicated in it.

Achaeans

• Diomedes - son of Tydeus, King of Argos.
• Ajax the Lesser is the son of Oileus, and a frequent ally of Ajax the Great.
• Patroclus is Achilles' best friend.
• Nestor - King of Pylos, trusted advisor to Agamemnon.

Achilles and Patroclus

Trojans

• Men
  • Hector is the son of King Priam and the main warrior of the Trojans.
  • Aeneas is the son of Ankhs and Aphrodite.
  • Deiphobus is the brother of Hector and Paris.
  • Paris is Helen's kidnapper.
  • Priam is the elderly King of Troy.
  • Polydamant is a sensible commander whose advice is ignored, an antagonist of Hector.
  • Agenor - Trojan warrior, son of Antenor, tried to fight Achilles (Canto XXI).
  • Sarpedon - killed by Patroclus. He was a friend of Glaucus of the Lycians, who fought on the side of Troy.
  • Glaucus is a friend of Sarpedon and together with him the leader of the Lycians who fought on the side of Troy.
  • Euphorbus - the first of the Trojan warriors to wound Patroclus.
  • Dolon is a spy in the Greek camp (Canto X).
  • Antenor is an adviser to King Priam, who proposed returning Helen and ending the war.
  • Polydorus is the son of Priam and Laothoi.
  • Pandarus is a great archer, son of Lycaon.

• Women
  • Hecuba (Ἑκάβη) - wife of Priam, mother of Hector, Cassandra, Paris and others.
  • Helen (Ἑλένη) - daughter of Zeus, wife of Menelaus, kidnapped by Paris, then became the wife of Deiphobus. Her kidnapping caused the Trojan War.
  • Andromache - wife of Hector, mother of Astyanax.
  • Cassandra is the daughter of Priam. Apollo tried to seduce her by giving her the gift of prophecy, but being rejected by her, he made it so that no one believed her predictions.
  • Briseis - Trojan woman, captured by the Greeks, went to Achilles as a trophy.

According to some interpretation, the images of Hector and Achilles reflect the struggle between rational and impulsive principles.

Gods of the Iliad

Mount Olympus, on which Zeus, the son of Kronos, sits, has a sacred meaning in the Iliad. He is revered by both the Achaeans and the Trojans. He towers over warring parties. Many Olympian and other gods are involved in the narrative, some helping the Achaeans, others helping the Trojans. Many of the events described in the Iliad are caused and directed by the gods, and the gods also often influence the course of events, acting on the side of one of the warring parties.

• Olympians:
  • Zeus (neutral, but more often helps the Trojans because of his promise to avenge Achilles)
  • Hera (for the Achaeans)
  • Artemis (for the Trojans)
  • Apollo (for the Trojans)
  • Hades (neutral)
  • Aphrodite (for the Trojans)
  • Ares (for Trojans)
  • Athena (for the Achaeans)
  • Hermes (neutral)
  • Poseidon (for the Achaeans)
  • Hephaestus (for the Achaeans)

• Rest:
  • Eris (for the Trojans)
  • Iris (for the Achaeans)
  • Thetis (for the Achaeans)
  • Summer (for the Trojans)
  • Proteus (for the Achaeans)
  • Scamander (for the Trojans)
  • Phobos (for the Trojans)
  • Deimos (for the Trojans)

Research

The name Ἰλιάς "Iliad" literally means "Trojan Poem", in accordance with the second name of Troy - "Ilion".

For a long time, researchers argued about whether the poem describes real events, or the Trojan War was just a fiction. Schliemann's excavations in Troy revealed a culture corresponding to the descriptions in the Iliad and dating back to the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Recently deciphered Hittite inscriptions also indicate the presence of a powerful Achaean power in the 13th century BC. e. and even contain a number of names hitherto known only from the Greek poem.

The literary fate of the Iliad

"Iliad" in Russia

For the first time, translations of fragments from Homer's Iliad appeared, including from the pen of M. Lomonosov.

In the 18th century, the first attempts at translating the Iliad appeared: P. E. Ekimov carried out a prose translation (1776, 1778), and E. I. Kostrov - in Alexandrian verse (items I-VI, 1787; items VII-IX, “ Bulletin of Europe", 1811).

In the 20s of the XIX century. a new prose translation of both Homer's poems was made by I. I. Martynov. An analysis of all the songs of the Iliad was published in 1826 by I. Ya. Kroneberg.

N. I. Gnedich, who began translating the Iliad in Alexandrian verse, then abandoned this plan and translated the entire poem into hexameter (1829). Translation was warmly welcomed the best writers, especially Pushkin. Subsequently, V. G. Belinsky wrote that “so far only Gnedich in Rus' was destined to comprehend the spirit, divine simplicity and plastic beauty of the ancient Greeks.” The Iliad in Gnedich’s translation, replete with archaisms, accurately conveys the feeling of the original in terms of the strength and vivid imagery of the language and is considered a classic Russian translation.

In the 20th century, the translation of the Iliad was carried out by V.V. Veresaev and P.A. Shuisky (the latter’s work has not yet been published, so far only digitized from it).

In the 21st century, the Iliad was translated into Russian using classical hexameter by Alexander A. Salnikov in 2011.

Bibliography

Editions

• Homeri Ilias. Volumen prius rhapsodias I-XII continents, recensuit Martin L. West (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana), Stuttgart & Leipzig: B.G. Teubner 1998, lxii + 372 pp. ISBN 3-519-01431-9
• Homeri Ilias. Volumen alterum rhapsodias XIII-XXIV continents, recensuit Martin L. West (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana), K. G. Saur: Leipzig & Munich 2000, vii + 396 pp.

Translations

Russian translations:

• Omirovs creations part 1, containing twelve songs of the Iliad. Translated from Greek by college secretary Pyotr Ekimov. St. Petersburg, . 406 pp.
• Omirova Iliad part 2, containing the last twelve songs. / [Transl. P. E. Ekimova]. St. Petersburg, . 433 pp.
• Iliad. / Per. prose and notes. I. Martynova. At 4 o'clock. St. Petersburg, 1823-1825. ( parallel text in Greek and Russian lang.)
• Iliad Homer, translated by Nikolai Gnedich... St. Petersburg, . ( reprinted several times)
• Iliad Homer. / Per. N. I. Gnedich, directed by S. I. Ponomarev. 2nd ed. St. Petersburg: A. S. Suvorin, 1892. LXXXVI, 440 pp.
• Iliad Homer. / Per. N. M. Minsky. M., . 416 pp.
  • / Per. N. M. Minsky, entry. Art. P. F. Preobrazhensky. M.: Goslitizdat, . 353 pp. 10,000 copies.
• Homer. Iliad. / Per. V. Veresaeva. M.-L.: Goslitizdat, . 551 pp. 10,000 copies.
  • reprints of the “Iliad” and “Odyssey” in his translation: M.: Prosveshcheniye, 1987. 398 pp. 263,000 copies.

The most detailed commentary available in Russian is included in the publication:

• Homer. Iliad. / Per. N.I. Gnedich. Art. and approx. A. I. Zaitseva. Rep. ed. Ya. M. Borovsky. (Series " Literary monuments"). L.: Science, . 576 pp. 50,000 copies.
  • reprint: St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2008.

Research

see also bibliography in the article Homer

• Shestakov S. P. On the origin of Homer's poems. Vol. 2. About the origin of the Iliad. - Kazan, 1898. - 547 p.
• Sugar N. L. The Iliad: Research into the meaning and style of Homer's poem. - Arkhangelsk, 1957. - 379 p. - 800 copies.
• Stahl I.V. Homeric epic: Experience in textual analysis of the Iliad. - M.: Higher. school, 1975. - 246 p. - 15000 copies.
• Klein L.S. Ethereal heroes. The origin of the images of the Iliad. - St. Petersburg. : Farn, Fiction, 1994. - 192 p. - 1000 copies.
• Klein L.S.- ISBN 5-280-02015-x.
• Anatomy of the Iliad. - St. Petersburg. : St. Petersburg Publishing House. University, 1998. - 560 p. - 1000 copies.- ISBN 5-288-01823-5. Gindin L. A., Tsymbursky V. L. Homer and the history of the Eastern Mediterranean. - M.:
• Eastern literature , 1996. - 328 p. 2000 copies Page D. History and the
• Homeric Iliad. Berkeley, Univ. of California Press, 1959. Reinhardt K.
• Die Ilias und inr Dichter . Gottingen, 1961., 1993
• Edwards, Mark W.; Kirk, Geoffrey Stephen; et al. (editors), Cambridge
• University Press
• West, Martin L., , München: K.G. Saur, 2001. ISBN 3-598-73005-5
• Zelinsky, f. f. “The Law of Chronological Incompatibility and the Composition of the Iliad” (collection “Χαριστήρια”, St. Petersburg, 1897),

Zelinsky, f. f. "Die Behandlung gleichzeitiger Ereignisse im antiken Epos" (Leipzig, 1901; Suppl. to "Philologus")

Zelinsky, f. f. “Old and new paths in the Homeric question” (ZhMNP, May, 1900).

• Ancient scholia to the Iliad
  • The scholia to the Iliad, published by Diendorff (), occupy 6 volumes:
  • Ancient scholia:
• . Songs I-XII
  • The scholia to the Iliad, published by Diendorff (), occupy 6 volumes:
  • Songs XIII-XXIV
• Scholium from Codex Veneti Marcianus 453:
  • .
  • .
• . Songs XIII-XXIV
• Scholium "Townleyana": Genevan scholia to the Iliad New edition of scholia:

Erbse, Hartmut

• , Scholia graeca in Homeri Iliadem (scholia vetera). 7 vol. Berlin: de Gruyter. - .

Screen adaptation

Wrath of Achilles

• Write a review about the article "The Iliad"

Literature

The article is based on materials from the Literary Encyclopedia 1929-1939.

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Telegony

Rostov arrived in Tilsit on a day least convenient for interceding for Denisov. He himself could not go to the general on duty, since he was in a tailcoat and arrived in Tilsit without the permission of his superiors, and Boris, even if he wanted, could not do this the next day after Rostov’s arrival. On this day, June 27, the first peace terms were signed. The emperors exchanged orders: Alexander received the Legion of Honor, and Napoleon Andrei 1st degree, and on this day a lunch was assigned to the Preobrazhensky battalion, which was given to him by the battalion of the French Guard. The sovereigns were supposed to attend this banquet.
Rostov felt so awkward and unpleasant with Boris that when Boris looked at him after dinner, he pretended to be asleep and early the next morning, trying not to see him, he left the house. In a tailcoat and a round hat, Nikolai wandered around the city, looking at the French and their uniforms, looking at the streets and houses where the Russian and french emperors. In the square he saw tables being set up and preparations for dinner; on the streets he saw hanging draperies with banners of Russian and French colors and huge monograms of A. and N. There were also banners and monograms in the windows of the houses.
“Boris doesn’t want to help me, and I don’t want to turn to him. This matter is decided - Nikolai thought - everything is over between us, but I will not leave here without doing everything I can for Denisov and, most importantly, without delivering the letter to the sovereign. Emperor?!... He’s here!” thought Rostov, involuntarily approaching again the house occupied by Alexander.
At this house there were riding horses and a retinue had gathered, apparently preparing for the departure of the sovereign.
“I can see him any minute,” thought Rostov. If only I could directly hand him the letter and tell him everything, would I really be arrested for wearing a tailcoat? Can't be! He would understand on whose side justice is. He understands everything, knows everything. Who could be fairer and more generous than him? Well, even if they arrested me for being here, what’s the harm?” he thought, looking at the officer entering the house occupied by the sovereign. “After all, they are sprouting. - Eh! It's all nonsense. I’ll go and submit the letter to the sovereign myself: so much the worse it will be for Drubetskoy, who brought me to this.” And suddenly, with a determination that he himself did not expect from himself, Rostov, feeling the letter in his pocket, went straight to the house occupied by the sovereign.
“No, now I won’t miss the opportunity, like after Austerlitz,” he thought, expecting every second to meet the sovereign and feeling a rush of blood to his heart at this thought. I will fall at my feet and ask him. He will raise me, listen and thank me.” “I am happy when I can do good, but correcting injustice is the greatest happiness,” Rostov imagined the words that the sovereign would say to him. And he walked past those who were looking at him curiously, onto the porch of the house occupied by the sovereign.
From the porch a wide staircase led straight upstairs; to the right a closed door was visible. At the bottom of the stairs there was a door to the lower floor.
-Who do you want? - someone asked.
“Submit a letter, a request to His Majesty,” said Nikolai with a trembling voice.
- Please contact the duty officer, please come here (he was shown the door below). They just won't accept it.
Hearing this indifferent voice, Rostov was afraid of what he was doing; the thought of meeting the sovereign at any moment was so tempting and therefore so terrible for him that he was ready to flee, but the chamberlain Fourier, who met him, opened the door to the duty room for him and Rostov entered.
Low fat man about 30 years old, in white trousers, over the knee boots and one cambric shirt, apparently just put on, stood in this room; the valet was fastening beautiful new silk-embroidered footrests on his back, which for some reason Rostov noticed. This man was talking to someone who was in another room.
“Bien faite et la beaute du diable, [Well-built and the beauty of youth," this man said, and when he saw Rostov he stopped talking and frowned.
-What do you want? Request?…
– Qu"est ce que c"est? [What is this?] - someone asked from another room.
“Encore un petitionnaire, [Another petitioner,”] answered the man with the help.
- Tell him what's next. It's coming out now, we have to go.
- After the day after tomorrow. Late…
Rostov turned and wanted to go out, but the man in the arms stopped him.
- From whom? Who are you?
“From Major Denisov,” Rostov answered.
- Who are you? Officer?
- Lieutenant, Count Rostov.
- What courage! Give it on command. And go, go... - And he began to put on the uniform handed to him by the valet.
Rostov went out again into the hallway and noticed that there were already many officers and generals on the porch in full dress uniform, whom he had to pass by.
Cursing his courage, frozen by the thought that at any moment he could meet the sovereign and in his presence be disgraced and sent under arrest, fully understanding the indecency of his act and repenting of it, Rostov, with downcast eyes, made his way out of the house, surrounded by a crowd of brilliant retinue , when someone's familiar voice called out to him and someone's hand stopped him.
- What are you doing here, father, in a tailcoat? – his bass voice asked.
This was a cavalry general who earned the special favor of the sovereign during this campaign, the former head of the division in which Rostov served.
Rostov fearfully began to make excuses, but seeing the good-naturedly playful face of the general, he moved to the side and in an excited voice conveyed the whole matter to him, asking him to intercede for Denisov, known to the general. The general, after listening to Rostov, seriously shook his head.
- It’s a pity, it’s a pity for the fellow; give me a letter.
Rostov barely had time to hand over the letter and tell Denisov’s whole business when quick steps with spurs began to sound from the stairs and the general, moving away from him, moved towards the porch. The gentlemen of the sovereign's retinue ran down the stairs and went to the horses. Bereitor Ene, the same one who was in Austerlitz, brought the sovereign's horse, and a light creaking of steps was heard on the stairs, which Rostov now recognized. Forgetting the danger of being recognized, Rostov moved with several curious residents to the porch itself and again, after two years, he saw the same features he adored, the same face, the same look, the same gait, the same combination of greatness and meekness... And the feeling of delight and love for the sovereign was resurrected with the same strength in Rostov’s soul. The Emperor in the Preobrazhensky uniform, in white leggings and high boots, with a star that Rostov did not know (it was legion d'honneur) [star of the Legion of Honor] went out onto the porch, holding his hat at hand and putting on a glove. He stopped, looking around and that's it illuminating the surroundings with his gaze, he also said a few words to some of the generals. former boss division of Rostov, smiled at him and called him over.
The entire retinue retreated, and Rostov saw how this general said something to the sovereign for quite a long time.
The Emperor said a few words to him and took a step to approach the horse. Again the crowd of the retinue and the crowd of the street in which Rostov was located moved closer to the sovereign. Stopping by the horse and holding the saddle with his hand, the sovereign turned to the cavalry general and spoke loudly, obviously with the desire for everyone to hear him.
“I can’t, general, and that’s why I can’t because the law is stronger than me,” said the sovereign and raised his foot in the stirrup. The general bowed his head respectfully, the sovereign sat down and galloped down the street. Rostov, beside himself with delight, ran after him with the crowd.

On the square where the sovereign went, a battalion of Preobrazhensky soldiers stood face to face on the right, and a battalion of the French Guard in bearskin hats on the left.
While the sovereign was approaching one flank of the battalions, which were on guard duty, another crowd of horsemen jumped up to the opposite flank and ahead of them Rostov recognized Napoleon. It couldn't be anyone else. He was galloping in a small hat, with a St. Andrew's ribbon over his shoulder, and a white camisole open over blue uniform, on an unusually thoroughbred Arabian gray horse, on a crimson, gold embroidered saddle cloth. Having approached Alexander, he raised his hat and with this movement, Rostov’s cavalry eye could not help but notice that Napoleon was sitting poorly and not firmly on his horse. The battalions shouted: Hurray and Vive l "Empereur! [Long live the Emperor!] Napoleon said something to Alexander. Both emperors got off their horses and took each other's hands. There was an unpleasantly feigned smile on Napoleon's face. Alexander said something to him with an affectionate expression .
Rostov, without taking his eyes off, despite the trampling of the horses of the French gendarmes besieging the crowd, followed every move of Emperor Alexander and Bonaparte. He was struck as a surprise by the fact that Alexander behaved as an equal with Bonaparte, and that Bonaparte was completely free, as if this closeness with the sovereign was natural and familiar to him, as an equal, he treated the Russian Tsar.
Alexander and Napoleon with a long tail of their retinue approached the right flank of the Preobrazhensky battalion, directly towards the crowd that stood there. The crowd suddenly found itself so close to the emperors that Rostov, who was standing in the front rows, became afraid that they would recognize him.
“Sire, je vous demande la permission de donner la legion d"honneur au plus brave de vos soldats, [Sire, I ask your permission to give the Order of the Legion of Honor to the bravest of your soldiers,] said a sharp, precise voice, finishing each letter It was the short Bonaparte who spoke, looking directly into Alexander’s eyes, Alexander listened attentively to what was being said, and bowed his head, smiling pleasantly.
“A celui qui s"est le plus vaillament conduit dans cette derieniere guerre, [To the one who showed himself bravest during the war],” Napoleon added, emphasizing each syllable, with a calm and confidence outrageous for Rostov, looking around the ranks of Russians stretched out in front of there are soldiers, all on guard and motionless looking into the face of their emperor.
“Votre majeste me permettra t elle de demander l"avis du colonel? [Your Majesty will allow me to ask the colonel’s opinion?] - said Alexander and took several hasty steps towards Prince Kozlovsky, the battalion commander. Meanwhile, Bonaparte began to take off his white glove, small hand and tearing it apart, the Adjutant threw it, hastily rushing forward from behind, and picked it up.
- Who should I give it to? – Emperor Alexander asked Kozlovsky not loudly, in Russian.
- Whom do you order, Your Majesty? “The Emperor winced with displeasure and, looking around, said:
- But you have to answer him.
Kozlovsky looked back at the ranks with a decisive look and in this glance captured Rostov as well.
“Isn’t it me?” thought Rostov.
- Lazarev! – the colonel commanded with a frown; and the first-ranked soldier, Lazarev, smartly stepped forward.
-Where are you going? Stop here! - voices whispered to Lazarev, who did not know where to go. Lazarev stopped, looked sideways at the colonel in fear, and his face trembled, as happens with soldiers called to the front.
Napoleon slightly turned his head back and pulled back his small chubby hand, as if wanting to take something. The faces of his retinue, having guessed at that very second what was going on, began to fuss, whisper, passing something on to one another, and the page, the same one whom Rostov saw yesterday at Boris’s, ran forward and respectfully bent over the outstretched hand and did not make her wait either one second, he put an order on a red ribbon into it. Napoleon, without looking, clenched two fingers. The Order found itself between them. Napoleon approached Lazarev, who, rolling his eyes, stubbornly continued to look only at his sovereign, and looked back at Emperor Alexander, thereby showing that what he was doing now, he was doing for his ally. A small white hand with an order touched the button of soldier Lazarev. It was as if Napoleon knew that in order for this soldier to be happy, rewarded and distinguished from everyone else in the world forever, it was only necessary for him, Napoleon’s hand, to be worthy of touching the soldier’s chest. Napoleon just put the cross to Lazarev's chest and, letting go of his hand, turned to Alexander, as if he knew that the cross should stick to Lazarev's chest. The cross really stuck.
Helpful Russian and French hands instantly picked up the cross and attached it to the uniform. Lazarev looked gloomily at the little man with white hands, who had done something above him, and, continuing to keep him motionless on guard, again began to look directly into Alexander’s eyes, as if he was asking Alexander: whether he should still stand, or whether they would order him should I go for a walk now, or maybe do something else? But he was not ordered to do anything, and he remained in this motionless state for quite a long time.
The sovereigns mounted and rode away. The Preobrazhentsy, breaking up the ranks, mixed with the French guards and sat down at the tables prepared for them.
Lazarev sat in a place of honor; Russian and French officers hugged him, congratulated him and shook his hands. Crowds of officers and people came up just to look at Lazarev. The roar of Russian French conversation and laughter stood in the square around the tables. Two officers with flushed faces, cheerful and happy, walked past Rostov.
- What is the treat, brother? “Everything is on silver,” said one. – Have you seen Lazarev?
- Saw.
“Tomorrow, they say, the Preobrazhensky people will treat them.”
- No, Lazarev is so lucky! 10 francs life pension.
- That's the hat, guys! - shouted the Transfiguration man, putting on the shaggy Frenchman’s hat.
- It’s a miracle, how good, lovely!
-Have you heard the review? - the guards officer said to the other. The third day was Napoleon, France, bravoure; [Napoleon, France, courage;] yesterday Alexandre, Russie, grandeur; [Alexander, Russia, greatness;] one day our sovereign gives feedback, and the next day Napoleon. Tomorrow the Emperor will send George to the bravest of the French guards. It's impossible! I must answer in kind.
Boris and his friend Zhilinsky also came to watch the Transfiguration banquet. Returning back, Boris noticed Rostov, who was standing at the corner of the house.
- Rostov! Hello; “We never saw each other,” he told him, and could not resist asking him what had happened to him: Rostov’s face was so strangely gloomy and upset.
“Nothing, nothing,” answered Rostov.
-Will you come in?
- Yes, I’ll come in.
Rostov stood at the corner for a long time, looking at the feasters from afar. A painful work was going on in his mind, which he could not complete. Terrible doubts arose in my soul. Then he remembered Denisov with his changed expression, with his humility, and the whole hospital with these torn off arms and legs, with this dirt and disease. It seemed to him so vividly that he could now smell this hospital smell of a dead body that he looked around to understand where this smell could come from. Then he remembered this smug Bonaparte with his white hand, who was now the emperor, whom Emperor Alexander loves and respects. What are the torn off arms, legs, and killed people for? Then he remembered the awarded Lazarev and Denisov, punished and unforgiven. He caught himself having such strange thoughts that he was frightened by them.
The smell of food from the Preobrazhentsev and hunger brought him out of this state: he had to eat something before leaving. He went to the hotel he had seen in the morning. At the hotel he found so many people, officers, just like him, who had arrived in civilian dress, that he had to force himself to have dinner. Two officers from the same division joined him. The conversation naturally turned to peace. Officers, comrades of Rostov, like most of armies were dissatisfied with the peace concluded after Friedland. They said that if they had held out any longer, Napoleon would have disappeared, that he had no crackers or ammunition in his troops. Nikolai ate in silence and mostly drank. He drank one or two bottles of wine. The internal work that arose in him, not being resolved, still tormented him. He was afraid to indulge in his thoughts and could not leave them. Suddenly, at the words of one of the officers that it was offensive to look at the French, Rostov began to shout with vehemence, which was not justified in any way, and therefore greatly surprised the officers.
– And how can you judge what would be better! - he shouted with his face suddenly flushed with blood. - How can you judge the actions of the sovereign, what right do we have to reason?! We cannot understand either the goal or the actions of the sovereign!
“Yes, I didn’t say a word about the sovereign,” the officer justified himself, unable to explain his temper otherwise than by the fact that Rostov was drunk.
But Rostov did not listen.
“We are not diplomatic officials, but we are soldiers and nothing more,” he continued. “They tell us to die—that’s how we die.” And if they punish, it means he is guilty; It's not for us to judge. It pleases the sovereign emperor to recognize Bonaparte as emperor and enter into an alliance with him—that means it must be done. Otherwise, if we began to judge and reason about everything, there would be nothing sacred left. This way we will say that there is no God, there is nothing,” Nikolai shouted, hitting the table, very inappropriately, according to the concepts of his interlocutors, but very consistently in the course of his thoughts.

Gnedich remained in the memory of subsequent generations primarily as the author of the first complete poetic translation of the Iliad. “With the name of Gnedich,” wrote Belinsky, “the thought of one of those great feats that constitute the eternal gain and eternal glory of literature is connected. Gnedich’s translation of the Iliad into Russian is a merit for which there is no worthy reward.”

"RUSSIAN ILIAD"

2009 marked the 180th anniversary of the appearance of Homer’s Iliad in Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich’s translation. It has become outstanding event in the literary and cultural life of Russia.

Homer and his heroes were known in Rus' almost from the first times of book writing. For example, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, in one of his messages to Prince Kurbsky, addresses the heroes of the Iliad: “You, like Anter and Aeneas, the traitors of the Trojans, have weaved many lies.” Anter obviously meant Antenor, one of the Trojan leaders who advised handing over Helen to the Greeks.

In 1748 M.V. Lomonosov, a brilliant expert on the ancient Greek language, included examples from Homer's Iliad in his Rhetoric. These were the first poetic translations of Homer into Russian: the speech of Odysseus (Iliad, IX, 225-261 = 37 lines):

Hello, Pelid! There is no shortage of feasts friendly to us...
and the speech of Zeus (Iliad, VIII, 1-15 = 15 lines):
Hear my word, both gods of heaven and goddesses:
I'll tell you what my heart inspires in my heart...

The first poetic translation of Homer into Russian was carried out by E.I. Kostrov, translator by vocation. He translated, like Lomonosov, in Alexandrian verse*. The Alexandrian verse is a multiple of two and therefore Homer's translation was not equilinear. Kostrov worked on the translation of the Iliad for six years and translated a total of a little more than eight songs.

Ermil Ivanovich Kostrov was a bright personality, but throughout his life he remained lonely and loved wine. There were a lot of jokes about him, for example, “Khmelnin is not like Homer.” And Nestor Kukolnik even composed the play “Ermil Ivanovich Kostrov. Drama in five acts and verses." Kostrov was friends with Suvorov, he said: “I love Homer, but I don’t like the ten-year Trojan siege, what slowness.”

Kostrovsky's translation of the Iliad became his historical merit - this is the first literary translation of Homer in Russia. The fact that he translated only a third of the Iliad is not a consequence of his inability to work and his passion for intoxicating drinks. As a poet, he simply could no longer distort Homer by converting the hexameter into iambic.

In 1807, poet and translator N.I. Gnedich (1784-1833) began the main work of his life - a complete poetic translation of the Iliad. He became acquainted with the ancient Greek language and Homer’s Iliad as a child and fell in love with it once and for all, dreaming of translating these sonorous, solemn lines into Russian.

Nikolai Gnedich’s intention was supported by N.A. Krylov and got him a position as a librarian at the St. Petersburg Public Library. And then the reigning house allocated a special pension to Gnedich for the translation of the Iliad.

At first, Nikolai Ivanovich tried to continue Kostrov’s work. However, he soon became convinced that the Alexandrian iambic hexameter was unsuitable for translating the ancient Greek hexameter into Russian. Nikolai Ivanovich put aside what Kostrov had worked out and what he had already translated himself, and started from scratch, from the first Homeric line:

Wrath, goddess, sing to Achilles, son of Peleus,
Terrible, who caused thousands of disasters to the Achaeans...

It took Nikolai Gnedich 20 years from his dream to its realization. In 1829, his complete translation of the Iliad was published. Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich carried out collinear translation, that is, line to line, without changing the size of the verse.

Russian society showed keen interest in Gnedich's work. They talked about him in literary circles and in secular salons. A.S. Pushkin instantly reacted with “ Literary newspaper»:
“The translation of the Iliad, which has been so long and so impatiently awaited, has finally been published! When writers, spoiled by momentary successes, for the most part rush to brilliant trifles, when talent is shunned by work, and fashion neglects the examples of majestic antiquity, when poetry is not a reverent service, but only a frivolous activity: with a feeling of deep respect and gratitude we look at the poet who proudly dedicated best years a life of exceptional work, selfless inspiration and the accomplishment of a single, lofty feat. The Russian Iliad is before us. We begin to study it in order to give an account to our readers over time about a book that should have such important on Russian literature."

But Alexander Sergeevich would not be himself if he had not joked. Here is a friendly joke, later carefully erased by him:
Gnedich the poet was crooked,
translator of blind Homer,
Side by side with the sample
its translation is similar.

Gnedich really was crooked in one eye - a consequence of smallpox suffered in childhood.

In ordinary life, Gnedich was distinguished by simplicity and naivety. In addition to his literary activities, for which he received the rank of state councilor and the title of academician (in 1811), he was also fond of collecting books. His unique library of 1250 volumes, containing rare, sometimes priceless books, was transferred to the Poltava gymnasium in his will. After the revolution it was kept in the Poltava library, and after the Great Patriotic War part of it was transported to Kharkov, to the regional library named after. V.G. Korolenko. Today the fate of this meeting is unknown.

After the publication of the Iliad, Gnedich lived only four years. Intensive training weakened the poet’s already painful body.

A.S. Pushkin said: “The Russian Iliad is before us. Let's start studying it." However, a genuine study of N.I.’s “Iliad” Gnedich was not and is not there. There are works devoted to Gnedich’s translation work, there are articles about Homer’s poems in Gnedich’s translation, but there is no reference book on the Iliad. There is no name index, no martyrologies, no description of weapons, manufacturing materials, and so on. And for the modern reader, a small dictionary of Old Church Slavonic words (vereya, glezna, gridnya, lyadveya, pard, usmar, etc.) is already necessary. By the way, in England the translation of Homer's Iliad is accompanied by six volumes of references, clarifications, explanations, etc.

Translated by N.I. Gnedich has many advantages. Let's note two. The first is the magical Russian language. What is this expression worth?

Hera seduces the old man Zeus, deceiving her heart.

The second - very, very important advantage - Gnedich does not use the Roman version of Homeric names, does not cause confusion. Only twice did he make such a mistake. But here is the translation of “The Odyssey” by the poet V.A. Zhukovsky, is replete with such errors.

After 1829, many dozens of editions of Homer’s Iliad were published, translated by N. Gnedich, but there is still no reference book on the Iliad in Russian translation. Almost every publication contains a “Dictionary of Mythological and geographical names and names,” but all of them have significant errors. Thus, in the 1978 edition of the “Library of Ancient Literature” there are only 289 “geographical names and names” out of 1165 mentioned in the text. And in the publication, carried out by the publishing house "Azbuka-Classics" in 2005, there are already 585 names and titles. But! The increase was mainly due to confusion: the author of the Dictionary included all the names known to him, including those not found in the Iliad.

Moreover, all authors of “dictionaries” avoid mentioning names that appear multiple times. different sides front. So, no one included the name “Chromius” in their dictionary. Why? Yes, because there were five Chromians different people, besides, four Chromians fought against Troy, and one fought for Troy. For exactly the same reason, not a single author of his dictionary included the name Actor.

In the name index I compiled, each name is associated with a song number and verse number. For example, Achilles is mentioned 494 times, Apollo - 160, Hector - 512, and so on. There are 843 in Homer's poem. actors, one and a half times more than in “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy.

There are so many names that Homer himself stumbled a couple of times. So, Deipir the Thracian was killed by Helen, “son of Priam” (13 - 576). Menelaus, without understanding, decided that the Achaean Deipir had been killed, and wounded Helen. But the Thracians fought on the side of Troy (2 - 844), that is, Helen killed an ally, and Menelaus stood up for the enemy. And the second case. The Paphlagonian leader Pilemen was killed by Menelaus (5 - 576), but when Pilemen's son died, Pilemen began to mourn him, that is, he came to life (13 - 658, 659).

The abundance of characters forced Homer to repeat names. Sixty-nine names appear twice, and there are examples when heroes of the same name are on opposite sides of the front. So, Agelaus of Achaean fights with Agelaus of Trojan, Medon of Argives fights with Medon of Trojan, Periphas of Danaiti fights with Periphas of Trojan. And there are thirteen such pairs in total.

Three times the same name appears eleven times, of which seven are of different tribes. Five names appeared four times, of which only Melanippus appeared on both sides: three Trojans and one Danai. And finally, two names appear five times - these are Actor (all five are Danaans) and Chromius (four Trojans and one Argive).

The genius of the poet and translator of the Iliad, Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich, was also expressed in the fact that many phrases from Homer’s poem in his translation sound aphoristic, sometimes poster.

12 – 342: The best banner of all is to fight bravely for the fatherland!

12 – 328: Forward together! Either for the glory of someone, or for the glory themselves(on the shield or under the shield).

12 – 412: More successful is collective work!(V. Mayakovsky: “One is nonsense, one is zero, one – even if very important – will not lift a simple five-inch log...”).

13 – 729: No, one person cannot acquire everything in total.

14 – 300: The sovereign Hera spoke to Zeus, treacherous with her heart(cunning with the heart - well, what a charm!).

17 – 445-446: bitter philosophy –
For of the creatures that breathe and crawl in the dust,
Truly in the whole universe there is no more unhappy person.

*Alexandrian verse is iambic hexameter. In the 12th century, a poem about Alexander the Great was written in such verses - hence the name. Here is an example from Kondraty Ryleev: “An arrogant temporary worker, and vile and insidious. The monarch is a cunning flatterer and an ungrateful friend.”

Victor REMIZOVSKY, Khabarovsk.

A. N. Egunov, A. I. Zaitsev.
Iliad in Russia

(Homer. Iliad. - L., 1990. - P. 417-427)

The ancient Russian reader could find a mention of the name Homer already in the Life of the Slavic first teacher Cyril, about whom it is said there: “And learn Omyr,” and in the translated version Old Russian language Gregory of Nazianzu’s eulogy for the burial of Basil the Great quoted a verse from the Iliad (XI, 72), the Iliad (IX, 4-7) was also quoted by Methodius of Olympus in his essay “On Free Will,” and verses of the Iliad VIII, 478 -481 are given in the translation of the life of Patrick of Prussia; V late XVII V. The idea that the Hellenic gods are tormented in Tartarus was taken from the Homeric quote by Archpriest Avvakum from the Life of Patricius. The name of King Agamemnon appears in the "Tale of Bygone Years", and in one of the editions of the Life of Alexander Nevsky he is likened to "King Alevkhys", i.e. Achilles.

In 1679, the library of the Moscow Printing House had two copies printed edition Homer's poems. There were editions of Homer at the end of the 17th century. and in other Moscow book depositories. Images of Homer as the herald of Christianity, along with Euripides, Plutarch, and Plato, were in the Annunciation and Assumption Cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin.

An ancient Russian bookworm could read about the Trojan War in the Byzantine world chronicles translated already in the Kyiv era, starting with the Chronography of John Malala (VI century). In the 16th century In Rus', translations of Guido de Columna's "Trojan History" written in Latin appear, with which Ivan the Terrible was, in particular, familiar. In 1709, by order of Peter the Great, the newly translated “Trojan History” was published in Russian. Finally, in 1748, M. V. Lomonosov included in his “Rhetoric” quotations from the “Iliad”, first translated into Russian in verse.

Here beginning VIII songs "Iliad" translated by Lomonosov:

The dawn sent a scarlet robe across the earth: Then, calling the gods, Zeus the thunder-holder opened his mouth to the highest peak of hilly Olympus; they listen diligently: Listen to me, all gods and goddesses, when I tell you what I have in my heart. Neither the male gender of the gods, nor the female gender of the goddesses dare to transgress my law, so that I can quickly bring the whole matter to an end. When I see one of you who has descended in battle to help the Trojans or the Greeks, He will return wounded to Olympus in shame, Or, having grabbed him, I will throw him into gloomy Tartarus, Far from heaven into the deepest abyss, Where there is a copper platform and where the iron gates.

As you know, the Iliad, like the Odyssey, is written in hexameter - a poetic meter of six feet, where each foot begins with a long syllable and has either one long or two short syllables (the last foot is always two-syllable), so that the rhythm verse, as in all genres of ancient Greek poetry, was created by an orderly alternation of long and short syllables.

The sound structure of the Russian language dictates a rhythm for Russian versification, based on the orderly alternation of percussion and unstressed syllables. The corresponding system of versification, the so-called syllabic-tonic, was created by V.K. Trediakovsky, immediately picked up and developed by M.V. Lomonosov and dominates in Russian poetry to this day. Within this system, the equivalent of the Greek hexameter can only be a six-foot meter with the first stressed syllable in each foot and one or two unstressed ones. Lomonosov gives experiments on using this size in Rhetoric.

However, when translating Homer, Lomonosov abandons the hexameter. What is the reason? Apparently, when choosing the size, Lomonosov was influenced by the French classical tradition. The fact is that the poetics of French classicism assigned the twelve-syllable syllabic rhymed so-called Alexandrian verse to works of high genre - epic and tragedy. Lomonosov translates Homer in iambic hexameter, as a rule, without rhyme with a predominance of feminine endings, i.e., verse, which he obviously considered as a partial equivalent to the Alexandrian, although the absence of rhyme was an undoubted step bringing the translation closer to the Homeric original.

In essence, having correctly recognized stylistic coloring original, Lomonosov, who translated passages from Virgil's "Aeneid" in "high calm", for Homer used " medium calm", in which elements of vernacular were combined with Slavicisms.

The translation is quite close to the Homeric text. N.I. Gnedpch, who knew Lomonosov’s translation, took from it the expression “copper platform,” however, replacing Lomonosov’s emphasis “copper” with “copper.”

Soon the first attempt was made to translate several poems of Homer into Russian hexameter. The creator of the Russian syllabic-tonic system of versification, V. K. Trediakovsky, translated into hexameters the novel by the French writer Fenelon, “The Adventures of Telemachus,” written based on Homer’s “Odyssey.” This free translation - the famous "Tilemakhida" by Trediakovsky - was published in 1766. Upon careful study of the "Tilemakhida", a number of Trediakovsky's insertions were discovered in it - direct translations from ancient Greek and Latin, including seven verses from Homer, translated in hexameters , with which the entire Tilemakhida was written. Trediakovsky translated in hexameters from Greek and a number of quotations from Homer, which he encountered in the multi-volume work he translated from French ancient history Rollena. These experiments of Trediakovsky went unnoticed in their time and were discovered by researchers quite recently, and Trediakovsky’s heavy hexameters to a certain extent even compromised this size, so that Gnedich wrote in 1829 in the preface to his Iliad that he decided to “untie from the shameful pillar verse of Homer and Virgil, chained to it by Trediakovsky."

The first complete Russian translation of Homer's Iliad, made in prose, and not from Greek, but from Latin, by K. Kondratovich around 1760, remained in manuscript. A prose translation of the Iliad by P. Ekimov was published in 1776 and 1778. . Ekimov translated from ancient Greek, and his translation contains successful expressions: some of them were used by Gnedich. Thus, in his translation, verse XIX, 423 - “until I satisfy the Trojans with bloody warfare” - is based on Ekimov’s translation. Ekimov widely introduces Russian complex epithets to convey characteristic Homeric epithets compound adjectives, partly second-hand, partly created by himself.

The second experienced translator in Russia is the first to undertake the translation of Homeric poems, and primarily the Iliad, in verse. half of the XVIII V. Ermil Kostrov. In 1778, 6 songs of the Iliad were published in his translation. Subsequently, he translated more VII, VIII and part IX songs, which were, however, published only in 1811, after his death.

Kostrov's translation, made in Alexandrian verse, which was supposed to satisfy the tastes of the educated public of that time, was the immediate predecessor of Gnedich's translation.

The obligatory rhyme and alternation of masculine and feminine endings for Alexandrian verse seem to be a step back in comparison with Lomonosov’s experiments. In Alexandrian verse, two rhyming lines must form a semantic and syntactic whole. In a hexameter, this is most often one poetic line, so that when transmitting hexameters in Alexandrian verses, a tendency to verbosity involuntarily arises, to the appearance of superfluous words that are unnecessary for conveying the meaning. As a result, all of Kostrov’s translated songs of the Iliad contain 10-20% more verses than the corresponding songs of the original. Kostrov widely used the constructions “dative independent”, which are not typical for the Russian language (for example, “the sun descended into the sun” instead of “when the sun set into the sea”) and “accusative with indefinite” (for example, “they were destined to protect you from Trojan” instead of “ they thought you were the Trojans' protection." In the spirit of the ancient Greek and Old Church Slavonic languages, Kostrov uses the plural of the neuter adjectives to mean singular: for example, “pleasing” instead of “pleasing,” etc. Perhaps, following Ekimov, Kostrov often uses complex epithets such as “multi-council,” “thunder-power,” etc.

Kostrov's translation was favorably received by critics. The outstanding researcher of Russian literature N. S. Tikhonravov, in his student work, even leaned in favor of Kostrov when comparing the translations of Gnedich and Kostrov, in particular for his “energy and passion of speech.” Nevertheless, the inadequacy of any translation of Homer, which does not make an attempt to approach the rendering of the Greek hexameter by means of the Russian language, gradually penetrated into the consciousness of Russian literary circles.

In 1791, in “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” A. N. Radishchev dreamed that “Omir would appear among us not in iambics, but in verses similar to his, exameter,” and expressed regret that Kostrov I didn't use a hexameter.

Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich was destined to fulfill this mission, to make Homer’s Iliad the property of the Russian reader and an integral part of Russian culture. Born on February 3, 1784 in Poltava in the family of an impoverished Cossack centurion, Gnedich studied at the Poltava seminary, and then at the Kharkov Collegium, which he graduated in 1800. In 1800-1802. Gnedich studied at Moscow University and began his literary career while still a student. Gnedich's first literary experiments, which appeared in print in 1802 - the story "Moritz, or the Victim of Vengeance" and the anonymously published collection "The Fruits of Solitude" - were created in the spirit of pre-romanticism, written under strong influence Schiller and are very weak artistically. But in the same 1802, Gnedich’s translation of Dusis’s tragedy “Abufar” was published. Ducis was a fan of Homer, sought to introduce the French to the work of Shakespeare, and the spirit of his tragedy is far from classicism. The choice of the tragedy "Abufar" for translation undoubtedly reflected own moods Gnedich, the quality of the translation is remarkable for the first experience of an 18-year-old author. At the end of 1802, Gnedich moved to St. Petersburg, and in next year comes out great novel Gnedich's "Don Corrado De Guerrera, or the Spirit of Vengeance and Barbarism of the Gishpans", even weaker than the story "Moritz". The translation of Schiller's tragedy "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa", on the contrary, was a noticeable success.

In subsequent years, Gnedich wrote original poems, translated excerpts from Milton's Paradise Lost and MacPherson's Ossian, and he translated Ossian into Russian folk verse. In 1808, Gnedich's translation of Shakespeare's King Lear, made in a style more suitable for Schiller's tragedies, was published, but at that time Gnedich was already on the approaches to the main work of his life - the translation of the Iliad.

In the "Dramatic Bulletin" (1808. Issue 5. Addition) translations of excerpts from the VII song of the Iliad, made in Alexandrian verse, were published without the name of the author under the title "Combat between Hector and Ajax", and in 1809 the entire VII was published song of the Iliad, translated by Gnedich. According to Gnedich’s friend and patron V.V. Kapnist, it was he who prompted Gnedich to take up the translation of the Iliad, and when the VII canto came out with a dedication to the Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, he helped to obtain for Gnedich, who served as a scribe in the Ministry for a paltry salary public education, annual assistance for the quiet work on the translation of the Iliad. He also introduced Gnedich into the circle of the elderly G.R. Derzhavin. Finally, the position of assistant librarian in the Imperial Public Library received by Gnedich in 1811 created external conditions favorable for his work.

Gnedich began translating the Iliad, as he himself explained later, because he believed that Kostrov translated only six cantos that were published during his lifetime, and considered his translation as a continuation of Kostrov's. In 1812, after the posthumous publication of Kostrov’s translation, Canto VII was published in Gnedich’s translation, made under the undoubted influence of Kostrov’s translation. Gpedich characterizes the current situation in a note, saying that he was “unwittingly introduced into a dangerous... competition.” But it must be said that with his translation of the first 15 verses of the VIII canto, Gnedich entered into competition not only with Kostrov, but also with Lomonosov, who translated these verses in his “Rhetoric”. Gnedich's translation was not a step forward compared to Lomonosov's, made 60 years ago, and was noticeably inferior to Kostrov's. Gnedich was worse at mastering Alexandrian verse than Kostrov. Gnedich's rhymes are not always accurate. Gnedich, like Kostrov, failed to achieve equilinearity in translation. Gnedich borrows from Kostrov some of his unsuccessful formations, such as “chief leader”.

Approximately simultaneously with the first attempts to translate the Iliad (presumably in 1807), Gnedich translated three small “Homeric hymns” - to Minerva (Athena), Diana (Artemis), Venus (Aphrodite). Kostrov's influence is noticeable here too; the translation is still done in iambics, but with attempts to diversify the metrical pattern.

The decision to abandon the Alexandrian verse when translating the Iliad and to start work over again, improving the Russian hexameter created by Trediakovsky, was not easy for Gnedich. True, according to S.P. Zhikharev, Gnedich was still in student years I carefully read Trediakovsky’s “Tilemakhida,” which caused ridicule from his comrades, but Gnedich, naturally, could not mechanically perceive Trediakovsky’s style and style, welded together with the poetic meter of “Tilemakhida.”

In 1813, in the “Readings in the Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word”, a letter from Count S.S. Uvarov to Gnedich appeared with a call to translate Homer in hexameter and Gnedich’s positive response, to which were attached two excerpts from the translation in hexameter of the VI song of the Iliad - art. 1-118 and 386-516 (Hector’s farewell to Andromache).

Already this first experiment of Gnedich turned out to be an undoubted success, and V.V. Kapnist’s attempt to oppose Gnedich’s translation with the idea of ​​​​translating Homer into Russian epic verse was so unsuccessful that, most likely, it only strengthened Gnedich’s position. Kapnist published in the “Readings in the Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word” for 1815, as a sample, the following translation of verses 1-11 of the VI canto:

The bright gods left the terrible battlefield. But here and there a storm of abuse roared. Often the warriors aimed copper spears, Between the streams of Simois and the streams of Xanthus. The first, the branch of Telamon, the shield of the Greeks, Ajax, encouraged them, breaking the Phrygian ranks, and overthrowing the strong Thracian troops of the leader, Akamant, the son of the powerful Eusor, struck the enemy in his helmet, at the horse's crest. The spear, having pierced the helmet and forehead, sank into the bone, and eternal darkness covered the knight’s eyes.

Despite the fact that a certain internal kinship between the heroic epic of Homer and the Russian epic epic is undoubtedly, and Kapnist, perhaps, correctly sensed it, the associations with the Russian folklore tradition that inevitably arise when reading such a translation make the translation completely inadequate. Uvarov, in the same issue of “Readings in Conversation...” convincingly showed the inconsistency of Kapnist’s attempt, described Gnedich’s experience as “brilliant,” and in the meantime Gnedich continued his work, publishing year after year all the new passages he translated.

Over the course of many years of work, Gnedich improved his knowledge of the ancient Greek language. Using scientific commentary editions of Homer, especially the multi-volume work of Chr. G. Heine, comparing the translations of Anna Dassier, Bitobe, Foss, Gnedich each time tried to compile own opinion in numerous controversial issues understanding the Homeric text; and approaching the translation of Gnedich, armed with more than 150 years of experience further development Homeric philology, we find only isolated cases when Gnedich’s understanding of the Homeric text seems undoubtedly erroneous.

From the translation of canto IX, Gnedich’s draft has reached us - a prose translation with notes, with extracts Greek text, translations of some words into Latin language, links to ancient authors and monuments of ancient art.

The director of the Public Library, A. N. Olenin, under whose command Gnedich served, provided him with great assistance in translating the Iliad. Olenin was, at that time, a great connoisseur of ancient art, he himself drew excellently and without fail made numerous inquiries for Gnedich regarding the weapons, utensils, and details of the structure of the ship mentioned in Homer. Through the mediation of Olenin, Gnedich received numerous consultations from the classical philologist of Greek origin S. N. Destunis and the outstanding Hellenist F. B. Graefe, who worked in St. Petersburg at the Academy of Sciences and at the University, Gnedich consulted with Olenin on issues related to the stylistically adequate rendering of the Homeric text. On the advice of A. N. Olenin, Gnedich adopted the words “greaves”, “kotva” (anchor), “zapon” (leather apron), and when conveying the abusive epithet that Achilles throws in the face of Agamemnon, instead of the one proposed by Olenin, “sand-eyed” is used in in its translation “canine-like”, the epithet is less specific and less accurate.

Sometimes Olenin offers Gnedich interlinear translation several verses, such as: XVI, 314-316:

Stretching out, he reached the back of the bald head, where the fattest human muscle is: from the spear tip, the veins were torn, and darkness covered his eyes.

Gnedich translated them as follows:

He struck in the thigh, where a man’s leg is clothed with the fattest muscle: the stormy spear sting cut the veins, and darkness covered the eyes of the stricken man.

Russian society showed keen interest in Gnedich's work. At the beginning of 1821, Pushkin welcomed Gnedich’s refusal to translate Homer in rhymed verse. In 1825, he characterizes Gnedich’s translation of the Iliad as a feat. In 1821-1829, Delvig responded in his poems to Gnedich’s translations, in 1823 - Ryleev. In 1825, an excerpt from the translation of “The Iliad” appears in the last published issue of the Decembrist almanac “Polar Star” next to Pushkin’s “Gypsies” and “The Robber Brothers”. In parallel with the work on the Iliad, the original poetic creativity Gnedich: in 1821 he created, in the spirit of the ancient bucolic tradition, the idyll “Fishermen” on a theme from modern Russian life - the best thing he created, except for the translation of the Iliad. Gnedich also translates modern Greek folk songs.

On October 15, 1826, Gnedich considered the translation of the Iliad complete and began preparing it for printing. Gnedich's illness and bureaucratic difficulties delayed the publication of the book. The censor's permission was dated September 29, 1828, and the book was published already in 1829.

Having moved on to translating the Iliad in hexameters, Gnedich immediately took a new position on the issue of language and style of translation. Gnedich adopted the poetic meter of "Tilemakhida", however, more consistently than Trediakovsky, dividing the verse with a caesura - a word division inside the third foot. At the same time, he did not follow Trediakovsky in his passion for Slavicism. It is enough to compare the first hexametric passage he published in 1813 with the VIII canto, translated into Alexandrian verse and published in 1812, to be convinced of how sharply Gnedich in the new translation limited the role of Church Slavonic linguistic elements - lexical or syntactic, such as the phrase “dative independent”, the disappearance of which Lomonosov regretted. But the fewer of them there were in the translation, the more they stood out, contrasting with the surroundings and taking the reader out of the inertia of perceiving the text. Gradually, Gnedich began to use ancient Russian and even contemporary words, but dialect ones, for the same purpose. As a result, a text was created that evokes in the Russian reader an amazing feeling of a combination of sublime antiquity with folk simplicity. Gnedich forced us, as far as possible, to perceive the language and style of his translation approximately in the same way as the Greeks of the classical and Hellenistic era perceived the language and style of Homer, thereby creating a masterpiece of translation art.

While preparing the full edition, Gnedich returned to already published songs, making amendments from the height of his accumulated experience, which, as a rule, significantly improved the translation. In the text published in 1813, in Art. VI, 52-53 instead

He was already thinking of commanding the one minion in the host, the message to his fast ships...

we read now:

The brave one was already thinking of entrusting one of the Prisoner’s minions with the message to the seaworthy ships...

The first option, obviously, seemed too heavy to Gnedich.

The 1829 edition took into account a number of comments made about the translation of an excerpt from Song V in an anonymous review of 1820 (Son of the Fatherland. 1820. No. 51. pp. 229-237). the only review of the preliminary publications of Gnedich's translation. At the same time, Gnedich changed, and perhaps not for the better, Art. V, 81-82:

He swung his sword and cut off the mighty hand. The hand fell off, smoking with blood,

poems warmly approved by the reviewer.

However, Gnedich's translation principles remained the same for 16 years - from 1813 to 1829: only his skill was improved.

Quite conscious attitude Gnedich to the style of translation he depicted is clearly confirmed by the translation he made in the form of an experiment in 1827 of 19 verses from the Odyssey) (XI, 581-599). The translation is completely free from Slavicisms, even gives the impression of being performed by a completely different poet and shows that In the course of his work, Gnedich had various ideas about the principles of translating Homer.

The first review of the translation as a whole, which appeared in print, belongs to Nadezhdin (Moskovsky Vestnik. 1830. No. 4. P. 372-408) and begins with the words: “Thank God! Finally we have waited for Homer’s Iliad!” This exclamation, apparently, perfectly characterizes the mood that gripped Russian literary circles on this occasion. In a short note published without the author’s name in the Literary Gazette (1830. No. 2. January 6, pp. 14-15), Pushkin calls Gnedich’s work the “Russian Iliad.” Having succumbed for a moment to the impression of some aspects of the translation that did not satisfy him, Pushkin wrote an epigram between October 1 and October 10, 1830:

Gnedich was a poet, a translator of the blind Homer, and his translation is similar to the model.

However, soon Pushkin carefully erased it and on November 8, 1830, wrote, judging by the draft versions, carefully choosing every word:

I hear the silenced sound of divine Hellenic speech; I feel the shadow of the great old man with my troubled soul.

In 1832, shortly before Gnedich’s death, Pushkin addressed him with a message that began with words likening Gnedich to the Old Testament prophet Moses:

You talked alone with Homer for a long time, We waited for you for a long time, And brightly you came down from the mysterious heights And brought us your tablets.

V. G. Belinsky, following Pushkin, calling Gnedich’s work a “great feat,” wrote: “Our Gnedich knew how to preserve in his translation the reflection of the colors and flavor of the original.” The linguistic innovations introduced by Gnedich in his translation of the Iliad, in some cases, entered the language of Russian poetry. This includes, in all likelihood, the phrases “wide-noisy oak forests” and “heavy-ringing galloping.”

Gnedich died in 1833.

The second edition of Gnedich’s “Iliad” was made by Lisenkov in 1839, partially taking into account the amendments made by Gnedich to the copy of the 1829 edition. These amendments, obviously, do not always reflect the last author’s will of Gnedich, some of them are only attempts to improve the text. Not everything that was introduced into the text by Lisenkov and then reprinted in subsequent editions deserves the right to be included in the canonical text, on the establishment of which I. M. Tronsky began work (Homer. Iliad / Translated by N. I. Gnedich; Ed. and commentary by I.M. Tronsky with the participation of I.I. Tolstoy, L., 1935), then continued by I.N. Medvedeva (Gnedich N.I. Poems / Prepared text by I.N. Medvedeva. L., 1956 ( The poet's bib.

Literature

1. Homer was called Omir in Rus', following the Byzantine pronunciation. Even Krylov wrote in the fable “The Lion and the Mosquito”: “From Achilles suddenly becomes Omir,” and even Pushkin, deliberately archaizing, could call Homer the “divine Omir” Onegin,” V, 36).

2. He probably also owned the prose translation of the Odyssey, published in 1788 without the name of the translator.

3. A similar effect was achieved using similar techniques in German translation"The Iliad" by J. Foss, which Gpedich highly valued.

4. Belinsky V. G. Complete. collection op. M., 1954. T. 5. P. 553-554.

Wrath of Achilles

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