Skovoroda and Horace in The «Garden of Divine Songs»

Abstract

The article examines the images and motives of Horace, reinterpreted by Hryhoriy Skovoroda: dangers, a pure heart, a traveler in search of happiness. The mechanism of Ukrainian Socrates transfer of certain elements of Horace's ode «To Aristius Fuscus» and To «Pompey Grosphus» from the ancient soil to the plane of the Holy Scriptures was studied. The 20th canto of «The Garden of Divine Songs» and the ode «To Aristius Fuscus» are shown to unfold the motif of danger in different ways. The Ancient author presents it as physical (wolf, lion), and the Ukrainian philosopher presents it as spiritual (slander, slander). According to both, purity of soul is the key to victory. For Horace, this thesis is superficial, the exoticism of the adventure described in the work is more important to him. According to the Ukrainian Socrates, the purity of the soul is the guarantee of its eternal salvation, to which the named song is dedicated. As for the 24th song of «The Garden of Divine Songs», it echoes Horace's ode «To Pompey Grosf». Both works philosophically interpret the topic of happiness. It is noted that for Horace moderation in wealth is a guarantee of happiness, and for Hryhoriy Skovoroda it is only a condition. In contrast to the ancient thinker, the Ukrainian believes that the key to happiness is a «small soul», not burdened by pride and excessive desires. Hryhoriy Skovoroda unfolds the motives of Horace, keeping the possibility of a double interpretation of the most important passages of the text. The works of the baroque author not only glorify the ideas. They have the direct elements of a song: choruses, rich sound writing and rhymes, and a fixed stanza structure.