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INITIATION DRAMA IN RUSSIAN SYMBOLISM
principles of scientism versus spirituality and art, then Empedocles also
personifies the dilemma of the Symbolist artist, the boundaries of magic
aesthetics, the secrecy of magic spells, the belief in the transformation of
the world by means of art. Russian Symbolists came face to face with this
dilemma owing to their individual attempts to search for God and to create
societies and brotherhoods.
In Bryusovs play, the semantic field of the picture of the legendary Atlantis
is expanded as a result of painful historical experience, and it is elevated to
the level of a philosopheme. At the same time, it is converted into a symbol
of eternally shifting paradigms, both individual and social. The loss of
the manuscript suggests that the same fatal scheme is being repeated in
compliance with the philosopheme of “the eternal return.” In other words,
Atlantis is sinking again. Not only does Bryusov supply a reinterpretation of
the Myth of the Golden Age, but he also offers the reader a path of cognition,
a version of gnoseology, which is represented by Art. In the light of this
idea of the dramatic etude, the moment of serving the “common cause,” i.e.
Christian solidarity, is revealed.
The concept of Magic Art is also underscored by the fact that the hero’s
end is marked by the act of descending into the depths of the underworld and
losing his bodily attributes, which signals his future rebirth. Kerényi’s research
suggests that according to the Pythagorean doctrine of psychogony, the birth
of the soul is envisaged as a result of harmony achieved.” In Bryusov’s etude,
the rebirth of the soul via initiation is reached by the loss of the mortal flesh.
This notion corresponds to the teachings of the Neo-Pythagorean Philolaus,
who, much in the manner of the Gnostics, asserted that the body is a coffin
and prison to the spirit. The researcher attributes the epithet “Apollonic” to
Pythagorean religion, since its main principle is superior to soul and life.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beariï, AHApeñ, CUMBOAH3M Kak Mnpornonnmanne, MocxBa, Pecny6auxa,
1994.
Beapim, AHApeu, AHApen Beant u Aaexcanap Baox: Ilepenucxa 1903-1911,
A B. Aappos (ed.) Mocxsa, IIporpecc—ITaeaqa, 2001.
Baox, AaexcaHAp, CoOpaHue coumHeHnni, Vol. 8, MockBa-AeHnHrpaa,
XyAOKECTBeHHAA ANTepatypa, 1963.
Baox, AaexcaHAp, Po3a u Kpecr (BLoK, Alexander, The Rose and the Cross),
MockBa, LJeutp kHuru Pyaomuno, 2013.
® Karoly Kerényi, Pythagoras und Orpheus, Amsterdam, Akademische Verlagsanstalt, 1940, 33.
* 271 ¢
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