Akhmatova and Seneca

The roll-calls between Akhmatova's poetry and the Seneca stoic philosophy are considered. Among the points of contact between them there are the modeling of situations of struggle with destiny, the search for inner peace, emotional balance, the transformation of emotional experience into poetic-metaphysical and ethical one. Stoics are usually regarded as the precursors of Christianity, which — albeit indirectly — is quite significant in the context of Akhmatova's life-creation. The closeness of Akhmatova to Stoicism is in the mainstream of the general Schelling-Heideggerian idea of the affinity of philosophy and poetry (art). In the case of Akhmatova, philosophy and poetry are also close in the narrower meaning of “living knowledge”. Already, some of the “harsh circumstances” of Akhmatova's biography forced her to look for metaphysical (at the same time unrequited) comprehension of the disharmonious reality. Akhmatova considers history, including her personal history, as a manifestation of destiny, which must be comprehended and overcome. The historical topic invades Akhmatova in the most chamber and private space — and vice versa, the private domain invades the historical. Akhmatova “myth of the poet” is related to the stoic “myth” about the “wise man”. In later Akhmatova's work, the figure of the poet is regarded as an allseeing, allhearing, allcomprehending, i.e. indeed “wise” person, including conventional wisdom. “Myth of the poet” presupposes a philosophicalvital and at the same time intracultural existence of the very figure of the poet. Thus, the later Akhmatova returns to the symbolist image of the poet “prophet” (that was especially close to Blok). The figure of the рoet, according to Akhmatova, should be specially understood through the legend, rumor, passing in the movement of history.

Keywords

Akhmatova, Seneca, stoic philosophy, “myth about a poet”, “myth about a wise man”, destiny

Received

07.12.2018

Publication date

07.12.2018

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GOST	Shultz S. Akhmatova and Seneca // Chelovek – 2018. – Issue №6 C. 158-170 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://chelovek-journal.ru/S023620070002351-3-1 (circulation date: 24.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S023620070002351-3
MLA	Shultz, Sergey "Akhmatova and Seneca." Chelovek 6 (2018):158-170. DOI: 10.31857/S023620070002351-3
APA	Shultz S. (2018). Akhmatova and Seneca. Chelovek (6), pp.158-170 DOI: 10.31857/S023620070002351-3

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