მედეას არსის პრობლემატური საკითხები მითოსის ე.წ. ჰორიზონტალური და ვერტიკალური ტრადიციით შესწავლის ჭრილში

აბსტრაქტი

სტატიიდან აღებული ავტორის ინგლისურენოვანი რეზიუმე:

Key Words: Medea; Medea’s status; witchcraf; deity. The issue concerning the essence/ status of Medea’s mythical figure, still regarded as one of the most debatable problems in the context of Medea’s myth, is studied in the article. How is Medea depicted regarding her status in the ancient tradition; is it possible to define her status and power uniquely; is her transformation just linear – from goddess into witch; was the semantic field of her witchcraft/ magic different or the same throughout her mythic biography – these seem to be the key issues concerning the essence of Medea’s mythic persona. The article presents the history as well as the present stage of studying this problem; explores the significance of research of the phenomenon of magic throughout the ancient history in general for thorough understating of Medea’s connection with the sphere of magic.

The methodology for examining Medea’s status through successive generation of the artists of the ancient world is provided in the study. Based on the assumption that Medea’s essence is depicted differently in the myths of various time periods as well as in the myth’s different episodes of the same time, the investigation of this issue by means of so-called vertical and horizontal traditions of myth studying is considered as expedient. The horizontal tradition of the Medea myth is constructed by Colchian, Iolckian, Corinthian and Athenian narratives, which, for their part, are studied according to the vertical tradition (i.e. diachronically). The investigation of the wide specter of the ancient sources revealed that Medea’s status is different not only in the various episodes of her myth (of one time period), but in the context of one and same episode (within various time periods and even within a relatively short time span).

Namely, in the early versions of the Colchian narrative it would be difficult to associate Medea with witchcraft ( she is not presented as helping Jason with magical means ), gradually she is perceived first as a pampharmakois Xenia and then – as a powerful witch. In the Iolcean narrative, on the contrary, Medea’s connection with supernatural powers is revealed in the earliest strata of the myth (in this context, Medea is perceived: as a deity of rejuvenation; as an initiatrix; as a witch). Attic drama presents Medea as a powerful sorceress in this episode. The Corinthian Medea of the earliest versions does not have any affinities with an enchantress.

Here the process of the reduction of Medea’s status takes place – Medea being transformed from divinity to a heroic queen. In the most famous illustration of this episode – in the final scene of Euripides’ ”Medea” the heroine reverts to her superhuman status known from the tradition, though how this essence can be identified is still debatable issue among the scholars. The Athenian episode of the Medea myth does not present Medea as a sorceress whatever. In this tale, her knowledge of magic is restricted to a gardener’s knowledge of poisonous herbs. All these make it evident that during the centuries of mythmaking, Medea’s transformation was by no means linear – her status was not developed simply from a divinity to a witch.

The connection of Medea with the phenomenon of witchcraft seems to be different at the various stages of her mythic biography. The development of Medea’s status can be presented only in general lines. Thus, the picture of her transformation would look as follow: (small) deity – balancing figure between supernatural powers and a human hero – pampharmakos Xenia – powerful witch. From Apollonius Rhodius onward, Medea is presented mainly as a polarized figure– a powerful witch in her image coexists with a puella simplica depicted with different doses and overtones of magical powers by various authors.

გამოქვეყნებულია ჟურნალში „სჯანი“, ტ. 16 (2015), გვ. 160–181. ნაშრომის გახსნა