Androclus ( Latin: Androclo ) is probably a fictional character , an ancient Roman slave who, according to the story of Apion , later retold by Aulus Hellius and Claudius Elianus , fled from the tyranny of his cruel master, Roman proconsul in Africa , into the Libyan desert .
In the desert, Androclus died from the scorching sun and, in search of refuge from the heat, took refuge in one of the caves, where he met a lame lion , who was undergoing severe torment due to a thorn in his paw . Androclus felt sorry for the animal and, having overcome fear, approached him to remove a foreign body from his body - the cause of the pain . In gratitude for this, the lion became faithful to him like a dog , and for three years he shared his prey with Androclus.
Then Androclus was caught and brought to Rome ; the same fate befell the lion; both had Damnatio ad bestias in the arena of the Roman Grand Circus , but, to the general amazement of the public, the lion, instead of rushing at Androclus, caressing, lay at his feet. Struck by this strange sight, the Roman emperor gave the slave freedom, and with it the lion.
Lucius Anney Seneca , for his part, gives out for certain that one lion, recognizing his former guard , defended him against other wild animals.
The plot of the salvation of a lion by man is included in the index of folklore plots of Aarne-Thompson at number 156. [1]
Content
Story in the Middle Ages
The plot of the rescued lion became very popular in the Middle Ages. In Chretien de Troyes' chivalrous novel “The Wayne, or the Knight with the Lion ” (XII century), the protagonist saves the lion from a poisonous snake that bit him in the tail, after which the lion becomes a loyal companion of the knight. In everyday literature, this plot is most often associated with the fifth-century hermit, Rev. Gerasim of Jordan , although in the West, in the “ Golden Legend ” of Jacob Voraginsky (XIII century), the extraction of a thorn from a lion's paw is attributed to Jerome Stridonsky . This transfer of plot is usually associated with the Arab conquests, which forced many monks of the Palestinian desert to flee to Rome, bringing this story with them. Confusion can also be caused by the similarity of the Latin form of the names Gerasimus and Geronimus [2] .
Cultural Influence
The drawing by Baldassare Peruzzi “Androclus and the Lion” (16th century) is in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum .
The legend of Androclus was used in the plots of several works of art.
- Androclus and the Lion - a play by Bernard Shaw .
- Androclus and the Lion (film) - film adaptation of the play by Bernard Shaw.
- “Androclus in a cave” - a story by A. I. Nemirovsky .
Notes
- ↑ Multilingual Folk Tale Database
- ↑ Salter, David. Holy and Noble Beasts: Encounters With Animals in Medieval Literature . - NY: Boydell and Brewer. - P. 12. - ISBN 9780859916240 .
Links
- Androclus // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Bernard Show. The play "Androclus and the Lion"
- Androclus