The Adventures of Telemachus ( French: Les Aventures de Télemaque ) is a novel by the French writer Francois Fenelon , first published in 1699. Largely inspired by the fourth book of Homer 's Odyssey , the novel is a political allegory of a didactic purpose (the book was written for a pupil of Fenelon, Duke of Burgundy , grandson of Louis XIV ). However, the “evil ridicule” of the French monarch scattered throughout the book [1] ultimately led to Fenelon's disgrace. Until the First World War, The Adventures of Telemachus, which Montesquieu called the “Divine Composition of Our Century” [2] , occupied a leading position in the European book market. The book, according to him, was known by heart Heinrich Schliemann [3] . Translations of the novel have been repeatedly published and enjoyed great success in Tsarist Russia. I read the book in childhood and was highly appreciated by Andrei Bolotov : “A sweet pietic syllable captivated my heart and thoughts, infused me with a taste for works of this kind and put my curiosity on reading further” [4] . In 1770, the book was read by young Mozart (he had previously visited the grave of Fenelon in Cambrai with his family); perhaps the traces of this reading were reflected in his opera Idomeneo [5] .
| The Adventures of Telemachus | |
|---|---|
| Les aventures de télemaque | |
 The title page of the English edition of the novel, released in 1715 | |
| Genre | novel |
| Author | Fenelon |
| Original language | French |
| Date of writing | c. 1692–1695 |
| Date of first publication | 1699 year |
History of the writing and publication of the novel
Setting the exact date for writing a book is difficult. One of Fenelon’s letters dated 1702 indicates that work on the novel began ten years earlier [6] . The manuscript was subject to significant copyright adjustments. One of the copies was stolen from the author, after which the first volume was published in the "pirate" version (April 1699, the publisher is the widow of Claude Barben , with royal privilege ). This publication was a great success, but there was a scandal and the privilege was revoked, and the publication was interrupted; the first full edition in four volumes was published in the same 1699. In the years 1699-1700 a number of publications were published (in Paris , Brussels , The Hague ); the first edition with the name of the author was published in 1701; until 1715 it was reprinted at least 12 times. The first “adjusted to the original manuscript” edition was published in 1717 through the efforts of the grand-nephew of Fenelon. It was it that laid the foundation for all French and foreign editions of the book in the 18th century. The first critical edition of the text was carried out only in 1920 .
Summary
Telemachus sets off in search of his father Ulysses , who did not return home after the Greek victory over the Trojans . During his wanderings, Telemac and his mentor Mentor (the earthly incarnation of the goddess Minerva ) were thrown by a storm onto the island of the nymph Calypso . Telemac tells Calypso of his travels, including his stay in Egypt , where the wise Sezostris rules, Phenicia , where the greedy and envious Pygmalion reigns, and on the island of Crete , where King Minos established a kind of elective enlightened monarchy . Fleeing from Calypso, Telemac and Mentor meet at sea with the Phoenicians, from whom they learn about the wonderful country of Betica , where the golden age still reigns in many ways. Then the heroes find themselves in the city of Salente , where the king of Idomeneo rules; now the Mentor actually has two students - Telemacus and Idomeneo. Dream-based Telemac concludes that his father passed away and sets off to search for him in the realm of the dead Tartarus . Here he meets his great-grandfather Arcezius (from whom he learns that Ulysses is alive), the Athenian ruler Cecrops and another Greek king, Triptolemus . Leaving the kingdom of Pluto , Telemacus meets his father, but does not recognize him; enchanting metamorphosis suddenly occurs, and the Mentor turns into Minerva, who announces to Telemacus that he is now worthy to follow in his father's footsteps and rule the kingdom. The novel concludes the meeting of Telemac with Ulysses in Ithaca [7] .
Genre and ideological world of the novel
According to Lagarpe , the book, while not being an epic poem , at the same time draws closer to it in the scale of what is happening and poetic color [8] .
Literary influences in the novel
The Adventures of Telemachus reflected diverse literary traditions: from Homer , Virgil and the Bible to The Journey of the Lucky Princes by Beroald de Verville , Astrea by D'Jurfe , Gomberville novels, Polyphilus Hypnerotomia by F. Colonna , Labruyere and the Characters A dream in Vaud ” Lafontaine [9] . As L. I. Sazonova notes, the genre of “state-political novel”, to which Fenelon’s book gravitates, “was built according to the scheme of 'going around' - traveling through wonderful countries, where the hero gets acquainted with different types of government, giving preference in the end principles of an enlightened monarchy ” [10] .
Salentian Utopia
The most famous episodes of The Adventures of Telemac include the Salentian Utopia (Book X of the novel). “We want to found Salente!” Robespierre allegedly exclaimed once [11] . According to scientists, its main difference from the utopias of Plato , Mora , Campanella and Denis Veras (which, of course, were known to Fenelon) lies in its realism, practical feasibility [12] . Here are some of its components: restoring a prosperous economy through free trade, reforming agriculture (settling undeveloped lands), peacefulness, clear social hierarchies (society is divided into seven classes), regulation of costumes, food, and private life; the struggle against luxury and pampering, modesty and self-restraint of the people (and the monarch in this sense should set an example for his subjects).
Artistic Features of the Novel
The novel respects some of the principles of classicism . They were emphasized in the Discourse on an Epic Poem by Ramzai and published in The Adventures of Telemachus in 1717: imitation of graceful nature, integrity of action, naturalness of denouement, clarity of moral lesson, universal morality, sublimity and nobility, style harmony. At the same time, the novel was written by a harmonious, musical syllable [13] , full of spectacular comparisons , metaphors , parallelisms , antitheses (which connects the book with Baroque aesthetics) [14] ). Fenelon quite often resorts to the use of ecphrase , following this epic tradition (description of the Telemachus shield in the 13th book); strengthens the dynamism of characters and emphasizes the entertaining plot [15] , which in many respects ensured the consolidation of “The Adventures of Telemachus” in the pantheon of classical works of children's literature .
Influence and imitation
The popularity of The Adventures of Telemac led to the birth of many imitations. If Ramsay ’s book “The Journey of Cyrus” (1727) is a kind of hybrid of “Telemacus” and “Great Cyrus” by Madeleine de Scodery , then in the “Journey of Aristeus and Telasia” by Jean du Castres D'Ovigny ( nid. , 1731) the influence is crossed “ Astrea " D'Jurfe and" Telemac. In the novel by Pierre Marivot, “Telemac Inside Out” (circa 1714, published in 1736), Fenelon’s book is parodied: the heroes of Marivo, the rural merry-maker and the boozer Bryderon and his uncle Fokion, take themselves for Telemak and Mentor [16] . Scenic versions of Fenelon's novel were created by Duncour and Simon Pellegren . The influence of the novel is clearly visible in the novels of Jean Terrasson "Setos" (1731) and Claude Francois Lambert "New Telemacus, or Travel and Adventures of the Count de ..." (1741); in the treatise " Antimakiavelli " by Frederick II (1740) and in the book of Abbot Barthelemy "The Journey of a Young Anaharsis to Greece" (1788). In the XX century, Louis Aragon created a new, annihilating parody (or rather, a Dadaist shepherd ) on Fenelon’s novel (the book was published in 1922 ). The famous Romanian writer Panayot Istrati studied French on “The Adventures of Telemac”; the influence of Fenelon’s book was reflected in his novel Kira Kiralina ( 1924 ).
The Adventures of Telemachus and Rousseau
According to Bernardin de Saint-Pierre , Jean-Jacques Rousseau placed Fenelon above all writers. Moreover, of all the works of Fenelon, his attention was most attracted to the Treatise on the Education of Maidens and The Adventures of Telemachus (which Rousseau might have read on the advice of Madame de Varans). Criticism of luxury and money circulation, urban civilization as a source of evil, a focus on natural life in the lap of nature - all these ideas of Fenelon are somehow present in the New Eloise and Jean-Jacques treatises [17] .
The plot of The Adventures of Telemac in music
In 1704, the opera pasty was staged (using popular tunes of its time) Telemac (music by Andre Campra ). In addition, in 1718 Alessandro Scarlatti wrote an opera on the plot of the novel, and in 1765 the premiere of Gluck 's opera Telemac, or the Island of Circe was premiered. In the 18th century, Ignazio Raimondi 's symphony “The Adventures of Telemachus” (1777) and the ballet “Telemachus” were also written (the production of Maximilian Gardel to the music of Ernest Miller took place on February 25, 1790) [18] .
Perception of the novel in Russia
Meanwhile, Russian translations of The Adventures of Telemachus, encouraged from above, had a special meaning in Russia: “the depiction of a system of ideal monarchical rule, the arguments in the novel about the welfare of the sovereign and the state did not correspond to the real life of Russia, acquiring a clearly critical sound in those conditions. In addition, criticism was very contemporary for Russia ... of monarchs who used their power to the evil of their people and as a result ended up in Tartarus ” [19] . The first handwritten translation of the novel appeared already in Peter's time in 1724 [20] . But the print publication, published “by special highest permission” by Elizaveta Petrovna , was made only in 1747 with the translation by Andrei Fedorovich Khrushchev of 1734 (“The journey of Telemak’s son Ulissov was composed by Mr. Fenelon ...”) [21] . This translation caused a critical review of Trediakovsky , given by him in the “Preface to Tilemahida” [22] . There Trediakovsky mentions another translation of Telemac written by rhythmic prose (he did not reach us). In addition, in the XX century, a translation of a fragment of the novel by MV Lomonosov was discovered [23] . A partial poetic ( iambic ) arrangement of The Adventures of Telemachus was obviously performed by G. R. Derzhavin or I. S. Barkov between 1762 and 1766 [24] .
The poetic arrangement of “The Adventures of Telemachus” owned by Trediakovsky and published by him in 1766 under the title “ Tilemakhida, or the Wandering of Tilemakh of the Son of Odyssey ” became the most famous. According to D. Mirsky , this arrangement "became, barely appearing, the personification of everything pedantic and ugly" [25] . The most famous line from him: "The monster shook, mischievously, enormously, harshly and barking ."
In 1786 a new translation of I. S. Zakharov was published, in 1788-1789 - a translation of P. S. Zheleznikov , in 1797-1800 - a translation of F. P. Lubyanovsky .
Starodum, in Fonvizin ’s comedy The Little Boy , praised Sophia for reading Fenelon, the author of Telemac, because “he who wrote Telemac will not corrupt him with his morals.”
Fenelon’s book influenced the novels “Themistocles” by F. Emin (1763) and “ Cadmus and Harmony ” by Cheraskov (1787), and in the 19th century on the novel by N. S. Leskov “The Enchanted Wanderer ”; The Russian writer was attracted here primarily by the Christian interpretation of ancient material [26] .
Pushkin and The Adventures of Telemachus
By reading “The Adventures of Telemachus” the following quatrain was inspired, which F. F. Vigel attributed to Pushkin:
The boring role of Telemac
I'm bored, oh friends,
O Moscow, Moscow-Ithaca!
Will I see you soon? [one]
According to Yuri Dombrovsky , a copy of the novel was presented to Pushkin by a teacher and archivist from Orenburg, Joseph Castañe:
“Pushkin’s anniversary passed, and in one of the windows of the library (these days it was named Pushkinskaya) an old edition of Fenelon’s book“ Telemachus Travel ”appeared. Above it is a Whatman paper: “A book from the library of A. S. Pushkin, which he forgot in Uralsk.” Uralsk Pushkin drove during trips to Pugachev places. Then he could forget this fat tiny volume. ”[ [27]
Notes
- ↑ Bluesch, Francois . Louis XIV. - M., Ladomir, 1998. - P.537
- ↑ ( Montesquieu . Pensées diverses.
- ↑ Schliemann G. Ilion. City and country of Trojans. Volume 1
- ↑ The life and adventures of Andrei Bolotov. Described by him for his descendants.
- ↑ Mozart. The early years 1756-1781. Oxford, 2006
- ↑ Le Brun J. Notice // Fénelon. Les Aventures de Télemaque. - P., Gallimard, 1995 .-- P. 425.
- ↑ Shishkin A.P. Francois de Salignac de La Mothe Fenelon. The Adventures of Telemachus // All the masterpieces of world literature in brief. Foreign literature of the XVII — XVIII centuries. - M., Olympus AST, 1998. - S. 608-612.
- ↑ La Harpe . Lycée, ou Cours de la littérature. Tome septieme. - P., 1813, p. 162
- ↑ Salazar Ph.-J. De Poussin à Fénelon: la corruption classique // Fins de siècle: colloque de Tours. - Bordeaux, Presses Universitaires, 1990. - P.176.
- ↑ Sazonova L.I. Translated prose in Russia of the 30s - 60s of the XVIII century. // Russian and West European classicism. Prose. - M., Science, 1982. - P.123.
- ↑ Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, Volume 171, 1977
- ↑ Jasinski R. Sur Télemaque // A travers le XVII siècle. T. II. - P., Nizet, 1981. - P. 271
- ↑ Vipper Yu. B. French literature and the social crisis of the 90s of the XVII century. // History of world literature. T.4. - M., Nauka, 1987 .-- S. 174.
- ↑ Galitsky L. Fenelon. Literary Encyclopedia. T. 11.1939.
- ↑ Razumovskaya M.V. Prose of classicism // History of foreign literature of the XVII century. - M., Higher School, 1987. - S. 154.
- ↑ Chekalov K. A. The formation of mass literature in France. M., 2008.S. 226.
- ↑ Gouhier, Henri. Rousseau et Fenelon // Reappraisals of Rousseau. Studies in honor of RA Leigh. Manchester, 1980.
- ↑ Firstborn of the New Style
- ↑ Sazonova L.I. Op., p. 124
- ↑ Sazonova L.I. Op., p. 123
- ↑ Barenbaum I.E. French translation book in Russia in the 18th century. - M., Nauka, 2006 .-- S. 68.
- ↑ Trediakovsky V.K. Tilemakhid or the pilgrimage of Tilemakh to the son of Odyssey described in the composition of the Iroic Pima by Vasily Trediakovsky ... - SPb, 1766. - T. 1. - C. XLVII
- ↑ Babkin D.S. Unknown pages of Lomonosov (Translation of chapters from Fenelon’s novel “The Adventures of Telemachus”) // Russian Literature, 1974, No. 4. - P. 100-115
- ↑ Barenbaum I.E. Cit. Op., p. 164-165
- ↑ Mirsky D.S. Kantemir and Trediakovsky // Mirsky D.S. History of Russian literature from ancient times until 1925 / Per. from English R. Zernova. - London: Overseas Publications Interchange Ltd, 1992. - S. 72-75.
- ↑ Kosykh G. A. Righteousness and the Righteous in the Work of N. S. Leskov of the 1870s. The dissertation for the degree of candidate of philological sciences. - Volgograd, 1999
- ↑ http://lib.ru/PROZA/DOMBROWSKIJ/dombrovsky6_3.txt_Ascii.txt Yuri Dombrovsky . Who are you, Joseph Castagne? // Collected works in six volumes. T. 6. Articles, essays, memoirs. - M., "Terra", 1992]
Literature
- Cuche, François-Xavier. Télémaque entre père et mer. P., Champion, 2011 .-- ISBN 978-2-7453-2320-0
- Nouvel état présent des travaux sur Fénelon. Etudes réunies par Henk Hillenaar. Amsterdam, 2000.
- Fénelon, "Télémaque": actes de la Journée d'étude du 19 novembre 1994 à Marseille ... Sous la direction de P. Dandrey et A. Viala. - P .: Klincksieck, 1995.
- Lautel A. La Fortune des "Aventures de Télémaque", de Fénelon, en Grande Bretagne au dix-huitième siècle. 1988.
- Kapp V. Télemaque de Fénelon. La signification d'une oeuvre littéraire à la fin du siècle classique. Tübingen, 1982.
- K. Yu. Samoilovich . On the pacifism of Fenelon based on the novel The Adventures of Telemachus (inaccessible link)
- Dimitar Vesselinov . L'aventure didactique du Télémaque de Fénelon en Bulgarie