The ancient tradition and the art of plastics in the depiction of landscapes in The Frigate "Pallada " by Ivan Goncharov

The article studies the influence of Antiquity on Goncharov's style of writing in one of his works, The Frigate "Pallada". In his youth, Goncharov read the classics such as Homer, Virgil and Tacitus, and he remained interested in Antiquity throughout different stages of his career (from the times of poetic experiments to the times of the novel trilogy). In his early works, one can often find references to the motives, themes and images of Antiquity. A special role in Goncharov's interest in Antiquity belonged to A.N. Maikov. Focus on Antiquity gave his poetry the festiveness of the spirit, the plasticity of the form, philosophy, the accuracy of real details and symbolic meaning. Ancient world perception, rooting in universal values, and pure art were close and necessary for the Russian writer when he was working with a volumetric material gathered during the round-the-world voyage. The chapters on the tropics are related to the idyll through the selected objects of description and the manner in which they are depicted. In connection with this theme, the author-narrator gives the name of the Greek poet Theocritus, the author of numerous shepherd's idylls, close to the descriptions of the Lycian islands and their picturesque landscapes. Throughout the book of essays, Goncharov mentions the images of ancient heroes and gods such as Achilles, Hector, Apollo and Neptune. The dialectical approach of the writer to the comprehension of the verbal ancient culture is manifested, on the one hand, in the special attention and respectful attitude to it, on the other, in the ironic manner related to the limitations of ancient culture within the framework of modern reality. Special attention should be paid to the character of the traveler in the essays. The sea chronotope influences the philosophical comprehension of what has been seen and experienced. The author-narrator interprets the sea as a "path". It is moral lessons and spiritual renewal that bring together the image of Goncharov's traveler with the protagonist of Virgil's The Aeneid. Goncharov's natural philosophy is largely based on the ancient world view and literature. Thus, the painting of the pictures of the sea (turbulent and calm) is consonant with the descriptions of the elements by Virgil, with the philosophy of calmness. The epic manner and the appeal to detail connect Goncharov with the aesthetics and poetics of ancient authors who perceived the world through the prism of beauty and harmony. Synthesis as an important artistic and methodological method Goncharov used in connection with the landscape is manifested in the appeal to different cultural traditions, including the ancient aesthetics and literature, which is the basis for both romanticism and the movement of art towards realism.

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