Ancient Authorship in the Labyrinths of Cultural Identity: Notes in the Margins of the Book by G.V. Drach "History of Ancient Philosophy and Culture"

Abstract

Antiquity is a key stage in the history of authorship development. Ancient Greece became the birthplace of the first classical authors, who showed the European civilization a model of conscious creative activity. Despite the fact that the creative and artisanal activities of the ancient Greeks were conceptualized in the works of the largest Russian antiquarians (M.L. Gasparov, A.I. Zaitsev, F.H. Cassidy, A.F. Losev, M.K. Petrov, etc.), the topic of authorship was rarely heard. S.S. Averintsev wrote in detail about the ancient author, but his theory has a number of controversial theses and is not considered conventional. Based on the material of G.V. Drach's book "The History of Ancient Philosophy and Culture", a new study of early author's activity was undertaken, with the aim of clarifying the author's figure in the context of the cultural and civilizational infrastructure of the ancient world. In particular, one of S.S. Averintsev's controversial theses about the "first author" was considered. As a result of the research, conclusions were formulated, supported by the provisions from the book by G.V. Drach. Homer is a conscious author. The key criterion of conscious authorship in relation to Homer can be considered the ability to conscious fiction, which finds an intra-artistic parallel in the cunning of Odysseus. In relation to Hesiod, other markers of conscious authorship were given (unity of intent, tendentiousness, biographical specificity). The general cultural and historical foundations of the author's activity were investigated. Literacy, which became a personal rather than a professional skill for the first time in history, made it possible to establish a personal connection with the text. Agonality and the pursuit of fame formed a single socio-cultural mechanism that converts struggle and victory into the fact of public recognition of individual creative achievement.