Narrative: Jean Cocteau. Orpheus. Summary of Orpheus Summary of Orpheus and Eurydice

The action takes place in the living room of the country villa of Orpheus and Eurydice, reminiscent of an illusionist's salon; despite the April sky and bright lighting, it becomes obvious to the audience that the room is in the grip of a mysterious spell, so that even the usual objects in it look suspicious. In the middle of the room is a pen with a white horse.

Orpheus stands at the table and works with the spiritual alphabet. Eurydice stoically waits for her husband to finish communicating with the spirits through the horse, which answers Orpheus's questions with knocks that help him learn the truth. He abandoned writing poems and glorifying the sun god in order to obtain some poetic crystals contained in the sayings of a white horse, and thanks to this he became famous throughout Greece in his time.

Eurydice reminds Orpheus of Aglaonis, the leader of the Bacchantes (Eurydice herself belonged to their number before marriage), who also tends to engage in spiritualism, Orpheus has an extreme dislike for Aglaonis, who drinks, confuses married women and prevents young girls from getting married. Aglaonis opposed Eurydice to leave the circle of Bacchantes and become the wife of Orpheus. She promised someday to take revenge on him for taking Eurydice away from her. This is not the first time that Eurydice begs Orpheus to return to his former way of life, which he led until the moment when he accidentally met a horse and placed it in his house.

Orpheus does not agree with Eurydice and, as proof of the importance of his studies, cites one phrase recently dictated to him by a horse: “Madame Eurydice will return from hell,” which he considers the height of poetic perfection and intends to submit to a poetry competition. Orpheus is convinced that this phrase will have the effect of an exploding bomb. He is not afraid of the rivalry of Aglaonisa, who also takes part in a poetry competition and hates Orpheus, and therefore is capable of any vile trick against him. During a conversation with Eurydice, Orpheus becomes extremely irritable and hits the table with his fist, to which Eurydice remarks that anger is not a reason to destroy everything around. Orpheus answers his wife that he himself does not react in any way to the fact that she regularly breaks window panes, although he knows very well that she does this so that Ortebiz, the glazier, comes to her. Eurydice asks her husband not to be so jealous, to which he personally breaks one of the glasses, in a similar way, as if proving that he is far from jealousy and without a shadow of a doubt gives Eurydice the opportunity to meet with Ortebiz one more time, after which he leaves to apply for the competition.

Orpheus loved the young Eurydice, and the strength of this love was unparalleled. Once, while walking in the meadow, Eurydice accidentally stepped on a snake. Eurydice screamed and fell. The girl's face turned pale. A clear forehead was covered with perspiration, bright eyes rolled back.
Orpheus ran to the cry and saw his bride. The singer struck the strings of the cithara, but Eurydice did not open her eyes, did not reach out to him, as before. For a long time Orpheus mourned his beloved. And he decided to go down to the underworld in order to return auridika and unite with her. Orpheus took nothing with him, except for a cithara and an unblown willow twig.
He went down to the banks of the sacred Styx, behind which lay world of the dead. Here is Charon. But when Orpheus took a step towards the boat, he ran into an oar placed across. The old boatman knew his business: “The realm of the dead is not for the living. Come when your time comes!"
The singer pulled the strings of the cithara, and over the kingdom of eternal silence the song of the beautiful upper world sounded. Charon lowered his oar and, leaning on it, listened to unknown sounds. Without stopping singing, Orpheus entered the boat, and now he is already on the other side. Crowds of shadows ran towards the song, and the terrible underground dog Kerber chased after them. Hearing the singing, Kerberus slowed down his run and froze, like an earthly dog at the sign of a hunter.
Here is the throne of the great lords of the underworld Hades and Persephone. Stopping in front of them, Orpheus sang the best of his songs - a love song. And while he sang, the willow twig that he brought blossomed. Green leaves sprouted from broken buds. How intoxicating is the smell of fresh greenery, not knowing death and decay! Tears welled up in Persephone's eyes.
The song died away, and there was a deep silence. And the voice of Hades sounded in him:
What are you asking, stranger?
- I came for the sake of my beloved Eurydice, who is in the world of shadows. Tanat [Death] stole her from me at the dawn of love. Don't you know that we will all come here. She will return under your power, and I will appear with her. I ask you for a while. Let Eurydice experience the joy of life.
- Let it be your way, - said Hades. - Lead Eurydice to the upper world. She will follow you, and you will follow Hermes. Just remember: look back - the gift will be taken away.
- Have patience!
And they set off on their way. Passed the kingdom of Hades. Charon took them on the boat, and now Styx is behind. There was a steep path up. Hermes walked ahead. Orpheus is behind him. The light has already dawned. Excitement seized Orpheus. Has Eurydice fallen behind? Did she stay in the realm of the dead? The hero slowed down. I listened. But the shadows walk silently. There were a few steps left to the upper world, but Orpheus could not stand it and looked back. He saw nothing, but caught a slight breath. Hades took away his gift. And Orpheus himself was to blame.
Again, Orpheus descended to the Styx, hoping to once again plead with the underground gods. But mercy is given only once...
(453 words) (According to A. I. Nemirovsky. Myths of Ancient Hellas)

Title the text and retell it in detail. Answer the question: “What thoughts and feelings does the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice evoke in you?”
Title the text and retell it concisely. Answer the question: “Do you agree with the statement of A. Nemirovsky that the power of love between Orpheus and Eurydice had no equal?”

Orpheus was a musician. He had a girlfriend, Eurydice.
Once Eurydice went into the forest and was bitten by a snake. Orpheus ran to save his beloved, but did not have time. The guy saw how insidious death takes the girl to the kingdom of the dead.
Orpheus went for his beloved. He went through a lot, but he managed to persuade Hades to take Eurydice home. But with a condition! A guy should not look back when he wants to look at Eurydice. Orpheus ran home, but wanted to look at the girl. Suddenly he was deceived! He turned around. And for the last time I saw the sweet face of my beloved.

At first, Charon refused Orpheus's request to smuggle him. But then Orpheus played on his golden cithara and charmed the gloomy Charon with wonderful music. And he transported him to the throne of the god of death Hades. In the midst of the cold and silence of the underworld, the passionate song of Orpheus sounded about his grief, about torment broken love to Eurydice. Everyone who was nearby was amazed at the beauty of the music and the strength of his feelings: both Hades and his wife Persephone, and Tantalus, who forgot about the hunger that tormented him, and Sisyphus, who stopped his hard and fruitless work. Then Orpheus stated his request to Hades to return his wife Eurydice to earth. Hades agreed to fulfill it, but at the same time he stated his condition: Orpheus must follow the god Hermes, and Eurydice will follow him. During the same journey the underworld Orpheus must not look back: otherwise, Eurydice will leave him forever. When the shadow of Eurydice appeared, Orpheus wished to hug her, but Hermes told him not to do this, since there was only a shadow in front of him, and a long and difficult path lay ahead.

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

The singer Orpheus lived in the north of Greece. He had a gift because he sang very beautifully, and many were surprised at his talent. Eurydice fell in love with Orpheus and became his wife.
Once Orpheus and Eurydice were walking in the forest. Orpheus played the cithara and sang, and Eurydice went off to pick flowers. Suddenly Orpheus heard the cry of his beloved. She was bitten by a snake and died.
Orpheus was incredibly sad without his beloved and decided to go to the kingdom of the dead.
To get there, it was necessary to cross the River Styx in a boat, but the carrier of the dead, Charon, refused, referring to the fact that he transports only the dead. But then Orpheus sang and played the cithara, yes. that Charon listened and took him to Hades. He sang again, and Hades took pity and asked what he wanted. Orpheus replied that he needed Eurydice. Hades nevertheless agreed and said that Orpheus went to the exit from the kingdom of the dead, and Eurydice would follow. But there is a condition: Orpheus should in no case look back until he comes into the world, otherwise he will lose his wife forever!
And Orpheus went. Approaching the exit, he began to doubt: is Eurydice coming? He decided to look around... But then her shadow eluded him. Orpheus screamed terribly, but nothing could be fixed. He had to return back to earth, but he never forgot his beloved and her memory lived in songs.

Orpheus does not agree with Eurydice and, as proof of the importance of his studies, cites one phrase recently dictated to him by a horse: “Madame Eurydice will return from hell,” which he considers the height of poetic perfection and intends to submit to a poetry competition. Orpheus is convinced that this phrase will have the effect of an exploding bomb. He is not afraid of the rivalry of Aglaonisa, who also takes part in a poetry competition and hates Orpheus, and therefore is capable of any vile trick against him. During a conversation with Eurydice, Orpheus becomes extremely irritable and hits the table with his fist, to which Eurydice remarks that anger is not a reason to destroy everything around. Orpheus answers his wife that he himself does not react in any way to the fact that she regularly breaks window panes, although he knows very well that she does this so that Ortebiz, the glazier, comes to her. Eurydice asks her husband not to be so jealous, to which he breaks one of the glasses with his own hands, in a similar way, as if proving that he is far from jealousy and without a shadow of a doubt gives Eurydice the opportunity to meet Ortebiz one more time, after which he leaves to apply for the competition.

Left alone with Eurydice, Ortebizus, who came to her at the call of Orpheus, expresses his regret at such an unrestrained behavior of her husband and reports that he brought Eurydice, as agreed, a poisoned sugar cube for the horse, whose presence in the house radically changed the nature of relations between Eurydice and Orpheus. Sugar passed through Ortebiz Aglaonis, in addition to poison for the horse, she also sent an envelope in which Eurydice should put a message addressed to her ex-girlfriend. Eurydice does not dare to feed the poisoned lump of sugar to the horse herself and asks Ortebiz to do this, but the horse refuses to eat from his hands. Eurydice, meanwhile, sees Orpheus returning through the window, Ortebiz throws sugar on the table and stands on a chair in front of the window, pretending to measure the frame. Orpheus, as it turns out, returned home because he forgot his birth certificate: he takes out a chair from under Ortebiz and, standing on it, looks for the document he needs on the top shelf of the bookcase. Ortebiz at this time, without any support, hangs in the air. Having found evidence, Orpheus again puts a chair under the feet of Ortebiz and, as if nothing had happened, leaves the house. After his departure, the amazed Eurydice asks Ortebiz to explain what happened to her and demands from him that he reveal his true nature to her. She declares that she no longer believes him, and goes to her room, after which she puts a letter prepared for her in Aglaonisa's envelope, licks the edge of the envelope to seal it, but the glue turns out to be poisonous, and Eurydice, sensing the approach of death, calls Ortebiz and asks him to find and bring Orpheus in order to have time to see her husband before his death.

After the departure of Ortebiz, Death appears on the scene in a pink ball gown with two of his assistants, Azrael and Raphael. Both assistants are dressed in surgical gowns, masks and rubber gloves. Death, like them, also puts on a dressing gown and gloves over a ball gown. At her direction, Raphael takes sugar from the table and tries to feed it to the horse, but nothing comes of it. Death brings the matter to an end, and the horse, having moved to another world, disappears; Eurydice also disappears, transferred by Death and her assistants to another world through a mirror. Orpheus, who returned home with Ortebiz, no longer finds Eurydice alive. He is ready for anything, just to return his beloved wife from the realm of shadows. Ortebiz helps him, pointing out that Death left rubber gloves on the table and will fulfill any wish of the one who returns them to her. Orpheus puts on gloves and enters the other world through a mirror.

While Eurydice and Orpheus are not at home, the postman knocks on the door, and since no one opens it, he slips a letter under the door. Soon a happy Orpheus comes out of the mirror and thanks Ortebiz for the advice he has given. Following him, Eurydice appears from there. The horse's prediction - "Madame Eurydice will return from hell" - will come true, but on one condition: Orpheus does not have the right to turn around and look at Eurydice. In this circumstance, Eurydice also sees a positive side: Orpheus will never see her grow old. All three sit down to eat. At dinner, an argument breaks out between Eurydice and Orpheus. Orpheus wants to leave the table, but stumbles and looks back at his wife; Eurydice disappears. Orpheus cannot understand the irreparability of his loss. Looking around, he notices on the floor by the door an anonymous letter, brought in his absence by the postman. The letter says that under the influence of Aglaonisa, the jury of the competition saw an indecent word in the abbreviation of Orpheus's phrase sent to the competition, and now a good half of all the women of the city, raised by Aglaonisa, are heading to Orpheus' house, demanding his death and preparing to tear him to pieces. The drumming of the approaching Bacchantes is heard: Aglaonisa has waited for the hour of vengeance. Women throw stones at the window, the window breaks. Orpheus hangs from the balcony in the hope of reasoning with the warriors. In the next moment, the head of Orpheus, already severed from the body, flies into the room. Eurydice appears from the mirror and leads the invisible body of Orpheus into the mirror.

The commissioner of police and the court clerk enter the living room. They demand to explain what happened here and where the body of the victim is. Ortebiz informs them that the body of the murdered man was torn to pieces and not a trace was left of him. The commissioner claims that the Bacchantes saw Orpheus on the balcony, he was covered in blood and called for help. According to them, they would have helped him, but before their very eyes he fell dead from the balcony, and they could not prevent the tragedy. The servants of the law inform Ortebiz that now the whole city is agitated by a mysterious crime, everyone is dressed in mourning for Orpheus and asks for some bust of the poet to glorify him. Ortebiz points to the commissioner at the head of Orpheus and assures him that this is the bust of Orpheus by the hand of an unknown sculptor. The commissioner and court clerk ask Ortebiz who he is and where he lives. The head of Orpheus is responsible for him, and Ortebiz disappears in the mirror after Eurydice, who calls him. Surprised by the disappearance of the interrogated commissioner and court secretary leave.

The scenery rises, Eurydice and Orpheus enter the stage through the mirror; they are led by Ortebiz. They are going to sit down at the table and finally have dinner, but first they say a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord, who has determined their home, their hearth as the only paradise for them and opened the gates of this paradise to them; because the Lord sent them Ortebiz, their guardian angel, because he saved Eurydice, who killed the devil in the form of a horse in the name of love, and saved Orpheus, because Orpheus idolizes poetry, and poetry is God.

This was the heyday of Dutch painting. Everyone was fond of art, everyone bought paintings. Artists even sometimes paid with their paintings both the hostess for the room and the tailor for the costume.

With special love, Dutch artists painted still lifes. “Breakfast with chicken”, “Breakfast with ham and peaches”, “Breakfast with lobsters” are their favorite themes.

They loved gray tones, especially for the background, but what a golden cast of lemons against this background! How good are juicy peaches with a velvety fluff or a herring, all sparkling with mother of pearl! What tight folds the starched white tablecloth of the famous Dutch linen falls!

Dutch artists very skillfully used chiaroscuro and subtle color transitions, which is why glass goblets in which poured wine glistens are so voluminous. And how well they portrayed the metallic luster of dishes and the dullness of earthenware jugs! Artists saw sublime beauty in the simplest, most ordinary things. They conveyed not only the beauty of things, but also their admiration for them.

All these objects depicted on the canvases help to see, as it were, a piece of life of that time:

dishes that were then used, the furnishings of the rooms, customs and habits.

These still lifes were small in size, and the artists who painted them were later called "small Dutch".

They are the founders of the still life.

Great love for the earth, for its wonderful fruits can be seen in the still lifes of the Russian artist Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky. Since childhood, he has been passionately drawing vegetables, fruits and flowers. And this passion remained with him for the rest of his life.

P. P. Konchalovsky told his students:

“A flower cannot be painted “so-so”, with simple strokes, it must be studied as deeply as everything else. Flowers are the great teachers of artists: in order to comprehend and disassemble the structure of a rose, one must put in no less work than when studying a human face.

(E. O. Kameneva. Your palette.) (415 words.) No. 32 And with your ashes

In a dense, thin-barreled aspen forest, I saw a gray stump in two girths. This stump was guarded by broods of honey mushrooms with pockmarked rough hats. On the cut of the stump lay moss with a soft cap, adorned with three or four tassels of lingonberries. And here the frail shoots of Christmas trees huddled. They had only two or three legs and small, but very prickly needles. And on the tips of the paws, dewdrops of resin still gleamed and pimples of the ovaries of future paws could be seen. However, the ovaries were so small and the Christmas trees themselves were so weak that they could no longer cope with the difficult struggle for life and continue to grow.

He who does not grow, dies! - such is the law of life. These Christmas trees were to die as soon as they were born. It could grow here. But you can't

I sat down near the stump and noticed that one of the Christmas trees was noticeably different from the rest, she stood cheerfully and dignifiedly in the middle of the stump. In the noticeably darkened needles, in the thin resinous trunk, in the smartly disheveled top, one could feel some kind of confidence and, as it were, even a challenge.

I put my fingers under the volley cap of moss, lifted it up and smiled: "That's it!"

This Christmas tree has cleverly settled on a stump. She fanned out the sticky threads of the roots, and the main spine dug into the middle of the stump with a white awl. Small roots sucked moisture from the moss, and therefore it was so faded, and the root of the center screwed into the stump, getting food.

The Christmas tree will be long and difficult to drill a stump with a spine until it gets to the ground. For a few more years, she will be in a wooden shirt of a stump, growing from the very heart of the one who may have been her parent and who, even after his death, kept and fed

And when only one dust remains from the stump, and its traces are erased from the ground, there, in the depths, the roots of the spruce parent will continue to grow for a long time, giving the young tree the last juices, saving for it the droplets of moisture that have fallen from the blades of grass and strawberry leaves, warming cold with the remaining warm breath of a past life.

When it becomes unbearably painful for me from memories, but they do not leave, and probably never will leave those who went through the war, when again and again those who fell on the battlefield stand in front of me, and there were guys among them who have not yet had time to see life properly, nor to love,

nor enjoy the joys of the world and even eat your fill - I think about the Christmas tree that grows in the forest on a stump.

(V.P. Astafiev.) (370 words.)

#33 Love, respect, knowledge

How to deal with history and cultural heritage your country? Everyone will answer that the inheritance we have inherited must be protected. But life experience awakens in memory other, sad, and sometimes woeful pictures.

I once had a chance to visit the Borodino field together with a wonderful person - the restorer Nikolai Ivanovich Ivanov. He already forgot when he went on vacation: he cannot live a day without the Borodino field! .. Nikolai Ivanovich and I bared our heads in front of the monuments that were erected on the Borodino field by grateful descendants. And it was here, on the field of our glory, in 1932 that an unprecedented desecration of the people's shrine took place:

the iron monument on the grave of Bagration was blown up. Those who did this committed a crime against the most noble of feelings - gratitude to the hero, the defender of the national freedom of Russia, the gratitude of Russians to their Georgian brother. And how to regard those who around the same time painted a giant inscription on the wall of the monastery, built on the site of the death of another hero - Tuchkov: “Enough to keep the remnants of the slave past!” I was born and lived most of my life in Leningrad. In its architectural appearance, the city is associated with the names of Rastrelli, Rossi, Quarenghi, Zakharov, Voronikhin. On the way from the main Leningrad airfield stood Rastrelli's Travel Palace. Remarkably: the first large building of the city bore the stamp of an outstanding talent. The palace was in a very bad condition - it was close to the front line, but our soldiers did everything to save it. Touch it with the hands of the restorers - and how festive the overture to Leningrad would become. Demolished! Demolished in the late sixties. And there is nothing in this place. Empty where he stood, empty in the soul when you pass this place. And - bitterly, because the loss of any cultural monument is irreparable: after all, they are always individual, the material signs of the past are always associated with a certain era, with specific masters.

The "reserve" of cultural monuments, the "reserve" of the cultural environment is extremely limited in the world, and it is being depleted at an ever-increasing rate. There is less and less space for cultural monuments on the earth, and not because the land is getting smaller. The thing is that patriotism has been called for for too long, and it must be brought up from a very early age.

Love for one's native land, for one's native culture, for one's native village or city, for one's native speech begins small - with love for one's family, one's home, one's school. And one more thing - with respect for the same feelings of people who also love their home, their land, their own - albeit incomprehensible to you - native word.

These are the most important human qualities that history will help you discover in your soul: love, respect, knowledge.

(D.S. Likhachev. Letters about the good and the beautiful.) (383 words.)

Orpheus loved the young Eurydice, and the strength of this love was unparalleled. One day, while walking in a meadow, Eurydice accidentally stepped on a snake. Eurydice screamed and fell. The girl's face turned pale. A clear forehead was covered with perspiration, bright eyes rolled back.

Orpheus ran to the cry and saw his bride. The singer struck the strings of the cithara, but Eurydice did not open her eyes, did not reach out to him, as before. For a long time Orpheus mourned his beloved. And he decided to go down to the underworld in order to return Eurydice and unite with her. Orpheus took nothing with him, except for a cithara and an unblown willow twig.

He went down to the banks of the sacred Styx, behind which lay the world of the dead. Here is Charon. But when Orpheus took a step towards the boat, he ran into an oar placed across. The old boatman knew his business: “The realm of the dead is not for the living. Come when your time comes!"

The singer pulled the strings of the cithara, and over the kingdom of eternal silence the song of the beautiful upper world sounded. Charon lowered his oar and, leaning on it, listened to unknown sounds. Without stopping singing, Orpheus entered the boat, and now he is already on the other side. Crowds of shadows ran towards the song, and the terrible underground dog Kerber chased after them. Hearing the singing, Kerberus slowed down his run and froze, like an earthly dog at the sign of a hunter.

Here is the throne of the great lords of the underworld Hades and Persephone. Stopping in front of them, Orpheus sang the best of his songs - a love song. And while he sang, the willow twig that he brought blossomed. Green leaves sprouted from broken buds. How intoxicating is the smell of fresh greenery, not knowing death and decay! Tears welled up in my eyes

Persephone.

The song died away, and there was a deep silence.

What are you asking, stranger?

I have come for my beloved Eurydice, who is in the world of shadows. Tanat (Death) stole her from me at the dawn of love. Don't you know that we will all come here. She will return under your power, and I will appear with her. I ask you for a while. Let Eurydice experience the joy of life.

Let it be your way, - said Hades. - Lead Eurydice to the upper world. She will follow you, and you will follow Hermes. Just remember: look back - the gift will be taken away.

Hermes brought the shadow of Eurydice. The singer rushed to her, but God, the soul guide, stopped him:

Have patience!

And they set off on their way. Passed the kingdom of Hades. Charon took them on the boat, and now Styx is behind. There was a steep path up. Hermes walked ahead. Orpheus is behind him. The light has already dawned. Excitement seized Orpheus. Has Eurydice fallen behind? Did she stay in the realm of the dead? The hero slowed down. I listened. But the shadows walk silently. There were a few steps left to the upper world, but Orpheus could not stand it and looked back. He saw nothing, but caught a slight breath. Hades took away his gift. And Orpheus himself was to blame. Again, Orpheus descended to the Styx, hoping to once again plead with the underground gods. But mercy is given only once...