EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF THE SHIP IN CLASSICAL LITERATURE (THE EXAMPLE OF “ARGONAUTICA” BY APOLLONIUS OF RHODES AND “ODYSSEY” BY HOMER)

Abstract

The given paper is devoted to the evolution of the image of the Ship in classical literature by the example of two epic poems: “Argonautica” by Apollonius of Rhodes and “Odyssey” by Homer. The paper aims at defining the way of the image’s artistic transformation in the classical literature, revealing the characteristic features of its functioning in classic myths and literary works, and analyzing the birth of a new artistic hypostasis of the Ship – the Flying Dutchman. Methods of historical and culturological analysis as well as the method of comparative research make the likeness of the ancient Ship and the Old Testament Noah’s Ark evident, also proving that the image of the Ship as it existed in the antiquity later on served as a prototype of the Flying Dutchman of the Romanticism epoch. The analysis of the classical antiquity Ship by the example of classical poems by Apollonius of Rhodes and Homer makes it possible to get a clearer picture of the world Ship’s most popular artistic hypostasis – the Flying Dutchman.