NEW PERSPECTIVES ON OLD IDEAS: FRIEDRICH DÜRRENMATT'S PARODIES OF MYTHS AND ARCHETYPES

• Main Author: Sonja Novak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Montenegro 2015-10-01
• Series: Logos et Littera: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Text
• Subjects: myth; Dürrenmatt; comedy; (anti)hero; Hercules; parody
• Online Access: http://www.ll.ac.me/issues.html

Who dares to portray the demigod Hercules as an inadequate, i mpotent failure? Who dares to mock tragic heroines like Antigone? Who dares to mock the biblical Judith and her bravery? Who would portray an ideal emperor as one who betrays and sacrifices his empire? The Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt, reconstitutes t hese famous ancient myths, motifs, symbols and archetypes in his works of art and literature in order to provoke reconsideration of modern - day values such as sacrifice, value of human life, patriotism and bravery. I n doing so, he also touches upon issues s uch as globalization, nationalism and bureaucratization as everyday problems that the individual to rise to his/her heroic potential. The research focuses on Dürrenmatt’s recurring motifs with special emphasis on mythic, historical and biblical figures in t he plays Romulus the Great and Hercules and the Augean Stables.