Studies on Epyllion: Is It an Antique Genus Mixtum?

In this paper, the author attempts to answer the question whether epyllion (miniature epic poem) was regarded a coherent genre in antiquity or if this attribution is an invention of modern scholars. Today, the term is commonly used by philologists and theoreticians of literature in various languages, but a scholar who does not know its provenience is unable to fully comprehend the character of this genre. As a genre, epyllion occurred in literary studies and in the vocabulary of literary criticism as late as in the 19th century in Germany, gradually spreading to other countries. During the Renaissance, it appeared sporadically and usually referred to contemporary texts. In antiquity, however, it was used only a few times: and while it appeared in a literary context, it never meant short epic poem. Today’s understanding of this term is then significantly different from that used by the ancients. Nonetheless, epyllion is commonly regarded an antique literary genre that emerged in the Hellenistic period as a reaction to and spinoff from the long heroic epic.
The author demonstrates that classical texts are often interpreted by use of modern methods, which classify them differently from how it was done in the antiquity. In the first part of the paper, she presents the notion of epyllion as it was understood according to the antique theory of literature. Next, different accounts on using this term over the course of time are discussed: from the antiquity, through the late Byzantium and Renaissance, to the modern times. The analysis of research concerning this genre leads the author to the conclusion that epyllion did not emerge from the genologic theory of classical authors but rather from the modern concept of literature. This conclusion is also supported by the fact that certain poems written when the “antique” miniature epos drew the attention of German scholars resembled some of ancient Greek works, which in turn were soon referred to in similar terms. This coincidence can hardly be considered accidental.

The Functions of Remembering the Dispute between Benedict Herbest and Jakub Górski, as well as the Arbitrage of Stanisław Orzechowski (“Wawrzyniec z Sieradza”)

The author set himself two aims. First, to demonstrate how the most important poet of the Polish Renaissance, Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), participated in the propaganda campaign led by the chancery of the Polish King, Stephen Báthory, during the Livonian War in the year fought in the years 1577–1582. Second, to attempt to discover the sources and textual inspirations for the Ode on the Capture of Polatsk or Ode 12 (Warsaw 1580), a Latin propaganda work commissioned from the poet by the Chancellor of Poland, Jan Zamoyski. To this end, the author placed the ode in a broad context of sources from the epoch, such as poems, pamphlets, maps, letters, etc.

Sources, contexts and circumstances of the writing of Oda o zdobyciu Połocka (An Ode on the Capture of Polatsk) by Jan Kochanowski

The author set himself two aims. First, to demonstrate how the most important poet of the Polish Renaissance, Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), participated in the propaganda campaign led by the chancery of the Polish King, Stephen Báthory, during the Livonian War in the year fought in the years 1577–1582. Second, to attempt to discover the sources and textual inspirations for the Ode on the Capture of Polatsk or Ode 12 (Warsaw 1580), a Latin propaganda work commissioned from the poet by the Chancellor of Poland, Jan Zamoyski. To this end, the author placed the ode in a broad context of sources from the epoch, such as poems, pamphlets, maps, letters, etc.
In the first part of the paper, the circumstances that accompanied the writing of the ode are discussed. The author explains the relations between Kochanowski and Zamoyski and reminds the pressure exerted by the Chancellor on the poet, so that he quickly finishes texts that are supposed to praise the victory over Muscovites.
Kochanowski’s writing technique is also discussed. The author notes that the poet’s work resembled that of a philologist: preparing for writing a poem or a cycle of poems, Kochanowski made himself familiar with many various authorities. Thus he worked on the paraphrase of Psałterz (Psaltar 1579) and Treny (Laments 1580). According to the author, this was also Kochanowski’s modus operandi when he was writing Ode 12 and other texts on the war with Muscovy. In this part of the paper, all his works related to this subject are briefly discussed.
In further parts, the author presents the sources that Kochanowski consulted when writing Ode 12. These include, first of all, previous poetic works, such as Horace’s odes and Latin poems written after the victory in the Battle of Orsha (1514). The author demonstrates that Kochanowski drew inspiration e.g. from Carmen de victoria Sigismundi by Joannes Dantiscus. Another significant sources used by the poet were chronicles and chorographies of Muscovy (Herberstein, Gwagnin), as well as drawings and maps depicting the capture of Polatsk. He was probably provided with iconographic accounts by Zamoyski’s messengers in January 1580. The author mentions that maps constituted a significant element of the chancery’s propaganda strategy. In this part, he observes that the same sources were used by Kochanowski for his Jezda do Moskwy (The Ride to Muscovy 1583) and by Gerard Mercator for his map Russiae pars amplificata (1595).
The most important authorities consulted by Kochanowski included the accounts of the capture of Polatsk that he obtained directly from the royal chancery. In the last part of the study, the author compares several narrative sources with the ode. He arrives at the conclusion that the narration in Ode 12 basically reflects the description of the siege present in other sources and that it is very detailed for a lyrical work. He also shows the rhetoric means used by Kochanowski to intensify the propaganda effect.
At the end, the author places Ode 12 in the context of other renaissance utterances on the relation between history and poetry. He refers to the contemporary reflections of Antonio Minturno and Julius Caesar Scaliger.

The Myth of Smolensk in the Polish Literature of XVII^th Century: The Case of Jan Kunowski

The study analyses several selected poetic works by Jan Kunowski (ca. 1592–1654) related to the city of Smolensk and the war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy (1632–1634), also referred to as the Smolensk War. Using this case study, the author presents the Smolensk’s place in the political awareness of the contemporary Polish nobility and discusses some themes exploited by modern propaganda devoted to this event.

Having a general sketch of the “myth of Smolensk” (that is the Polish narrative on this city before the war) as the starting point allows a deepened interpretation of Kunowski’s poems concerning the conflict alone, in which the representation of the city and the topics used by the poet change substantially. Thanks to individual interpretations the author exposes characteristic crucial points of the narrative and demonstrates how they work on two levels: of the propaganda and the myth.