ხალხური „არსენას ლექსისა“ და აკაკი წეერეთლის პიესის ურთიერთმიმართებისთვის

Abstract

Georgian literary criticism has never been indifferent to the oeuvre of Akaki Tsereteli; however, for obvious reasons, scholarly interest in his early works—specifically his Russian-language plays—has been significantly more limited. Tsereteli's Razboynik Arseniy (Arseniy the Outlaw) is a highly compelling composition in terms of both its structure and its multifaceted nature. Substantively, its second chapter does not merely resemble the folk "Ballad of Arsena" but is directly modeled upon it, although several fundamental differences can be identified.

Despite being only about twenty-five years old during the play's composition, Tsereteli succeeded in crafting a remarkably profound work. In it, the author does more than provide a literary reincarnation of the folk hero; he constructs a drama that addresses perennial questions: Where does the boundary lie between a righteous struggle and tyranny? What is the true cause of the hero's demise—human betrayal or divine justice?

While the folk epic shrouds Arsena in a mythic veil—attributing to him a miraculous birth and Amiran-like (Promethean) strength (a topic masterfully analyzed in Zurab Kiknadze’s essay, Arsena’s Epic)—Tsereteli grounds this myth, shifting the focus to a socio-psychological dimension. In the play, Arsena is no longer merely "God’s godson"; he is a man who undertakes the mission of restoring justice, only to lose his own identity before achieving his goal. Akaki's portrayal of Arsena is more realistic than mythic, yet his tragic end retains a metaphysical character.

Furthermore, whereas the woman who instigates the conflict in the folk "Ballad of Arsena" simply vanishes from the narrative, Tsereteli meticulously develops the character of Nino, imbuing her death with significant symbolic and narrative weight.