The archetype of Orestes and its reflection in the short stories “The Queen of Spades” by A. S. Pushkin and “The Sandman” by E. T. A. Hoffmann

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Doklady Bashkirskogo Universiteta. 2018. Volume 3. No. 2. pp. 226-230.

Authors

Shubina V. A.
Bashkir State University
32 Zaki Validi Street, 450074 Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia
Mikhaylenko E. N.*
Bashkir State University
32 Zaki Validi Street, 450074 Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia

Abstract

The subject of analysis in this article are the archetypal motives of “crime”, “fate”, “reckoning” and “insanity”, linking the ancient Greek myth of Orestes with the plots of the short stories “The Queen of Spades” by A. S. Pushkin and “The Sandman” by E. T. A. Hoffmann. The stable connection between the characters of Hermann and Nathanael with the literary archetype of Orestes is revealed, which can be considered as their common mythological prototype.

Keywords

  • literary archetype
  • myth
  • Orestes
  • The Queen of Spades
  • The Sandman
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