Topika mitologiczna w poezji dawnej

Abstract

The article is an attempt to place ancient mythology within the Old‑Polish topics, and define its place and role in poetic realizations of loci communes. An overview of the state of research is to take a stand on various propositions of understanding the term “topos” and use it in the analysis of mythologisms in old poetry, an emphasis being put on the topics of Apollo (among others works by J. Brzozowski, J. Abramowska, J. Kotarska). An analytic part of the work is devoted to an consideration of various topoi of a mythological origin in the Baroque poetry, their variantability and ways of utilizing in poetic texts. Among others such topoi as “weeping like Niobe”, “to be Orpheus’s egual”, “to repeat Orpheus’ gesture”, Charon transporting souls, and “cutting off the threads of life” are discussed. The aim of the paper is to verify and prove the legitimacy of distinguishing mythological topics and defining rules of its functioning in the 16th and 17th century literature.